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As an aside… a Stude pal of mine once swapped out a flathead six in a ‘55 Champ coupe with a tall ‘64 overhead valve six… I thought he’d never be able to close the hood over that engine, however, the hood shut with no problem!

What would be the biggest difference between a Studebaker Avanti engine cooling system, and comparable year Studebaker Lark or Hawk engine cooling systems?

No other thoughts here? HINT!….. Things sure are getting hot under there!

That would have been an easy ‘bolt in’…..but it never happened! However these days, with fuel prices being what the are, the idea isn’t that far fetched!! 😉

False

The system on the Avanti is more similar to the 60's Ford models where you have a control valve connected to the gear box that makes a hydraulic cylinder (ram) push or pull on a bell crank pivot (mounted on the crossmember under the engine) which connects to the wheels by 2 long tie rods. The design isn't as quick as a more modern GM PS gear box and there are several places where problems may occur. Usually it's either a sloppy, worn out bushings/pins or leaking control valve, ram and hoses. The control valve design does have 1 pressure adjustment that improves its effectiveness. The end cap of the valve assembly has 2 slotted screws in it. If you remove the end cap, there is a nut that you can adjust to change the pressure. You want to tighten the nut all the way to tight and then loosen by One Flat. This gives you the highest pressure. Any decent rebuilder should know this, but it needs to be check. If you have fluid in the cap when you remove it, then the spool valve seals are leaking. The control valve has a spool inside of it that moves back and forth to send fluid to the ram to either push or pull depending on the steering wheel / gear box action. The spool valve has identical ends as far as the seals go but it can be installed backwards, which can affect its effectiveness also.

As Studebaker’s days were waning and engine supplies dwindling, Avantis were offered with the venerable flat head six for export, although the discounted option was never documented.

Hello Dwight, good news… received the refurbished booster today. Thank you very much for all your help! / regards, Paul

Our 1991 Conv pretty much except the wheels and tires, stock. Now showing 50,200 miles.

I’ve seen fiberglass repairs reinforcing an Avanti’s inner door structure… but I always thought those repairs were done ‘in the field’ after car was sold…. I’m not really sure about that. Anyway, I was looking for three items other than added fiberglass reinforcement, the protective wiring shield in the door hinge area being one.

Anyone??? Over 70 views. Yet no input?

The ones I’ve seen have doubled up on the fiberglass in the crack area.

It sure did!!… But what was ‘added’ to help remedy this?

Door inner fiberglass panel cracking.

Yes!… the protective cable housing is one! Two more …..?

Hi, John, saw that sale. The black one was Serial #1019. The only storage in the 4-door is the center and rear consoles. Good luck with and hope you enjoy your new toy. Richard #1078

I can name one: On '64s the PW wiring from the door to the door jam was protected by a steel housing. On '63s the wiring was just wrapped in tape. Some time in Avanti II production the inner door panel was reinforced by double fiberglass. --Dwight

My 89 Avanti Removed old tired 305 and replaced with a mildly built 350

Can anyone name three flaws in ‘early’ Stude Avanti power window systems which Studebaker identified and corrected later during the Avanti production run?

Come to think of it, the torque converter itself must have been reworked with the welded on Studebaker engine flex plate replaced by a flex plate (ring gear) compatible with the Chevrolet engines.

Not exactly related, but I agree with the questionable quality of new production starter bendix assemblies…. I recently went to the trouble of replacing the starter bendix assy on a ‘49 Stude Champion, and ended up having to do the job twice! ……Although the starter would spin properly, the new bendix would not ‘throw out’ into the flywheel teeth… The starter would just spin…. The second bendix replacement seems to be working OK.

Please "REPLY TO THIS TOPIC" below with photos of your 1987-1991 Avanti! You can "drag and drop" or "select file" to add your photo(s)

The starter for a Stude mounts to the bellhousing, not the engine block like a GM does. The shim is used to space the starter away from the block to adjust the bendix gear to flywheel clearance on the GM starter. One could put washers between the starter and the transmission engine plate but all that would do is pull the starter out of the bell housing, which wouldn't make any difference. His problem is with a bad bendix gear (old and cheap new), a now common problem to the point that Jon Meyer has written articles about this.

Starters sometimes require shims to be lined up for proper engagement. That may be the problem.