boogieman
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Posts posted by boogieman
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Went by school to see the instructor yesterday.
To my surprise, over the holidays, he found an original, July '62 printed and copyrighted 1963 Avanti parts manual
in an old stack of literature he had. He gave it to me. It is in very good condition and complete.
Nice addition to my Avanti literature collection.
The front and back covers both feature the Studebaker "S" logo and "Endurance Built Products" slogan.
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Congrats on your find.
What's the VIN #?
My is # RQB 2897. Only 175 were made that year.
My '79 came out of Florida too.
Mine had 1-1" hole in the left front trough area on the bottom.
I cut the rust out to clean metal, checked the inside for additional rust, sealed the inside area with undercoating,
made a small patch panel and pop riveted it in place, sealed it with silicone, then heavily undercoated the
entire trough on both sides. Easy repair.
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For what it is worth, any hydraulic shop can make the hose in braided SS for a nominal cost.
You will never have to worry about them again,
and the time not spent hunting for matching hoses is time saved.
But to answer your question, I have no idea. Good luck.
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In at least one case, my 1979, how did the assembly line denote what wood trim was specified for each car?
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Trivia is just as the name suggests. Minutia concerning little known common knowledge topics.
I personally don't follow the trivia section but do check it occasionally.
I don't have these answers but might be interested in knowing the answer.
And as "Boutique" cars, there are lots of unknowns.
At least someone is trying to catalog and document the facts regarding our unique cars for us all.
Here's a suggestion. Instead of asking an open-ended question, perhaps the question could be asked, occasionally, as
"Did you know that ......(fill in the blank) ?" That way info is dissimilated to us all without causing undue consternation
to whomever might be "tweaked" by the question.
If nothing else, there might be a small home-based publication here. A listing of the trivia, and the answers of course,
for anyone wishing to obtain the little-known history about our cars. A "cottage industry" perhaps waiting to be tapped into.
Another source of info to accompany and enhance our ownerships. One never knows.
Every other marque has these so why not ours?
MOPAR has Galen Govier.
FORD has "The Marty Report".
Pontiac has the "PHS".
Chevrolet has hundreds of experts.
Maybe it is time for someone to step-up and be considered The "guru" of our particular obsessions. Or not.
All at an affordable price of course. A very small potential audience but possibly a source of fun for those interested. Maybe not.
Just a few random thoughts about this seemingly touchy topic.
Don't shoot the messenger!
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The scratches are deep enough to be to be felt and "caught" with a fingernail.
Very detectable and obvious. Seems that a lot of material would need to be removed to make go away.
I'm concerned that just removing material in those specific areas might leave a distortion there.
That I don't want either.
Thinking of checking with a glass shop about clear polymers used to repair chipped windshields.
Supposed to be clear and almost undetectable.
Appreciate all the heads-ups.
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I have no plans to replace the factory sunroof. It works great as is.
I'm all about preserving this car as-is.
I will eventually find something that will suffice for my needs.
Only major concern is for the leading edge of the glass frame rubbing against the
body when closed. I need something very thin to serve as a cushion.
I checked autogeek but saw only glass cleaning products, not polishing.
I saw a clip on Powerblock sometime back but have no idea what was used.
I'll find something and if it works I'll post the results for others.
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All that and the fact these units are now 30+ years in use, older tech guys retiring, retired,
and production changes and designs, make finding info on parts, not to mention parts themselves,
almost impossible to nail down. I've checked with ASC at the national and local levels
and no one there even has a clue what I am looking for. Their solution is to replace the complete
unit with a new one.
If mine did not work as well as it does, I would simply close it and seal it in place as a
skylight. But it does work so well I would like to maintain the functionality, and originality.
As to size, these are the biggest units ASC made being 36-7/8" x 19-1/4".
In a side note, anyone familiar with a true glass polishing compound or procedure?
For unknown reasons there are scratches in the glass that distract from the appearance.
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You are Correct. ASC, not ASR.
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Hadn't thought of that. I will contact them. Thanks for the heads-up.
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Checking with ASC yesterday they have no clue or suggestions.
Looking at what they have to offer now, I got to thinking that possibly a "T" shaped
piece of flexible trim, siliconed to the roof-top and the vertical opening, would effectively
close the opening but still allow the roof panel to open and close against the inside lip of the molding
just as many new units do.
Was hoping to not have to attach anything to the roof horizontal surface but might find a suitable product
easier to locate and install.
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Beautiful car. Good work on maintaining the originality of your new toy. Enjoy.
I spent over 40 hours bringing the shine back to my '78. Well worth the efforts.
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Thanks Glenn. I will check with them. Nothing left for comparison but I know the specs I need.
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As a point of interest, wasn't the Monte Carlo a uni-body FWD platform?
And The Caprice a body-on-frame design?
And I know the Fox body Ford platform is a uni-body.
Lots or re-engineering involve there if so.
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Thanks Gunslinger. I did consider one briefly but dismissed it for exactly the reasons you cited.
Since the leading edge of the unit butts up against the front edge of the roof opening I am looking for
a piece of adhesive backed rubber or foam gasket material to cushion the contact area.
Needs to be 1/8" thick and app. 1/2" wide by about 3' in length just to cushion the contact area.
No need for the potential rubbing while driving from body flex.
The weather here is very hot the majority of the year so it won't be opened all that much anyway.
Decided to not be concerned with the sides.
The glass panel is very straight on the sides. The opening in the roof is not. The gap varies from a hair
under 1/8" to almost 3/16" on both sides.
So much for QC in the installation. Doesn't really bother me that much.
The unit works great which is more than most others.
So on to other matters. When the weather improves I need to get the A/C checked and the front-end aligned.
And my console/arm rest covered. I'll try to post some pics if I can figure out how.
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Pulled the errant weather seal. It was keeping the sunroof from closing properly.
Due to cleaning all the tracks, lubing the mechanisms, and repainting the trough area the unit works
extremely quickly, quietly, and efficiently. If I can find a thin flexible seal for the perimeter
I will add that. Otherwise I'll just leave it off. Its not like the car will sit out for any length of time
during my ownership. The occasional shower is not a problem as the drain tubes are intact and carry the water
down and out through the drain holes in the hog troughs. I might spray some rust inhibitor through them too.
Got the area in question re-sanded, primed and painted last night.
All is well with #2897. Getting ready for spring and driving and enjoying the car.
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I got mine from Nostalgic. John there even remembers the car from new and did some factory service on the car when new.
Give him a call.
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Thanks Gunslinger. The original seal was a thin metal strip wrapped in a felt-like cloth with a 1/8"
hollow neoprene tube around the top perimeter edge. The replacement is a convertible top material with the
neoprene tubing sewn into a pocket around the outer edge. Apparently the new material is just enough thicker
than the original to keep the roof panel from sliding into place.
I have the leading edge, thinned it as much as possible, applied a silicone lubricant, re-lubed the
tracks and mechanisms, cleaned everything up as much as I can, yet the last 1/2" to 3/4" wont slip into
place. Up to the point of the trailing (rear) edge popping up into place everything works great.
Thinking now I might need to pull the new seal and check the gap around the edge opening. Then possibly find a
soft rubber seal of some sort that will fit into the space allowed. Or maybe leave it off completely.
It is not a true weather seal per se. It is designed to eliminate wind noise, to help control the interior environment, and keep larger bits of debris out of the channel, according to the ASR tech I spoke with.
The car is now garaged at all times so sitting out isn't an issue. I might get caught out in a shower but
the drain tubes are open so water accumulation isn't an issue except for the occasional monsoon.
I do know that removing the new seal will cause me to have to re-sand and repaint the trough and opening again,
which I can do easily. Concern is for the correct look and wind noise. Always something else to do.
Appreciate the heads-up Gunslinger. I will figure this out eventually.
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Working on the sunroof to body opening weather strip. Had a new one made. Installed it.
Now the sunroof won't close completely. Looks like the seal is too thick.
Going to "plan B" whatever that might be.
Any suggestions here?
Also, while working on this, I removed most of the aluminum track around the opening
and cleaned and lubed the drive cables and track areas.
Cleaned and repainted the trough area and blew out the drain openings.
Works easier but still won't close completely.
Another day, another project.
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I always hate that he refers to Studebakers as "Studeys".
And "tranny" for transmission.
And "chev" for Chevrolet or Chevy.
Off topic but couldn't resist!
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Trivia is a take-it or leave-it issue. Read it if you want.
Hey Silverplate. I am in Garland. Might run across each other someday. Never know.
Any idea how many Avantis are in the area? Not many I guess.
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My guy assured me that my '79 has an American Sun Roof - ASR- unit. Go figure.
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No it is not "illegal" to remount out dated tires. The date code is manufactured into the sidewall.
Any decent tire store can tell you what the manufacture date is.
Discount Tire won't remount out dated coded tires. Not illegal but their corporate policy.
Many years ago I got a very nice '65 Corvette coupe to play with. Tires looked great, lots of tread,
no sidewall issues. Our oldest son borrowed it for a cruise with his wife. Before reaching the highway the
left rear tire let go. The tread separated and the "flap" of the tread beat the quarter panel to shreads
before he could get the car stopped. $9,000 in repairs.
So my advice is to NOT run out dated coded tires. Not worth the chance.
The speedo can be corrected with a driven speedo gear change on the trans end of the speedo cable.
There are several online calculators to find what gear is needed based on multiple factors.
Or a good speedometer shop can do it for you. I will take mine to a shop to get it right.
By the way, I am running 24.5" tall fronts on 6" wheels.
28" tall rears on 7" wheels.
No clearance issues at all.
And the 5* forward rake looks great.
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Tires are so subjective and are dependent on the driver to make a statement about the car.
The 215-70-15 T/A radials on 7" Magnum 500's on the front of my '79 were too big and rubbed at full lock turns.
Even more so when the suspension traveled, turning up driveways and such.
The same wheel/tire combo on the rear was slightly small to my liking.
Wanting to return to the Wire hubcaps that came on my '79 when built, I went with 15 x 6 steel wheels in front,
and 15 x 7 rears. Staggered tire sizes, larger rears, gave all the front turning clearances I wanted,
eliminated the suspension travel interference, and gave me the early "Avanti Rake" I wanted. The wire hubcaps look great
and give my '79 the distinction of being ever so slightly unique from all the other similar cars.
There are many discussions here about tires and wheels. Ranging from stock to 16's, 17's, 18's,
40 series tires, 50 series, 60's, 70's, and everything in between.
Here is another factor to consider. How are you going to drive your car? A cruiser, a restoration type of look,
a hard driver, G-machine, drag car, a slalom-course look, or what?
Since most of our cars get only weekend or cruise night use, I saw no reason to invest great amounts of money
into tires that are dated coded to be unusable after 6 years or so but still having the majority of tread life left.
I went with steel belted radials in a warrantied brand that look great. A 40,000 mile tire that is softer
for a great ride, handle very well, and at only $360 mounted, balanced, valve stems, and road hazard replacement
through Discount Tire. A great value for the cost. And I wanted blackwalls for a more GT/Touring car look rather than
a "luxury look". 25" diameter fronts and 28" diameter rears give an equal 2" tire tread to wheel opening that "looks
right" and uniform to me. The modern tires in the staggered sizes are more than equal to what was on the car originally so I have lost nothing in that regard, To each his own.
The T/A radials on my car are only 7 years old with almost 5/16" tread depth. Discount could not remount the
tires on any other wheel due to Gubment dictates that to do so makes them liable for any possible tire related
incidents in the future. I had the steel wheels, so pulled the T/A's and Mag 500's as a set.
My '79 is a cruiser and will hardly ever be pushed to the limits by me. Just the way I want it.
So only you can decide what exactly you want your car to be and how you want it to look.
Much more to tires than simply what size tire but you probably already know that.
RQB 2897
in 1965-83 Avanti
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Probably true for the most part and more-so for my '79.
But it is a piece of Studebaker/Avanti history and probably somewhat rare.
Being a July '62 printing it almost pre-dates actual manufacturing dates.
Interesting anyway.