Ray K.
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Posts posted by Ray K.
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On 2/2/2019 at 2:15 PM, PackardV8 said:
FWIW, I've installed Vintage Air systems in other Studes for which there were no OEM systems and repaired OEM systems where they already existed, but just never in a N-A Avanti. Based solely on hand's-on experience, which would you choose and why?
jack vines
On 2/2/2019 at 2:15 PM, PackardV8 said:FWIW, I've installed Vintage Air systems in other Studes for which there were no OEM systems and repaired OEM systems where they already existed, but just never in a N-A Avanti. Based solely on hand's-on experience, which would you choose and why?
jack vines
PackardV8: I have recently purchased a '63 Studebaker GT Hawk (289/4spd, no A/C) and am looking into installing a Vintage Air system. Do you have any advice and/or recommendations?
Ray
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I think the lower gear "lock-out" is a more recent phenomenon. As a novice driver back in the '60s, I was shifting a 3-speed GM automatic manually while drag-racing. I accidentally slipped from high gear through neutral and into reverse at 60 mph. The rear wheels locked up. I expected the tranny to come through the floor, but to my surprise nothing happened. I put it back into high gear and drove home, with no ill effects. Your transmission is probably OK.
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Quite a difference from 82 to 84 as the bumpers and front and rear panels have some change. Curious why those years other than the 4-speed overdrive trannys.
In any case, I don't know of any as not a ton of black were built but don't forget Ebay and be sure to search Craigslist nationwide with Searchtempest or some other searcher.
Good luck, Love my 83.
Bob
I have an '82 that I am in the process of advertising for sale. It's white, but you could easily get it re-sprayed in black. It has a 350 crate motor, 4-speed auto, and most if not all options offered that year. Interior is burgundy leather. This car won a national first prize at the 2010 AACA Southeastern Region Fall Meet in Blacksburg, VA.
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There's a special tool to adjust those "tamper proof" idle mixture screws. It looks like a screwdriver with a special tip on it to fit those screws. Your local NAPA or other good auto parts store sould have it.
Thanks, guys. I found one of those tools on-line for $18.95 + shipping. The solenoid sounds like a promising area to explore, too, only it is too hot in my garage to work in there. Might have to wait till October!!!. As a side note, I remember speaking with police officers, back in the early '80s, who said that their cruisers were wired to cut off the A/C whenever the accelerator was floored. This gave them a few more HP to catch the bad guys.
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I have an '82 with a 350 crate motor equipped with a Quadrajet carb. The engine / carb have approximmately 7,000 miles on them. Lately the engine quits running when the A/C is turned on. It also quits when doing a slow sharp turn, as when parallel parking. Both problems occur when the engine is fully warmed and idling smoothly at 750 RPM. My initial thought is that perhaps the idle mixture could be adjusted slightly richer (along with appropriate adjustment to the idle speed) to get more torque at 750 RPM. However, the idle mixture adjustment screws have oblong-shaped heads with two flats and are placed in recessed openings in the base of the carb. Is there a special tool for adjusting the idle mixture on this make / model year carburetor?
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The clearance between the top of the air cleaner and the bottom of the hood can be easily checked with 1-inch cubes of modeling clay. Place them on top of the air cleaner and cover with saran wrap to keep them from sticking to any hood insulation. Close the hood carefully. Open and see how thick the clay is. The clearance on my '82 is so small that the hood insulation has polished the paint off the high points of the air cleaner.
RayK
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Feeling a bit dense ... but, after using the wrong size battery in my 1982 Avanti II for years, I'd like to install the correct one. Calls to local auto part stores, even a search on the internet has yielded nothing. It's probably such a simple answer. Anyway, can anyone tell me what battery size the car was designed to hold? Thanks!!
Here is a car battery size chart. Measure the existing battery (or use a ruler to determine the dimensions that will fit on the battery tray) and do a reverse look-up in the table.
http://www.gglotus.org/ggtech/battery-bci/battery-bci-size.htm
RayK
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Thanks for the information, Gunslinger. I bought my car in 2007. Part of the literature package included a "GM Goodwrench Service Replacement Engine Limited Warranty", dated "11/1/93". The engine is black, and had a "Goodwrench" sticker on one of the rocker covers. If this is a 2004 engine, then a previous owner must have blown up the engine installed in '93.
Ray
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ID # is stamped on a flat boss behind the alternator.
I found the following stamped on the boss behind the alternator:
(Top line) : M0830
(Bottom line) : 4VP
Does this make sense? Was the engine made in Mexico on August 30? Any indication of year?
Thanks for your help.
RayK
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A GM crate 350 was installed in my '82 by the previous owner, maybe about 6-8 years ago. Is there a serial number or other identification stamped on the engine that can be used to verify the build date of the engine?
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I hope you replaced the power steering hoses and power valve while the engine was out for rebuilding. On my '82, these parts are very difficult to get to with the engine in place. The hoses will deteriorate after 20-30 years and start leaking. My return hose failed catastrophically where it is attached to the power valve, and emptied all the fluid on the parking lot. Luckily, I was only 2 miles from home at the time.
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Yesterday afternoon I took the '76 on its last drive for 2011 to my daughter's and son-in-law's farm 65 miles away to put it in a larger garage for the winter. A lot of work was done on the car (rebuilt motor, new automatic overdrive trans, radiator repair-twice, ac repair-three times, exhaust system, tires, turner brakes up front, rebuilt rear brakes, new brake lines,rear axle bearings,new gauges, gas tank cleaned, new fuel lines,and xm radio). The car was driven every month except May as the engine rebuild went from April through June. July saw the car being driven from Illinois to Gettysburg for the AOAI convention. A good number of cruise nights were enjoyed as well as a couple of nice road trips to the Illinois Rail Museum and the AACA's Brighton Run from Illinois to Brighton WI. Over 5100 enjoyable miles traveled in the car this year. It was a little sad to do the final drive,fill up, add in stabil, install a battery cut off switch and cover the car in the garage for the winter. But as the eternal Cubs chant goes, "Wait till nest year!" Thoughts of more enjoyable events, drives, Chicagoland AOAI meetings run through my mind, hoping for the winter months to pass quickly.
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I would hold on to it. The car is now over 25 years old and qualifies as a bona-fide antique. Some antique car clubs are very picky when it comes to having all of the original equipment. If you ever sell the car, having that computer available could make the difference to a potential buyer.
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I agree. If you don't do the work yourself, getting an Avanti fixed can quickly turn into a money pit!! One suggestion, though - if you are going to replace your ignition wires, upgrade to 8mm silicone or better. My '82 has a GM 350 crate motor. The parts store originally gave me the wrong wires. How was I to know GM had 2 different styles of exhaust manifolds? I had to cut the rubber boots off the distributor end, get under the car, and feed the wires through the heat shields from the spark-plug end. What a hassle!
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Thanks for all the input from all of you. I was going to cut the metal line flush with the fitting and use a socket or box-end wrench, but I got to thinking that metal shavings probably would not be good to have in the hydraulic system. Then I came up with a dumb but simple solution. 1. Cut the brass crimp band off the end of the hose with a Dremmel tool; 2. Slide the hose off the inner metal tube; 3. Cut the damaged part of the original hose off; 4. Splice in a section of new hose using a 3/8-inch double barb and 2 hose clamps; 4. Use a hose clamp to reconnect new hose end to the original fitting. Since this is a return hose, there is no pressure, and hose clamps will hold just fine. Luckily the damage was near the end of the hose, and not somewhere up inside the engine bay.
RayK
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Since you are replacing the hose can you cut the line flush with the nut and use a socket on the nut?
Good luck,
Jim Wood
Thanks for all the input from all of you. I was going to cut the metal line flush with the fitting and use a socket or box-end wrench, but I got to thinking that metal shavings probably would not be good to have in the hydraulic system. Then I came up with a dumb but simple solution. 1. Cut the brass crimp band off the end of the hose with a Dremmel tool; 2. Slide the hose off the inner metal tube; 3. Cut the damaged part of the original hose off; 4. Splice in a section of new hose using a 3/8-inch double barb and 2 hose clamps; 4. Use a hose clamp to reconnect new hose end to the original fitting. Since this is a return hose, there is no pressure, and hose clamps will hold just fine. Luckily the damage was near the end of the hose, and not somewhere up inside the engine bay.
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When I purchased my '82,it came with "quick ratio" steering,which(I believe)requires after-market parts such as the pitman arm. A power steering hose failed a couple weeks ago. I got replacements for both the pressure and return hoses at Myers (they make them up special, because one end is SAE threaded for the Studebaker power valve, and the other end is metric for the GM pump). I have been unable to remove the old hoses. When I attempt to loosen the male flare-nut fittings on the valve, the valve swivels because it is mounted on some kind of ball-in-socket joint to the pitman arm, and the wrench contacts the frame member. Using a pipe wrench to hold the valve body was no help. A crowfoot wrench also hits the frame - there is basically no clearance. I figure I have to pull the pitman arm, but I don't see any possibility of that without pulling out the whole engine.
Any ideas?
RayK
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Nice work, P!!
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Putting new bearings, etc., on the rear axles on my '66. As such, brake backing plates come off and, upon replacement, I bled the cylinders. DOT 3 fluid is much more expensive than synthetic at the local AutoZone -- literally, several times more expensive. I've owned the car about two years and, as I do not know the history of a brake system overhaul, or if there even has been one in the last few years, I'd at least like to flush the entire system. None of the front or rear cylinders leak and brakes are good but the fluid I bled out of the back cylinders was somewhat cloudy. I'd guess that synthetic fluid would not harm a system as long as I flushed the entire system, but I do not know. Does anyone?
DOT 3 and DOT 4 are polyglycol-base fluids. Dot 5 is silicone based. Polyglycol and silicone are both synthetic chemicals, and are incompatible. They should not be mixed. The entire brake system must be properly flushed when switching from one to the other. You can tell what kind of fluid you have by placing a few drops into a glass of water. If they dissolve, you have polyglycol; if they separate and sink to the bottom, you have silicone. Also, polyglycol has a distinctive odor, whereas silicone is practically odor-free. My best advise is to stick with the same type fluid that is already in the system when you flush it.
Ray
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My '82 had a screw/scissor jack handle and a lug wrench in the large pocket when I got it. You would think an upscale car would be provided with a few additional rudimentary tools (screw driver, pliers, and crescent wrench, at least). After all, the Model T Ford - cheapest car of all time - came with tools!! But, no, I suppose Avanti owners are not supposed to get their hands dirty. I keep a few tools back there - including a tire pressure gauge and a 12-volt air compressor.
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Thank you for the information. I haven't done a tune-up on a car since the late 80's (75 Dodge Charger SE). I had ordered the AC Rapidfire plugs but was unsure of wires. I will look for a heavier shielded set. My car runs great, but I have no idea when the previous owner did plugs and wires. I was under the car last weekend changing oil and greasing the chasis and noticed several of the wires were cracked at the boots to the plugs. I figured it couldn't hurt to change things out. My car is also a stock late RQA model with points. I need to refresh myself on points; I helped a buddy years ago.
Thanks,
Tony
As I recall, the late GM points distrubutors had a trap-door in the side. Open the trap door and insert a 1/8-inch Allen wrench to engage the point-adjusting screw. Then hook up a dwell tachometer and, with the engine running, adjust the screw until the dwell is within spec. I don't recall the exact spec off the top of my head, but 28 to 32 degrees rings a bell. Feeler gauges cannot be used with these distributors because there is stuff in the way.
Dwell tachs are not as common as they once were. If you go to your local NAPA store, they may not know what you are talking about, but it is in their catalog and they can get it for you. JC Whitney also carries them for ~$40.
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Thank you for the information. I haven't done a tune-up on a car since the late 80's (75 Dodge Charger SE). I had ordered the AC Rapidfire plugs but was unsure of wires. I will look for a heavier shielded set. My car runs great, but I have no idea when the previous owner did plugs and wires. I was under the car last weekend changing oil and greasing the chasis and noticed several of the wires were cracked at the boots to the plugs. I figured it couldn't hurt to change things out. My car is also a stock late RQA model with points. I need to refresh myself on points; I helped a buddy years ago.
Thanks,
Tony
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Generally speaking, you want the the universal joints to have zero degrees of angle when the car is on level ground. There should be a theoretical straight line from the center of the harmonic balancer through the center line of the crankshaft, the center of the transmission output shaft, through the center of the driveshaft, and the center line of the pinion. The angle of the driveshaft to the horizontal should be the same as the angle of the engine block (crankshaft) which should be the same as the angle of the differential housing (pinion shaft). The exact number of degrees is not as important as all measurements being equal.
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Just happen to find it on the A-pillar door jam, between the hinges. Thanks anyway.
OEM versus Vintage Air - who has experience?
in 1965-83 Avanti
Posted
Thanks, Jack! I emailed Vintage Air last year (before I bought the Hawk) and all they could offer was their catalog. A kit will take all the guessing out of the project.
Ray