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SBCA96

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Posts posted by SBCA96

  1. If I might chime in here with something to ponder .... there are quite a number of Alum aftermarket

    heads seeing use everyday, not too mention in the OEM market. GM used aluminum heads on

    the LT1 dating back to 1992. My 1993 Camaro Z28 is still running with 270k on the clock and the

    heads have never been off. I would have to assume that even with water cooling the temperatures

    in the combustion chambers would cause issues if there was a problem. Also, the ports leading

    out of the heads dont see much cooling, how do they keep from melting?

    I agree I went through the same "wait a minute" thought process when I heard of these .... iron is

    still the OEM choice for exhaust manifolds, my bigger concern was the heat they would give off...

    Tom

  2. Yes .. The gearing on the Powershift (1st gear of 2.40 and 2nd of 1.47) is "high" in comparison to the

    700r4 (1st gear of 3.06 and 2nd of 1.63). I used a 3:31 TT in my Hawk with a 700R4 and it was quite

    a nice combo. In my wifes 1978 Camaro we are running 3.42 gears which feels pretty low. The 3.31 I

    used in the Hawk was swapped into the Avanti which now has a TKO 5 speed rather than the original

    T-86 3 speed I hated. Install here :

    http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?8204-Studebaker-Avanti-TKO-5-speed-install-how-to

    Tom

  3. I updated the links to the original photos....

    Nice to see this forum is active again. I have been busy building a resto-mod

    1978 Camaro for my wife.

    Here is an extra shot left over from the Cover photos I took before the final was

    picked. You can see the 13" rotor and 2 piston PBR caliper nicely in this shot.

    L_Covershot2_021a.jpg

    Tom

  4. I am running 17 x 8 "Cobra" knockoffs. These are wheels based on the 2003 Mustang Cobra which is a 9 inch wide wheel, they take an inch off the back spacing. With my brake setup it creates a 1/4 inch "spacer" with the rotor and gets you QUITE close to clearing. Just a hair of contact with the upper front zerk fitting on the inside edge of the wheel at FULL lock on one side. This is the contact spot .. Studebakers do not have good steering stop control. I would recommend going 18 if you want to run 8 inch wide wheels. You can run 17 x 7 without too much difficulty, with the correct offset.

    You could also get the wheels that I used and have a wheel shop narrow them to 7. They fit the rear just fine as 8 inch wide. You would only have to narrow two for the front. Downside is with such large wheels the little 11 inch rotors look really small. Here is my Avanti with the 13 inch rotor 2 piston caliper setup I sell brackets for....

    L_Covershot2_021a.jpg

    Tom

  5. All,

    I have one set of 6061-T6 Aluminum Cobra front brackets left. Just FYI.

    I am also working on a GENII design, which will be steel. The plan is to incorporate all three caliper fitments into just one part so that the buyer can decide later on what direction to go, therefore upgrading/downgrading is a breeze. I will also finally be offering a rear bracket, in both Cobra and GT designs.

    If you are interested, please feel free to email me at sbca96@aol.com to be added to a GENII update list for when they are available or to pre-order which will help me with manufacturing costs.

    Tom

  6. If you dont want to modify anything, then you are stuck with the Gabriels.

    If you want Bilsteins, you CAN use 1970-81 Camaro front and rear shocks, it

    just requires larger washers in the front a-arm mount, and replacing the

    "I" bar upper mount with the sleeve from your old shocks. Though bear in

    mind that you will void the Bilstein lifetime warranty by doing so. What I

    plan to do is mod the shock brace with a GM style receptacle mount so that

    I can run the shock unmodified. I am also going to use 1994-96 Impala SS

    shocks (front is the same part number) in the rear so that I can use the

    lower shock mount I used from my Hawk (eye bolt style). The Impala SS has

    a stud at the bottom to mount horizontal, rather than a vertical shaft as

    the stock Avanti has. The Impala upper mount is the same "T" bar style as

    the 2nd Gen Camaro, that I will use unmodified. This will give me ultimate

    shocks for my Avanti, because anyone that has run Bilstein knows that there

    are NONE better.

    Tom

  7. Here is my dad driving the Avanti, he had not driven a car with a manual

    trans since his '62 Lark hardtop 4 speed in the early 60s :

    Here is Dad again, getting better with the gears.

    My turn ... Dad wasnt ready

    Here is the wheel hop from INSIDE the car - ouch!

    Dad filmed me drive by at the speed limit

    And then just cruise by

    Tom

  8. Eric Estrada (Ponch) is the special guest, that is worth going all by

    itself! I plan on having the Avanti there, and hopefully participating

    in the cruise night Friday from 5 til 7 pm.

    http://www.cityoflompoc.com/police/CarShow/carshow09.pdf

    Lompoc Police Department Car Show for Special Olympics

    09/05/2009 - 09/05/2009

    Lompoc, CA

    Open Show in Ryon Park, live band, auction, huge raffle, games, poker run, BBQ, t-shirts, meet our guest, Erik Estrada. $30 Entry fee. All proceeds to Special Olympics

    Contact: Harry Heidt

    Phone: 805 875-8108

    Email: hheidt@ci.lompoc.ca.us

    http://www.lompocpd.com

  9. John, its Camaro .. with two a's.

    If you are a member of AOAI, you may have seen my articles, they are also

    on here if you do a search, and also on the SDC forum. I have installed '03

    Cobra 13" brakes on my Avanti, along with 17 inch wheels and a 5 speed TKO

    Tremec TR-3550. The Tremec install is in the next issue of Avanti Magazine.

    Here are a few links to check out :

    NEW SDC thread location GT install :

    http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/top...?TOPIC_ID=24378

    Results from GT brake testing

    http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/top...p?TOPIC_ID=4413

    NEW install process GT to Cobra brakes

    http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/top...?TOPIC_ID=26929

    Cobra brake breakin pictures

    http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/top...p?TOPIC_ID=5279

    First Article set from CNC

    http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/top...p?TOPIC_ID=7594

    First production set with engraving

    http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/top...?TOPIC_ID=11193

    Camaro Seat install

    http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/top...p?TOPIC_ID=5715

    TKO install

    http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/top...?TOPIC_ID=13734

    That should get you started.

    Tom

  10. I picked these up last week, took a couple quick shots tonight. These

    are two Cobra sets, and one Mustang GT set. The GT set seems to get

    forgotten, but they would allow the use of 15 inch wheels. Like with

    Turners setup, the factory Stude 15 inch wont clear. The GT set has

    the large half moon radius removed between the caliper mounting holes

    to clear the large single piston caliper - on the right.

    2ndBracketRun_2Cobra_1GT_002a.jpg

    2ndBracketRun_2Cobra_1GT_001a.jpg

    Tom

  11. I wrote these for the SDC site, they might be helpful - Tom

    Avanti power steering system rebuild Q & A

    http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/top...p?TOPIC_ID=7602

    Studebaker Power Steering Pump Rebuild - how to

    http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/top...p?TOPIC_ID=8527

    Studebaker Power Steering Ram Rebuild - how to

    http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/top...p?TOPIC_ID=9935

    Studebaker Power Steering Control Valve - how to

    http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/top...?TOPIC_ID=10694

    Studebaker Power Steering Hoses Replace - how to

    http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/top...p?TOPIC_ID=9936

  12. This is from the Studebaker Drivers Club forum.

    Boy that looks familar. I was supposed to do an article for Avanti magazine shortly

    after doing that swap, but my wife was sick then we were forced into the center

    divider by an SUV and totalled her "baby", a mint 95 Camaro. I have spent about

    the whole last half of 2008 building her another car using most of that car. I have

    not got back to the Avanti .. only driving it twice in 2008 (once to storage and back

    home again). You might also do a search for my 2003 Cobra brakes.

    If you find a thread of mine with dead pictures let me know so I can edit it with the

    new picture location.

    Tom

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