Dwight FitzSimons

I am ninety-some percent an originality person. I do make exceptions for safety, reliability, & drive-ability: wider wheels, radial tires, electronic voltage regulators, LED light bulbs, modern batteries, modern paint, etc. I do like a Studebaker to look as original as practical. One biggie: The paint color should be as close to original as possible, but I am never going to paint a car with lacquer again - urethanes are so much better. --Dwight

Here are two pix from slightly different angles. I can take pix of the other side if it matters. The pulley is a single belt. --Dwight

One thought: A while ago someone reproduced the disc that was glued to the center of the wheel cylinders on early '63s. That might look cool when viewed through your Halibrands. I believe the fellow advertised them in the AOAI magazine. --Dwight

I don't know the answer to that question, but I now have a whole new mission in life: determining the color of those screws!

Most, if not all of us love these cars because of our memories of them, and my memories of superchargers are of orange ones. Restoring them as original takes us back to those times. But, when my '64 Avanti was mechanically restored I specified black for the blower because I thought orange would clash with the red R3 engine color. I now think differently. Of course, I can easily paint the blower Chevy orange, but that will leave the capscrew heads painted, which they aren't supposed to be. So, the major mistake is that I will have painted capscrew heads. Can't we all agree that painted bolt heads on a blower is a "major mistake?" --Dwight, powered by Studebaker & Packard

Wildfeir, have you found a P.S. pump? I have one off a '70 Avanti II that looks like your pic. I can take a pic or 2 tomorrow (Sun.). --Dwight.

I, too, would vote for the Cobalt wheel cylinders if keeping the original Bendix/Dunlop disc brakes. They are a better, more modern design than the originals. I, personally, have converted my Studebakers to modern disc brakes, either Turner or Hot Rod & Brakes (have used both). The HR&B disc kit has gotten good reviews & costs $150 or so less than Turner's kit. Jim Turner now uses Chrysler minivan calipers in order to avoid the clearance issues the previous GM calipers sometimes had. One note on rotors: I have just had to replace the rear rotors on my Olds Aurora due to rust (flunked Va inspection after only 1000 miles, 2 years). I'll never again buy non coated rotors. The coated ones cost more (20% ?), but I want to do my brake jobs only once. One can also paint rotors and I have done that. So, the good news on supercharger colors is that you can paint yours either orange or black, whichever you prefer. I made a major mistake in having mine painted black. --Dwight

It is listed as sold, so, hopefully, someone will restore it. One of the fun (Studebaker) episodes in my life was seeing a wrecked '64 Avanti rebuilt properly. In the late 1960s I happened to see a freshly wrecked '64 Avanti indoors at a local wrecking yard. It was Avanti Gold with Claret interior, R2 & 4-spd, and it was torn up worse than the one above. A year or so later I came upon that very same car parked on the street. I looked it over and it looked good to me. This was in the Charlottesville-Harrisonburg, Virginia area. Has anyone seen it? The Claret interior was fairly rare, so someone might remember it for that reason. --Dwight

Dave Thibeault had some cast in aluminum a few years ago. Dave generally does things well. --Dwight

Both were designed by Raymond Loewy? --Dwight

Left & right exhaust manifolds ARE identical on ALL Studebaker Avantis, whether standard R1-R2 manifolds or R3-R4 "headers." There was no need for a boss for an alternator bracket on Avanti manifolds. Your R3-R4 manifolds will fit any Studebaker V8 from 1955 through 1964, whether 224, 259, 289, R1, R2, R3, or R4. I have a set of Studebaker International's reproduction R3 headers and they have no numbers or letters cast into them, so yours are not the most recent repros. --Dwight

Hi, Paul, I mailed the second booster to SI about Saturday, 10-1-2026 by USPS, Priority Mail. It should be there. I'll dig out the USPS receipt and post it. You don't owe me anything additional; I should have looked under the boot on the 1st booster. --Dwight

I had a similar situation at my previous house. If you try backing in have someone watch to make sure your tips don't hit the concrete. Note that if they hit while backing in the result could be disastrous: jamming the exhaust pipe up into the back underneath of the car. --Dwight

There are two different Turner front disc brake kits: 1) the older kit with GM calipers, and 2) the newer kit with Chrysler minivan calipers. Clearance issues would be different between the two. -Dwight

Apparently, If Copart doesn't get what they want they send the auction into overtime (looks like 2 extra days). I hope they don't want too much or this Avanti won't get restored. --Dwight