Avenga's 1980 Avenger wagon

[avenga]

Started work on the exhaust. I am running dual pipe down to just after the gearbox, then single pipe out the back.



Had to modify the factory exhaust headers on the drivers side so it goes around the steering column.



One runner sits on the left of the steering column and the other is to the right of the steering column



The passenger side is easier.



Still got some room between the exhaust and the body.



Mounted the diff



Fits in there quite nicely



Just have it tacked in at the moment.



Also made up the new upper arms to replace the old broken arms. You can see the old one at the front, and the new ones at the back.

[avenga]

Thanks, it is a really exciting project, can't wait until I can drive it.

Finished the lower arms. We did some more strengthening by adding a gusset over the top of the lower arm.





Painted the Diff



Finished all the mounting brackets



And the other side



Some more progress on the exhaust. Did more of the Y pipe.



Started designing my new dashboard.

I designed it all in Fusion 360







Then printed it out on one of my 3D printers



Did a little test fit. Fits perfectly.



I had to print it in 2 parts because it was too large of my 3D printer so I made a little joining plate on the back on the dash. Also those little square bit up the top fit in to where the indicator and other lights used to be so I can screw it in from the back.



Installed the carbon fibre wrap. I will see how it looks in the car, might swap it out for just a matte black wrap.



Installed it back in to the old housing



Cut a whole in the back for all my data and power cables, you can also up the top see my where I screw the front panel on, the old dash was held in by screws on the back of all of the gauges that went in to the old PCB.



Tested it with the surround in place, there is still one more part that I need to design for it, which just goes around the side of the surround, where you can see a bit of light coming through

[TheMechanicnz]

What 3d printer do you use? Looking at getting one myself. Your wagons looking wicked.

[avenga]

Thanks

I have two 3D printers. A Wanhao Dupicator i3 Plus and a Prusa i3 MK2s. I mostly use the Prusa because it is a lot better. The Wahao was my first printer, and it is just a cheaper Chinese clone of the the Prusa, it's an okay printer but it doesn't have the auto bed levelling and calibration of the Prusa. The Prusa on the other hand is an awesome printer, I brought it in kitset form and it was quite fun to build. It's a really easy printer to use as all the setup for the print is automated.

[avenga]

Tested the fit of the bonnet, and it closes!!!! I won't need to do a power bugle or anything. Stoked that we could squeeze the big V8 and trumpets under the bonnet. It is going to be such a sleeper.



It is pretty tight under the bonnet so I am probably going to go for some slightly smaller trumpets and maybe drop the crossmember and engine down an inch



Added even more strengthening, this time on the panhard rod mount



And made a gusset for the other side.



Ran the rear brake lines. The flex hose connects up to the standard mounting location so I can use the existing brake lines from there.



And the other side. You can also see the new upper arms and strengthened lower arms installed

[avenga]

Started work on the air cleaner



It is going to seal on the bonnet, so the top will be open so you can see the trumpets when I open the bonnet and then the actual air cleaner will be in the firewall at the back of the engine bay. Still need to design the front plate, Not sure if I am just going to just use plain ali or do a logo or something else cool



Also test fitted some wheels to see what kind of offset I will need. It is actually a lot less they I thought. I and going to use 15X7 wheels with around a -25 or -30 offset. I think I am still going to have to go steel wheels because I can't find any alloy rims at that offset. If anyone know of any alloys with that much negative offset then let me know.



Next up I finished off my dash. I had to recreate this little lip around the bottom of the cluster.



So I drew it in CAD



And then printed it out



Fits perfectly when installed



It just closes up this little gap at the back of the dash.

[avenga]

Designed an Avenger Hydra logo and 3D printed a couple of different sizes and colours



Tested them on the tailgate of the wagon.



Not quite happy with the H so modified it a bit.



Still not happy so gave it another tweak but I may go back to the drawing board. If any one know a font with a cool looking H then let me know



Pulled out a collection of old badges sitting around to see if any of them suit the car.



Ended up quite liking this pentastar on the front of the air cleaner.



Here is a view from further back



Also tried the Chrysler badge on the other rocker cover. Looks pretty cool. I might design and print something more in the same font as the other side. I will probably leave the Quad Cam V8 on the other rocker cover so it might look nice if they both match.



Ordered the air cleaner. It is freaking massive. K&N RD-1450. 7 in (178 mm) Diameter, 6 in (152 mm) Height, 4 in (102 mm) Flange



It is actually going to sit inside the cabin. Where the heater used to be.

[avenga]

Created the inlet for the air filter



Looking down in to the air filter



The air filter comes out the hole for the old heater and sucks air in through the vent up by the window.





Created a box around the air filter.



Created the mount for the ECU.





Tack welded all the seams in the engine bay



Also tack welded and gusseted the suspension strut mounts



New custom drive shaft and hoop.



Finished off the transmission tunnel.

While I was taking out the demister duct I saw this cool sticker. It looks like it is the ID tag for an order of 50 left hand demister ducts. This one must have been at the top of a stack of them.

[avenga]

Started work on the fuel system.

I am keeping the original fuel tank and the fuel pump and filter are sitting between the old tank and the side of the car.



Then there is a surge tank behind the original tank, there will be a lift pump on the other side of the original tank which will fill this tank.



Then the surge tank will go off to the main pump.



Finished off the transmission tunnel



Stripped the car down ready for panel and paint on Monday



Engine bay and transmission tunnel from below.



Rear end fully stripped



Finished stripping the body loom. Removed about half of the wires. Still need to make a new fuse box and a few connectors for where the engine loom and dash needs to connect.



Traced and labelled all of the wires on the old loom.



Big box of wires that I cut off the old loom



This is the old wiring diagram. Everything with a cross through it has been removed.



Brought an alternator only pulley tensioner from http://www.thecartunecompany.co.nz/ I am not running AC, Power Steering or the hydraulic cooling fan, only running the alternator.

[avenga]

Big milestone today!!! Off to the panelbeaters.

Loaded the car on the trailer. We just lifted the body on to the trailer. The body shop is only 350 meter down the road so I was tempted to just carry it the whole way



Body is safely down at the panel beaters now. They say it will be about 2 weeks.



While waiting on the body we stripped the engine down to replace the water pump and cam belt etc. We also found that who ever did the cam belt last set the cams wrong, they were both out by a tooth, one was advanced and the other was retarded so it is a good thing we redid the cam belt.



Also found that the track rods had a big bend in them so I will replace them.





Started work on the new fuse box. Here is the diagram.



I'm installing a couple of relays for the headlights so I brought the relays, main fuse box, and a bigger inline for the feed to the headlights.



Labelled the fuse box.

[avenga]

Another update.

Went down to the panel beaters and we matched the paint colour. It turns out that it is still it's factory colour. I always assumed that it was repainted a different colour at some stage. The body tags have the paint code PM which is a Mitsubishi colour named Phantom Mist. Love the name.

Installed the new alternator only tensioner. Also cleaned up and painted the engine block.



Took the rocker covers off to check the condition of the cams. Looks immaculate, lovely golden colour.



Got all the bushes I need.



Got the vehicle speed sensor from Recon Electronics in Christchurch. Got a really good deal on this. My local Toyota dealership wanted $470 but I got an aftermarket one from Recon for around $180



I got another great deal on Trademe. A set of 8 remanufactured injectors for $110. Brought them from a cool guy who has a superchanged 1UZ in a Ford Courier Ute. They are unused, he brought them and then decided to go bigger because of the supercharger, but they are perfect for my NA motor. Drove my other Avenger to pick them up on Saturday. Had a good chat about 1UZ etc.



While I was up there I also picked up a Lexus front engine cover which will hid the spark plug leads at the front of the engine. My 1UZ is a Toyota so it had that big ugly cover that covers the whole engine. The Lexus ones only cover the front and side so I have been looking for this part for a while.

[avenga]

So, small car update, big life update!

I am going in to have Gastric Bypass Surgery tomorrow. It was going to be in August but they last minute moved the date forward. I only had 6 days notice so I have been rushing around getting ready for that. I was planning to get the car finished by the surgery date in August but since they moved the date forward then I will have to finish the car after I have recovered.

So, expect less progress photos for a while. I will post a little update when I am out of surgery and back online.

Here is a few little progress shots of the interior all painted.





And I also got some track rods from a friend on the Avenger forum

[35desoto]

Trust you have a speedy recovery - All the best

[avenga]

Thanks guys

I had the surgery yesterday and am recovering in hospital. Everything went really well. I hope to get out of hospital on Sunday if all things go well.

Still a long road of recovery ahead of me.

Thanks for all your well wishes

[avenga]

Some pics from the painting.

Bogging and sanding the engine bay







The engine bay in primer. Looking really smooth







In the booth to add the colour



And the finished product. The camera had problems with the white balance so it looks a bit more gold than IRL but it is a perfect match for the rest of the car







The bonnet primed and ready for paint



Now the next question, rocker covers??? Which colour should I do them. I am tossing up between body colour, bare alloy or painted silver like the front of the engine. What do you guys think? ATM I am leaning towards body colour.