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I believe that Dr. Lamberti had a special Gold color painted on his 1964 Avanti, and that is possibly the one special.

Have an 80 Avanti with a Skytop. It leaked and didn't work so the po silicone sealed it shut. For now at least I'm just going to leave it, but it has no inside slider --that aluminum panel you can slide from back to front to shade the sun. Can anyone out there provide me with the exact dimensions of one ? There machine shop said he'll make me one but don't want to guess on the dimensions. Thanks!

I guess I could paint the blower, then replace the capscrews one at a time with unpainted ones. I agree that unpainted ones look better.

I hadn't heard of coated rotors until recently, but I think they are a good improvement, both for function & appearance. I assume that the coated rotors & calipers will rust eventually (like everything under the car), but at least that will be delayed & reduced. I have repro Halibrands on my Studes, so appearance matters there. All of my modern cars have see-thru aluminum wheels, so the rotors & calipers are visible. The Olds is a 2003 Aurora Final 500, and although it's a backup driver at this point, it has sentimental value too. All the mechanic said was that there was rust on the inner surface of the rotor. I assume that means rust on the wiped surface, which likely means that either: 1) the car isn't driven enough & lives outside (true), or 2) the caliper is sticking and not pressing hard enough on the rotor. It's a one-cylinder, sliding caliper, so either the piston is sticking or the sliding mechanism is sticking, or 3) both. One other possibility, and I have seen this on Studebaker rotors, is rust on the periphery (& the hub side) of the rotor advancing so far that it "rounds off" the inner & outer edges of the pads. Technically, at least, that would change the coefficient of friction a little bit (between the rotor & pad) because iron oxide is harder than iron (or steel). I used to laborously chip off that rust buildup on my Stude rotors with a chisel. --Dwight

Would you care to share which supplier sent the dried out, rusty parts? I’ve recently ordered from 5 different suppliers in Indiana, Arizona, Florida, Michigan and Massachusetts plus a few miscellaneous items from the local NAPA. One sent unacceptable rusty components (brake discs) that were returned for a refund, less shipping and a 15% restocking fee. Another sent worn, corroded parts (control arm bushings) and incorrect parts (stabilizer bushings). So far I’m just eating the cost of those parts. Ordered from another supplier and the parts are new and correct. In fact the stabilizer bushings are marked USA.

Dwight, if you’re referring to the screws which retain the rear scroll cover to the scroll housing, they were definitely painted, along with the rest of the blower, as a complete assembly… however, leaving them unpainted or cad plated sure looks nice!!

Dwight, I will assume the Olds is not a show car but a daily driver. My car will not be out in inclement weather and it's in a climate controlled building. Coated rotors still rust. I have them on my ML550, Mini, Escalade, MDX, 2500HD and a Suburban. Calipers stay nice, but rotor faces still rust. If I drove them daily rust probably wouldn't build up. Once they get rust on them, they don't clean up real nice and they chew up the pads. Did your car fail for the rotor faces, as I can't see the rotor hubs failing as every car out there would fail.

"Talked with HR&B today. Turns out that only Studes with the master under the floor need the valving not the Avanti. And no problems clearing my Halibrands. Ordered the kit today." More information that should be shared with all. One thing I will add: One might want to ensure that the rotors and calipers are "coated." After having my Olds flunk inspection due to rust on a 2yo rotor I'll never again buy uncoated rotors or calipers. I paint those on my Studebakers, but the factory coating is probably better and painting them is a hassle. So, if Turner's & HR&B's full kits don't include coated rotors & calipers then one might think about buying their basic kit & buying the rotors & calipers at NAPA, or other FLAPS. --Dwight

Good job! Great! Now I can catch up on my sleep. Thanks. --Dwight

Talked with HR&B today. Turns out that only Studes with the master under the floor need the valving not the Avanti. And no problems clearing my Halibrands. Ordered the kit today. Thanks for the suggestions! Ordered a set of U joints and the rubber seals behind the door interior handles from one of the big parts suppliers and they arrived yesterday. Oh my God, how can someone with any morals send something out that made my original ones look new compared. The pitting on the caps is so bad, you could never press them in. One was wrapped in white paper packing and it spilled brown powder (rust) all over my counter top. The whole thing was nothing but powdered rust. and $75 ea. The seals literally fell apart in my hands. Cracked and powdered. My originals that have been in the weather since 1963 are so much better. Makes me sick.

I have a new master cylinder to bench bleed. It has a bleeder port on the small reservoir. How is that used? Will it only bleed that one, or will it bleed both the small and large resevoir. What is the recommended procedure?

Thanks to all the contributors. I'll dig in now!

Thanks for your insight.

Thanks, great suggestions.

Hemmings. There’s also a ‘63 R1 that just listed for $32,500. It says “all original” but the 2-tone rear seats, pin stripes, gauge console and radio suggest otherwise.

While our cars have some peculiarities, they don’t require a specialist for most work, including an engine and/or transmission rebuild. I’d seek out a reputable shop for the engine rebuild and see if they might recommend a good mechanic.

Where is 4179 advertised?

Or, we could use the term "originality" rather than original. --Dwight

Brad is getting like most of us with the age problems.

Thank you for the various websites and info. Made me rethink it. I checked them all out. I just checked out the installation instructions on both Turner and HR&B. The latter requires modifying the brake lines and installing valves. I don't want to change anything that can't be reversed, such as brake lines. I'll probably call and talk to both of them. I am defiantly going to install one of those kits. Cost wise it doesn't make sense to rebuild my calipers, plus I'll have better braking. I disassembled my calipers and cleaned all the brake fluid out, sprayed them with WD40, bagged them and packed them away. So, it's getting new brakes for sure. My R2 has 19k on it and has never had the blower worked on. ALL the bolts are black.

I also did a 200-4R conversion on my Avanti (RQB-1831). I did not purchase the kit Nostalgic sells, instead I was able to re-use and adjust my existing linkage. I can pull the shifter into second but not first as the linkage runs out of travel. But, in the 20 years since I've done the conversion this has not been an issue. I do think I may have had to swap the linkage arm that's mounted right on the transmission from the old TH400 onto the 200-4R. Your mechanic should be able to look at things and figure out what's wrong, otherwise have him give Dan a call as others have suggested, Sorry my car is not on a lift right now so I can't get you pics.

Lots of options at the various Hot Rod supply shops; here's one that may work for you: https://vintagepartsofarizona.com/seatbelt-solutions-3-point-retractable-lap-shoulder-belt-w-starburst-push-button-sleeve/

I will not be in South Bend. All of mine have radials on them.

It was one month ago when I posted it.

64... Not my concern. I have little interest in His high speed aspirations.