Ron Dame

Our auto body supply stores are all gone... but ordering from one of the on-line suppliers is a good idea.

Thanks all. I drained the tank for now, it got cold again. I hope it's not the hose that loops up in the sail ;panel, that one is a pain to replace. And maybe that's only on the Studebaker Avantis and early A IIs. Now about the dum-dum. I've not looked for it in years, and I doubt I have enough left, but I don't recall seeing it at the FLAPS. And I hate Amazon. Any ideas of where I can get it? Or maybe even use caulk instead?

I've got a bit of an emergency on my 1980 Avanti II, so pardon the cross posts elsewhere. I opened the shop today, after over a week of bitterly cold weather and was greeted with a very strong gasoline odor. A quick check shows it is leaking from either the fuel supply or return line, where the steel line attaches to rubber hose and disappears into the body behind the right rear wheel. The fuel lines are different than on Studebaker Avantis, so my workshop manual is of no help. Does the A II have the same loop of rubber up into the sail panel, and is this part of that? How do all of the lines run? Does anyone have a diagram or photos? I'll call Dan Booth if I must, not that he isn't great... he's just very talkative and I want this fixed ASAP. Tomorrow will get to maybe 40, so I can work out there without heat, I hope.

I've got a bit of an emergency on my 1980 Avanti II, so pardon the cross posts elsewhere. I opened the shop today, after over a week of bitterly cold weather and was greeted with a very strong gasoline odor. A quick check shows it is leaking from either the fuel supply or return line, where the steel line attaches to rubber hose and disappears into the body behind the right rear wheel. The fuel lines are different than on Studebaker Avantis, so my workshop manual is of no help. Does the A II have the same loop of rubber up into the sail panel, and is this part of that? How do all of the lines run? Does anyone have a diagram or photos? I'll call Dan Booth if I must, not that he isn't great... he's just very talkative and I want this fixed ASAP. Tomorrow will get to maybe 40, so I can work out there without heat, I hope.

Thanks Bob. Basically I paid too much for the car and am upside down after what I have done ( no surprise there, eh?) so I'm going for broke and donating all proceeds to SNM, The Studebaker National Foundation, and McPherson College of Auto Restoration. So donating the car won't work to help all three, and maximizing the sales price by advertising it as a 100% donation is my goal. BaT can do that by collecting the sales price and donating it, ensuring the buyer that all proceeds go towards these 501(c)(3) organizations. I've not yet approached Hemmings, but assume they will work in a similar manner. I'll post later when I list it, after I make a few repairs and give it a good detailing. And I'll ask everyone to get the word out to help all three organizations.

I've decided it's time to sell Thea, my 1980 Avanti II originally owned by Thea Gabor. It's not a bad car, in fact it's pretty darn good except the cosmetics are just OK. Solid #3 car. Anyway, my estate plans are to donate either cars or proceeds from the sale of cars to a mix of Studebaker Foundation, Studebaker National Museum, and McPherson College/Auto restoration program, so an auction now that supports this plan is my desire. I've done well on BaT, so-so on eBay, never tried Hagerty's , and there are other options. What are the opinions of my fellow Avanti owners on the merits and demerits of each of these platforms? Ron

I just tried ( 1/23 at 4:00 PM) and it's not working for me. Maybe it's short term glitches? I'll try again in a few minutes.

R1092 was mine. Though I have little history on it, the supercharger was black, and had what I believe to have been original stickers. As of Fall, Lance Bush of the Restored youtube page owned it and was trying to sell it.

That's pretty darn good, especially for a machine to write it. It goofed the picture, but the line about going down the highway running hot, is dead on!!

I'm late to the game, but added the emblems to my 1980, both hood and sail panel. I like it. I bought the gold "S" buckles, but they quickly faded to silver. Disappointing, but they still look good. I also added the 63/64 wheel covers and plan to remove the front spring shims.

'63 R2. The left rear axle had stripped threads (how? I dunno) and the axle nut "secured" with red Locktite. Once around the block after I got it running, and the wheel nearly fell off. Thank goodness it was a literal block, because I was 1/2 way around when I knew something was way bad. I replaced the axle and then rebuilt the non-functional rear brakes... front brakes too. Oh, and it had about 3/4" of toe out.

As an aside, why did Avanti Motors switch from having a lock in the handle to a separate lock cylinder? It's ugly and you have the filler plate where the cylinders used to be.

1 and 2 are kind of humorous for us older folks, but also true. I friend told me that my 185 OHV6 Champ was pinging, but I could barely hear it once he pointed it out. Which begs the question: With modern engines having knock sensors, is there a way to add one to a Stude to have a warning light or something?

Not yet. I've got a good laundry list of repairs and upgrades, but building a house and garage has kept me from getting to them. I did temporarily "fix" it with some weatherstrip cement.