My "cheap" 64 R2 Avanti arrived last night and a quick look on the trailer showed good hog troughs and frame. There was even a little oil running out of the rear drain hole as it came off the trailer showing that the PO had filled the troughs with oil when he stored it in 1990. Got up this A.M. and started playing with it. I tossed in some fresh brake fluid and that gave me driveway brakes, then added a new battery. Checked all the fluids, and hit the remote starter and the engine spun nicely, but no spark. I filed the points and was greeted with a nice, fat spark, so I added 5 gallons of freah gas to the tank and tried to pump it out from the front with my electric pump to flush out some crap. That didn't work, the line forward is plugged up good, couldn't even blow it clear, so on to plan "B" for today. I hooked up a gallon can of gas under the hood and she managed to start, but ran like crap. Turns out the carb was pouring raw fuel into the cylinders. I was able to drive it the 40 feet from where it was dropped to the garage before fuel fouling the old plugs. Pulled the carb and kitted it, adjusted the floats and added new spark plugs and tried again. This time it fires, smokes like hell for a few minutes then clears and settles into a smooth idle. Great oil pressure, no smoke, quiet supercharger, it was even charging until the dry rotted alternator belt let go. The bad news is, I can't shoot this car in the head and cheap Avanti's don't sell for their value in parts, the good news is, I hope someone will save the car. It's almost 100% complete, right down to the asbestos sleeve on the choke tube, but it'll need paint, chrome and interior work.
- posted
17 years ago