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Avanti R2, 1963, refresh


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It is Tuesday morning, May 23rd.  Hit the garage early this morning.  Fired up the Avanti with its new battery.  Works great and the amp meter shows a 7 amp charge at start up and then quickly going to about two amps.  This is what it should be doing.  The old battery was staying on 35 amps, the max power from the alternator.

 

And then i put the new starter  in the Traveller.  Went in in about ten minutes with another five for the new cable.  Wow, kicked right over.  I am impressed.  Alice should be good to go now.

 

Pics of the old and new starter, and the new starter installed and ready to rumble.

 

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It is Thursday, PM.  Been cleaning, detailing, and polishing the Z4.  It looks new.  I ordered one new rear tire as one was worn out and I am sure would not pass the annual safety inspection.  Here is the old and new tire.

 

I ordered new spark plugs, special motor oil, and filters.  The computer says that I still have 8,700 miles to go before the next service so I can wait a bit.  The PO says that it was last changed in August and only has put on a few thousand miles.  

 

I have also ordered a missing license plate light housing and bulb, and a windshield trim moulding.  The moulding is all coming apart, a common problem.  According to the internet, not a hard job to swap out.  I need the license plate light as it is also a safety inspection item.

 

 

 

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It is Friday morning, and we have a report from Greg.

 

 

Hello all,
             Still here under the radar.    Even though there isn't a lot of progress to report,  there is some movement.   Mainly on the '10 Overland.  Encosed photos are a brief account of the door reconstruction.     Wooden cars don't age gracefully.  Especially when moisture and  things that eat wood are present.     With the main body components,  the front and rear seats and the lower platform now caught up and near ready final bodywork and paint preparation,   the doors are the remaining high jump.
 
         Composed of wooden frameworks,  tin covered and  aluminum T molded around the edges,  they were also upholstered with leather stuffed with horsehair.   All candidates for rust,  rot,  mildew,  termites ,  horsehair eating beatles,  etc.
       
         Using samples of the original,  I"ve reverted to the woodshop,  a place where I don't get to spend much time.     Our serious woodworkers  look at my  approach and just shake their heads.   Being more familiar with metalworking equipment and also the precision that can come with them,   I cut and mill the ash and maple as if it were aluminum and steel.
 
           Ash is getting hard to find (ash borer beatles) so Barb and I had to spend a day on the road to get some.   Too precious to waste and hoping to avoid rework,  I've been taking my time.   Scott could have had these done in short order.
 
        As of tonight I have both door frames  screwed together and perimeters still oversize.  Close association with what looked to be simple cabinetmaking turned out not to be so.   These pieces are nothing but angles and curves that come and go,  many that would have been easy to miss.   And the left and right sides are not identical.
 
           So far so good,  I think I now need to work with the heavy wooden jamb moldings that close up the bottoms and then make the doors and moldings fit each other.
 
    No much movement on other fronts.
 
Wish you the best for the Memorial Day Weekend.
 
GREG.
 
 

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It is Monday, PM, May 29th.  As you might imagine I have been working on the new 07 BMW Z4.  Have been detailing, cleaning, polishing, etc.  It looks like a new car now.  I did get the new rear tire on the car so I am good for about 25,000 miles or so.  

 

And new parts came in on Saturday.  So today I put in the new led license plate assembly.  Had to rewire, but an easy job.  I do not know if I will replace the other side OEM unit, but probably will at some point.  I also got the four little plastic pods that do into the brackets on the frame so I can use the lift to get it up in the air.  And finally I put in new spark plugs.  Took a couple of hours, the hardest part was breaking loose and removing the coils with boots attached.  These plugs were original to the car, this is the first spark plug change.  So I am good for another 100,000 miles or so.  The old ones were not that bad, but the metal L was starting to erode.  The color looked very good on all cylinders.

 

Tomorrow I plan on polishing the headlights.  Then I am done.

 

 

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The plugs were replace in our Mazda 6 at 100,000 km as the manual says they should be. What a disaster! The old plugs were in as-new condition and the car now needs to change down on a hill on the way home that it didn't before. New platinum plugs is the only difference. I hope you have a better experience.

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it is Tuesday, PM, May 30th.  Spent a couple of hours on the BMW Z4 this morning.  Decided to put it up on the lift to check the underside of  the car and suspension to see if I needed anything.  I had to find an inventive way to put it on the lift on its mounting points.  I ended up using pads for the front and the little discs from BMW for the rear resting on the arms of the lift.  Worked great.  Nice and stable on the lift.

 

The underside of the car looked like brand new, no issues except for a bent aluminum panel under the rear end.  Only took a few minutes to put it back in place.  I did undo the little trap door to see where the oil drain screw was.  I will change oil in August.  

 

Then I polished up the headlight lenses.  They look almost new now.

 

 

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Still Tuesday.  We have had line after line of thunderstorms and heavy rain roll though tonight.  We still have power so that is a good thing, but the rain is so heavy we have lot satellite TV.  

 

So while waiting for the TV to come back on I decided to look at some YouTube videos on how to replace the Z4 window seal that I ordered a couple of days ago.  All the installations used some plastic, non-marring prying tools, so I ordered a small set from Amazon.  They should be here about the time the trim seal arrives.  

 

Here are a few pics on why I am replacing the seal.  The old one is just falling apart.  I guess from the sun exposure?  

 

And figured out the color of the paint and the BMW paint code.  It is called Stratus Metallic, Code 440.  I am going to order some factory touch up paint.  I have lots of chips on the front of the car.  

 

 

 

 

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John,

 

Excellent choice with the Z4. We have had a 2005 roadster since new and only two expenses other than gas and oil...a new battery and 4 new run-flats.  It is like an Austin Healey where everything works properly and not held together with a bunch of fiddly little connectors. 

 

BTW, your headlights look great.  Enjoy

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DrData, thanks, I really like the Z4.

 

It is Friday, June 2nd, PM.  Well, the day started out great.  I spent the morning polishing the Passat W8 headlights.  Why?  Because the W8 failed its annual safety inspection for dim headlights.  So I ordered the most powerful xenon bulbs I could find and then spent a couple of hours polishing the lenses.  Now you cannot even tell the lights are covered.  When the new bulbs come in I then have to take the front end off the Passat, take out the light assemblies and install the new bulbs.  And then hope that it passes inspection.

 

With that done I decided to replace the rubber trim around the Z4 windshield.  So tools in hand I went to work removing the old stuff.  Actually, the moulding came out rather easily, until I had to use a little pick to pull up on one end to start it.  Well, I must have had the pick a bit too far under the windshield and I heard a "crack".  Opps, instantly a long crack appeared in the windshield.  So I cleaned up and will call the glass company on Monday for a replacement.  I am not going to install the new trim, does not make any sense to do it now.  

 

 

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On 4/10/2017 at 5:45 PM, unimogjohn said:

This afternoon we had a nice visit from Al Gerisch (AACA Lifetime member) and his wife Mary Ann.  They were travelling thru the area on their way home to NY.  Al always met me on the show field at Hershey and gave me plenty of great advice on what the judges expect.  And Al has many, many car and judging stories, I could just listen for hours.  Anyway, we had a great couple of hours at the farm.

 

Al gave me pictures of some of his cars.  He has a 28 Gardner, 53 Chevrolet, 62 Corvair convertible, and a 29 Chevy coupe.  He also has several other cars.  He and Mary Ann go on several east coast tours each year so look for him if you are on one of them.

 

Thanks for coming by Al.

 

 

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John you have some of the same luck as me.

Yesterday backed corvair out of it's storage caught tail pipe, rip out muffler and broke of mounting ears on manifold. Fortunately   have fresh manifold but am weighting for gaskets, need three have two.

Al   

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Keith, no yearly safety inspection if you have vintage car tags.  You are expected to keep  your car in good order and could be issued a ticket if is found to be deficient.  

 

Window guy is coming on Thursday to fix the BMW Z4.  

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It is Tuesday, May 6th.  Yesterday I got a call from a neighbor who said they she was going to sell her father's garden tractor and did I want it?  I said sure without really thinking.  So for $200 I have a 1967 International Harvester Cub Cadet with a 44 inch mower.  What a beast, weighs about 800 lbs and has a Kohler, single cylinder, 10 HP engine.  And it has a starter generator!  It has 3 forward speeds and reverse.  It will go over 15 mph in 3rd.  The drive belt and mower belt are toast as well as the two rear tires, I have them all on order.

 

And as a bonus they threw in a 5 year old generator for free.  It only has 11 hours on it, but it has been sitting full of fuel for five years.  Talk about rotten gas, what a smell.  Needless to say it did not run.  So today I drained out all the old gas, cleaned the carb and fuel system, and got it running.  In the end it was a good deal.

 

And another neighbor dropped off their big Kubota tractor.  The brush hog gave out and they did not know what to do.  I figured it was the shear bolt.  So in about an hour I got them back mowing.  

 

And Alice got a note from the Morris Traveller/Dexter that the new Florida title and bill of sale is in the mail.  We are both happy about that.  Now we are just waiting for the bank to send us the title on the BMW Z4.  Hopefully, that will come in a couple of days.

 

 

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It is Thursday, June 8th.  Alice has been driving Dexter, the Morris Traveller wagon, into town for her farm and Master Gardener stuff.  She is getting a lot of attention for sure.  The glass guy that came today, said he saw the car at the garden schoolhouse.  She says a lot of people come over and want to talk cars.  She sure is a popular girl these days.

 

Speaking of the glass guy, he came this morning to replace the windshield on the BMW Z4.  He was here about an hour.  All done.  And he used factory BMW glass also.  I was impressed.  Safelite did a great job with no pain, fuss or muss.

 

 

 

 

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It is Sunday, June 11th.  Oh boy, Greg picked up his new toy.

 

 

John,
    We used your Suburban to retrieve the newly purchased  enclosed trailer, my first after all these years.   Beautiful day that it was,  we chose a route that crossed the Potomac  at White's Ferry.
              Since a few of my fleet  are tall touring cars or a high wheeler that needs the driver to duck when entering,  I made sure that I got one with extended height .    Hopefully no broken top bows or foreheads for me.
        A few other neat features :    spare tire mounted high and inside,  not only ceiling lighting,  but also a couple low for loading in the dark.    Twenty-four feet inside with a  V nose and a left side door mid way will make it  Avanti friendly also if need be.
        Old John Jackson  taught me that garages and refrigerators...never big enough.  Hopefully this mobil garage will be.
 
    Have a good trip.
      GREG.
             
 

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On our way to Yellowstone, we stopped for an hour or so at a auto museum in Idaho.   Here are some of the pics I took.  

 

I think that there were over 160 cars on display from the early teens to the 70s.  All were nicely kept and certainly loved by the staff and volunteers.  Some were remnants of the Towe Museum that was sold off for back taxes.

 

 

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It should be noted that we are with Joe (packick) and Kathy on the trip from Seattle to Yellowstone and back.  It snowed most of the day yesterday and temp was a steady 33 degrees all day.  Today should be around 60 and no rain or snow.  Hope to see some animals today as they were hunkered down during the storms.  Will post a couple of pics tonight.   A beautiful place.  If not on your bucket list, it should be.

 

 

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 I friend and I traveled to Yellowstone about 35 years ago in the '56 Roadmaster, as we took in a BCA event on the way back. I agree, one should visit Yellowstone, as it is an amazing place. Now that my wife and is retired, I will sell my business, and hopefully this will be one trip we will make soon. The '56, by the way, performed great through out the journey.

 Love the pictures!

 Keith

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Thursday, June 15th.  We spent three full days in Yellowstone, heading back to Seattle tomorrow.  But here are a few pics from today.  We saw several large herds of Bison, a couple of deer and chipmunks, but no bears.

 

We came upon a new, old lookalike, sightseeing truck.  Pretty neat to see it in the park.

 

 

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Jon, thanks for your travel photos. Especially enjoyed the photos of the yellow Yellowstone tour bus. I have a nice diecast model of the vehicle.  We are not looking forward to the fast approaching Austin summer. So far no 100s, but it is bumping up against the century mark and will probably get there on Sunday. Sunday is also the annual Fathers Day Car Show sponsored by the Road Relics, the regional AACA club. It is always hot and sunny on show day. I may take the Avanti for a little while. JWL

 

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It is Tuesday, June 20th.  Heading home, back to the farm, tomorrow.  Cannot wait.  But it has been a great little vacation.  We drove about 2,300 miles to Yellowstone and back.  

 

And in the meantime Greg has been busy.  Here is his latest report.  I think that the original tires for the REO are not available.  I know that he has been running on some worn out crusty stuff.  So he is putting on new tires that are available.  

 

Trying to fit an 875 x 105  Dunlop clincher tire to the REO.
   
I've been able to stretch one onto the rim.   Wasn't too bad and didn't take too long.
 
Then the fun (?) began.    I spent most of a day trying various ways  to get the side ring on.   Clamps,   jacks,   nothing I tried would let the side ring go on,  let alone the lock ring.  Gave up.
       
The latest brainstorm .    The side ring problem of not going on due to the tire being too wide where it contacts the rim.   The bead seats are too wide.   
 
What I'm trying now is to trim away some of the inner edge of the bead (thinnest part) so that it won't be quite as wide.     Modified  a  milling machine arbor and slitting saw to be used in a die grinder.   Slow going,  advance 1/16" at a time and 85" around  X  2 ( Both edges).
 
Now cutting on the second side and about 1/3 to go.   Better go finish up and  probably try mounting it on the rim tomorrow night.
 
 

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It is Friday, June 23rd.  Well, finally back from a great Yellowstone Park two week vacation.  In total we went a bit over 2,300 RT from Seattle, WA.

 

Now back on  the homestead the U.S. Mail delivered a few International Harvester Cub Cadet parts; starter generator belt and a spark plug.  I put them on yesterday, to include changing the oil.  Runs great, and starts much better with the new belt.  The old belt had a couple of chunks out of it.  

 

And I have determined that it is a model 106, produced in 1965, and it has the 42 inch mowing deck.  Tomorrow I am going to see if I have the right mower deck belt.  The drive belt looks to be in good shape so I will reuse it for now, but will order a spare.

 

I also got a grill from Ebay, of course I bought the wrong one.  The one for this tractor is a mesh, but installed this one anyway.  

 

I also attempted to adjust the rear disc brakes.  They are better, but I think I will pull them apart and see what the pads look like.  

 

 

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Still Friday, out mowing with the little John Deere 325 tractor.  KAPOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The debris screen on top of the flywheel broke apart and tore up the starter cable and throttle control, and put a huge hole through the side of the engine cover.  You can see a piece of the screen hung up on the outside of the hood.  Thank goodness for Ebay, I have a new one coming.  Sure glad that the cover part went thru the hood and not me.  I would have probably been seriously hurt or ............  It also blew off the plastic cover that was over the screen and ripped it from it mount on the engine cover.  

 

I tried running it with half of the screen, but the vibration was too harsh as the engine is out of balance.  So I was able to remove the old one.  Hopefully, I will be mowing again in a couple of days.

 

 

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Frank, there is no vibration with the screen off so I think I am good.

 

Paul, I like it also.  I only wish the PO would have not painted over all the decals.  I really have no way to tell what model it really is.  As a result I am unsure of the mower and PTO belts I need.  I have joined the Cub forum so maybe than can help with the limited information I have.  

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June 26th, Monday, PM.  Five Hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  That is what it took to change out the xenon headlights in the VW Passat W8, and I knew how to do it.  Now I hope it will pass the lighting inspector. Sometimes I just hate German Engineering.  Who ever thought you had to take off the entire front end to do it, what a great idea, NOT.  And I fould a seep in the oil cooler connection.  I will have to do some research and see what I need to seal it back up.  Oh, the little mag tray held most of the bolts and screws that had to come out.

 

 

 

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