mfg

Obviously! My point here is to be careful if attempting to straighten an Avanti (steel) bumper off the car, as it’s quite easy to damage (crack) the chrome plate…. Also, if the Avanti in question is going to be driven more than occasionally, as I do mine, I believe that a bit of extra clearance over factory spec between the bumper and the fiberglass body is a prudent move. After repairing more Corvette and Avanti fiberglass bodies over the years than I care to remember, that’s my take on this.

I’d go easy when doing this .. but it’s the bracket itself taking the strain... You don’t want the bumper too close to body, as shown in photo, as a possible side impact will mean certain fiberglass damage….. Also, those bumper sides come in fairly easy when tightening the side bolts… just go slowly… Trying to straighten the bumper off the car can be done, however that’s unfortunately a good way to crack the chrome plate.

You thought CORRECT!

There’s a 1/4” rubber shim that fits in between the bumper and the fiberglass body which will fill some of that gap. The gap on your Avanti does look excessive. I’d add a second rubber shim, then tighten the bolt to crank it in.

Studebaker recommended replacing the disc brake pads on their 1963 and 1964 passenger cars equipped with Bendix disc brakes when the pad thickness wore down to……?……. 1) 3/16”…..2) 1/4”…..3) 5/16”…..or…..4) 3/8”

I have no documentation to support this, but I recall seeing early round light Studebaker Avanti‘s with a gold ‘S’ on the hood, and silver ‘S’s’ on the cars earmuffs!

Mopar ‘B’ body….. A 1969 Dodge Charger for example.

Bought mine from our old friend Dave Thibeault…Always on top of Avanti specific items!

The heat/defrost diverter is inside the heater box itself.

That was the claim!!

I remember Lou Carini. (the fellow that wrote the above article on Avanti mirror repair) Lou was a real ‘spark plug’ for the (then) Mass-RI Chapter of SDC (now called Ocean Bay Chapter) Lou was very proud of his beautiful Studebaker Avanti, which he had installed real wire wheels and ‘Vogue type’ tires on. Lou’s sadly missed!

Reproduction Avanti Stratoview mirrors are notorious for this problem… The mirror head itself is very heavy, and there is no easy way to correct the looseness without removing the mirror glass…. and even with the glass removed, there may not be a really permanent way to tighten up the ball stud.

Good thought… but not today’s answer!

The 1963 Studebaker Avanti built in roll bar was considered, at that time, to be…..?…. stronger than the minimum requirement set by USAC for roll bars. 1) 75%……2) 140%……3) 175%…..or……4) 200%

Great car … with an excellent description!