Avanti R2, 1963, refresh

Still Wednesday, but now PM. The two windows and the man door were delivered this afternoon. Hopefully, they will go in tomorrow. Anyway that is my plan.

I also received the support lift tool via FedEx. Now that was fast, just ordered it yesterday morning. I won't take it out of the box until the garage is complete and the 2 post lift is in.

It is Thursday, April 16th, PM. The workers have left for the day, and work they did. The two windows are in and the siding is on except for about three panels on one side. They just ran out of time. Tomorrow they will finish the siding, put in the door, and put metal on the soffits and run the downspouts. They are also leveling and tamping the pad for the concrete. I hope that the concrete pad is poured next week.

I also got the 1923 McLaughlin Buick out of the trailer. I had to prime the little gas tank to get it to start, but once started the little tank filled just fine. I had not run the car since Hershey last year. I started to do some light cleaning and noticed that I still had 8 Phillips head screws in the robe holder. How did that happen! Luckily I have lots of slotted screws from the restoration. Not perfect looking, but now at least they are correct for the era of the car.

Also took a pic of a thread coming apart on my top. David did my top about eight years ago. He said it is still under warranty and will fix it next week when he fits the side curtains. Now that is great customer service.

So all in all it was a great day. And all the flowers are finally starting to pop.

Also took a pic of a thread coming apart on my top. David did my top about eight years ago. He said it is still under warranty and will fix it next week when he fits the side curtains. Now that is great customer service.

I was not so lucky than you to have such an extended warranty from my suppliers!

You will have a nice garage!

It is Friday, April 17th, PM. Another good day for the garage build.

First, the electric cooperative design engineer came out and walked the buried cable route with Alice as I was on a repair errand. They decided the route and the location of the transformer. So we are good to go. They want all the final grading done before they will come out and install the cable.

Second, the four carpenters did a great job of installing the man door and finishing the siding. All four walls are done. Then they concentrated in putting in the soffits and skirting where the gutters will be attached. Everything looks great. A first class job. They also finished the grading of the garage pad. On Monday their plan is to finish trimming the corners, installing the gutters, and finishing the soffits on the gable ends of the building. They are also getting a tamper machine to finish leveling the gravel for the pad.

Third, the garage door folks are suppose to be out early next week to measure the doors and head back to the office to assemble all the piece parts for the three doors.

Fourth, I have asked the builder when the concrete folks are going to show up. The pour will be done at two different times, the pad and then the entries to the doors. These will not be done until the excavation folks finish the final grading.

My goal is to push the builder for the concrete pad by the end of the week.

I also picked up my open trailer from the farm next door. Got it home and found a flat tire. Another bad valve stem. Glad I found it as it will be used by Steve and his 1967 Camaro. He would not be a happy camper if he started his trip to Virginia Beach with a flat.

Wonderful garage. If you didn't have a good collection of vehicles you would rattle in there!

A wooden stepladder! I haven't seen a live one of those for a while. We have two dead examples in the garden under roses.

I hope there will be concrete under the bottom plate and not gravel. I expect there will be - between the doors the gravel is below the bottom plate while on the long side it seems to be right under it. Will there be an air gap between the concrete and the cladding? In NZ, the surrounds outside must be 150 mm (6") below the floor level, so the cladding does not touch the ground, there is room for ventilation and leaves and wind-blown rubbish do not gather against the cladding.

It is interesting that the fascias are going on after the roof. Usually they are on before the roof here. Is the soffit perforated metal? If so, how do you keep wind out of the insulation in the roof?

"A wooden stepladder! I haven't seen a live one of those for a while."

I think it may be Fiberglass.

It is Saturday, PM, April 18th. What a nice day, and 84 degrees. This morning we went over to next farm to see a brand new airplane. It is a special built STOL Super Cub. The owner is going to use it in competition in Alaska to see who can do the shortest take off and landing. The farm has an official grass landing strip. Its call sign is AICP, which stands for Ayers International Cow Pasture (owned by Henry Ayers). The airplane has a shorter body, longer wings, special flaps, long travel shocks and huge balloon tires. It has a special 4 cylinder engine also, which produces 240 HP. It is a screamer.

On the garage front the only thing I did was install the shop sign and lucky horseshoe on the door.

John, around here (North Carolina), the horseshoes are usually mounted on the door frame above the door. That must be a northern (Virginia ) thing to mount the horseshoe to the door itself

I did not want to be the first one to ask, but I too have never seen a horseshoe mounted ON a door. Apparently how it is done is a regional thing... Here is an interesting link thanks to Google.

http://psychiclibrary.com/beyondBooks/horseshoe-superstition

It is Sunday, PM, April 19th. Raining hard now and scheduled to continue the next twelve hour or so. Clearing on Monday until the PM when strong thunderstorms and much more rain are expected.

But until then, we have a Greg report.

"Wham bam weekend. Getting back into the swing of things.

Saturday was busy. First order of business was a new battery for Barb's Subaru. This replaced one that hadn't much time on it and I had plans for the old one. After that exchange, her old one went right into the black Avanti 5054.

Avanti 5054: With a hot battery installed, a quick lookover I tried to start the fresh engine after its winter hibernation. I had installed a fan clutch to replace the one cannibalized earlier, It didn't take much coaxing to get it to life. After a systems check (coolant, brakes, transmission, and a couple gallons of gas, etc) thought it time to try covering a little ground. To the main shop and back, it now has 1/4 mile on it. Sounding pretty good, it sounded even better when I found # 7 spark plug lead was dangling and reinstalled.

Matheson engine: What Matheson? Oh that one. With some detail work yet to do, I've begun gathering the brass that was buffed. Those items hauled to Rob for delivery to his brass guy.

Photo enclosed. Now to ready the parts that are to be dull nickeled for their trip to the plater. The make and break system tried out today with continued success. When the nickel returns I'll be running out of excuses to close it up. Photo enclosed.

Today also busy. As scheduled, Walter Higgins was to stop by, dropping off the Overland front seat assembly that has been in his care. Now substantially sound, it's back home. I also found my old leading (make that body soldering) paraphenalia to cover the joints in the body platform sheet steel skin. Out of practice, but it got done and besides, like Bondo, most of it gets filed off anyway. Photo enclosed. Add Tinsnips Thetan Ogle to the mix.

Seabiscuit the maroon Avanti: With a hit list of things to do, I began with the easiest to reach. The windshield wiper blades needed to be relocated for better parking when at rest. Played with them until satisfied, it was well timed. Got caught in a shower today.

A good movie with Barb on Friday night, her pork chops on Saturday, what a good start to the old car season."

=

It is Monday, PM, April 20th. Boy, it was a long, hard day. Got a call from David Coco this morning. He wanted to come over and fit the top and rear passenger carpet. He arrived just after 1 PM and worked hard until about 5 PM. We only got about half done, but that is OK. He will come back in a couple of weeks to finish the fitting. But I am all set for the Virginia Beach AACA show.

The side curtains look great and David is making sure they fit well. I did not have any of the fasteners installed so I had to do that before David could finish putting in the "lift the dot" fasteners.

Before David arrived I pulled out the 23 and drove it into the new garage. I also had to whittle down the rods for the side curtains so they would fit in the doors. Seemed a better place to work on it rather than in the traileer. Here are a few pics of the car in the garage and David working on the side curtains.

Only the garage front, only one worker today. But he got on all the trim and soffits. Only the gutters left to do and the building will be done. Still have not heard when the concrete, garage doors or final excavation work will be done. It is what it is. I am happy that the building is up. Great to have a place to park stuff, even if on gravel.

It was a fun afternoon, albeit in 80 degree weather (high temp in a long time!)....I am so jealous of John's building, he walked away once and I looked for a trailer hitch on the end, I'da dragged it home!

As with any project, nothing's simple, so we worked on locating missing fasteners and such......

As always, the camera makes one look fatter, so there had to be more than one camera he was using!

Trials and tribulations, but a good memory......

Great looking garage, John. Sometime I'm going to give up City Life for the country and then maybe I can build one like that!

Keith C MBCC

It is Tuesday, April 21st , PM. A very busy day. The last thing I have done is to hook up the open car trailer to take to Camaro Steve tomorrow. I want to help him load the car and tie it down. He is leaving next Thursday for Virginia Beach. We are leaving on Wednesday. This will be his first car show. The Camaro looks great, I am sure that he will do well.

Good news on the garage front. The structure is done except for the running of the front downspout and some diagonal inside bracing. The worker bees said that it will be done tomorrow. They put on the back downspout this morning and finished all the outside trim. Tomorrow they are going to tamp down the garage floor gravel, and then pick up and install the wire and plastic for the floor.

I also cut out and made a space for the breaker box. It is lightly installed. Should do the trick. Corvette Wayne is going to come over tomorrow and inspect it. If OK, I will make it permanent with some lag screws. I then have to remove a couple of wire access ports and drill a big round hole in the wall for the wires to pass through.

And the best news ever. The floor will be poured next Tuesday. We agreed on 5 inches of reinforced with fiberglass concrete, and 12 inches under the pads of the two post lift. The apron will have to wait until the final fill and grading is done. Right now, I don't care about the apron; I am just happy that the floor is going in. When we get back from Virginia Beach we will be able to drive the cars in. Yahoo!

Oh, and here are a couple pics of the front side curtains on the 23 McLaughlin Buick. The reason the windows look hazy is that David covered the plastic with a protective film. I am going to leave it on for now. Great quality and attention to detail.

It is Thursday, April 23rd, PM. Still following along on the garage build? Well today we reached a milestone. The garage structure is complete. Of course we have the bay doors to put in and the electrical, but I have four walls and a roof. The crew finished prepping the pad for the concrete on Tuesday. They leveled everything, made sure we had five inches for the concrete and dug depressions down eight inches more for the two post lift beams. Then they put down plastic and wire mesh. All ready for the big pour on Tuesday.

They also finished putting in the bracing in the roof structure to stop any tendency for racking. Looks great.

Looking really nice John. Will you have room for a few Crosley's? I was just wondering if you were putting any drains in the floor? Or will the floor be sloped to the doors to drain any water?

Dale, I have not made any provisions for inside drains, nor will the floors be sloped. With that said, if I have to remove water I will have to "sweep" it out the bay doors with a squeegee or something like that. I will not have any bay door "lip" in the concrete so any water should have any easy time of escaping.

Any washing of the cars will be done on the apron outside of the garage.

John:

My envy of your shrine to the mechanical is only matched by my envy of a 1920s Buick Touring with a beautiful fitted top AND... fitted side curtains.

We can't wait to get down to visit.

Larry

It is Sunday, PM, April 26th. Yesterday I spent the day at Carlisle, PA at the Spring Show. Lots of people, parts and cars. Camaro Steve almost bought a 1953 Chev P/U. Close on the buy, but they were $500 apart. He is still negotiating. We bought a few little things, so the trip was worth it. Lots to do and see.

And Greg has a weekend report for us too.

"Got in some driving time this weekend.

Walter Higgins had some work ready for me to pickup. Looks like the ball is in my court now. Decisions on metal work, tin attachment, etc.

We left Warrenton at eight in the AM, drove to Kennett Square, Pa., made the pickup and meandered home. A couple stops and an out of the way detour due to a traffic accident saw us stumble in about ten that night.

One stop was at the Kinzer, Pa collection of antique engines. I'd been told that I must see the Cooper engine, a photo and data page enclosed. Look closely and you'll see Barbara at the far end of it. Still in winter hibernation, we just had to be satsfied to see it slumber.

Also worthy of mention was our lunch stop in Lancaster, a sit down family style feast. Then the detour took us North to Harrisburg and then into rain. Our cargo in the truck bed was the Overland back seat with some bare woodwork. Driving into rain, even though it was covered, we decided to drop it off at Rob's until better weather. This also gave me a chance to test fit that Corcoran side lamp that Barb snagged on Ebay for me.

Today was pleasant. Some work on sorting Matheson engine hardware for plating, a little tin work on the Overland front seat, some play, and a little Studebaker time for a visit to my Mom.

Things are looking up."

It is a milestone day, Tuesday, April 28th, PM. The big pour started this morning at 7 AM, and they are still at it at 5 PM. The crew of 5 worked hard all day making sure we have a great concrete floor. It really looks great.

They are doing the final finishing and putting in the control joints before they go home tonight. Joe (packick on the forum) did our best work try to stay out of the way. We were the sidewalk supervisors. And I must say we did a great job. Here are some pics.

They poured 28 yards of material and only had a little blob left over. They used every bit.

Oh, Joe and I did some work. We beat down the two 8 foot cooper/iron ground rods for the electrical ground. Some of the work went pretty easy, but a few feet were really hard. We are both sore today.

John:

You forgot to mention that standing around and supervising is exhausting work. I am bushed. Or maybe it was doing the touch-up paint on the '23 McLaughlin Buick to get it ready for the AACA meet in Va. Beach is what wore me out.

Anyway, the garage looks great and they are doing a superb job on the cement floor. We hope to drive some of John's vintage cars into the garage when we return from Va. Beach on Monday.

By the way, for John's Canadian, New Zealand, and British blog followers, 28 sq. yards converts to 23.41156608 sq. meters.

By the way, for John's Canadian, New Zealand, and British blog followers, 28 sq. yards converts to 23.41156608 sq. meters.

Yep. But 28 cu. yds = 21.4 cu. m. That is a big concrete truck. I think your maximum axle loads are higher than ours so the trucks are bigger.

Very strong recommendation John: paint the floor. Concrete is always dusty with no coating and anything you spill will soak in. We put an epoxy on our garage and my workshop floor. Oil just wipes up as does spilt coolant with antifreeze in it. Acid doesn't hurt it if you get it off quickly. It is easy to sweep up the filings and cuttings and shavings etc.. Easy to wash. And so on. We didn't paint the "red shed" floor (12 x 8 m, for car and parts and motor home and garden machines and so on storage) and regret it. We used a cream colour and it makes the place much more light than grey concrete. It is also easier to find dropped nuts and screws, which usually run away and hide when you drop them.

It is Wednesday, PM, April 29th. We left home at about 10:30 AM, and made it to the show area about five hours later. A nice drive, and not too much traffic. The museum locale looks to be a great place. We dropped off the trailer and headed to the hotel. Nice place for sure, room is really nice. Staff is really friendly. Tomorrow we are off sight seeing and then on Friday Joe and I will spend the day at the show area visiting the museum and getting the car ready for the show on Saturday. We were told that 415 cars are registered.

Here is the view from our room.

Good luck on that senior award.

Al

It is Friday, am, May 1st. We spent yesterday touring around the area. Decided to spend the afternoon on the water so we took a harbor cruise. Lots of US Navy ships in port or under refitting. A great couple of hours. Then we had a great seafood dinner and headed back to the hotel. A very nice day, but it rained for most of it.

These are pictures that Joe (Packick) took.

This morning we are going to head to the car show. Joe and I will spend the day cleaning the car, meeting friends, visiting with other owners, and touring the museum. There is enough to do to keep us out of trouble.

Oh, the wind is howling outside our room glass door and the surf is up with huge waves. But no rain so far. Sure glad that we were on the water yesterday. I don't think that we would be going out today.

The weather forecast for tomorrow looks good with no rain and temps making it to 70 or so.

It is Friday, PM, May 1st. Cold and really windy in the morning. Surf is way up and the sea is really angry. We headed to the Military Aviation Museum to get the 23 McLaughlin Buick ready to unload from the trailer. With that accomplished we toured the museum for a couple of hours. After a nice lunch we just relaxed around the hotel. It was just stormy all day so we did not spend a lot of time outside. I did manage to walk the boardwalk about 8 PM for about four miles. It was fun walking with the wind, coming back, not so much. I was the only person on the boardwalk.

Tomorrow is the big show. The weather is suppose to be OK. The trailer parking was getting a bit muddy so I am sure the wheels and tires of all the cars will be a mess. At least we will all be in the same boat. No rain expected and a high temp of 70. So it will be a good day.

Here are some pictures that Joe took of the museum.

Nice pictures and thank you for writing the names of the airplanes and others things! Interesting wing's arrangement for the GM Wildcat and TBM Avenger. Many, many years ago, I assembled a Douglas AD-4 and a Bell P-63 from plastic kits. I still have them...

It is Sunday, PM, May 3rd. We made it home. Friday was really cold and stormy, but Saturday was perfect. Over 400 cars in the show. All decked out to the 9s. We arrived about 8:30 and judging started at 11. Everything went like clockwork. We had a great time. Lots and lots of beautiful cars. Here are pics of just a few. Joe will have more in another entry. Awards were at 4 PM. We received our Senior 1st Place National Award. Everyone really like the 23 McLaughlin Buick. The dinner after the show was very good also. No one left hungry. We picked up the trailer at about 8:30 this morning and were home by 1. We all are a little tired.

more pics and yours truly with the award.

And here are pics that Joe/Packick took. He does a lot better job than me if identifying the cars.

And more, including some of the 23 McLaughlin Buick being judged.

Congrats on Senior First! What a great goal and car...glad I could be a small part of getting it there!!

Wow! Those Duesenbergs! All of the cars really, but those Duesenbergs - what cars!

congratulation on the senior award and now for the grand national?

Al

Congratulations John! Senior only verifies how nice a car it is! I took my Avanti out for the first ride this evening, about 75 and a great eve for a lakeside cruise. Didn't go far or fast but felt great to get behind the wheel (of any old car) again! The old girl behaved herself and seemed to take the winter well except the battery. I had to charge it to go, but it drained quite fast as I cranked the car over. It barely caught and I left her run as I got gas. It is a seven YO battery that just had a brutally cold long winter so maybe it is time to replace it. Will run the car more this week as spring has finally sprung here in upstate and see how it goes..

Again, congrats and nice barn too!

Congratulations on the senior award John. I talked to you briefly on the Hershey show field the day you received the junior award. Beautiful car that is well deserving of the awards.

Phil

It is Monday, April 4th, early PM. Oh the indignity. Alice needs to use the new garage to set out and inventory a massive collection of donations for the big flea market on Saturday. We started yesterday and they finally finished this morning. Lots of stuff. But I did get the Jaguar in the garage as Alice will be using the enclosed trailer for the market on Saturday. Need any holiday nickknacks?

But I did order the 2 and 4 post lifts. They are in so we will be heading up to Delaware on Wednesday to pick them up. Taking the open car trailer with a bunch of tie downs.

FedEx dropped off two five gallon buckets of sealer for the garage floor. We have to wait a months to put the sealer on. It is water based and dries in 4 to 6 hours. We will use a couple of small sprayers to apply it.

And while we were in Virginia Beach, Corvette Wayne came by and installed the meter and breaker panels. What a nice neighbor.

" Oh the indignity", LOL. You didn't even get to track in the first dirt!

Ben

It is Wednesday, May 6th, PM. Big day on the garage front.

We headed up to Newark, Delaware, a little after 6 AM. Time to pick up the lifts. Traffic all the way up was terrible, bumper to bumper. It took forever. I think that we got there about 10:30 AM. After placing my order the fork lift came out and loaded us up. The trailer groaned as they were loaded on. We strapped them down as tight as we could and doubled up on the two post lift, four 2 inch straps. After a stop for lunch and another few hours on the road we made it home. A total of about 9 hours, and about 350 miles.

While were gone the garage door contractors arrived about 10 AM and installed all three doors. They were done at 4 PM. They look great, and the fit and finish are very good. Yes, they are insulated.

And Corvette Wayne came over and wired up the two panels. We are ready to put power to it, but that will have to wait until the final grading is done. Wayne is a great friend. Next week, our son, Tim comes to town. He is a general contractor, and we are going to put him to work running electrical wire.

Oh, here is a pic of the 1923 McLaughlin Buick entering the show field. We had a pic taken of us in front of a vintage airplane. Normally you would see the driver, but our car is a right hand drive. So you see Joe (packick), and he looks like he is driving.

Great progress, and darn that Buick looks great!