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VtMike

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Posts posted by VtMike

  1. I did a little research on whether # 9 was a truly stock R3 with a 304.5" engine.  And what I found was a few sources saying it was a 304.5" engine, and none that said it was a 299".  That said, there is a lot of misinformation out there on Avantis, my sources could be wrong.  It would be great to hear from other folks on this issue.  I don't have any info on the engine for # 8, but will take a wild guess that it was also a 304.5".

    So far as I know, the Avantis that went to Bonneville in the first round were all 299" engines that were hand-built by the Granetellis with with ported and polished heads, a Winfield cam, and other speed tricks they had picked up over the years.

  2. Wild guess here  . . .  I understand that R3 & R4 engines were assembled differently by Paxton than the R1 and R 2 engines.  Can't recall the language they used, but my understanding was that the R3 & R4 engines were built in such a way that components, such as pistons in cylinder heads, were sized so that they would not fit so tightly together as in other Stude engines.   With more space between the moving parts, there would be less friction and they would produce a bit more power.  And, for the same reason, I would think they would be less likely to seize up.

  3. I agreed . . .  love that photo . . . same color as the Avanti that was my 1st love . . . it was at Fleigh Motors in Hagerstown, MD in 1963.  My Dad told me he would buy it . . .  if we won the lottery!  

    # 9 is my favorite Avanti.  I believe it had the 304 cu in engine instead of the 299, and that it may have been as close as they ever came to a truly "production" record setting Avanti at Bonneville.

  4. The prior owner said that Andy G. told him he'd stroked 1025, rather than bore it out to 299, in an effort to give it a little more torque and better performance during the Hot Rod Mag tests.  But I believe our experts said that stroking rather boring doesn't actually give it any additional torque. 

  5. In August 1962, the records were set by prototype Avantis that were Granatelli-built racing machines with the 299 cu. in. "r3" prototype engines.  I understand that those engines were hand built by the Granatellis with extensively ported r2 heads and urban legend suggests they had a Windfield and not a Stude cam.  The 299 r3  prototype engines were in prototype Avantis but not any of the factory produced r3 Avantis.  World's Fastest Production Car?  Please . . .  

    I don't know if there were any r2 Avantis at Bonneville in 1962. 

    But, in September 1963, they took something like 10 Studebakers at Bonneville, including 6 cyl. Larks, 8 cyl Larks, Hawks, and r2 & r3 Avantis.  Avanti # 9 was said to be powered by the 304.5 cu. in. r3 engine that powered the factory built 9 r3  Avantis.  If that is true, then it was a lot closer to a production Avanti than those in 1962. 

     

     

  6. I don't get this one.  And I think John Lennon may have said:  Most Peculiar, Momma.

    I understand the importance of A/C to someone living in SoCal.  I also understand that, back in the day, A/C was not available in a supercharged Avanti.  But I would not have expected Andy G to recommend an r3 engine w/o its supercharger in this circumstance.  Instead, I would have expected Andy to recommend an r4 engine.  Wouldn't an r3 engine w/o S/C have lower compression and one less carb than an r4, and substantially less HP than an r4?

    Is it possible that r3 engines were available at the time but r4 engines weren't?  Even if that were the case, if he had the parts, it would have been easy-peasy for Andy to swap out the heads and intake manifold, and turn an r3 into an r4?  Maybe I am missing something (as usual)?

    I think it is crying shame that the Avanti in question doesn't have its supercharger.  It seems there are a good many supercharged Avantis that have a modern A/C system in them these days, and I think that is the route folks ought to go.

      

  7. On the issue of extra boost.  I recall a statement by George Krem indicating that his R3 engine came with the high boost pulley, and that he had not made any change.  

    Do we know at what RPM his R3 was making 440 hp?  I believe the rating of 335 was at something like 5200?  And I recall reading that the boost was likely to increase a good bit at higher RPMs?  

    On the other hand, I recall also reading that Ted Harbit had strict instructions from George not to exceed 6000 rpm while racing, so he may have given the same instructions to the dyno guys?

    I would love to see the dyno HP of Ted's Stude Tomato.  I believe he has recorded times that were very close to George's R3?  

     

  8. MFG -  not trying to hijack this question, but I just tried to send you a PM and it said you don't receive such messages.  I am trying to get in touch with Ron Crall, who I believe owns Avanti 1025.  I am hoping he could tell me what cylinder heads and intake manifold are on 1025's 299 engine.  If you could help me get in touch with him, I would appreciate it.  Mike Seibert

  9. Just looked on Bob's Resource site, and it says R5465 was a stock R2 in 2011, and there was a picture of a stock-looking R2 engine.  Has the engine been changed since 2011?  Or am I missing something again?

    If the engine was changed, my wild guess, based on bass-ackwards reverse psychology, is )4 Chrysler 383.

     

  10. I put the question marks there because I couldn't understand the question.  But I now realize that the reason I couldn't understand the question is because I wasn't reading it closely enough.  My bad.

  11. Based on Facebook exchanges, it looks like R 4501 is the same Avanti that Owen Delve's uncle once owned.  I guess it is possible it was totaled and then rebuilt, but there is nothing confirming that so far . . . 

  12. It appears there are two conflicting claims about Avanti R 4501.

    On Bob Johnstone's Avanti page, Owen Delve of Goderich, Ontario, claims R 4501 was owned by his Uncle John, that the Hamilton, Ontario Stude operation (plant?) did a factory authorized engine swap to replace the original R2 with an R3, and that R 4501 was later totaled.  Here is the link:  https://studebaker-info.org/AVDB1/R4000/63R4501/r4501x12082016.txt

    On the other hand, just yesterday, Tony Moro posted pictures on the Avanti Facebook of a beautiful gray Avanti that he says is R 4501, very much alive and well, and sporting an engine with an R3 air box.  

    It is interesting that both claims say R 4501 was gray and the engine may be an R3.

    Anyway, this is the first time I have heard that there may have been one or more engine swaps from R2 to R3 done at the Hamilton, Ontario plant.  Can anyone confirm that and shed any further light on it?

    Also, can anyone resolve the conflicting claims on R 4501?

    Thanks, Mike

      

     

  13. I have run across some claims (not related to Studebaker engines) that you can increase the compression by replacing the head gaskets with super thin ones.  I was wondering if you could raise the compression by doing that on an R2 without the supercharger to give it a little more go?  If not, what about having a machine shop take a little off the heads to do the same?  Would either make enough of a performance difference to make this a practical idea?

     

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