I have always sort of liked what Steve Blake did to Avantis before he went bankrupt. A decent sounding '84 came up on eBay a couple weeks ago. I threw in a Snipe bid because I thought it was going pretty cheap. The high bidder turned out to be a zero feedback ringer so I got a second offer. I decided to go ahead and take it. The seller wanted PayPal which was OK for me because with the timing of my credit card bill closing, I won't be paying for the car until November 1. He had owned the car for six years and proclaimed that he wasn't a car guy, but he liked the car, but now he can't drive anymore due a medical condition (apparently true). Also, his wife has been after him to get rid of it (sound familiar?). The '64 has so many issues and I get aggravated working on it. Wife is afraid to drive it, but she loves Avantis. However, she didn't like the Recaros on our '83 so how she takes to it remains to be seen. She is having back problems and even the thicker '64 seats are uncomfortable for her. I figured if the '84 doesn't work out I can probably flip it and do OK with a better description and more detailed pictures.
So the wife and I left the house a little before 6 am yesterday to drive to 350 miles (near Columbus, OH) to pick it up. Uneventful trip except for a couple traffic delays. I took the car for a short spin- looked good and ran fine. Usual disappointments where the pictures made things look better than real life- leather seats were cracked and there was a small tear the driver's bolster (Recaros), the wire wheels had rust that I didn't see in the eBay pictures. But the paint is beautiful and the dash, carpets, door panels were good, the windows ran up and down nicely and the moonroof worked fine too. Underside was good- minor surface rust, but very solid. We did the papers and started for home. It had a quarter tank of gas so I decided to stop to fill up just before we got back on I-70.
As I opened the door, the door handle fell off. OK, just a missing clip. When I got ready to leave and turned the key- click and nothing. Supposedly had a new battery so I didn't bring jumper cables (tools- yes). Fortunately there was a gent there with a Tractor Supply tool box in his pickup so I asked him if he had cables and how much would he would take to jump the thing. He did have cables and he did jump start it- wouldn't take anything for it. Got on the road OK, but had quite a bit of vibration at several speeds. I knew the tires were pretty old because he told me they were on it when he bought it but "they had lots of tread". The date code as I think I read it was 098 so, it looks like new tires are going to be needed. Anyhow, everything worked OK, was turning about 2100 rpm at a little over 60. He had also admitted that the AC wasn't cooling when he got it out this year (and it wasn't). To that point I had only made right turns. When I turned left, the turn signal indicator stayed solid green. OK, probably a bad bulb- no biggee. Wrong, when I checked for the bulb that was out I found no left signal lights were on at all so I guess I have a wiring problem (both parking lights and tailights/stop lights work).
Wife was calling me on the hand held radios we carry saying I was going too fast (she worries about speed limits). Turned out when the car was reading 58 GPS said 65. When the speedometer said 65 I was going 72. I didn't shut off the car again (just in case) until we got to the motel half way home (wife won't drive after dark). It did start this morning, but again, I didn't shut it off until I got home (350 miles on 3/4 tank of gas). It did re-start in my driveway so maybe things are working out. It's in the garage now. Tomorrow is another day.
So the wife and I left the house a little before 6 am yesterday to drive to 350 miles (near Columbus, OH) to pick it up. Uneventful trip except for a couple traffic delays. I took the car for a short spin- looked good and ran fine. Usual disappointments where the pictures made things look better than real life- leather seats were cracked and there was a small tear the driver's bolster (Recaros), the wire wheels had rust that I didn't see in the eBay pictures. But the paint is beautiful and the dash, carpets, door panels were good, the windows ran up and down nicely and the moonroof worked fine too. Underside was good- minor surface rust, but very solid. We did the papers and started for home. It had a quarter tank of gas so I decided to stop to fill up just before we got back on I-70.
As I opened the door, the door handle fell off. OK, just a missing clip. When I got ready to leave and turned the key- click and nothing. Supposedly had a new battery so I didn't bring jumper cables (tools- yes). Fortunately there was a gent there with a Tractor Supply tool box in his pickup so I asked him if he had cables and how much would he would take to jump the thing. He did have cables and he did jump start it- wouldn't take anything for it. Got on the road OK, but had quite a bit of vibration at several speeds. I knew the tires were pretty old because he told me they were on it when he bought it but "they had lots of tread". The date code as I think I read it was 098 so, it looks like new tires are going to be needed. Anyhow, everything worked OK, was turning about 2100 rpm at a little over 60. He had also admitted that the AC wasn't cooling when he got it out this year (and it wasn't). To that point I had only made right turns. When I turned left, the turn signal indicator stayed solid green. OK, probably a bad bulb- no biggee. Wrong, when I checked for the bulb that was out I found no left signal lights were on at all so I guess I have a wiring problem (both parking lights and tailights/stop lights work).
Wife was calling me on the hand held radios we carry saying I was going too fast (she worries about speed limits). Turned out when the car was reading 58 GPS said 65. When the speedometer said 65 I was going 72. I didn't shut off the car again (just in case) until we got to the motel half way home (wife won't drive after dark). It did start this morning, but again, I didn't shut it off until I got home (350 miles on 3/4 tank of gas). It did re-start in my driveway so maybe things are working out. It's in the garage now. Tomorrow is another day.
Attached Files
101st Airborne Div. 326 Engineers Ft Campbell Ky.
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