SeventhSon
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Posts posted by SeventhSon
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Are the studs still attached to the bottom of the grille? If so, don't worry about putting nuts on it as it won't go anywhere. Ran mine like that for years and 10,000 miles at least. I didn't want to drill holes as I had seen on some cars so I left it "for another day". As far as I know the new owner, who uses the car almost daily, hasn't bothered either.
Yes, the studs are still attached and they fit into holes in the fiberglass below the radiator - I just can't get into the space on the underside of the lip to put nuts on them. I'm sure it'll stay put the way it is - especially if the upper screws stay tight.
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Bill, I thought someone might bring up that plate. Actually, that is the way it was intended to be mounted for the Avantis that are in states that require front plates. I bought the bracket from Studebaker International and it mounts right where the center rubber piece goes, using the same holes. However, I am going to put the rubber piece back on and drop the plate down below it, as I too like the front bumper with the center rubber part. Before, when I was trying to decide how to mount the plate I kept it up high and out of the way of the air flow because I was having trouble with overheating. That problem seems to have subsided (except on 90+ degree days), so I am going to move the plate down.
I have developed a plan in my mind for that front bumper. Next year, if I still have a job, I plan on removing that front bumper and sending it off for re-chroming. While it is off I will remove the bumper bracket grommets and get new ones and before I re-install everything I will take it by MAACO and have them touch up (repaint?) the front end, just from the bumper line down. That's the plan anyway
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You're right Ernie - there is resistance there, and that's no surprise since everything other than the battery and cables is 50 years old. So, a starter rebuild would be a smart thing to do, since the car sat for so many years. It probably wouldn't hurt to throw a new starter relay in there too, since they are available from NAPA, I believe.
This morning I headed over to the storage unit to finally have some progress time on the car. First off I had a look at the starter relay and noticed that the battery cable was on the outside of the small red wire that shares the lug, the smaller red wire going to the ignition switch through the ammeter. From my limited knowledge of electricity, I reasoned that with that setup the electrical current had to travel through the smaller wire connector to get to the relay to get to the starter. And if the connector on the small red wire was a bit corroded then there would be resistance in the path. But who would put the main wire on top of the secondary wire connector? Must have been me - I put the new battery cable on. I don't think anybody removed it after I installed it.
I removed the nut holding the connectors to the starter relay. Sure enough, there was the lockwasher between the battery cable connector and the ignition wire. Meaning that originally the ignition wire went on the outside of the battery cable. The star lock washer was even imprinted on the ignition wire connector. All right, Perry Mason, I think we have determined that the ignition wire mounts on the outside of the battery cable connector. I guess I plead guilty to improperly connecting the wires. I cleaned everything with steel wool and hooked it up the correct way. By that time the local hardware store was open and I headed over there without trying to start the car.
I picked up some various stainless steel screws and nuts to use in installing the grille and headlight beauty rings. I headed back to the unit and the grille went right in with little trouble. The new stainless screws and washers worked nicely on the upper grille mounts - I had bought some nuts for the lower, stationary studs that fit through the fiberglass lip below the radiator, but I couldn't get the nuts on. Too tight working quarters - I guess that's why the studs didn't have nuts on them when I took the grille off. I'll have to contemplate how to get those nuts on - maybe I'll post some pics of the situation. I then moved on to the beauty rings - they went on without any trouble. In the one pic below you'll notice that one screw is missing on one of the headlight retainer rings. The screw hole was slightly reamed out, so I picked up a slightly larger screw when I was at the hardware store and used that to tighten things down.
By then I was ready to try the starter. I hopped in and gave it a crank. She cranked a bit faster and the engine fired up within a few seconds Nice! Of course, it's only been a couple of days since I took her out for a run - the true test will be starting it after 10 days sitting in the cold weather. Speaking of taking her out for a run - that's what I did. A reward for getting a few more pieces back on the car. A beautiful day and the car ran beautifully too, during which time the odometer turned over to 70,000 miles. Barely broken in.
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Thanks Ben, John, and Ernie - the cable is new and tight, but the lug on the starter relay and surrounding surface may be corroded. I'll check it tomorrow. I was told that a wire heating up was due to resistance, such as could be caused by poor connection. So I will check that first. Ernie could have a point though, I never did work on the starter, so if the connector cleanup doesn't help I will add a starter rebuild to the list. For this winter sometime. John - I do have a fire extinguisher in the car and in the home garage, but not in the storage unit by the car. I will make that investment asap!
Well, no parts arrived today, so I will proceed on the items I can get done without them. I can get the grill in, the headlight beauty rings on, and the glass headlight covers back on. I am going back to the original glass covers - I had the plastic ones on for quite a while and I always told myself that the glass ones were going back on after the paint job. So now is the time for that. I will also tighten up the front bumper, but will have to wait for the rubber shims for each end to arrive before I can put those bolts back in place.
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Growing tired of not having any Avanti fun, I headed over to the storage unit at lunch today. I brought along some SeaFoam to put in the fuel tank - I figured it was going to be a hard start and I was right. The old girl doesn't like cold weather. She barely started cranking, but the spinning picked up as it went along. But the engine just wouldn't catch - it was trying, but wouldn't fire up. So, after several attempts I raised the hood and was dismayed to see the positive battery cable smoking where it connects to the starter relay. Yow! Not good. Good thing it was cold, so things would cool off. But the insulation was melted a bit. Oh well, in the future, when it hasn't been started in a while, I will use a different procedure. Which is what I did after the battery cable had cooled down to a hundred degrees or so:rolleyes:. I hooked up the battery booster box and waited a couple of moments. She cranked and fired - the engine ran rough for a few seconds but quickly got sorted out and revved nicely. Ah, that's what I like to hear.
After unhooking the battery booster I took her out, got some gas to mix up the SeaFoam, and hit the road. Man, this old car just needs to run, so I took it for about 25 or 30 miles. She sure runs nice when you shake the cobwebs out. I have to run her more often - I don't care if I have to put in for leave from work or drive all the way from my field site to get her some exercise. The old car runs real nice, so she deserves to run. So, when cold, I hook the battery booster up before even cranking the engine. Another thing I am looking into is another battery. Something stronger - sorry, but the Interstate 3EE just ain't enough for this car. I hope to make it a while longer with it, but I will keep my eye out for a strong, reliable battery.
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Well, I thought I would check in to let folks know that I'm still here - just not much happening on the Avanti front. Work keeps me pretty busy these days, as I am doing both the field and office duties. Not sure how long that will go on - I'm just rolling with it for now. It makes it hard to get over to the storage unit to see the old rocket ship. I think I have gotten the parts acquisition dilemma solved - I sent my list to one of my suppliers and he says he has the stuff and it is on its way to me. Fingers are crossed....
A little story - a few months back I was talking to an Avanti guy and he said he had a '63 "project car" (an R1) that he wanted to sell. Years ago he had taken the car apart and started a frame up restoration. The frame was blasted and painted, the body stripped and painted, other stuff was done, new parts left and right. Life and too many other projects got in the way, so the restoration halted. Now, he wanted to part with the car - give it a good home. He asked me if I wanted it. It was a great price, too. I thought about it, but eventually told him that I needed another Avanti like I needed a "hole in my head". So I passed on it. Yesterday I woke up thinking about that car - maybe I needed another project for the winter. I called the guy - too late (maybe), the car was spoken for. The buyer was just opening up some space for it and then he would come and get it. But he hasn't picked it up yet....I told him to call me if the guy backed out. Hehe - crazy I am. Crazy about Avantis.
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The gears continue to wind slowly - the difficulty in acquiring parts and time are slowing me down. But I find snippets of time to inquire about this or that or to pick up a needed piece. I did get by Home Depot after work yesterday to check on another speed nut. Hooray! Seems they restocked since last week and I was able to get another unit. Tonight I removed the old rotten speed nut, cleaned up the rust a little, and sprayed a bit of Rust Reformer on the spot. While I waited for that to dry I had a good look at the hood "gunsight" piece. I wanted to determine if I could still use the part - after steel wool and some chrome cleaner it was a bit shinier but still pitted. I believe I will spring for a reproduction piece - no sense putting a tired old piece on top of the new paint.
After that dead end I returned to the bumper guard bracket and installed the speed nut. I believe I am almost ready to install the rear bumper - all I need now are the rubber pads that go in between the bumper and body at each corner. I need those for the front as well. I had ordered them a few weeks ago but still don't have them - sometimes I wonder how people run businesses when afflicted with lackadasicalness. That's not a word, but it should be.
I was talking to a parts guy, and he said those permanent type clips are called barrel clips and they are just that, permanent. He said that is how the roof "sail" emblems were attached on the Avanti. So that's how those went on. Oh well, they came off with a Dremel cutting tool and a drill - no big deal, they were rotten anyway. So, the slow acquisition proceeds - I was asked today when I was going to bring the car home for a "weekend" to put the stuff on. As soon as I get all the parts in hand. And it'll probably be a weekend, a week, and another weekend. Works for me - I enjoy having the old car right downstairs. I might have to make that a permanent arrangement.
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Thanks Ernie - I think I'll pass on the mounting clips. After reading Greg Cone's description of his hood ornament (on unimogjohn's thread, Avanti Refresh) and how those clips are a one way street, I think I'll devise another mounting way. I am quite envious of Greg's NOS hood ornament though - hmmm, where did he find that?
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John Byrd - I will check into that, thanks. Ernie, thanks for clarifying what that piece was like - I was unsure what the reproduction piece might look like.
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Thanks Ernie and Roger - something for me to consider. I'm not sure which direction I will take, but it will probably be a combination of all of the above
Looks like I'll have some time to think about it - I ordered several items from S.I. almost 2 weeks ago. Usually the stuff from them gets here within a week, so I sent an email a few days ago asking about the status of the order. Seems they dropped the ball on the order or something. So it'll be a while longer before I get the emblems I am waiting for - the hood ornament and insert along with other things. I'll have time to work on the attachment issues while I wait.
Ernie - you mentioned that you purchased the hood chrome and were not satisfied with it. Did you find it to be a cheap reproduction? My original has some pitting, but I would re-use it if the repro is junk.
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Richard - you are amazing. And patient.
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Thanks Ernie - I was thinking about filling some of the new pal nuts with silicone, then when it was dry, drilling a little hole through the silicone. Your idea might work better - I am really looking for something to hold the nuts in place. They won't tighten down and barely stay in place. I had one old nut that still had the rubber in place and that fit nicely and tightened up. So, I'll use any trick to hold the emblems fast - the "Studebaker" emblem that goes on the trunk lid is worse, being a reproduction, the mounting studs are very narrow and the nuts just fall right off. I might build the studs up with some JB Weld.
I'm looking around at auto parts stores for an antenna that will fit the existing hole - I just want something that will cover the hole and looks about right. Not even worried about having a radio at this point - the rumble of the engine and whistle of the supercharger are music to my ears!
Speaking of....this morning I headed over to the unit and got the old rocket ready to go out. She cranked a bit, then fired, and soon enough we were headed up the road. I'm still loving it, the roar and whistle, the quickness, and, since I got her painted, the stares and thumbs up. It's a lot of fun and man, does she run. I love it! After returning to the storage unit I started fooling around with mounting the "Avanti" emblem on the nose. She's on there, time will tell if the nuts are going to stay put. I'll keep an eye on it.
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The wheels move slowly - I have been gathering the different pieces to put old MightyFast back in trim. I've met with some success, but I'm still waiting on the S.I. order which includes the hood and side sail emblems, along with door rubber, etc. While waiting for that stuff I have busied myself in my free moments with finding nuts and bolts and the like. I received a box of one hundred (sorry, no less quantity than that available) PAL nuts, which I believe I can use for most of the emblems. I'm also looking for a fair replica of the fender mounted antenna that doesn't cost $140. Just something to fill the spot and looks like it belongs there.
Yesterday I picked up a speed nut that I can use to mount a rear bumper guard. How come I didn't pick up two? Because they didn't have two! I thought I could use the old one on the other guard but loking at the picture I took of that guard tonight, I see the old one is partially rotten - gotta go. I'll look for another speed nut to match the other. Today I picked up a couple of different lengths of bolts, 7/16 - 14, which hold the rear bumper corners fast. Last week I picked up some of the nuts for the center mounts on the bumper. So, things are accumulating - pretty soon all I will need is the time to do the job. No store I have found yet carries time for sale.
Also tonight, I cleaned up (as best is possible) the old side emblems that announce that the old girl is "Supercharged". Hehe, I love it!
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Wow - that's a score! I'm envious - I hope to see more of this one.
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Ah, fun with cars. I ordered some PAL nuts, they arrived pretty quickly, and even more quickly I realized they were too big. A disappointment for sure - I'm going to have a big sale for all the things I have purchased that are the wrong kind, size, color, etc. Unload it all. So, I ordered some more PAL nuts - however, I don't believe these nuts have the little rubber piece as part of the piece. Maybe I'll find some tiny rubber washers and glue them to the nuts. Dunno - I'll have to wait until they show up.
The car fun continued last night after work, when I changed the oil in my daily driver. Pretty cut and dried exercise - NAPA had full synthetic oil on sale (their brand, supposedly made by Valvoline), so I sprung for five quarts and a platinum filter. Now the oil is changed for another, oh, I don't know, year? The last two oil changes lasted me about a year each, as I use full synthetic oil and a super filter. Who wants to change oil every 3000 miles when using dino oil? Hehe - don't start the oil debate, Chris....
Then today, at lunchtime, I decided to take a look at the right front wheel area on the company truck. I've been noticing that the brakes on the right front have a little "grab" to them. Then I noticed a couple of times (most recently today while heading home for lunch) that as I would be turning to the left at an intersection I would hear a little clunk. Not good to hear clunks anytime, really. So I decided to pull the wheel and have a look - about three months ago we had tires and alignment done and the shop had to replace the lower ball joints to get the alignment done. So, naturally I was thinking that they left something loose and I was going to lose a wheel whilst flying down the road. I pulled the wheel and immediately saw the problem - the stabilizer bar had broken free of its attachment on that side. I didn't even need to remove the wheel to see that, but I was glad to have a look at the brakes while the wheel was off. I noticed tonight, in the picture, that the upper ball joint boot is cracked open. Always something....
Tonight, finally a little Avanti fun. I took a few minutes to assemble the bumper guards, brackets, and rubber strips. Things went together pretty well, one step closer to getting the old girl all back together. Still waiting on my pieces from S.I. - I was going to take tomorrow off and get things rolling as far as putting the pieces back on. But a client called and needs some work tomorrow - and clients come first. They pay for all this fun!
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Thanks Ben and John - it's a nice feeling of accomplishment to give the old car a second chance. It makes it all worth it - sometimes I have to remind myself of that, though
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Well, I finally sprung my leash and made a run for the storage unit. It has been over two weeks since the old engine has cranked up and I wanted to get the cobwebs out of it. First, I was able to install the three hubcaps that I couldn't get in place a little over a week ago. This time they went on - still a battle, but not as bad as last time. As you can see in one of the pictures below I couldn't get the paint overspray off with WD40, so I'll have to try something else - maybe Goof Off. After getting the hubcaps on I got her ready to go out and hopped in to crank the engine. Boy, the starter started cranking very slowly, but picked up speed as it went along. It took a while to finally get her to fire, but when she did it was like old times.
Out we went for a 40 or 50 mile run - she sure likes to run and still has the giddy up and go in her. It was a fun drive - at one point I stopped at a business park under a tree showing some fall color and took a few pics. Below I have included one pic of the old girl, down on her heels in Texas. We've come a long way since then!
In other news, I went ahead and bit the bullet and sprung for the pieces I will need to get the car back together. I hope to have everything in hand by next weekend so I can get her back ship shape.
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I managed to get by the storage unit today - I was anticipating taking the car out for a few minutes, but as soon as I pulled up to the door it started raining. So I just fooled around with cleaning the engine chrome - MAACO got some overspray or something under the hood that made the chrome dull and rough. I wasn't sure if it was damaged or what, but I was glad to see that the chrome cleaned up with some cleaner and fine steel wool. Looks better, but now I need to start down the road to painting under the hood to match the rest of the car. Always something to do - I guess that's why they call it a hobby (when I took the pieces off the car before it went to the paint shop my wife said, "That's not a hobby, that's a job!) Felt like it that day I have to admit.
I ordered some PAL nuts the other day, so I should be able to install the emblems soon. I checked the S.I. catalog the other night and, depending on which pieces I want, it can run from a couple of hundred bucks to several hundred bucks for all the "bling" and rubber for the doors. Maybe I'll take it a little at a time. When I was there today I realized that I need to clean the paint overspray off the tires too - I'm thinking WD 40 maybe? :confused:
I took some pictures yesterday of my robotic surveying instrument on the job, but I realized that the work camera doesn't use the same transfer cable as my personal camera. Ah well, gives me something to post tomorrow.
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Wow - I never knew they had such a varied lineup of cars! Really cool - can't wait to see your progress. I know what you mean by work taking priority though.
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Thanks Dan! Sometimes (actually, most of the time) I think I'm crazy to have done it. But then I drive it and all is good with the world. I'm starting to pull together the various bits and pieces that I will need to put this thing back together. I can't wait to take her out on the road once everything is back on it - it'll be a day to celebrate, for sure.
Time to have a look at the S.I. catalog, make the list and add it up :confused:
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A little light duty on the Avanti stuff tonight. I just sprayed some Rust Reformer on the bumper guard brackets - just to slow the rust down and give a little black color to them. I also wiped some more Gummi Pflege Stift (Translation: Really Excellent Rubber Conditioner and Restorer - not really
) on the rubber strips. I am still deciding if I should use them. As you can see, there is some cracking along the edges. Decisions, decisions....
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Thanks John, that's just what I was looking for!
Ah Roger, no wonder I couldn't read that!
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Tonight I worked on cleaning up the grill and Avanti emblem. They are both in good shape and cleaned up well. I guess those are two items I can put back on next - I sure would like to find some PAL nuts with the little rubber pieces that go with them. I guess that's what I'm looking for, when I removed the emblems from the car the nuts on the posts came off, leaving hardened rubber pieces that were still holding the emblem fast. I've looked around a bit and there seem to be plenty of PAL nuts but I haven't seen any with the rubber pieces. Probably not looking hard enough.
Also tonight, I worked on cleaning up the rear bumper guards brackets and the rubber strips that fit on the chrome guards. I wire brushed the brackets and wiped some of the strangely named rubber rejuvenator on the rubber strips. I have to decide if I want to use these pieces I got with the bumper from Georgia, or buy reproductions from S.I. If I use these I can save about 80 bucks, I believe. That'll come in handy, what with paint jobs and tooth issues. I also have to start a list of the things I will need to finish putting the Avanti back together, hood emblem, sail emblems, door rubber, antenna, headlight cover seals. Probably a couple of other things I need as well, it'll come to me in the middle of the night.
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John - it's a funny color, sometimes silver, sometimes gold. It changes with the lighting. I like it.
) on the rubber strips. I am still deciding if I should use them. As you can see, there is some cracking along the edges. Decisions, decisions....
Avanti R2, 1963, refresh
in Our Cars & Restoration Projects
Posted
John, does this mean your plans for a garage expansion are cancelled? Or is the trailer storage merely a stopgap measure to protect the cars until the new garage gets built?