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Nelson

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Posts posted by Nelson

  1. Just a thought but did you overhaul the engine while it was out? If so, are you sure it’s together right and spins freely with a torque wrench with plugs out? Probably not the case but it’s always best to check now before you reinstall.

  2. Just wondering how many here will be going to st Louis for the AOAI Nationals in mid June. Rooms at the meet headquarters hotel were reopened for awhile so if you are going it might be a good idea to make a reservation to get the discount price? It is a substantial discount over their standard fare.

  3. 14 hours ago, Dwight FitzSimons said:

    The earlier Avanti II bucket seats were a continuation of the '64 Avanti (thick back) seats, just not upholstered the same.  I have parted out one 1968 Avanti and two 1970 Avantis.  The '68 seat was low back and the '70 seats were high back.  I have a faint memory of reading that the headrest was simply a piece of fiberglass attached to the backrest shell.

    The Recaro seats didn't come along until later (late '70s or so).

    --Dwight

    Dwight, do you still have the seats?

  4. Dwight. Those wheels emulate the 63 style Halibrand small window kidney bean wheel. The ones on this car won’t accept the correct spinner which would be the same as a 64 style. The center tower is not high enough either. I think these on this Avanti are also two piece wheels. I sure hope the 63 style get reproduced. I think they look great.

     The wheels on that Avanti may be called “salt flat” wheels? I bought a set about 20/25 years ago.

  5. First time I saw this post. The floats probably will interchange but under high boost the R2 float has the potential to crush under pressure. If you take an R2 float apart you will find a honey comb support structure inside the float to prevent it from collapsing.

  6. I assume the early Avanti II used the Late 64 seat bottom and back. Eventually the seat back acquired the built in head rest. Was the head rest simply an add or weld on to the existing Studebaker design? In other words, could an early Avanti II seat back be re conformed to the original late 64 style?

    I would like to find or duplicate a set of late thick back buckets to reupholster and install  in a 64 Avanti.

  7. The way I read that is the close ratio transmission is required with the R3 and it will cost more money. Is that what you are thinking? R5546 is close ratio. Maybe the wide box could be special ordered with the R3?

  8. 21 hours ago, regnalbob said:

    The close ratio 4 speed (T10C) became available as an option for the Avanti after 9/16/63

    Because of the late availability its possible no Avantis were built with the close ratio transmission.

    Bob. You could be right with the R1 and R2 cars but all the R3 4 speed Avantis did have the close ratio box. It must have been standard equipment for the R3 cars in general and you would need to special order the wide box.

  9. I guess I should know this as it was/is my car. R5593. Originally delivered to Leepers Studebaker. Gray, black interior, automatic, 4.09 axle, tilt wheel and am/fm as delivered. The am/fm not on the PO. However the car had 700 miles on it when delivered so probably was used in SB for awhile and had the radio installed by some executive(?) who was using it? Maybe.

    The engine was removed by Leeper so his wife could have air conditioning installed. He installed a standard 289 with an ac unit. When I bought  it Leeper no longer had the R3 engine. He had sold it to his mechanic. I was told it was in a Stude truck and the mechanic had moved to the Phoenix area. I later found out that Ed Reynolds bought the engine and put it in a black 64 convertible. Roy Heckers bought the convertible and he sold it to a fellow in Knoxville, Tenn. I kept in contact with the fellow in Tennessee and after twenty or thirty years I was able to buy the car with engine. Now the original engine is mated to its original car. At least it’s on an engine stand next to it.

  10. I would check the location of the spacers. I can’t remember exactly but if spacers and shims are on the inboard side of the backing plate you might have this problem. I remember having the problem with one drum and it turned out to be the shims needed to be moved the the opposite axel which gave clearance to the problem drum to backing plate.

  11.  Im pretty certain hidden wipers were strongly considered. They would have been simple as Geoff mentioned the hood would be longer with wipers just hidden from most angles. Not sure why the idea was abandoned. The sloped windshield would have been an improvement. I think the present A pillar angle is a flaw in the design but was typical of most cars of the day. Drawing a line through the A pillar should intersect the CL of the front spindle. The Avanti’s line continues down far behind the spindle to the road. Just looks a little awkward as is.

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