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Brad…. Does the newer ‘gear drive’ Paxton produce the same scream as the older ‘ball drive’ SN-60 type…. More/Less?

I replaced the rear window in a 1983 Avanti about seven years ago. At the time, the heated rear windows with integral defroster wires were readily available, however the earlier non- heated windows were (at the time) very hard to find. (that situation may have changed)

Since you’re fitting new troughs, I think running fuel & battery lines through them is an interesting concept… Never heard of anyone doing that before, and it seems, to me, an excellent idea! Please keep us posted on this.

Yes.. exactly… probably about 22… and I will never forget that deep air sound! But the sound a wound up Paxton makes on my Avanti has much more of an ‘angry’ sound.. at least to my old ears!!

Kind of surprised your R4 didn’t ‘trumpet’ better than the R1…. but perhaps the 305 inch R4 was a bit ‘gagged’ with those two big Carters! Speaking of carb “symphonics”, to my memory the best I’ve heard was a friend’s ‘65 GTO with it’s 389 and triple carbs… The only word I can think of to describe the sound those opened up ‘trips’ made is … AWESOME!!!

I’ll toss in my two cents….. In my opinion the answer may be the 1963 Avanti R2…. Reason being, from my own experience, the scream coming from the supercharger is LOUD at anything above 3500 RPM… (the factory air filter setup is basically unsilenced) Although the R3 Avanti is more powerful, it’s supercharger’s air filter is located in front of the radiator, which would quiet the supercharger noise compared to the R2 under hood setup. As far as the R4’s engine song, I’ve ridden in a 425 horse 409 Chev (dual carbs) and although the two carbs, when opened up, were very loud, (sounded great in car!) I don’t think the sound was as ‘strong’ as a wound up Paxton.

Other thoughts on this burning question??

Interesting… and the ‘64 R4 indeed could be the ‘ noise king’! Your ‘67 327 sounds like a great ride!!

Good points… however, I was leaning to the sound of the engine itself from inside the passenger compartment. (if it’s actually possible to ignore the sounds the exhaust system produces!!!)

OPINION!…… Which of the following Avantis would probably make the MOST raucous, powerful, ‘60’s type’ engine noise, when under hard acceleration, with observer being inside the vehicle? 1) 1964 Avanti—R3 equipped 2) 1963 Avanti—R2 equipped 3) 1964 Avanti— R4 equipped 4) 1967 Avanti—327 Chev equipped All four listed vehicles equipped with 3.73 rear axles, auto trans, windows rolled up, quiet exhaust system, and radios turned OFF!! OPINIONS????

A Studebaker 340CI engine build, using as many authentic parts as possible, would certainly be a HISTORIC achievement in our world of Studebakers/Avantis… I only wish Bob Palma was alive to witness this!

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?