Avenga

Sort of like this

Yeah I am getting some stiffer springs for the rear which might be a bit lower. I will work that out once the flares are fitted, I will be getting the springs made custom so I can specify the ride height and stiffness. I still want it usable so I don't want tyre rub or overly stiff springs. Not sure about the tiger stripes because they go up and over the rear spoiler. I like the ducktail better that the tiger spoiler so I don't know what to do with the rear end of the stripe. I really like the strobe stripe on the Cuda's but I don't know if I could pull it off on the Avenger.

Thanks. Yeah I love the full on race car look so I grabed all my race bits off my rally car and swapped the over to this one. Should look pretty racecar when it is done, can't wait to see how the front flares and spoiler will look when it is done. Yup, I will be keeping it the same colour with a satin black bonnet. I am thinking of maybe doing some type of stripes on it also. The diamond racing wheels look awesome. Need to change the offset on the fronts but the rear ones look awesome. Make it look really tough with the flares

Hey guys. Mega panelbeating photo dump!!! So I went down to GT Refinishers to check out the progress on the Avenger. It is looking good, heaps less rust that I thought there would be, heaps of dodgey repairs by previous owners but the body is really good otherwise. Grant said the body looks really good. The back wheels look huge now they are fitted and they will fill up the flares nicely. The fronts are a different story, they don't stick out past the factory guards so I have some spacers which I will use to mock up the wheels then I will get the offset changed from a 4" backspace to a 3" back space. So let the flood of photos begin. This is the rear wheel how it sits at the moment, they need to cut a bit more out, probably up to the blue line. I also need some harder springs but the ride height is looking really good. This is how the flares will sit in the end This is how much they have cut so far, you can see the blue line which will be where the final cut will be. Here are some little patches etc they have done This one is by the back window This one is on the other side of the back window Top of the back window Front guard Around the front window Engine bay all stripped and all the holes welded up. Battery is moved to the boot Bonnet latch is removed because I don't need it with the fibreglass bonnet Fancy pants adjustible front suspension, Ex-my rally car tail lights rear quarter, you can see a few rust holes that will be patched They also did patches on the other rear quarter plus most the doors and the front guard.

But your stock speedo still works (albeit a bit averagely) doesn't it? Yes, my stock speedo was working (just) until I got my 5 speed and then I never bothered hooking my stock speedo up to the new gearbox. Still got a WOF with no stock speedo, just the GPS. It was probably against the rules but it was only for a short period. My WOF guy never said anything about it so I guess he was sweet with it. I have now finished my Avenger Alpine dashboard and cluster, so next WOF I will be back to using the stock Avenger Alpine speedo with no GPS speedo.

I got a few WOF's with my GPS speedo.

And then the final bit is the exterior. I brought some mould for a fiberglass bonnet, boot with spoiler and chin spoiler. I also did a quad headlight conversion. Here is a shot of it with the quad headlights and fiberglass bits. I haven't got the flares or big wheels on in this picture because they will require the body to be cut to make them fit Here is a photoshop one of my mates did to show what the finished car may look like. Here are some more shots of the fiberglass bits and some of the flares we tried. The front ones will stay but we are using some Capri ones for the rear.

after that I did a little interior upgrade. Going from the old strip speedo to the round gauges of the Avenger Alpine. This cluster is actually out of an english Avenger GT so it uses Smiths gauges which are tons better than the NZ AC Delco ones. I also swapped over to the Avenger Alpine dashboard and got it recovered. Here are some photos of the new cluster. This was before I get it restored so now it looks like new. I replaced the glass on the temp gauge and repainted the damage to the rev counter Here are some shots of my new dash. And here are some shots of the difference between AC Delco and Smiths. The cluster on top is the NZ one and the one on the bottom is the UK Smiths ones.

Next up was the wheels and tyre upgrade. Got some custom Diamond Racing Wheels made for me. Took me 6 months to get them here after they took like 4 months to make them. They had trouble with the 4x108 stud pattern because it is not very common over there and because they are a pressed wheel they had to wait till they could get a press to do the centres. They are 15x8 with a 4" backspace on the rear with 225/50/R15 Toyo Proxies T1R tyres, and 15x7 with a 4" backspace on the front with 205/50/R15 Toyo Proxies T1R tyres.

Okay guys. Sorry for the lack of updates. Been doing heaps of work on the Avenger. It has been down in the shop since October but it should be pretty awesome when it is done. Pretty much finished most the mechanical stuff and it is booked in for a full respray in the next few weeks (pulling the engine out next week) So here is some of the stuff I have been up to. First up was the brake upgrade & suspension upgrade. These are Volvo 4 pot calipers and BMW E30 rotors. I also swapped my race car suspension over to this car so I have adjustable Koni's all round and adjustable ride height and camber plates at the front. This is the caliper all rebuilt and restored. All new pistons and seals etc. Here they are bolted up to the E30 rotors. You can see some of the plumbing is done and you can see my custom struts along with the camber plate in the background.

I have a spare Avenger door in red.

We have a member over on the Avenger forum who is doing an SR20DE in an Avenger. Avengers are quite similar i.e they have the same stud pattern etc as the escort. For upgraded brakes we use a BMW vented rotor with a Volvo 4 pot Caliper. I have done the same mod on my Avenger and it is pretty easy to do so I think you should be able to do the same on an Escort. Here is a like to my mates SR20DE Conversion. http://www.avenger.co.nz/forum/index.ph ... 80#msg4180 And here is a like to the brake upgrade I did on my Avenger. http://www.avenger.co.nz/forum/index.php?topic=295.0 This is the 4 pot Volvo caliper I used. And this is the brakes all setup with the BMW rotors.

Awesome! Thanks heaps. You can't buy Avenger window rubbers anymore and I am trying to fine something that will fit. I will compare that to the Avenger glass and see if it is close. Cheers

The drive shaft of an Avenger is the same spline as the sierra gearbox also. With my gearbox conversion I used an Avenger auto bellhousing and a spacer then it all just bolts up fine. you can even use the standard Avenger clutch etc. For more info on the sierra conversion, read here http://www.avenger.co.nz/forum/index.php?topic=60.0

I have a 5 speed sierra in my Avenger. I have an Avenger Alpine 1500cc engine in mine with dual dellorto's etc. We have a member over on the Avenger forum who is just doing a SR20DE conversion in an Avenger More details here http://www.avenger.co.nz/forum/index.php?topic=275.0

Hi guys. I am currently trying to replace the rear window rubbers on my Hillman Avenger. I am unable to find any rubbers for the Avenger but a few places have told me that Mk2 escort rubber will fit. I was hoping someone with a Mk2 escort could measure their rear window and let me know the dimensions. Also a photo of the general shape of the window would be great. Cheers

Jebus! That must have been one hell of an impact. Wonder how it did so much damage going so slow.

Challenge accepted! Sounds like a contest the mighty valiant would be well suited for. Great meet. Was cool to talk with all the new guys. Had a good chat and cruise with the Escort boys, only out of pity really because they misguidedly brought an Escort instead of an Avenger which is a clearly superior car

Does it need to be V8? My Charger is only a 6 but most think it is an 8. I will have to check my schedule but I should be able to do it if need be. here is a picture.

If you do get a GPS tracker, don't tell anyone. I have heard of crims using shipping containers to block the GPS signal, they have a truck waiting around the corner with a shipping container then once it is loaded in the truck then they can just drive off and you can't track them. I know it is overkill but I have heard of it done.

Hey Andy, your car sounded awesome when you were revving it before you left. I wouldn't change the exhaust at all.

I think I may have a spare. Will check and bring tonight if I do.

It's the 70-300 I'm dying to see. guess there is no real need for that at the burger fuel meets because you don't have the range. Do you still have any of the wide angles? they would be good to try out at this type of meet.

Hey Richie, you going to bring your new lenses along so I can drool over them?

I changed them. Just trying something out as people always ask if I can do that cheesy HDR look (although they are not HDR) I just wanted something to show people who wanted that look. My photos will be returning to normal from now on unless specially requested.