CaffeineRacer
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Posts posted by CaffeineRacer
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Glad to hear that SI was so accommodating. Do you know if now they are going to change the carpet kits to solve this fit issue?
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Gunslinger, good to know about the carbs. I figured there had to be differences between them. I like the way the carb bonnet looks compared to the box, but it would certainly simplify things in terms of the carb. Moving to Holley efi system with the blower might be another option if I decided I was really set on the bonnet.
I just built a new engine for the car and it makes plenty of useable power. This is more about making a "resto-mod" avanti II that pays homage to the original R2s. When I did the engine I followed all the original studebaker paint scheme with the semi-gloss black motor, orange/red fan, and chrome bits. I'd never want to seriously modify an original Avanti R2 as they are a true piece of history, but an Avanti II is more of a modified vehicle to begin with so I see less of a problem as long as the design remains the same. Plus the chevy power plant is much more user friendly. So adding the blower is not about adding power (though that's certainly a plus) or any other real practical reasons. Just for kicks.
Hopefully someone who has done this will chime in.
As for the AC, it's hot in Texas so that will definitely be staying.
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You're right that Vortech makes a kit for chevy small blocks so that is certainly a possibility. This is really just a thought exercise at this point, but I would like to do this in the future when life permits.
Does anyone know if there was a different between the R1 and R2 carbs to accommodate the pressurized system from the supercharger? Was there a system the adjusted fuel pressure in a boost dependent fashion?
The biggest fabrication hurdle would be the brackets for the supercharger. I think the way to do it would be to move the alternator down to the lower passenger side of the block sort of where the smog pump was originally. This way the PS and AC can stay where they are.
On R2s that have been retrofitted with AC, where do they put the compressor?
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My understanding is that the L-46 was an option on 69 corvettes and therefore wouldn't have been the engine put in Avantis that year. They usually used the base model corvette engines for a given year. Also didn't the L-46 engines come from the factory with 202 heads already? What is the block casting number?
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Just curious if anyone has done it. I've been playing around with the idea of fitting up a newer Paxton supercharger, but then painting it orange and using a reproduction carb bonnet to sort of make a resto-mod homage R2. I've been trying to figure out the best arrangement for accessories since I want to keep my AC unlike the original R2s.
Anyway if you done it and have pictures please post. Otherwise please speculate of how possible this might be and what would be involved.
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Just watch out with the clearance in the wheel wells with those wider wheels and the car being lowered. How much did you lower the car? Does Eaton just cut coils out of their standard avanti springs or do they actually make different springs with a stiffer spring rate?
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These are the bilstein part numbers for the shocks. Front 24-011044 and rear 24-001564.
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So not sure if this will help you, but what I did when I installed my bilsteins (which were made for an 81 camaro) was to buy new pins (I believe these are them http://www.4wheelparts.com/Rear-Shock-Absorber-Cross-Pin.aspx?t_pn=W%2FI98). Off road type shops carry these types of things. They are a lot more heavy duty than what's needed and require a small bit of grinding to get the holes wide enough to fit, but was really not a big deal. Then I bought some replacement bushings from summit (http://www.summitracing.com/parts/BSN-E4-B46-248B)
I was able to push the bushings in with my hands and a little soap and water. Then for the pin I used a puller to push the pin in with a little wd40.
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I'm just curious what would be involved in order to swap the original SW speedometer from my 1982 that goes to 85 with a speedo that goes to 120 or 160. Does the speedo cable need to be changed to make the calibration correct. The car has a 2004r transmission.
The one currently in there looks like this http://www.stewartwarner.com/Products/StewartWarner/Product-families/Deluxe/Speedometer-(electrical-mechanical)--P-N-82677.aspx. And I'd like to swap in a guage like this http://www.stewartwarner.com/Products/StewartWarner/Product-families/Deluxe/Speedometer-(electrical-mechanical)--P-N-550BP-D.aspx.
I've got to imagine someone has done this in the past. Thanks for any advice.
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I have to agree with Gunslinger. The best sign when looking to buy a car like this is when the previous owner has a well organized binder documenting everything they've done with part numbers and vendors.
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Can't help you off hand with the springs. I take it you are going to have to custom order the coilovers. Where are you planning on ordering them from?
When I redid my shocks last year I had good results using bilstein shocks made for a 81 camaro. I had to modify the mounting eyelets (just remove the bushing a replace them with the proper type. The shocks are a major improvement from the gabriels that are the oem replacement. They're nice and firm when then need to be, but take bumps quite nicely (and we have a lot of those here in Houston). You can use the same 81 camaro approach and buy koni or any other brand of your choosing too. I've got part numbers if your interested.
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Does anyone by chance have any part numbers for replacement v-belts for a 1982 Avanti with a 305? Thanks.
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1981 had the 305 with the emissions equipped smog system with the air pump and the E4ME quadrajet I believe. Not too exciting of an engine, but very reliable and gets excellent mileage.
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Bos82, was there more to you comment or was that "just" it?
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Yeah the one host Keith Martin was kind of a jerk about the car. It did look pretty nice, but you're right it did need some work. But I mean what Avanti owner wants a pristine perfect avanti that doesn't at least have one or two problems that need attention. :-)
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Just saw an R2 1963 Avanti on the tv show "What's my car worth?" It was an episode that originally aired 10/26/2011, so it's kind of old news, but I'm always excited to see an Avanti on TV. They rated the car at a 3 in condition (driver) and a "C" for collectibility. They suggested a selling price of $25,000 and it ended up not selling with a top bid of $23,000. The owners name was "Fuzzy." Anyway just thought I would share.
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Bob, that is crazy cheap. All the shops I talked to won't do it unless they have the car in the shop, which I can't blame them. The only trick is going to be getting the car to the shop after putting in the new engine. Do they make clamp on reducers? That's the only temporary solution I can think of for running the new engine and manifolds with the old exhaust. Other option I guess is to just mount up all the old exhaust and run the car over to the shop that way. I hate to have to pay them to install the new manifolds then though.
I looked into getting a set of duals from Don over at Silvertone. I've heard great things about his systems, but boy they sure have gotten expensive (645 for the 2.25" system). I'm hoping the y pipe will be a more budget friendly solution. I'll have to see what a custom dual system would be from the exhaust shop though. It seems to me in looking and the current system you could reuse a pretty significant portion of it like everything from the muffler back.
Muck around in here and see if it helps. http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?74295-74-Avanti-SBC-T-56-2-1-2-quot-Exhaust-System-and-Undercarriage
I just work with the local guys. They said they would have preferred the car on their hoist but I can MIG so it was easier for me this way. I also posted the pipe prices.
If you still want a 2" "Y" pipe, I would guess Nostalgic Motors. Any exhaust shop can make a 2" - 2 1/2" adapter but I'll bet the "Y" pipe costs more than the 2 1/2" pipes I put on mine. If not Nostalgic, most any exhaust shop can make "Y" pipe but it will not be inexpensive.
Bob
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So I'm getting ready to drop in a new 350 engine into my 1982 to replace the 305 currently in there. Since this is an 82 it's got all that blasted AIR emissions crap on the exhaust manifolds. It's all rusted like crazy and will be removed along with the air pump once the new engine is put in. Also if one has never seen the exhaust systems on these later Avanti IIs, they are not true dual, the manifolds run into a sort of y-pipe that then runs to a straight intermediate pipe to the catalytic converter, from the converter there is another y pipe that splits into a dual system with separate mufflers and tail pipes.
So in looking around to exhaust options I had settle on using a set of the repro rams horn manifolds, which I can only find with a 2.5" collector outlet. http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Smoothie-Rams-Horn-Exhaust-Manifolds-Small-Block-Chevy-Raw,94194.html
That's probably a good size for letting the 350 breath, but presents a problem. The current manifolds on the 305 are a 2" outlet and and the y-pipe they feed into is 2" on the inlets and then run into a 2.5" collector and the rest of the system is then 2.5." I've blown any budget I might have had on the engine so going to a dual system is probably not in the cards.
So my question is this, where can I find a replacement for that 2" y-pipe that connects from the manifolds to the rest of the exhaust that is 2.5"?
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First Avanti (II) I ever saw was my gramdfather's and the same one that now resides in my garage. :-)
Amazing I had never seen another one in person until this year when I met some more local avanti owners.
I've spotted a few in the background on TV before. I keep hoping they'll do an Avanti on overhaulin. An Avanti II would be perfect for the show because there are plenty of parts available and they can use a chevy crate motor and transmission. I would love to see Chip Fooses version of and avanti.
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A suggestion for headers. Many will run the factory corvette "rams horn" style exhaust manifolds. They have been shown time and time again to have performance equal to headers on street applications, can be had in 2-2.5in diameters, and will fit in tight spaces.
Here are some cheap replica ones a lot of people run (note these have brackets in the casting for alternator that may need to be cut off and also make them left/right specific). http://www.summitracing.com/parts/rnb-674-503/overview/
These are a slightly modified version. http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Tru-Ram-Small-Block-Chevy-Exhaust-Manifolds-Cast-Iron,3823.html
I'll be using a set of the cheapos on my new custom vortec 350 once it's done.
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Not to get too off topic from Oil, but I add sea foam to my cars and motorcycle gas tank every once and a while. In my 2002 V6 ford explorer at least I've seen consistently about a 7.2 mpg increase with highway driving and a less substantial 4 mpg increase city. Which is awesome because my explorer gets crazy shitty mileage, but when I calculated it out it's still more expensive to add the sea foam every time I fill up than to simply deal with the usual crummy mileage.
As for oil I've used the expensive joe Gibbs stuff in my Avanti with the flat tapper 305 and Rotella T3 in my motorcycle with much luck. I'm thinking about using the Rotella in the avanti next time.
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Also this video from a while back made by GM is great at explaining mechanically what is going on in a standard differential and how it works to accomplish the differential rate of rotation of the drive wheels.
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Just to give the reverse example if you have a big powerful torque monster 383 with a numerically low gear ratio (e.g. 2.87) then when you punch it your wheels will pretty much just spin as opposed to a numerically higher ratio (e.g. 3.31) where you have a lot more controllable conversion of power from the crank to the wheels.
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One of the ways to think about it too is that your final drive ratio dictates the RPM at which the motor turns at a given speed. This has RPM:Speed ratio has particular importance when laid over a graph of your torque and HP curves. If your engine makes all it's torque at high RPMs it will bog down when you punch it from a cruising speed if you have a numerically low rear end ratio (e.g. 2.87) where as if it were high numerically (e.g. 4.46) then your engine Is likely crushing in it's powerband and will feel like it has a lot more get up and go when you punch it. There is a fine line that one walks when building a streetcar to gain desirable performance, driveability, and practical fuel economy (OD transmissions help a lot with this).
Centrifugal supercharged Avanti II
in 1965-83 Avanti
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Devildog (Joe), do you know what sensors the efi system you have on the car uses? Depending on things there might be some adjustments made for something like a MAP sensor so the positive pressure doesn't make things out of whack. I wonder how tuneable those efi systems are as I'm sure a custom tune would be required.
The 8.5:1 CR is perfect for a SC and you could probably safely run 5-8#s boost and not worry about hurting anything thing. 3#s might be a little on the low side. I believe the original R2 engines they ran about 5#s of boost.
Right now I'm trying to mock up (on paper) how I might do this with my carb as I think the pressurized box method might be easier as its just designing some mechanical linkages rather than the bonnet method which would require some fancy carb modifications to make sure everything was seeing the correct relative pressure. I'd love to keep my Q-jet for this, but I can always fall back on one of these off the shelf blow-through carbs.
I'm going to email Paxton and see if I can get some dimensions of the supercharger so I can start figuring how things might fit in that engine bay.