SeventhSon
-
Posts
1,226 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Forums
Gallery
Events
Posts posted by SeventhSon
-
-
At lunch time today I fetched my Avanti Workshop Manual and had a look at what kind of fuses I may need. I took a copy of the page to the local NAPA store and we searched out the fuses. The 15AGC was pretty easy (that was the one I needed) but some of the others had the counter guy stumped. 14 SAE was not in their list - there was a 14 SFE. Then there is SAE 6, 1AG2, 2 1/2 SAE, on and on. I ended up getting three of the 15AGC, one 1AG, and a can of Seafoam (it's on sale!).
I headed to the storage unit and put the replacement fuse in. I hooked up my flasher with the jump wires, turned on the battery and tried the signals. Worked nicely - brought a smile to my face. Well, I thought, let's throw this steering wheel on and see if the horn works. I turned off the battery, installed the wheel, hooked up the horn, turned the battery back on and pressed the horn bar. First, the weak right side horn groaned, then the new left horn blared. And blared. I pushed back and forth on the horn bar until the horn stopped blowing. I decided that maybe the horn bar needed to "seat", or loosen up a bit. I unhooked the left horn and pressed the horn bar this way and that, up and down, back and forth. I could hear the horn relay engaging, so I used that to judge when the horn would be sounding. After a while it seemed that the horn bar settled down so I hooked up the left horn and finished installing the steering wheel. I was starting to get a hankering to take her out!
I fired the old beast up and took her out - just a work of art, she is. The old car has all the stuff - I just stood there and listened to the motor rumble and the supercharger's low whine at idle. Music to my ears. We went for a nice ride - too short of course, only about 15 miles, but I had to get back to work. But it was a happy drive, car running so nice, she loves to run. And the horn did not honk whenever I turned a corner or whenever it felt like it. So, a very productive day - I got the turn signals working, the horn working, and the touched up steering wheel back on the car. A nice day.
-
Early this morning I received an email at work from a site construction company requesting a proposal for our services on an office building site to be developed. As I researched it I realized that it was a mile from the storage unit. Well, I'll have to make a site visit for this proposal! I headed over at lunch time and had a ride around the site - big site, lots of work. I'm not sure if we have a chance of getting it but I'll give it a go and see what happens.
Since I was only a mile from the old Avanti it would be a crime not to drop in and pay a visit. I stopped by the unit and started fooling around with the turn signal switch. I removed the screw that is in the center of the plastic canceler piece. That screw holds the turn signal lever in place also. I removed the lever, then started trying to remove the canceler but it wouldn't come free. I didn't give it too much trouble, as I didn't want to break it and then have to wait a few more days for another one to arrive. So, I reinstalled the turn signal lever and focused on cleaning the switch plate and upper column area. After scraping a bit of loose debris out I had the idea to spray some WD 40 in there. I did that and wiped things down as best I could. I think it may have helped - couldn't hurt with 50 years of crud in there.
I decided to try the turn signals again - I turned the battery cut-off on and tried the signals. Nothing. I got under the dash (well, as much as a beefy old guy can get under an Avanti dash) and fiddled around with the flasher. I got nothing out of the signals at all, which is strange because before, if I jiggled the flasher around I could get the signals to at least give me something. Hmmm...is there a fuse blown? I had a look - one fuse did look done for. I removed it - yep, it was gone. Well, that might have something to do with it - I still need to look at the wiring diagram and see which fuse and what amp it is. By this point the sweat was a flood and it was time to quit - I'll welcome cooler, dryer air whenever it wants to show up. Too uncomfortable working in this humidity, for sure.
-
Ha! If I buy that I might as well buy a doghouse along with it, because that's where I would be staying for the foreseeable future!
-
Bill, that had to have been on John's thread - maybe Greg did that?
-
Ah, here's a couple of pics - interesting cooling setup for the engine. Bill, is that what your engine looks like?
-
Thanks Bill - maybe the second time will be the charm for that steering wheel. I hope to have a look at the turn signal switch today so I can get the steering wheel back in place before the weekend. Time for a drive! Sounds like your fun is continuing - I guess it's always something on these old cars. Speaking of, I'm going to do a search for that Overland and see what one looks like - 100+ years old!
-
Thanks John, John, and Pat, for the encouragement and info. It will be needed as I move forward. Speaking of, the wheels (no pun intended) start to lurch into action again - I hope I can keep the forward motion going.
This evening I removed the masking from the steering wheel and cleaned up the chrome. I polished up the brass horn plate and re-installed that along with the horn bar. Everything is back together and ready for the wheel to go back on. First I will have a look at the turn signal switch to make sure that is not the problem with the turn signals. Hope to have a drive in her by next weekend.
-
Well. I decided to move forward on the steering wheel because, well, because you can't drive the dang car without it! I could use Vice Grips but they would mess up the steering shaft, so it was time to get the paint on the wheel. I finished up my sanding job that I started the other day, utilizing my front stoop and sidewalk since that is the shady area of my place. No way I could work on it in the back, as that is under direct sun all day long - the paint spray would dry before it hit the steering wheel. After sanding things up I gave the wheel a bath to get any dust and skin oils off - I dried things off, wiped it down with paint prep and sprayed it. Done for painting - I'm just going to clean up all the horn pieces, put everything together and put the wheel back on the car. Hopefully for good - I have other things I want to move on to.
Speaking of, I've been thinking about what to get into next. I want something I can sink my teeth into on the top side of the car (can you tell I'm putting off getting underneath the old beast?). Well, the obvious thing to sink my teeth into is the paint job. It's a big job, the prep work should keep me busy for some time, and the initial expense shouldn't be too burdensome. Some sanding blocks, sandpaper, primer, not too expensive. That's right, I think I'm going to hand sand it - I hope I'm not biting off too much, but I think I can control things better with hand sanding. No machines, no water, no stripper. Just me and my old car and some sandpaper and primer. What do you think? Can I do it?
30 years ago I left my job and headed south to Florida to give a friend, James, a hand with an auto body shop he was trying to start up. He had always been into cars and was always meticulous about things, whether it was cleaning an old carb or detailing the inside of whatever the latest classic he had. So, I helped him out for awhile and picked up some knowledge from helping him out and watching his meticulous attention to detail. I don't think I could ever be that detail oriented, mostly because I'm always pressed for time. But I think I can get things into fair shape, then let someone else "shoot" the car. We'll see, but that's next, the painting of the beast. After some housekeeping next week - re-install the steering wheel, get the signal lights working, drain off coolant and replace with some fresh distilled water, and change the oil. Whew!
Tonight I floated a "trial balloon" for bringing the old car home for a month while I sanded and primed the body. The balloon landed with a thud - can't really blame my fairer half, there is a lot of paint dust that gets everywhere when sanding and nobody wants to be breathing it, especially innocent bystanders. So, looks like the storage unit will be the "paint shop" for now. That's what James used in Florida - two connected storage units.
-
That's a great idea Bill! 30 hour days - where do we petition for that? Yep, it's right uncomfortable out these days, but I'm getting the old hankering to get something done on the old car, so I expect I'll bring her home next weekend for some upkeep work. That'll give me a week or so to get the steering wheel back together and reinstalled. But, like you, I have family stuff to do - my anniversary today, my mother's 88th birthday on Saturday, plus I have to get the company truck to the shop on Saturday for ball joints and alignment. Busy, busy
-
Yep Ernie - I can't remember what we used to do before the internet. I do remember it was a lot more difficult though.
Not doing much on the old Avanti - every time I step outside for more than 5 minutes I am drenched in sweat. Maybe I'm getting older or something, but geez, this is ridiculous! When I am out in the field for my job I spend the entire day soaking wet, like I jumped in the swimming pool or something. Very uncomfortable. But, I must soldier on and see if I can hang onto this job.
It's way too humid to repaint the steering wheel, plus I haven't felt like swimming in my clothes the last few days. So I'm in a holding pattern - maybe I'll recount some of the times gone by with some of the stuff I fooled around with, back in the old days. Speaking of the old days, tonight I was reviewing some old home movies that brother Brian had put to DVD and shared with the rest of us. I got a few screen captures of the first movie, where you can see me (well, you can't really see me, and that is my sister in that one picture) washing my mother's '63 Hawk, my brother Steve mugging for the camera while standing next to Brian's '64 Avanti. Unfortunately, you can only see part of the rear window of the Avanti, but it is unmistakable. In front of the Avanti on the carport is my father's '62 Hawk. Can't really see it though - who was running the camera, anyhow?? Wasn't me, I was washing my mother's car.
-
Hehe - no problem Ernie. I appreciate you taking the time to pass along your extensive experience with an Avanti to someone (me) who is fumbling his way through a rescue of one of these great old cars. It can be a challenge sometimes!
-
Thanks for the wealth of information, Ernie - it gives me a lot of avenues to look at. I was looking at the plastic pieces and whether they fit down in the horn bar base, but they don't seem to fit well that way. On top of the plastic piece (the wide end) there is a little lip that sticks out a tiny bit that fits in the holes in the brass plate. I'll double check the manual along with everything else before re-installation. I would like to get things sorted out so I don't have an experience like you did with the horn blaring at an inopportune time (driving by a hospital, cop car in front of me, pedestrians crossing the street).
-
I finally got a visit in to the old Avanti - I cleaned the windows, shined some of the chrome, then fired her up and took her out. I got some premium fuel (I wish there was a Pure gas station nearby for ethanol free gas) and headed out onto the freeway, where the old girl loves to be. She rumbled along, at one point having to blast by an 18 wheeler in order to reach a safe spot to cruise. She shot straight and smooth - she loves to run. I wanted to keep driving for a couple of hundred miles but, being the ever responsible one, I headed back toward the home base. I once again developed problems with the turn signals, which is becoming a real pain in the @#$&%!*!. My jump wire setup worked well for a few runs - then today there was no more turn signals. I switched out the flasher, jiggled the wires, disconnected and re-connected the wires. Nothing helped. So, I headed back to the storage unit - I don't really like driving around without turn signals or horns, etc.
Back at the storage unit I pulled the steering wheel again (getting pretty good at this). I want to re-visit my earlier work and painting on the wheel by filing and sanding the repair spots smooth and scuffing up some spots that have peeled. Then I'll clean the wheel and give it a couple of more coats of paint. I also wanted to address the horn problem again - when I got the horn working about a year ago everything was good, the horn worked when I needed it to. After removal of the wheel for repair and painting and re-installing it, the horn sounds whenever it wants to. Not sure what I did, but I want to fix it (along with the turn signals). I will clean all the contacts on the steering wheel and in the upper column. Speaking of contacts, does anyone know if the metal clip that holds the center cap on plays a part in the whole horn connection circuit? It almost seems like it - the clip is attached with two screws with springs on them. It almost seems like there is connection "bridge" there - not sure why, but I'll have to research it.
Tonight I started the filing and sanding of the steering wheel. I made a good start - hopefully I'll have the wheel painted and ready to re-install next week sometime. As I have indicated earlier, I want to bring the old girl home and get some stuff done on her, like cleaning and an oil change, and coolant flush. Other things that are floating around my head are painting the wheels and starting to paint the door jambs and under the hood. If I'm going to do that I'm going to have to make a final decision on a color. Sometime I'm going to have to crawl under this beast and do some fixing and painting. So much yet to do....
-
Sounds like you're going in the right direction, Bill. It'll be interesting to see what the problem turns out to be.
Ernie - thanks for the link on the stainless steel paint. I'm certainly missing my visits to the storage shed to tinker around with the old car during the week, but right now I'm in survival mode at work. I hope to get to the unit on Sunday for a drive and to remove the steering wheel one (?) last time. For now, back to work!
-
Thanks again for the info and the interesting perspective about the dating of the colors Ernie - I might just end up painting it turquoise yet. My brother Brian has had a couple of Avantis - he had a white '64 that he sold more than 35 years ago. Well, the guy who bought it did a frame off restoration on it, replaced every nut and bolt on the car, and when he put the body back on he painted it turquoise. I got to see it before the body went back on and after it was finished. Just a beautiful car, really. I wanted that car sooo bad, and the gentleman offered it to me for $7,500 cash because, as I found out later, he was terminally ill. Of course, I was only about 20 years old at the time and that kind of money might as well have been a million dollars. So it went to someone else. But it looked very nice in turquoise. And I believe if my wife saw mine in that color she would like it. Also, I don't need a show quality paint job - driver quality would work for me. As a matter of fact, I have been thinking that I wish I could find someone to put a 50 year old paint job on it, if you know what I mean by that.
Bill, You could have a crimped or blocked line from the junction block on the rear axle. If someone hooked a tow strap to the axle, or it hit a road hazard or something like that it could have crimped it shut. Unimogjohn had that situation on his. Or, there could be a blockage, if the car sat for many years and the brake fluid was dirty and solidified.
-
Ha ha - thanks Ernie. I posted a before and after pic of the chrome on the engine, more as a joke than anything since I couldn't finish the job before giving up to go for a drive.
I have noticed the leakage around the carb base and will put that on the list to do the next time I bring her home for a few days (or weeks!). And mine came from the factory in Turquoise - the Avanti mechanic who worked on mine, Alan Himes, has been suggesting that I should take it back to that color. My wife is not in agreement with him on that. It's a good thing I don't have any money, so I don't have to make the decision anytime soon! 
-
Very nice Bill! And a one owner too! You have to get those brakes fixed and get her out on the road. But I'm sure you are thinking the same thing
I was able to sneak by the storage unit last evening and pay a visit to my old Avanti. I'm glad I went last night, as it is raining out this morning. I took along some new chrome cleaner I got a couple of months ago with the intention of shining up the engine chrome and the exhaust extentions. However, that didn't last long - the desire to get out on the road and hear the rumble that Bill mentioned was too great. So I fired her up and out we went. Let me get sentimental here - I love that car. It is just such a feeling of contentment and satisfaction to know the old car is running again and rumbling down the highway. Makes all the hard work worth it. At one point as I drove around yesterday an older couple passed by me. The gentleman driving gave a hearty thumbs up as he passed by. That makes it all worth it too!
-
Yes, I'd like to see the 50 year old machine. I wouldn't mind seeing the 100 year old Studebaker too! As for me, I'm bogged down at work - since we let our field guy go I am it, field and office. So, my Avanti waits for now - hopefully I will get there this weekend for a drive and to pull the steering wheel again for some fine tuning. I'm also getting a hankering to bring the old car home for a weekend for some cleaning and an oil change. We'll see - off to work now....
-
Wow - really looking good John! I see the results of lots of labor on your part. Well done!
-
Ha ha - OK, you talked me out of it Ernie! I think I'll skip that project for now since the lights work (dimly) and I don't foresee driving it much (if ever) at night. Thanks for the info, especially about the chiropractor.
-
I must have been doing something wrong Ernie. Not that that ever happens
Today, since the expected conflagration of weather did not materialize, I decided to run down to the storage unit and throw the light in the car and see how it works. I cleaned up the connectors and stuck the light back in its spot. I turned the battery cut-off switch on - the light came on. I hopped in the car and closed the door - the light went out. I flipped the switch - the light came on. Yay! It works as I was hoping it would work - I must have had a wire missing in my setup with the electric machine. So, it's all good, the interior lights work.After that I closed the storage unit door most of the way so I could see how the instrument lights look. Of course, I was competing with the overhead light in the unit, which, until this week, has rarely worked. There is no switch evident for the overhead light and I didn't want to stand up on the fender of the old Avanti to unscrew the bulb. Throwing a rock at the light was out because I might want the light some day. So, I turned on the lights and instrument lights and had a look. Pretty much all the lights seem to work, but the brightest ones are in the speedometer, as you can see in the picture. The picture doesn't even show the other gauges illuminated - they were lit up, just weak. So maybe some bulbs are out or just worn out. I'll check into it further after I fool around with the steering wheel some.
-
Ernie - I didn't really think about using the WD40. I guess it crossed my mind, but just I figured I had to take things apart and clean them. Good stuff, that WD40 - so is JB Weld.
Well, tonight I got out the electric machine and rigged up the horn button switch I got months ago when I was testing the horn. I figured that would be the "door switch" stand-in. I made an additional wire to hook into the extra connector on the lamp. I hooked everything up and gave it a test. Light! The little slider switch on the lamp now works. I was kind of surprised that the switch doesn't work in place of the door switch. In other words, I was thinking that the slider switch on the lamp allowed you to turn the light on when the doors were closed. Turns out that it cancels the light out from coming on when the door is opened. Unless I hooked it up wrong. I'll know more when I put the light back in the car in the next day or two. Probably not tomorrow, as we are expecting more violent weather.
I operated the horn button switch, press the button, light goes out. Release the button, light comes on. Works like it should. I think. I was sort of disappointed that the switch on the lamp didn't turn the light on when the door was closed - that's what I was thinking it would do. Since I'm doing lights, I'm thinking about having a look at which instrument lights need replacing. I think the next time I stop by the storage unit I will close the door to the unit and get in the car and turn on the lights and instrument lights. I saw a whole set of the red bulbs on eBay the other day - might be a inexpensive thing to check off the list.
-
Another interior lamp cleanup tonight. After slacking off last night I decided to try to at least get something accomplished tonight. Since I've done two lights already I knew what I wanted to do - I started by cleaning up the socket with a little steel wool. I stuffed it in the socket and twisted round and round with needle nose pliers. Shined things up nicely. Then I cleaned the connection block contacts - they looked pretty good but I gave them a little scuffing with sandpaper anyway. Then came the fun part - disassembling the little switch. but, like I said, I now have experience, so I know what to expect and what I wanted to do. Took it apart, cleaned up the little copper slider bar, cleaned up the contacts that match up with the copper bar, cleaned up the exterior brass (?) piece on the main switch piece, and cleaned inside the wire lug. Then it was time to put the fumble fingers to work on the tiny pieces and get the switch back together. Surprise! It went back together pretty quickly. I told you I had experience doing these lamps.
Now we'll see if the light works - I'll hook it up to the little electric machine tomorrow night.
-
I broke my leash this morning, and off I ran! I headed out at about 8:30 and made my way toward the storage shed and MightyFast. On my way I noticed a radical little number, all pretty in yellow and blue, looking like she just came from LeMans or something. I didn't even know what the car was until the driver stopped at a light to turn left - I drove slowly by and noticed the tag read "58 JAG". Hmmm, didn't know such a car existed, but she was nice. I researched things this evening and saw a "kit car" in those same colors. So maybe that's what I saw, a kit car. I found the picture below while checking it out online. Pretty sweet.
When I got to the storage unit I added half a quart of oil (every time I drive the car it seems to use half a quart) and checked everything else. She was ready to go - so was I! I headed to the gas station and threw 5 gallons in, along with half a can of Sea Foam. Off we went - man, she was running perfectly! I logged 50+ miles and she didn't miss a beat - really relaxing to just drive here and there. All the gauges stayed in normal range, the temperature gauge was a tick higher than it was showing over the winter and spring, about 175 degrees. During one extended run on the Interstate the temp climbed to 180, but never exceeded that. A nice day - a nice run.
Once I returned to the shed to put her to bed I pulled the courtesy lamp out so I can clean up the contacts and fix the little switch, which doesn't work. That's when I noticed the extra connector on the junction block - that's the extra wire the overhead lights are missing. That's why only the courtesy lamp comes on when the door is open. The last two pictures show an overhead light and the courtesy light.
A nice Avanti day - of course, any day in the Avanti is a nice day!
Avanti Rescue
in Our Cars & Restoration Projects
Posted
I know the attached link is not about cars, but I LOVE this video. Just love it!
Chromeless Player