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Great story!… Hard to think you never saw an Avanti on the road over the years… but that doesn’t matter… You own two nice ones now, and like people say…Better late than never!!

On my ‘83, the tank broke away from it’s mounting studs that go through firewall… This situation caused the tank to spring a leak which found its way into interior over pedals…. Needless to say after that experience I located a generic tank in a new location and just extended the hoses.

Yes definitely interchangeable….( thru ‘85) The only power steering slave cylinders that would not interchange would be early (‘59-‘60?) Lark types, which use smaller L+R turn hose fittings.

That certainly is a complete kit…. As long as your steel hydraulic brake lines are in good shape, you would be ending up with a brand new brake system. Drum brake parts I’ve ordered in the past from SI have always been satisfactory and good quality. I don’t believe this kit would come with the caliper adjusting shims, but SI probably carries them. PS…. I’m not a fan of Dot 5 brake fluid.

As Gunslinger said. Do you have the original reservoir? It’s an odd flat shape, pretty much contoured to fit in that area of limited room.

Thanks! ……I’ll check the manual.

Very, very nice looking Avanti!

Weren’t those wire covers held on by some type of clips?…. And if I remember correctly, didn’t the outer edge of those covers extend over the wheel rim slightly onto the tires themselves? Definitely different!!

I do know that Steve Blake had new “ in house” front brake caliper mounting brackets made up… They allow use of ‘84 Chevy Monte Carlo rotors & calipers… He found it was necessary to space out the rotors about 3/16” at the inner wheel bearing to clear the Studebaker-type front spindle.

WOW!!!…. You seem to be the only other Avanti owner besides myself that has noticed the front disc brake pads “ride high” on ‘84-‘85 Blake Avantis. My 1985 has this problem (factory setup), and I can see no practical way to lower the calipers without a drastic rework! Dors anyone else have any thoughts about this unusual situation? ( Approx 1/4” above outer circumference of front rotors) oops!….. I see you were referring to rear disc brakes on your Avanti (definitely put on after your car was built) I’m having that same ‘pad riding high’ problem with the factory FRONT disc brakes on my ‘ 85. .

Good deal!… The problem with the (then new) ‘02 here in Mass was that they would not accept a vehicle titled as an Avanti could somehow have a General Motors serial number… it took Morrison several weeks to get everyone on the same page.

I REALLY like how you and your son think… WELL DONE!!!!

Sometimes it all depends who you deal with at the registry!

The Flightomatic was Studebaker’s name for the automatic transmission used from ‘56 thru ‘66… The Powershift or ‘Avanti Powershift’ was the heavy duty automatic transmission used behind Avanti ‘R’ type engines in the Avantis, Larks, and the Hawks… The Powershift transmission is basically a heavy duty water cooled version of the Flightomatic, the biggest difference between the two is a completely different valve body shift pattern, changing from ‘PNDLR’ to ‘PRND21’….. HD clutch discs, and a wider front band are also found inside the Powershift. A higher stall speed torque converter was also part of the Powershift factory setup.

I have bearing and inner and outer rear axle seal part numbers if you should need them.

‘Fatsco’ transmission parts in New Jersey is a very good source of parts for both automatic and standard transmissions. I’ve had two Avanti Powershift transmissions overhauled over the years using parts obtained from Fatsco.

Interesting…. Possibly installed by selling dealer at request of original owner.

Changing the selector shaft seal is also a good idea.

Most later Avantis had A/C, and I think the factory saw that as the cure!

Good thought….. That area does get hot as blazes!!

I clearly remember how an Avanti friend of mine, Ron Morrison, had a lot of grief trying to register and insure his ‘02 Avanti ( brand new at the time) over the confusion of the car having a GM serial number!!

It is interesting and kind of ‘cool’ Avanti Motors tried to bring back the Studebaker name… SOUNDS GOOD TO ME!!!!!!

Yes, exactly on the door latch assemblies.. and I feel the same concerning the Dunlop disc brakes! As far as the closer tolerance German ball bearings… Paxton Products offered these as a more expensive option… but the jury is out as to whether or not they were OEM in period Paxton SN blowers.

Two mechanical parts found on a Studebaker Avanti which were made outside the United States were ……?……