63 R1 Avanti

[Avanti-Tom]

New member and first post. Picked up this Avanti recently and have started the up closer inspection of what it needs and what is wrong. It needs alot and just about everything is not working. The story is it spent most of its existence in Ohio and may have last run in 1974 or 75. It certainly sat for a very very long time judging from the condition of the interior and exterior. First task will be to solve all the mechanical problems. (tom c).

[Kennie B.]

Tom, welcome and congratulations on your new aquisition!

I bought mine about a year and a half ago. It was a garage find, hadn't been driven any distance for over a decade. It came with a pretty full history. I have been bringing it back to life so I have a little recent experience of where you are about to go. Please note, I am no expert in these cars but am putting in the hours learning.

I started with sending the carb and distributor out to Dave Thibuelt for a rebuild. While that was going on, I kept spraying the cylinders with Seafoam and slowly got the engine to turn over. If turned out not to be stuck but since I wasn't too sure, I played it safe.

Also, while I was waiting for the carb, I bought a battery meant for a '96 Honda Civic. I had to make a custom battery hold down but the cranking power was the same but 13 lbs lighter than the 3EE battery my car requires. During this time I checked out what was working in the car's electrical system, looking for any shorts. None were found.

The story runs on for quite a while but what I suggest for now is buy the factory owner's manual as well as parts book if you don't already have them. And don't hesitate to ask questions. These cars are odd but not impossible to learn to work on, just keep your eyes open and your witts sharp.

Also, do NOT lean on the doors! The hinges are really fragile! Veteran owners are noticable for lightly lifting the door when closing and openning. And it doesn't take much to close these doors, the latches were sourced from MB.

The rear side windows, take very good care of the rubber seals, these are made of un-obtanium. If you find new, they are like finding a leprechaun.

Keep us updated on how things are going. BTW, what part of the country are you in?

Cheers,

Ken Buchanan

[silverstude]

That's R-2353, right? Looks like it's mostly intact...

Edited November 7, 2016 by silverstude

[StudeNorm]

If that is R-2353 did someone replace the front end sometime in the past with a square headlight panel? Looks pretty decent otherwise.

[Avanti-Tom]

Yes, that is the correct title serial number. I took some pictures of my repairs but the files are all to large for this forum. Today I discovered the new oil line hose I was trying to install was the wrong end size. So I took the small orfice required and switched it over to the new hose line. The new line has an incorrect orifice hole and when tightened it does not seal into the tubing connection.

[Avanti-Tom]

Got more problems solved. Reconditioned the carb and intake. Replaced 3 damaged spark plug wires. Soaked the pistons tranny fluid. Got the motor to free up better on cranking rpm with no plugs installed. Repaired and cleaned terminals to coil and starter relay. Got the engine started, set the timing and tested for tranny to rear response. Looking good so far on some critical concerns.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNtD6seKGOs

[Paul K.]

Always a good feeling to revive a car that has been parked for many years. Great job.

[silverstude]

Nice. You'd wonder why it was parked to begin with..

[Avanti-Tom]

Clean and cleaned again the interior to remove all the mill dew contamination. Removed and trashed all the carpet. It was that bad. Repaired the door panels which were warped, distorted and filthy. Mileage is 75,337. Don't mind sitting in it now with my "white shoes and pants". Repaired the driver window. It would only go down half way. Regulator arm was bent. Repaired the passenger window. It was stuck up and gave a fight going down. After oiling it is fine now. Replaced one door latch. Wear was keeping the internal lock from engaging. Doors shut very nice. One small push and perfect locking and releasing with a quality design sound closure.

Majority of my photos will not load. A few went through

[MARK]

congratulations on your acquisition. An earlier mention of Dave Thibeault is great. I have relied on him for years and 3 cars; one was a 73 Avanti II which I sold, my 64R2 and my 63 GT Hawk. Dave is a great resource and is call friendly. Best wishes on helping our economy be great again.

Mark

[Avanti-Tom]

Started on repairing the brakes and found more problems so decided to rebuild the front end first. The coil spring was broken. Had to cut grind the shock to remove it. Rotors show no wear or sign of an turn down cut.

Can someone fix the photo posting problems of this forum.

[JWL1940]

Started on repairing the brakes and found more problems so decided to rebuild the front end first. The coil spring was broken. Had to cut grind the shock to remove it. Rotors show no wear or sign of an turn down cut.

Can someone fix the photo posting problems of this forum.

I support this request. There are many here who would like to share photos of our projects and solutions, but decline to do so because of the small and limiting attachment file size. Thanks in advance.

(o[]o)

[mtgibby]

I use photobucket to add pictures. Kind of a pain, but it works. Except at work where they block photo hosting sites.

[JWL1940]

Mike, I'll get out in the garage today and take some photos of the trunk area where the cable is located and email them to you.

(o[]o)

Oops, this should have gone in a different thread, the one about the release cable.

Edited November 30, 2016 by JWL1940

[lschuc]

Started on repairing the brakes and found more problems so decided to rebuild the front end first. The coil spring was broken. Had to cut grind the shock to remove it. Rotors show no wear or sign of an turn down cut.

Can someone fix the photo posting problems of this forum.

Tom, see if you can post more of your photos to some of your previous posts... I figured out how to increase the size of images to post to the forum, and you should be able to post images up to 15mb file sizes. Try to keep the megabytes as small as possible, which makes for quick load times.

Hopefully this should work better!

Lew

[Avanti-Tom]

Slow progress on the front end repairs. Replaced the broken spring. New bushings. Spring numbers are stamped. Spring length is 14 inches. Has a 1/4 inch ring spacer so with new rubber cushion pads another 1/8" is added for total install package of 14 3/8". Thanks for the photo help. No more rust, dirt, or road grime. At least not on these parts.

[Avanti-Tom]

Took the rotors into O'Rilley's for turn down clean up. Install new bearings, races and seals. Here are the part numbers. Started on the passenger side of the suspension. A lot cleaner than before break down.

[Avanti-Tom]

Finished the rebuild of the right side.  The new upper bushings were pressed in with a 1 1/4 socket on the shoulders of the bushing.  The lower A arm bushings were seated with a 1 1/2 socket against the shoulder of the bushing.   Note the notch markings on the spring.  And the spacer dimension.  New shocks installed over new grade 8 bolts.

All pictures failed to post.

 

 

[Avanti-Tom]

Finished the braking system.  Tested the new suspension and brakes to the mail box.  All is good.  Power steering working good too.  Started the suspension and brakes before Thanksgiving so took a good 5 weeks.  This will be my last post.  11 pictures failed to load so best to move on.  Happy New Year everyone.

Edited January 5, 2017 by lschuc
adding photo

[Avanti-Tom]

Photo Test:

Working on the electrical issues.  No parking lights or head lights or brake lights.  One tail light only.   All the connections and sockets are bad.  Putting in new stuff.

 

Edited January 9, 2017 by lschuc
adding pictures for Avanti-Tom

[Avanti-Tom]

Repaired the headlights.  The problem was traced to the dimmer foot switch that failed.   Have both high and low beams now.  Found a nice backup foot switch in my attic of stuff.  Tomorrow I will go after the rear  taillights and replace the bulbs and sockets.  That should solve all the lighting problems. 

[Avanti-Tom]

Repaired the rear driving lights.  Went with an all plastic 3 wire connector for the rear sockets to avoid future corrosion from cheap import metals.  Rear lens ( first photo) were "cloudy" so polished them with Mequires Lens Polish.  This is a two part kit but I found that the UV protector application took away some of the refinish shine so leave the UV coating paste off the lens.  Note:  The white wire is ground, the brown wire is brake light and signal , and the black  wire is the driving wire light.  With new bulbs and clear lens the lighting is very good now.(tom c)

[Avanti-Tom]

Made repairs to the backup lights.  Sockets derusted and sealed.  wiring repaired  and new bulbs added.

[lschuc]

Looks much better!   

[Avanti-Tom]

Finally found some time to get back intio the car.  Removed the engine last week.  Getting the air system off was not easy.  Photos not loading.  Sorry.