Avenger build

[jspbtown]

yeah, at one time I think some good cash was spent on it. The hanging pedals are CNC units. It has a hydraulic clutch, rear "camber compensator (or something like that...its an IRS but its flat like a camber compensator), 4 wheel disc brakes, dropped fiberglass pans, chrome front roll bar, etc.

Got the body back on the chassis last night. Needed it there to build the front & rear subframes for the tilt sections, and to reinforce and fit the doors. Adding alot of steel in the doors and front/rear sections to try to stiffen it all out.

Easily the biggest project yet.

[neonrick]

Seems to be a great start! Good luck...

[jspbtown]

Got some of the hinge working. The uprights still need to be boxed. They also need some triangulated supports. The steel will also be glassed and riveted to the underside of the hood. Half way there.

[jspbtown]

Added some bracing and boxed the 1" tube.

Need to wait for my actuators before I glass it all in, so I am off to the rear tilt section.

[jspbtown]

Ok...I am moving onto the rear section but I think I need some thoughts on keeping this hood in alignment.

My current thoughts are as follows:
1. A linear actuator will open and close the hood. Easy enough.
2. Considering a power bear claw latch to hold the hood in place. This would be located in the center of the hood and front "firewall"

My concerns are the two side areas, where the hood meets the section in from of the doors. I would like to keep a nice even gap there. There are a couple of locating holes from a prior set up:

I am running the gamut on what to do. I have thought of some sort of solenoid that would deploy a locating pin but I can't find anything with a long enough stroke. I thought of some sort of screw motor that would turn a threaded rod but can't find anything. I even thought about some tapered clips that, as the hood slid into place, would pull it into perfect alignment. That might be my best bet, but I am looking for suggestions.

Nothing exposed (hood pins, etc) and nothing that you have to release from outside the car. It needs to be electric or mechanical and hidden.

And yes, both the actuator and the bear claw will have mechanical overrides in case the power goes out.

[hotair65]

you should check out the latching mech on older saab front tilting hoods. ver7y simple lever style latch. might work on this setup.

edit: i think some older mid 80's buick or oldsmobile had a similar setup.
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"some people are like slinky's... they really have no use in life, but it makes you feel good when you push them down the stairs."

[jspbtown]

Finally got the rear hatch working. Ended up using some EBAY rear trunk hinges from a Ford Focus. Will try getting the linear actuator installed for the rear tonight...then onto the doors and power windows.

On a side note....the gentleman that I built a Bradley for just sent me some pics of the seats he had re-done. I think they look real nice.

[kustoms]

Why not do something a little more traditional with the seats. I like the original style with all the grommets. You can make this look great on any bucket.

As far as a screw motor for the hoods, You can get them from most power seats made today.

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Google this.
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And wondering what the heck happen to my Samba post count?!?
Tom Thompson
Tijuana Kustoms Inc. (TM)
1-516-338-8746
www.tjkustoms.com

[jspbtown]

Tom,

The client has some seats from a Lotus that he thinks will work pretty well. They are pretty close to period I think. I agree with the suggestion about the grommets. I will mention it to him.

As far as the hatches, I already picked up two 12" actuators for a song so I used them. It is just finding the "sweet" spot where they open and close the hatch correctly. I am sure there may be a formula but I am more about trial and error. I got the rear one working last night. I just need to tear it all down and fully weld everything, and make final adjustments.

Doors and windows are next week.

[surfnc]

Jeff

Looking really good!!
You are quite the welder/fabricator. I have been out of the loop and have not touched the Deserter. But the season is winding down so I hope to get on it soon.

[jspbtown]

Vince,
You will only need a few weeks to get that Deserter up and running!

Here are some pics of the rear hatch assembly:

I also received the custom aluminum fuel tank. It is just placed it its area. I will need to fab up mounts but it looks good.

[jspbtown]

Its been a while...and I have gotten a few things done. Coaching my son's basketball team took so much time this year. The coaching career is now over and I am a spectator forever now.

I have finished the front gas tank support system, glassed in the steel supports for the front tilt, glass the holes that were in the front, and finished all the welding up front.

I have moved onto the doors. I HATE doors! I can't wait to get back to dunebuggies!

Simple things like this door catch:

When it was on the car it was the pin on some flat stock and shimmed out about 3/8" with washers. It looked terrible. Since I did another mod (more on that later) I needed to shim it out about 1/2". I cut a image on the mounting plate out of 3/16" stock, and bent and welded some 1/2" wide flat stock around it. Its not done yet, but you get the idea. Figuring out this little detail was two nights of work (I am not that creative).

The door striker had to be moved out because I added 3/16" plate into the door hinge and catch areas. You can see the plate here:

When I am ready to install the power window kit I will be adding some 1" square tube to connect the plates and add more rigidity to the doors. As you will see the doors are really very weak shells only.

I also need to add some door handles. I picked up a set of C5 Corvette door handles and started mounting them:

I had to fabricate a lip on the inside of the door to get them to sit flush. They are almost there...just a little more work.

Of course I had to secure them and attach them to the catch mechanism. Wouldn't you know it the handles push the rod down, but my catch requires that it be pulled up. So I fabricated that little arm you see where the threaded rod attaches here:

You can also see the two brackets I made that hold the handle in place, as well as the little brackets that connect the threaded ro to the handle and the catch mechaism. The threaded rod will of course be trimmed for a neater appearance. I also have nyloc nuts which will be used everywhere.

I am happy to say that the doors work well. There was alot of hacked glass and you can see the beginnings of the reconstruction that I need to do. I kinda rushed these pictures, so I know I have alot of cleanup to do.

Progress is slow...but I am hoping for paint this summer.

[FormerBug]

Figuring out this little detail was two nights of work (I am not that creative).

Yes, clearly you're not that creative.... We should all be so good.

[kustoms]

Looking great Jeff!
_________________
Google this.
"Bread and Circuses"

And wondering what the heck happen to my Samba post count?!?
Tom Thompson
Tijuana Kustoms Inc. (TM)
1-516-338-8746
www.tjkustoms.com

[CoryN]

Looks good Jeff!

[Yessong]

so...any updates?

[jspbtown]

Things have been real slow. My son has been playing 3 sports and that keeps me pretty busy.

I have both power windows working which is good. I need to drill the mounting holes in the chassis so I can separate the two and start finsihing the chassis.

Unfortunately I sold my soul to the devil (kidding). My brother-in-law agreed to go get my Aztec 7 for a paint job on his 69 Camaro. Currently its about all stripped to the original metal and I will start doing some mild bodywork before paint. Everything on my projects are on hold until it is painted.

[krednjen]

Update please. I love this build.

[jspbtown]

I thought my time would get a little more free once my son got into high school. Well I was wrong. 26 soccer games from mid September to November 1.

Plus I agreed to strip to bare metal, repair, and paint my brother-in-laws 69 Camaro. That took most of my summer.

I have been out a little. I have separated the chassis from the body so I can finish the chassis and get the body mounted so I can fit the doors, front and rear hatches. I have the power windows installed. I also picked up some Honda Del Sol power mirrors for it as well.

I will try to get some pics this afternoon/evening. After the 3;00 soccer game of course.

[Cujo3131]

Hang in there brother....

We know kids can be time consuming....we know you'll get back to it....

Looks good though!

Cujo
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