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I have a 1989 Avanti Convertible that I rescued a few months back. Its original owner was Mickey Dolenz, the drummer of the band "The Monkeys" and includes a signed picture of the car when new. It was the second to the last Convertible made in the 80's with signatures of the assemblers on the back seat bottom. It pasted through 2 other owners and ended up with the grandson of Tom Larner, a big time Avanti Owner. It was driven regularly and has 139,000 miles on it. I have gone through the entire car to be sure everything is working correctly, had new upholstery installed on the front seat and cleaned up/treated the rest of the interior. The front end has been repainted to remove all paint damage. Tires, wheels, exhaust are all new. No Leaks. Asking $19,500 Ron

Each of us has our own motives when buying and selling cars. And actually, it's no one else's business what they are and we shouldn't be attacking each other about this. If you stated your motives and the results, then you should be done posting about it and let others do the same. It's 2026 and time to start the New Year out right enjoying our cars and the fun and help that we get from other owners and their cars. Here are mine, let's see yours!

I thought so.

Bob. You assume too much when it comes to my methods and motives. I haven't, and won't do that of You.. Who has animosity? Look back at your allegations and opinions. If You've lost on nearly every vehicle You've owned... You're a ''Typical American". We as Americans spend more on Vehicles than Housing... Sad part is Vehicles generally depreciate but Housing increases in value. So in general the largest expense used to be Housing but that has shifted over the decades.. Now it's vehicles. My background is as an Architect and Builder as well as a Designer of other items. I try my best to move forward financially... not sustain losses every time a New Model of vehicle comes out (pointing to New Car Byers here), How UnAmerican of Me. So... IF You are losing on most every vehicle, You might be a future seller, but in Your case I highly doubt it, Your wise enough to not sell less than market, so to me,, Your out.

Where did I say it is a problem? I simply shared my interpretation of some of the things you’ve said in this thread. It is of no concern to me that you need to buy and sell cars at a profit in order to take part in the hobby of collecting classic cars. What strikes me as peculiar is the level of animosity you seem to have toward others who aren’t concerned about making a profit on every vehicle they buy. Those folks are your customers. “Beware” of what? FWIW: I have a truck and a motorhome currently for sale, both at prices below what I paid for them. That makes me a seller. With the exception on one motorcycle that I owned for a short period of time in the 1980’’s, every vehicle has been sold for less than the price paid and I haven’t counted the number or totaled the losses. That may make me a foolish, out of touch loser in your book, but I’m satisfied with my lot in life. All the best. Happy new year.

That administrator has to go!

I would second the contact Dan Booth. i replaced the cable in my 67 Avanti II. The Cable was ok but the housing was broken. I took a few pictures but deleted most of them after I was done and the turn signals were working. The switch had gotten water in it and was stuck, I think that caused the plastic housing to break. The steering wheel and top portion of the column will need to be removed. The first mistake I made was pulling the cable out the bottom and not attaching a wire to snake the new cable back in. I like fishing but not when they are not biting but after many attempts and a couple of bait changes I got a piece of bailing/mechanics wire up thru the column. Then was able to pull the new cable in. As best I remember I did a lot of google searching and found some write-ups for Oldsmobile and Buicks with the similar Saginaw tilt column's. Steve This is where the black plastic housing was broken. This is the top of the cable. The new cable has a metal housing These are the only pictures I saved.

It appears the SDC Forum is offline again.

Bob. I don't make moves to lose. I have had 67 vehicles in my life. I've lost on very few. The few I've lost on have given me a little wisdom.. There is a top to what I can put out and right now. I'm near that but why do You see it as a problem? The assets are in house and in time they move and get replaced... This year is a shift.\ Also when profit is no longer a factor... in my opinion, You lose touch with sensibility. It's an expensive game and every transaction is to be studied. I know this goes against the Hobbyists in general, So be it.... You might be a future seller... Beware.

Sorry the answer here is TRUE!

My guess of the week is false.

You’re siting on unrealized gains. Of course, those “gains” are based on values that you have placed on the vehicles. Frankly, if I were engaged in a hobby/business where profitable sales were essential, I’d be selling as much as possible at 10%, 50% or 200% profit. Doing so could put you in a position where profit is no longer a factor. No disrespect, but you present yourself as someone who is the equivalent of “real estate poor”. You have a lot tied up in vehicles, your cash reserves are down and you can’t buy another car unless you sell one or two. That’s the message I’m getting, maybe I’ve misinterpreted what’s been said. You also seem to be trying to time the market, which rarely if ever yields positive results. My advice, take the profits. Rinse and repeat.

It would kill the enjoyment of owning my cars if I had to bank on that they would increase in value….. I mean, it certainly is nice if a profit is made when a car is sold, but most experienced car collectors know their lucky if they break even.. and generally they lose a few bucks on the deal…. That’s just the nature of the animal aardvark…. Anyone DEPENDING their collector car’s value will go up may as well roll the dice in the stock market.

MFG As. said in multiple ... this is a Hobby and Business at the same time. Every deal I've made on vehicles I meet the sellers expectations so there is never a hard feeling finishing the deals. No Stealing..IF that's the implication,... (In fact the '02' Avanti I gave the seller full asking price) The purchase numbers are real and the profits are already in place ''at time of purchase''. What I'm seeing is these values have escalated over the 2 years I've owned the 3 vehicles I listed (above). So I'm better than my 50% goal on the profit margin. You see, the upside is I get to own and drive these beauties without fear of financial losses. That, my Friend is Goal. #1... Goal #2 is I eventually move on and profit well. (Got the Porsche and a VW up ''for sale'' now to possibly cover the Avanti purchases and then all is well on my financial front.)

All done here?

No problem Bob, Glad I could help you!

Pretty basic for a factory job (body lift)…. but it worked!!

Well, I hope you reach your financial goals… I never knew any hobbyist that had to so strongly consider the present and future financial aspects of purchasing in Avanti. (other than automotive repair shop or body shop owners) However, any way a person can achieve their goal of Avanti ownership is a good way I guess. (Other than stealing one!!!) More power to you, Good luck & Happy New Year!

Thank you.

Bob I never could run on emotions for a purchase. Financially it was never possible and IF I did that, I couldn't afford to be in this Hobby/ profession (however You view it). I have to approach a deal as having a 50% profit margin or the deal is dead... Why?...I know there will be some repairs and modifications needed IF I can't buy with a profit margin, I can't continue on buying the next one... You see. me selling off at a profit is paramount to me continuing. Current history is a 928 Porsche bought for $16k... a '63, R2 Avanti at $16k...a '02' Avanti for $19k. All are wonderful;l examples and are (as You call them) good drive, low mileage cars in near excellent condition. I have 2 other VW purchases as well. So at present a few things are up for sale to re-coup my losses as well as pump up the $$ stockpile. I'm far from wealthy and live on Soc Sec'y with a few side incomes..None of this would be possible if I went in to this venture with financial losses, a infatuation of a brand or needing multi $$$ restorations. These MUST profit or I'm financially dead in the water. For those of You in different financial states, Carry on. Generally it's folks who are not burdened with finances that are my sellers. MFG. We've been thru this before but my stance is that of a Business Model as well as a Hobbyist.. They can run synergistically.

I have lowered 3 Avanti II's to the original Studebaker rake. This is accomplished by reversing the changes that Altman did. Removing all shims and the crescent shaped extensions that were installed. I am currently in the process of this on RQA0348. It is my opinion that since most owners of Avanti II's would definitely want air conditioning that the old-style York compressor that was mounted high on the engine was the clearance problem. In the 80's I used a side mount Corvette style Frigidare compressor. Today of course I am using modern Sanden type compressor. The pictures show the stack of shims originally under the radiator support, and the added clearance notch to clear the bumper brackets.

Complicated, but very thorough info… I’ll see where it leads me… Thank you.

I have successfully repaired the wiper system on the new to me R2. First, the switch works as follows. All the way counter clockwise is off and the "park" happens at this time also. Clockwise then goes to slow. The next movement clockwise runs through a variable resistor and increases the speed to maximum as you turn the switch clockwise. I read a lot of articles from several online sources about this which helped me understand what was going on. The previous owner had installed a rebuilt motor and a new wiring harness. I had already taken the switch, which was in fair condition, and took it apart to clean and lubricate the moving parts. Didn't help at all. I did read where the switch had to be grounded for everything circuit to work properly yet when I grounded it, nothing changed. I removed the motor and did a bench test similar to the method shown in the first attached photo. The park function still wasn't working right, so I removed the cover, studied the mechanism, cleaned the 2 arm contacts and double checked the action when rotating the disc. Everything seemed OK, but still didn't work correctly. I finally took the switch out of the car and made up 4 6" leads with spade terminals on one end and female bullet connectors on the other end and connected the switch to the motor. Then I took a small 12 volt alarm system battery that I had and connected it to the switch, grounding the switch case and motor case. Next I cycled through the switch and again, not so good. Then I remembered reading that the switch case had to be grounded, which it was. But wait a minute, what is connected to the case? Then it occurred to me that there was a small brass leg coming out of the switch which was under one of the case legs that holds the switch together. An ohm meter showed that there wasn't any continuity between the brass leg and the case arm WHICH WAS TOUCHING IT. WTF? There must be some residue or film blocking the ground. Ok, I know how to fix that. I took a piece of "white" wire and soldered it to the brass leg and the case arm. Connected it to the ground on the battery and now EVERYTHING worked perfectly !!! So I reinstalled the switch, connected the extra white ground wire to the dash frame and everything works perfect !

You need a bushing driver set at a minimum. I also used a press with mine instead of beating it to death.

Bushing driver set a must…. And a good vice!