Inspection

I had a few projects in front of the Avanti and didn't get to the torque boxes for several weeks. In the meantime, I did manage to tune it up and work on some of the "fixits". I also enjoyed driving it on sunny days. It drove and handled like a modern car. Tight, rattle free, responsive, comfortable and relatively quick (for an R1/Powershift).

Finally, I found the time to get it up on my friend Paul's lift.

The left (driver's side) torque box was definitely shot. It actually looked pretty good until we started poking at it with an ice pick and screwdrivers and beating on it with a body hammer. It looked like this when we were done stress testing it...


The right side, however, was in good shape. After the same stress testing, we couldn't find any weak areas. It looked like this...


A close inspection of the rest of the undercarriage confirmed that the springs, shocks, king pins, tie rod ends, and other suspension components were recently replaced as was the complete brake system, the exhaust system, the motor and transmission mounts, and the power steering control valve and hoses. The frame was "fish plated" in several areas, however, but the repairs looked fine and no other frame problems were noted.