Nelson

Bob. I that photo the old Paxton Products building?

Thanks for the compliment The same can be said for you, Bob. I indeed enjoyed our long conversations and look forward to more of the same in the future.

We met you guys at them Palm Springs meet last week. I think I remember Idaho plates on your Avantis? It must have been a great road trip! The no ac, windows down and loud sure brings back memories. I remember going to the nationals in Dallas Tex forty plus years ago. I drove down in a black 64 R3 stick. It was hot as hell all the way down and back. Over 100 degrees while we were there and humid. I was a lot younger then so I guess it didn’t bother me as much. I remember at that meet Denny Lockman showed up with his freshly painted 64 on a trailer behind his Buick convertible. I also bought an Avanti II while I was down there. I don’t even remember how I got it home. The good ole days!

I went with a friend and split the gas and motel room so those cost were minimal. The meet was 300 miles from eastern Phoenix. We left at 4 am and drove close to the California border and refueled as we didn’t want to get screwed on the California gas prices which were more than a dollar per gallon higher than Arizona. That fill up took us there, around the town for a few days and all the way back home. We booked two nights at a motel about five miles from the main event at $75 per night for two nights. Registration was $55, I bought an AOA 40 yr pin for $5 and we ate at McDonalds and Dennys. I met a lot of great Avanti people and looked over many Avantis. There was no parts meet so no costs there but that was a little disappointing as I drove my F150 thinking I might need it in case I bought something big or heavy. Fortunately that didn’t happen🤔. Over all I really enjoyed the show and I’m glad I was able to attend. I am disappointed in the lack of any type of hype prior to the show. Nothing on this forum or the SDC forum prior to the meet. It just seems like the fire is going out. The SDC and Avanti national meets really should be at the same time and location even if they had two different meet head quarters. They need to kiss and makeup for the good of both clubs.

Anybody going to the Palm Springs meet next week?? I should be there for a couple days. Hope to meet up with a few guys from the forum.

Hey Gunslinger. I just noticed you are in Sun City West. Are you a snow bird? I’m over on the east side of Phoenix for the winter.

That was planned and prototypes or at least one prototype was built. The bore of that engine was 3 7/8 inch. With the std stroke of 3 5/8 the displacement went to 342 ci. Oil gallies on this block had to be moved upward and outward to gain clearance for the larger bore. A longer stroke by 1/4 inch would yield 365 cubic inch. I believe this engine was aimed at the 1965 model year.

What is stamped on the pad on the engine block under the fuel filter?

For whatever reason I remember the Avanti blowers being black and The R2 Lark and Hawk versions being orange. This made some sense as the Hawk and Lark back ends were clocked differently than the Avanti so you couldn’t interchange the two without re clocking the case. I imagined the two styles would be different colors just to keep the confusion down when stationing the blowers at their particular installation point. However, the first Avanti predated the R2 Lark and Hawk by maybe several months so the first Avanti could have been orange, red or black. It’s too bad there aren’t a bunch of color pictures from back in 1962 and 63.

Yes, Dwight. A weight saving at the front end could have been considerable by just manufacturing the water pump housing and pump itself in aluminum, blower mounting and idler in aluminum along with crank pulley and water pump pulley. Even an aluminum intake. Also tube headers as you mention and placing that heavy ass battery in the trunk on the passenger side. I wouldn’t be surprised if the weight distribution could have gone from the road test thought of 58/42 to 55/45 maybe better. As for the Ferrari engine: I’m glad the offer was made just for bragging rights but the cost would have been high, warranty cost out the roof and no time or money to make the change.

Drop me a line. I might be able to help you out.

I imagine you’re looking for an original 64 setup that will take the original Avanti steering wheel. I know Studebakers spline count is different than any of the others. These setups are very rare.

that pinion seal sure sounds high. I think it is the same as any Dana 44 or Dana 27. I bought one from NAPA a few months back. It was higher than I had remembered but I don’t think it was even near $90. I remember U joints where about $5 each about fifty years ago but they have to be way more these days.

I think there are three settings and the wording stamped is sometimes not the same. Something like soft, medium, HD or sometimes export instead of HD. I know you need to collapse the shock completely and rotate the bottom against the top and you will hear or feel the click when it changes position. That sounds pretty cool that you are getting your Avanti out of hibernation after fifty plus years. Especially since you are the original owner. What year and serial number?

I’m not certain but StuV may have made the first set and that tooling could have been acquired by Studebaker or it may have been the other way around. I had or probably still have a set that has the name StuV cast into the header.