Six years - 11 months and a few days ago, Judy and I towed this 1974 Avanti four-speed back home from the western side of Michigan.
It was rough, the hog troughs were gone and the frame had some rust. The interior smelled of a combination of mold, varmint urine and mothballs. It had a 350, four-speed and 3:23 open rear end. It was my dream to turn it into a muscle car of my youth.
There is nothing I haven't had my hands on. New hog troughs, repaired frame and replaced rear cross member. Drive train is now a 383 SBC with a T56 6-speed and 3:55 posi rear.
The body was scraped to bare glass and coats of polyester and 2K were coated with many coats of Daytona Yellow Acrylic Enamel, all by me and then sanded and polished to a decent shine.
The entire wiring and interior were stripped out and the wiring was replaced with a 21 circuit universal harness and the interior was aired out, the door cards and interior panels replaced with ABS sheet and the vinyl redyed with vinyl spray dye. The front seats were replaced with a set of leather seats from a Pontiac G6. The heating system was replaced with a heating and cooling unit from Southern Rods.
I've always liked a cowl induction hood so I built one the way I wanted. It's functional.
The dash is from an 89 Avanti, modified to my liking and upholstered by a local firm. Carpet was purchased and the headliner is exterior carpet.
There is still a lot to finish but it has plates and insurance. It needs weatherstripping, trunk finished, door sills created but it will run, start and make me feel 18 again and at 75 that's not an easy thing to do.
I made a couple of videos of the exterior and interior. I'll do engine shots in the future but it's getting close to cold weather here so I'm pretty well done until spring.
I can only post one video so I'll post the interior one in a separate post.
Bob
It was rough, the hog troughs were gone and the frame had some rust. The interior smelled of a combination of mold, varmint urine and mothballs. It had a 350, four-speed and 3:23 open rear end. It was my dream to turn it into a muscle car of my youth.
There is nothing I haven't had my hands on. New hog troughs, repaired frame and replaced rear cross member. Drive train is now a 383 SBC with a T56 6-speed and 3:55 posi rear.
The body was scraped to bare glass and coats of polyester and 2K were coated with many coats of Daytona Yellow Acrylic Enamel, all by me and then sanded and polished to a decent shine.
The entire wiring and interior were stripped out and the wiring was replaced with a 21 circuit universal harness and the interior was aired out, the door cards and interior panels replaced with ABS sheet and the vinyl redyed with vinyl spray dye. The front seats were replaced with a set of leather seats from a Pontiac G6. The heating system was replaced with a heating and cooling unit from Southern Rods.
I've always liked a cowl induction hood so I built one the way I wanted. It's functional.
The dash is from an 89 Avanti, modified to my liking and upholstered by a local firm. Carpet was purchased and the headliner is exterior carpet.
There is still a lot to finish but it has plates and insurance. It needs weatherstripping, trunk finished, door sills created but it will run, start and make me feel 18 again and at 75 that's not an easy thing to do.
I made a couple of videos of the exterior and interior. I'll do engine shots in the future but it's getting close to cold weather here so I'm pretty well done until spring.
I can only post one video so I'll post the interior one in a separate post.
Bob
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