Dwight FitzSimons

I believe that all the transition Avantis were round headlight, and that R-4892 was the first square-headlight car. As nearly as I can tell from the pix the square headlight enclosures are sitting on top of the fiberglass, not recessed into it as the square-headlight cars are. I have seen that done before to '63 Avantis. Not surprising, then, that someone has added "Supercharged" emblems to the fenders of an R1 car. --Dwight

Yeah, that's what S-A did for me; they had 2 on the shelf. I was assuming that SI might not have one on the shelf. Note that glass beading the rust off a rusted piece of steel/iron until it looks perfect will NOT remove all the microscopic rust. That microscopic rust will grow unless either: 1) it is removed with Naval Jelly (or the like), or 2) it is painted with a non-porous paint like POR-15 or epoxy. If your new booster has no pits showing through the paint then I think you will be home free. Merry Christmas to y'all (a Southern contraction of you all). --Dwight

Hi, Paul, A bit of advice from experience: I received a rebuilt booster in January for my '64 Avanti. It was nicely painted, but there were pits (from rust) all over it, which showed through the paint. This booster will likely have the same problem. So, if you can get the rebuilder to glass bead the booster but leave it unpainted that would allow you to finish it as you want. In my case I would have used Naval Jelly (phosphoric acid jell) to make sure that all of the microscopic rust was gone, then filled the pits with finishing putty. Then paint. --Dwight

I have noticed several reupholstered Avantis missing door SS trim, including one of my Avantis. I doubt that the owners wanted the trim pieces left off, so maybe the upholstery shops are the culprits, leaving them off intentionally. Or, perhaps the tabs on the ends broke off. --Dwight

That was addressed here:

Hi, Paul, Jim has accepted my second booster (from my pictures), so I'll mail it to SI. --Dwight

Looks like you're correct. https://www.theavanti.com/national_mall.html

R-5643 is in the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum in Cleveland, OH. I saw it there some years ago. (corrected per mfg below)

OK

Hi, Paul, For some unknown reason I never thought to look under the rubber boot. I have sent pictures of my second Avanti booster to Jim Lime and am waiting to hear back from him. The pix of the second booster are below. --Dwight

But, one should not put radial tires on the original thin, 15x5 wheels. Most use 15x6 or 15x6.5 Ford wheels with radials. (There are other options.) --Dwight

"So what if You took 2 ea. of the $3600 examples and made 1. Is that sensible? You'll likely still need to buy parts and then labor needs considered." This makes sense only if one of the Avantis is missing some major parts, like seats, engine, etc. More typically, these project Avantis are more or less complete, but need the same things: engine work, upholstery, brakes, exhaust, suspension, hog troughs, etc. They've all been the victim of "deferred maintenance." I am currently doing these repairs to R-4228 (R1, AT, PS, AC - a desirable combination) and it is a seemingly endless task list. When I get it to the point of being a car that someone will want to drive (reliable, safe) I'll sell it (for a loss) to someone who will take the car the rest of the way. My justification: I will have "saved" an Avanti. I have two other Studebakers ('64 Avanti R3 & '56 Golden Hawk) currently underway, so time is short for working on R-4228. --Dwight, powered by Studebaker

Hi, Paul, Yes, I spoke to Jim Lime, I think, on Wednesday, and asked for pix of the damage and the missing part. He said he would email me the pix. I'm sure he/they are busy so he hasn't gotten to it yet. I'll email him to make sure he has my correct email address. If the USPS has damaged the booster in transit then a claim needs to be made. I did insure it. I'll keep you in the loop. Regards, --Dwight FitzSimons, powered by Studebaker

The turquoise Cruiser?