All Activity

All good thoughts (I got a kick out of getting your hearing checked!!) Here is food for thought…, If Studebaker did drop the compression ratio on R2’s due to warranty concerns, and that would be understandable,…What would they have rated the horsepower of a 10.25 compression ratio R2? The R2 we all know and love was factory rated at 289HP.

Release The Hounds.... The Blueprint 350 / 341HP is on order (about 30 days out now). Old 305 has been pulled and set aside for later play... Transmission TR700R4 has been pulled and will be delivered to the transmission shop this Friday for rework and upgrade to support the HP of the new engine. The current game plan is to forgo the ECU. Currently going to clean and possibly repaint the engine compartment, rework the PS to include new hoses, replace control arm bushings, clean/scrub/degrease frame as much as possible to apply rust blocker and paint.....

Electronics suppliers and Amazon have mercury switches. They won’t look like the originals but will work.

It would be interesting to hear from anyone adding (or who has added) a supercharger to his R1 engine. It is tempting for me to do it too. Three caveats, though: 1) Have your hearing checked, 2) Install quieter mufflers so you can hear pinging, 3) Add racing or aviation gas to 93 octane gas -OR- use an octane booster (assuming that those work and aren't harmful) --Dwight

It sounds to me like you bought the wrong springs. And the mechanic who installed them didn't pay attention to the fact that the base of the springs were different from what was removed. So, you need to purchase the correct springs and have them installed to solve the problem. If you still have the old ones, then you can verify spring set #2 is correct before having them installed. If not, then you need to buy them from an Avanti Parts supplier for sure.

The original switch has failed as near as I can tell. What have you used to replace the mercury switch, which to my limited knowledge, are no longer available (NLA)? Thanks John

I'm relatively new to the Avanti gang, about one year, but I have noticed that my 1980 Avanti 2 windows do rattle somewhat. Dan over at nostalgic motor cars tells me there is something he calls an anti rattle gasket that can be installed to prevent just that. I'm just handy enough to be able to do that, but I haven't done so yet. As for the fit of the door, I found mine to be OK, the only problem being that the door glass is loose because of the aforementioned problem and I'm sure it would sound much better with the gasket, or whatever it is, installed. Further, the weather seal around the window in the door frame is worn out and could stand to be replaced, which would probably also improve the situation. As to whether the original Studebaker Avanti's are better then the Avanti 2s, my feelings are "it depends." The originals are generally more valuable. Until much later, they are the ones that will have the round headlights instead of the squares. It might be a bit more difficult to get parts for the Studebaker engines instead of the Chevrolet 350 cubic inch engines, the latter having been installed in Avanti 2s from about 1965 to 1985 (there are variants installed in the latter years). The original Studebakers are the only ones that are gonna have the Paxton superchargers, and good luck finding parts for those since Paxton went out of business quite some time ago. The 2s do not have the "snob appeal" (don't take it personally y'all, it's just an expression), but might be more suitable for daily driving. Your gas mileage will suck in any case, but the 2s have locking bucket seats with (anti whiplash) headrests, seat belts with shoulder harnesses, four way flashers; and probably some other stuff I can't thin of right now. Further, as I mentioned above, the Chevy 350 engines are ubiquitous, and parts for those engines are very easy to find. For me, the advantage of the 2s is that I feel free-er to make modifications to them for which I would be tarred and feathered by the Studebaker collector's community for doing to an original.

I agree that today’s sub par gasolines would probably be the big caveat here. Although, using the highest grade gasoline available, with a good brand of octane booster, might eliminate any pinging issue the driver may encounter. And this is with the assumption that any supercharged ‘63-‘64 Stude Avantis being driven today are strictly limited use automobiles!

Well, very sorry to hear that…. but thank you for sharing that information.

I am having a problem with the new front springs. They do not sit perfectly vertical.....At the top (the pocket of the frame) the spring is pushed to the side of the pocket resulting in major noise from metal on metal movement, whenever I hit a small bump. The opposite side of the pocket has about 1-1.5 inches of clearance. The shop that installed said that the top of the spring is centred in the pocket and then looked for solutions including rotating the springs, but indicated that it would only move the contact point to a different spot on the pocket. The base of the spring has a tangential end which may be causing it to slide to one side on the base support. Do I have the wrong base type for the application (should it be square)? Is there a base plate that could centre the base of the spring? Should I simply get a pair of springs from one of the vendors and replace these (new) ones? Would a new set of springs have the same problem? Enquiring minds and all that!

In my experience with several R2s, both back in the day and today, you will need to use gasoline of higher octane than the current 93 if using R1 heads with a blower. Going from 9.0:1 to 10.25:1 C.R. will increase the chance of pinging considerably (& increase power considerably too). You could add some racing or aviation gasoline to 93 octane. A while ago someone on the SDC Forum said that he was running 570 heads (R1 heads) with a blower successfully, but I suspect he was using something above 93 octane gas. Yours is an intriguing thought. As we know an R1 will beat an R2 up to 30-40 MPH, and that is partly (mostly?) due to the higher compression ratio of an R1. With the small number of miles most of us drive our cars today the additional cost of higher octane gas would be insignificant. BTW, an R3 has a 9.75:1 C.R., so gives us an indication of what happens when increasing the C.R. on a supercharged Stude. I had an R3 in the late 1960's and it required Sunoco 260 (which is NLA) or it would ping. (I can't address the ping resistance of an R1 head versus an R3 head, however.) As far as what happens when using insufficient octane gas in a Studebaker: A local '63 Avanti with an R4 engine experienced failure because the owner didn't buy only Sunoco 260 gas and ignored the pinging. R4s have a C.R. of 12:1 (but no blower). When the engine was pulled apart EVERY ring was broken and one or two cylinders needed to be sleeved. You must NOT ignore pinging. --Dwight

Avanti R1 owners who have desired to add a Paxton supercharger to their car have hesitated due to the complexity and relative unavailability of factory R2 heads… I’ve often wondered if the R1 heads really need to be changed at all? Period Paxton literature indicated that their standard 5 lb. boost supercharger was compatible with compression ratios up to 11 to one (using premium fuel) … and up to 12.5 to one with “the proper camshaft and fuel” Has anyone ever heard of an Avanti R1 engine failing after a Paxton was added to it (without changing the heads)? Did Studebaker make this compression ratio change strictly out of warranty caution? Opinions?

Yes, for sure!

My starter was sluggish and I finally sliced the positive cable from the battery to the starter. Yep, it had green corrosion inside. Replacing it made a big difference. Probably not your problem with the randomness but something to be aware of. Mike

The starter solenoid on the Chevy engine is not normally serviced separately. It is integral to the starter motor, and the two are usually replaced as a unit. To determine if the issue is with the solenoid, a voltmeter can be used to determine if it is getting voltage when you turn the key to the "start" position. Another check is to touch a 12V jumper wire to the small terminal of the solenoid to se if the starter operates. But, as your problem is intermittent, this may not necessarily give an accurate result. A shade-tree mechanic approach is to hold the key in the start position (when the starter doesn't operate) and have an assistant tap on the starter with a hammer. If the starter then springs to life, it's time for a new starter.

Glad you got your overheating problem solved! Yes the transmission can be removed without removing the engine. This would also be a good time to examine the transmission mount and the driveshaft U-joints.

The car was originally shipped to Austrailia and raced on road courses. About 15 years ago it was restored back to it's original street-use configuration and sold. From the following SDC thread, the R4 may have been installed after the car left South Bend and soon after it arrived in Austrailia, expressly for racing: https://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/forum/your-studebaker-forum/general-studebaker-specific-discussion/11401-anyone-know-about-this-r4-car

I think I just didn't get all the air out of the system. Runs cool now. What I didn't know is my car was a late production with a 400 in it! I put the harmonic balancer and flexplate from that engine on the 350. If I didn't have bad luck, I'd have none at all. I changed out the balancer for the correct one. But I need a transmission shop to change the flex plate. I've been told it can be done with the engine in the car, and that the transmission can be unbolted and moved back enough to drop the flexplate. I hope they are correct as that is what I told the shop that will perform the job!

Thanks very much -is there a way to fix it or do I need a new one?

Another possibility is that the starter solenoid is sticking. Sticking in the retracted position would account for nothing happening when you turn the key. Then, sticking in the engaged position when the engine starts could account for the noise, as it would be the same effect as holding the key in the start position.

Actually the 299 R3 was not stroked, it was just .060 over. The proof is the R3 crankshaft drawing shows that it is for the 299 and 304 engine.

SOLD 07/19/2025

Thanks Gunslinger appreciate it

Check all the connections for tightness and corrosion…both hot lead and ground. It may require disconnecting everything…cleaning it all and reconnecting everything tight. You might also do a starter draw test and see how many amps the starter is drawing. The noise may be the starter bolts have loosened and a shim is loose or gone…BTDT. The starter itself may be dry and needing rebuilding or replacing.