mfg

So, your Avanti is one of the twenty five or so that were built with a Paxton supercharger?…..Also, you feel a prior owner replaced the moonroof with a solid roof?….Interesting!

I was just thinking how fortunate Studebaker Avanti owners are to have access to original factory production orders for their cars….. I am not sure what’s available for Ford and General Motors vehicle collectors as far as factory build information goes, although I do know that Mopar lovers always check behind their rear seats for what’s known as the ‘broadcast sheet’, with similar information to Studebaker production orders….. I happen to own a late production Stude Speedster, which was built with a standard transmission, painted in a single color (black), and had the hood center spear and front fender top ornaments deleted at the factory…… I’m sure that it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to convince modern day Studebaker show judges that my car is ‘legitimate’ without that factory production order!!

I’m amazed at some of the asking prices for used Paxton and the older McCulloch superchargers! For anyone new to this game, I’d like to point out that most, if not all of these 20 to 60 year old units will probably need an overhaul which, these days, is an expensive proposition over and above the initial purchase price… So buyer beware!

Just keep cranking regulator until that channel moves into place,, it should line itself up fairly closely… The holes in fiberglass are slotted to allow you to make final window adjustments.

I purchased gaskets for my 56J (Packard) from Best Gasket last year… high quality, perfect fit!

Wow!… quite a positive survival rate!

Stude Avanti R3 engine serial numbers (Paxton numbers) started with engine # ……?…… 1) B1…..2) B6……3) B9…..or…..4) B10

In a period road test photo of Avanti 63R-1016, it appears that the fan shroud is missing…. If it was, I wondered if it was destroyed when the twin supercharger belts blew off the R3 engine during the HRM performance evaluation of the car? A Studebaker Avanti being driven in a warm climate (California) would almost certainly overheat without a fan shroud…. Interesting!

Trivia!.....In 1963, Studebaker offered three different 'salt & pepper' color combos for the Avanti's carpeting....True?