SeventhSon
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Roger - maybe so - I'll know more today! I looked at that yesterday and figured that the edges of the pieces already installed are not "nailed down" tight and I can slip the edges of the small pieces (the 4 pieces that cover the wheel humps and those other two little humps) under the edges of the side pieces if I have to. I'll work it out. And like Paul said, the floor pieces basically just lay there.
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Another day, another visit to the storage unit at lunchtime. I headed straight there and hooked up my power supply and drop light. I had brought the two side pieces of carpet with me and I stuck those in their spots to see how they fit. Satisfied with the fit I proceeded with the gluing - of course the glue gets everywhere and a couple of spots make their way onto the carpet. Not a big deal - I wiped any spots up and worked on getting the carpet in the right place. Once I was satisfied that each piece was aligned I went about pressing the carpet firmly in place. Round and round I went, flattening and straightening, then I took a minute to wipe the sweat. Then I went back and flattened some more. Whew! Too much like work! Pretty soon both pieces were in and it was time to go. I had my exercise for the day, plus it was time to go back to work. A couple of more pieces down, several more to go!
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Thanks for the input Roger - maybe you're right. Studebaker International sells those plastic pieces, I believe. I might try a set, even if just to see what they look like. I will study the problem in the coming weeks and resolve it - just another one of those things that are eternally popping up on one of these old cars!
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The other day, when I was sprung from my leash, I made a beeline to the storage unit to fetch the Avanti and bring it home to wash out the trunk. When I was nearly there I remembered that the last time I drove it the signal light flasher was once again refusing to signal its intentions. After I pulled the old car out of the storage unit I squeezed myself into the space between the seat and the kick panel. I fiddled with the flasher, wiggling, pushing, pulling, twisting. I could barely get one flash out of the turn signals. So I grabbed a small screwdriver and pushed one side of one of the connectors almost closed. I pushed the flasher in and tried the turn signal lever - success! It lasted almost until I returned later that evening. Oh well, something else to find a solution for.
Also that evening, when I was approaching the house and maneuvering up to the garage the horn was sounding as I wrestled the wheel this way and that. "Oh, that'll go over well inside the house", I thought. Ever since I had the steering wheel off and re-installed it the horn has been happy to announce its presence, usually at the most inopportune time. Pulling into the park while a couple of folks sat in their cars eating lunch - *honk-honk*. Driving down the road - *honk-honk* Turning a corner beside another car - *honk-honk* Driving by a jogger girl - *honk-honk*(maybe that one was mine
). All this noise must make people think I'm nuts. After washing out the trunk I headed out to return to the storage shed. *Honk-honk* as I backed out of the garage. *Honk-honk* as I wrestled the wheel around. *Honk-honk* as I turned the corner. *Honk-honk* as I turned the next corner. When I returned home later my wife asked dryly, "What's with the horn? Can we get that fixed?" I chuckled. So, on the list it goes....Today, in the monsoon, I headed back to the storage unit with the first piece of trunk carpet in hand. I brought along my power booster and drop light - I plugged the light in the booster and turned it on. Light! With my new found illumination I studied the inside of the trunk. Hmmm, maybe I should scuff off some of this old adhesive. I grabbed the sanding pad and had at it. Soon, I had the surface to be carpeted smeared with DAP Strong Stick construction adhesive. I stuck the carpet in place and, after re-positioning a couple of times, had it where it's gonna go. I pressed it flat all over, up and down, all around. Man, that's a hard reach, awkward to bend over and reach up against the back surface of the trunk. After a while I was getting a little warm, sweating a bit. I kept after the pressing for a while until I was satisfied that the carpet was staying put. I was happy to pack everything up and head back to work. One piece of carpet in place, 12 to go!
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Roger, I think you would make a great jeweler!
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John - my return line comes off the fuel pump. I was reading earlier (much earlier) in this thread where a filter/sediment bowl setup was shown, with a return line coming off the top and going back to the tank. That was a nice setup - I guess it doesn't matter how the fuel goes back, just so it goes back to prevent vapor lock.
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Really beautiful weekend, so I slacked off on working on the Avanti. However, late today I was given a pass so I hurried to the storage unit and picked up the Avanti and brought her back home. She ran super - a pleasure to drive. Once I got here I set about washing the trunk out with Spic N Span. Scrubbed up pretty well, then it was back to the storage unit. She ran super on the way back too! A fun little outing late on a Sunday - I'll take any of those I can get!
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I wonder though, are you running an R1 pump? Why don't you run the return line like the stock Studebaker setup? Do you have a hose/tube that runs from the supercharger to the fuel pump? Then the return line from the fuel pump to the tank? Sorry for the "twenty questions", just wondering why you are taking the return line from the fuel line back rather than the fuel pump back, like the Studebaker engineers had it set up.
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Interesting John, I would think that running off fuel from the filter like that would reduce fuel pressure resulting in poor high speed performance. I am interested to see if there is a noticeable drop in performance. Of course, Jon Myer is an expert in Avantis so he must know what he is talking about. Last year I replaced my fuel return line, then realized that the line I installed was too small, so I ripped it out and put the correct size in. At that time I asked Nimesh Solanki about the return line - I will try to find his email answer and share it. I know it all works right on mine, because mine is a flat out rocket ship. No lie.
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Slow day at work, so I decided to finally unload all the rust I removed from the Avanti over a year ago. I had stashed it behind the storage box at work, in one corner of the parking lot behind the dumpster. I fished all the stuff out - a couple of wheels with tires (I already removed a couple earlier), the Swiss cheese exhaust, the beat up exhaust manifolds, the rusty dinner plate brake rotors, the crusty calipers, and a few other things. All of it went in the back of a truck, and various other odds and ends (non-recyclable) went in the dumpster. As soon as I was finished the trash truck arrived and emptied the dumpster (timing is everything). I went back in my office and called the local scrap recycling company - "How much are you paying per pound?" "7 cents". Ha! Not worth the trip. To the county it was going, but first I had to stop by the tire shop and get them to remove the 2 tires from the rims so I could toss the rims. They can keep the tires. 18 bucks for removal and disposal - I was happy to pay it and be on my way. I inspected the rims - one was not bad on the inside. I hated to throw that one away, so she was spared the big magnet at the smelting plant.
I headed to the storage unit and traded the good rim for a bad one I had (see earlier post, when I was trying to find a decent rim for my new spare tire). While there, I checked to see if the new lug wrench would fit in its spot in the trunk. Yep! Like I have said before, I love it when things work out! I grabbed a bite to eat and headed to the County Transfer Station, where all the trash and recycling gets processed. I backed up to the pile at the metal recycling section and pitched it all - 50 year old iron, going to be re-made. May end up as a Caterpillar or something - I hope it remains American made in any case. Mission accomplished, I headed back to work.
Yesterday I received the little power supply box I ordered from Amazon. Cheap price for a stout little box - I hope it works. I dug out the horn button switch I bought back when I was fooling around with the horns, trying to get them to work. I hope to set up a little bench top power supply with switch (the horn button) that I can hook up to the dome lights that I remove from the car for rebuilding. I hope to test the lights as I work on them - not sure what I will see when I try to take the lights apart, hopefully they are fixable. But first, the trunk gets washed and carpeted!
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Back to the storage unit at lunchtime! I rolled up and headed straight back to the passenger door to have a look at the striker plate that split in two right before I left yesterday. I figure it was because the striker was too thick and the mounting screw heads of the switch caused the wood to split. I ran my finger across the smaller piece of the split wood and it came off in my hand. I grabbed the larger piece and that came off too - the Krazy Glue didn't get a good grip on the painted surface. Well, it gripped the paint fine - the paint just didn't grip the fiberglass so well as you can see in the picture below. I figured I might have a problem with that when I glued it - however, it turns out to not be a problem as you will learn in a moment. I dropped the 2 pieces on the floor and headed over to the driver's door. I grabbed that striker and tugged - she held fast. I figured that too, the driver's door was devoid of paint so I glued straight to the fiberglass. So, since the striker plate was too thick, I grabbed a hacksaw blade, wrapped a garage rag around one end, and proceeded to saw half of it off along the length of it. As is the usual case when sawing with a hacksaw (at least when I saw with a hacksaw) the cut was not even. I ended up with more of a wedge shape, with the wide part of the wedge toward the outside of the car. I had expected that and planned for it - more on that in a moment.
As I was fooling around with the driver's door something occurred to me. Could it possibly be that the driver's door was the only one that didn't engage the switch? I turned the battery cut-off switch on - the courtesy lamp came on. Now if I closed the driver's door and the light went out, then the passenger door was engaging the switch by itself, because the striker plate I stuck on yesterday had failed and wasn't on the door. I closed the driver's door - the courtesy light went off. Open, close, open, close, on, off, on, off. Hmmm, looks like my work on the passenger door was all for naught. I closed the driver's door - light went out. I went to the passenger door, opened it, light went on. I was happy - now I only had half a problem.
So, on the driver's striker, I ended up with a wedgie, so to speak. The striker plate was cut crooked, but as I said, I planned for that. Last night, on the way home from work, I stopped at Sears and picked up a Surform shaper for wood. I took that and shaped the striker until it was flat - worked like a charm! I tested the door closing and light switch operation. That worked like a charm too - before, when the door got to 6 inches from closing, the light went out. Now, the light went out just before the latch caught the first position. I love when something works out! Before I left I checked the brake lights, watching the wall as I depressed the brake pedal - looks like they're working. Hope I don't have a loose wire that makes them work only part of the time. I'll check into that.
I closed up shop and headed by the house to grab a bite to eat before heading back to work. There was a box on the front stoop - a box from Summit Racing (I love how fast they ship!). Ah, My lug wrench must be here. It was. Oh well, I guess I'll have to go back to the storage unit tomorrow to see if it fits in the spot next to the spare tire well!
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Or maybe an Avanti went by and blew the sheet metal off of it!
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My wife spotted this car the other day. Sort of like a street dune buggy!
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Looking good Pat!
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Thanks John - I'll check that light today when I sneak over to the storage unit for relaxation time!
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Paul - aren't smart phones great?! Glad you are checking in!
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May 1, 2013. 1 year ago today I went and picked up the Avanti from the shop in Falls Church, Virginia, where I had taken it two weeks prior to get the the final tasks done to get her roadworthy. It was expensive, but worth it to have professional mechanics with Avanti experience get the old girl on the road. When I stopped in around lunchtime that day 1 year ago I had not driven an Avanti more than a couple of hundred feet before. Certainly not on the road - what a new experience that was! A lot of work has been done in the last year, from working through the overheating problem to just working through the list of so many things to do. It has all been recounted right here, so if you want a list of what I have been doing, merely rewind a year and read, read, read.
Today I headed to the storage unit, it was a beautiful day so I had decided to take the car to a gas station and vacuum the trunk out. I got to the unit and checked the fluids in everything. After I got her ready I hopped in and fired her up - she started nicely. I drove toward the gas station and stopped at a light. After a while I happened to glance at the tach - the needle was bouncing gently around 1000 rpm - is the tach working now? I gunned it a little - yeah, she works til she gets to 1500, then sticks there. Well, at least it was moving a little, which is more than I have seen in a while. I headed to the gas station and vacuumed the trunk out - it was nice to have a powerful vacuum to make short work of it. The main mud wasp nest remnants are still there, but will be scrubbed off soon enough. Since I had the old rocket out of the silo I figured there was no sense wasting a good ride opportunity. Off we went, man, she was running sooo good. I swear the old motor likes the Sea Foam in the fuel - it just has a nice sound and quickness when running. I rode around here and there - the only drawback I have noticed on this ride (and last week's ride to see the Fesers) was that the turn signal flasher is acting up again. Or, should I say, the flasher connection. Looks like I'll be spending some time working through that little problem.
After a while I reluctantly headed back with thoughts of playing hooky floated around inside my head. But I was the conscientious worker and decided to put the toy away and head back to my desk. But first I measured the spot for the striker plate for the dome light switches and glued them in place with Krazy Glue. Then I installed the bulb in the courtesy lamp and closed the door. Light went out. Opened the door - light came on. The way it's supposed to work. I believe, however, that the striker plates are too thick - looks like 1/8" will be sufficient, so I will shave some of the thickness off of the driver's side. Before shutting everything up for the day I checked the striker plate on the passenger side and found that the wood had actually split after the door was closed on it. So much for that - I'll work on the solution tomorrow. I'll pull that striker off and stick something thinner on - keep working the problem until it's solved.
After I headed back to the office I called Alan Himes at the shop where the car was worked on a year ago. I just wanted to remind him that it's been a year and compliment him and his mechanics on a job well done. The car runs great! He was happy to hear it and asked me when I was going to paint it. "Well, if I could find the right person....." My mantra. You just have to find the right person. He said he might know just the person, he just has to remember the guy's name and number (see, other people can't remember stuff either). He'll get back to me on it. Meanwhile I'll mull over paint colors....
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Well, yesterday I skipped the storage unit at lunch because of the rain, because I was tired, because, because...really, the rain was the reason. Today I had penciled in a space in my mind to visit at lunchtime, with the plan being to fire the old rocket up and take her to the gas station vacuum cleaner for a thorough trunk vacuuming. But, since the weather has turned decidedly England-like, I changed the plans. Backing up a little, since I couldn't get to the storage unit yesterday I resolved to at least get something done. So I searched Amazon for a 12 volt power supply that I could use to "table check" the operation of the courtesy and dome lamps that I am going to take apart and try to get to working properly again. The courtesy light works, but the little slider switch won't do anything - no on, no off, no nothing. And the dome lights won't work at all. I have a feeling that the switches are corroded (no!) from sitting for a hundred years. Hopefully the little power supply will provide the juice for me to test things as I work on the lights. If not, no big deal - I bought it used for 18 bucks and change, delivered. Hoo!
Moving forward to today, since the heavy drizzle wouldn't stop and I try to avoid driving the old Avanti on wet pavement (at least until I can get the frame covered in some paint) I decided to drop in The Home Depot and search for some wood strips that I could cut down and glue to the door edges to use as striker plates for the dome light switches. I found a couple of scrap pieces, one being 1/4" thick and the other probably 3/8" thick. I also grabbed a can Maroon paint that I can paint over the striker plates and make them look like they halfway belong where they are going. Tonight I cut a couple of pieces off the 1/4" thick wood strip - I think that will be thick enough to engage the switch. If not, I've got backup in the 3/8' thick strip. Ha!
Also, earlier today, I searched for a lug wrench to fit in the trunk in the little indent made for it. I didn't have to search far - I found it at Summit Racing, with the 3/4" socket cup on one end and the flat spade surface on the other end. I sure hope it fits in that indent in the trunk - once again, no biggie if not - I got it for less than 13 bucks delivered! Yay!
I sure hope it's not raining tomorrow.....
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While visiting with brothers Don and Brian & wife Patty on Saturday and marking a property line for Brian (that's how Don got pressed into service as survey rodman) I was pleasantly surprised to hear that they enjoy my thread here. I wasn't sure if anybody was paying much attention, let alone liked it, so I was happy to hear that they like my writing. The ultimate compliment to a writer, I guess.
So, now with a big head, I decided to see if I could share the attached story with whomever might be interested in reading it. It's about a car, written over ten years ago (as best I can recall) and not really edited. I just wanted to see if I could write a story that was fast paced and exciting. So I wrote it fast and left it alone. I hope you find it entertaining.
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Thanks for the nice words of encouragement Paul - it's nice to see that you are still checking out what I'm doing. Regarding your comment about the carpeting - exactly what I was thinking when I was putting the carpet in the car! Now I get to put a whole bunch of it in the trunk too!
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Sunday night, here again in a flash. No Avanti fun this weekend as we embarked on a road trip of sorts to engage in a little surveying and a visit with family in the splendid countryside of central Virginia. Things went well with the surveying, the visiting was even better, then it was off to Richmond for the night on Saturday so we could visit the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens earlier today and see what was new there. But not before brother Don (my new surveying apprentice) asked me at lunch yesterday if I was aware that there was a Nascar race in Richmond last night. @#$%&*!! I exclaimed. I usually think about such things beforehand and check the dates, but since I am advancing in age I don't seem to be as "in tune" as I once was. For example, in my last post I referred to "that thing you sweep dirt into" or something to that effect. Don informs me that is commonly known as a dust pan. I knew that - just testing to see if anyone was paying attention. Anyway, I reacted in surprise to the news that a major race was in town because, as someone who used to regularly attend Nascar races, I know how, ahem, congested things can get. Hotels fill up, roads get clogged - it ain't pretty. But, since we committed to it we headed into the maelstrom.
Since it was a night race we were lucky, we were able to slip into town and check into our hotel with minimal problems. We were able to even grab a meal at a local restaurant with little trouble. And when the race fans piled back into the hotel at a little after midnight we briefly woke up as they made their way to their rooms. This morning was a tad more problematic, at the "free" cattle call hotel breakfast ("Served 6 to 10 AM, No Jostling"). The line for the waffle maker was 5 deep at one point! But we got through it and headed off to the Gardens, where the flowers were mostly in bloom and the birds were singing their approval.
Now we're home, where I pulled the trunk carpet out of the box and did a rough mock-up of how the carpet will fit together around the spare tire cover. I also am starting to search for a lug wrench that matches or sort of matches the original one that fit in the indented area just to the left of the spare tire well in the picture. The one that came with the car was missing, of course. Possibly rusted away several years ago, because as we know, "rust never sleeps".
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Pat, they probably thought they were being invaded - all we needed was Greg to show up and they would have been wondering.
Well, a few days blew by with no Avanti fun. It's all about work and trying to keep ahead of the regular life stuff for me - leaves little time for the old Avanti sometimes. I did resolve to make the lunchtime trip to the storage unit to begin the trunk cleanup. First, I stopped and picked up a little shop vac at the giant box store. I've been wanting one for awhile and they had the smaller unit that I wanted. Now, would it run off of my power booster unit? No, it turns out. Fail, as they say nowadays. Oh well, I tried. I guess I'll have to fire the old car up and take it to the gas station and vacuum the trunk out.
I made do with a little whisk broom and whatever that thing is called that you sweep up the dirt into. I got most of the big stuff out, now I can vacuum the rest. As soon as I get a few free moments. While I was in the trunk I had a look at whether my new scissor jack would fit in the tire well where the original jack used to be (probably turned to rust dust years ago). The new jack fits there, but I don't think the spare tire rim will fit over it - it has enough height but doesn't quite make the width. I will try the jack turned this way and that - if no success I will trim off the edges of the jack base so the tire rim fits over it. I'll make it work...
The other day Mr. Feser was showing me how his door edge has a little block of wood attached that matches up with the dome light switch on the door pillar. I found that interesting - was that original? I was wondering in an earlier post why the door doesn't engage the switch - I have concluded that it was probably a design or manufacturing flaw with the fiberglass body. Studebaker didn't have a lot of experience with building fiberglass cars, plus the rushed process with the Avanti probably caused more than a few little glitches like that. Just speculation on my part, of course. Anyway, while I was at the storage unit today cleaning the trunk out I had a look at the driver's door to see if there was any evidence of a piece of wood or other type of block mounted opposite the switch. Nope - smooth as a tile wall with no evidence of anything having been mounted there. Well, soon there will be something mounted there - I have decided that is the way I will go. I just have to decide what to glue there.
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John - it was really good to see you and Alice again yesterday. We have to make sure to not let so much time slip by before we catch up with each other again!
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Thanks for believing in me Pat, but I would be afraid to get closer than 10 feet to your beautiful car for fear I would mess something up! I would be a nervous wreck :eek:
Beauty and the Beast: Excellent day today - I got an early start and headed for the storage unit. First I stopped at a local big box store and picked up a can of Sea Foam, knowing I had a pretty long trip ahead of me. At least, the longest trip since I've had the old Avanti back on the road. After grabbing a sandwich and coffee I made it to the storage unit and began preparing for the trip. First I checked the fit of the spare tire cover that I had put the carpet cover on last night. It fits! Another small step forward. Since I accomplished that I felt a reward was in order. Road trip! Sort of.
I topped up the oil, added half the can of Sea Foam to the fuel tank, loaded the tool bag and power booster unit in the back seat. Turn on the battery cut off switch and hopped in and began to crank her over. And crank her over, and crank her over. C'mon baby. Finally, she fired, filling the storage unit with blue smoke. Wow - didn't expect that. She must have wanted to stay in bed or something. Once she fired she was ready to go - the motor fell to a nice idle after the first few seconds of clearing her throat. I pulled out of the unit followed by billows of smoke - geez. I headed to the gas station and got about 6 gallons of gas - should be enough for the round trip. Finally, I could hit the road.
Last night I contacted friend John Feser, who has the Avanti Refresh thread on this site under the handle "unimogjohn" and asked him if he was going to be around this morning. Since it's been almost a year and a half since he carted my old girl to my townhouse garage and got me started on the rescue and he's yet to see how far she has come. John replied that he and Alice would be at the monthly fire department community breakfast in Orlean, Virginia. Hmmm, sounds good - hotcakes always have a welcome spot in front of me and in my stomach. So, I was headed that way at 9:30 this morning. As I made my way there I began to wonder a couple of things, 1. Did he say New Orleans? and 2. Can you get there from here? Woo - that little hamlet is out in the middle of nowhere, I would have to say. Since I was unfamiliar with the back roads that connect all the old farming communities in the bucolic countryside of Virginia I decided to follow the big roads indicated on my GPS (more commonly called a MAP). Finally I made the destination, but did not see John's Avanti in the parking lot - dag gummit! I missed them! I pulled in the gravel lot and into an open space and in a couple of seconds I saw John's face in my rearview mirror. Ah, good, they're still here, but where is the Avanti? In the back lot, safe from errant car doors and such. Don't blame him a bit - that paint job is worth protecting!
I was a bit late for hotcakes, they were still serving, but I was more interested in visiting. So that's what we did. Very nice visit - got some pictures of the two old Avantis together and John and Alice got to see the car they toted 75 miles or so and helped push into my garage. And I got to see their Avanti, out for the first time in 2013 - looking good! If only mine will look that way some day. Some day.
After our visit I headed back toward home, taking a few back roads and taking the old girl to church on the way. How did she run? Like a champ all the way - never missed a beat. I love it!
). All this noise must make people think I'm nuts. After washing out the trunk I headed out to return to the storage shed. *Honk-honk* as I backed out of the garage. *Honk-honk* as I wrestled the wheel around. *Honk-honk* as I turned the corner. *Honk-honk* as I turned the next corner. When I returned home later my wife asked dryly, "What's with the horn? Can we get that fixed?" I chuckled. So, on the list it goes....
Reconstruction of a '34 Chevy Master Coupe
in Our Cars & Restoration Projects
Posted
Of course you forgot something! But hopefully it will pop up in your memory at 3 AM like my "forgots" do.