Dwight FitzSimons
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Posts posted by Dwight FitzSimons
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Vanna Topless
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I'm going to guess 5/8" The pulley on one of my cars (that I believe to be HO) is about 5.5" in dia. My R2 Avanti is out in the rain, and there's skunk smell out there, so I believe I'll wait until morning to measure it. I chased that skunk off my porch yesterday, but apparently he's back.
--Dwight
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Is it like 63R1464, which has had three previous owners, all with the same name?
--Dwight
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Obviously, Studebaker was asking more money for R3 parts than the fire-sale prices later from Paxton Products.
--Dwight
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$375.80. At that time an entire R3 engine (minus blower) was selling for about $725.
--Dwight
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The late, lamented Sam Miller once stated that "There is nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes." At the time he worked as a salesman at Coggins Motors, the Studebaker-Mercedes dealer here in Charlottesville, Va. Sam's trademark on the phrase might have expired by the time John Poulos came along, however.
Then again, I also seem to recall in my high school Latin class translations of Caesar's Gallic Wars that Mark Antony said something to the effect that there's nothing more expensive than a cheap chariot.
--Dwight
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10 hours ago, mfg said:
I drive my '83 Avanti a lot...and my '85 sometimes.....The'85 has the short steering arms. (factory)
In my opinion, there isn't much difference in steering 'quickness' between the two Avantis.
Does your '83 have the older Ross steering box, or the later forklift box?
--Dwight
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Let me pose a physics problem:
We have two '63 Avantis. One is an R1 4-spd with no other options. The other is an R2 4-spd with no other options. What is the difference in weight between the two? Obviously, the only contributor to the increased weight of the R2 car is the supercharger and its associated components.
There is a bit of a problem in finding factory data to determine the answer. Alternately, someone could weigh his supercharger & associated parts.
But, we CANNOT compare an R1 3-spd to an R2 4-spd because that violates the caveat in the original question: "All else being equal."
--Dwight
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3 hours ago, 64studeavanti said:
It became part of the discussion because the base R1 was being compared to the base R2 for a weight difference of 55 lbs according to the production data. The 55 lbs was deemed correct. I pointed out that this cannot be the case since "all things are not equal"
There was nothing in the original question about comparing base R1 car to base R2 car. The original question simply stated: "All else being equal."
Reading something into a question that wasn't explicitly stated would have gotten me into trouble in my physics and engineering courses. I learned not to do that early on.
--Dwight
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On 3/22/2022 at 6:49 PM, mfg said:
All else being equal, the difference in weight between an R1 equipped 1963 Studebaker Avanti, and an R2 powered model is approx .......?...... lbs.
1) 35....2) 55......3) 67.....or.....4) 75
Did many of us miss the original wording, "All else being equal"? That is explicit and tightly defined to have only one meaning: NOTHING else is different between the two '63 Avantis except the engines. One is an R1, the other is an R2. With the wording of the question there is NO wiggle room to claim that the two cars have different transmissions! How did that idea enter into the discussion?
--Dwight
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I would interpret "similarly equipped" to mean that both the R1 and R2 cars are 4-speeds. I wouldn't consider a T-10 and a T-86 to be similar.
Also, in science and engineering we change only one variable (the engine) at a time if we are investigating that variable. All else is kept the same.
--Dwight
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False. Even if the bearings were the same there are other dimensions that would be critical: (1) the distance between the bearings, and (2) the distance from the inner bearing seating spot to the threads on the outer end of the spindle. And, maybe others.
--Dwight
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2 hours ago, pantera928 said:
In that case, I may try my quick steering arms. Dan Booth was telling me that it would make it hard to handle
I have the quick steering arms on both my '64 Avanti and my '64 Hawk. Both have PS. They do indeed make the Avanti somewhat darty, but I'm OK with that. I like the quicker steering. There is less dartiness effect on the Hawk because of the longer wheelbase and the slower stock steering box. On both cars it takes appreciably more elbow grease to steer the car when stationary. So, I have learned to get the car moving before turning the steering wheel.
--Dwight
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A couple comments re the quick steering arms:
1) They are of more use on a Hawk due to those cars' longer wheelbase (120.5").
2) The standard arms can be heated and shortened to a length halfway between the standard and quick arms. At least one person has already done this.
--Dwight
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What, in y'all's experience, are the proper front and rear tire pressures? I have a recently acquired '64 R2 Avanti with 215/70R15 BFG Radial T/A tires on 15x6 wheels. With "handling" tires, I am more oriented toward handling than ride (or looks). Thanks,
--Dwight
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Here is a pic of the original Carter fuel pump off my '64 Commander 259, showing its brass fuel fittings. I believe your car is an Avanti, so your fittings may be different. I would suggest going to Studebaker International or Stephen Allen's (or others) for these brass fittings. These, of course, are SAE (English units); We ain't had metric here in the wild West for very long.
--Dwight
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Early '63 Avantis all had 140-MPH speedometers, regardless of whether they had R1 or R2 engines. After "some hundreds" of Avantis were built Studebaker started installing 160-MPH speedos in R2 Avantis. One example is the first Avanti built (63R1001), which is an R2 and has a 140-MPH speedo. It is at the LeMay Museum and is documented at their website. Just sayin'.
--Dwight
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The website pitstopusa describes the inlet and outlet of the fuel pump as NPSF (not NPT). NPT has tapered threads, NPSF has straight threads.
--Dwight
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It shouldn't be an NPT (pipe thread). Fuel shouldn't be run through an NPT fitting (too difficult too seal).
--Dwight
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3 hours ago, Gunslinger said:
In the early '60s when Pontiac was making a big effort on the drag racing scene, they had what was referred to as "swiss-cheese" frames on their factory drag cars where the frames had many holes drilled to lighten the weight. They also used aluminum factory headers. At end of every run down the strip there would be molten aluminum that had dripped onto the pavement. It was probably not too much different with aluminum headers on an Avanti depending on how it was used.
I mentioned this to Dave once (I used to be a Pontiac man) and he said his R3 headers used a different alloy.
I wonder, though, how much lighter his Aluminum headers are than cast iron. Is there enough weight savings to be worth it?
--Dwight
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Well, we have "false", "true", and "maybe". Somebody's got to be right.
--Dwight
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Cast iron repros are currently available from SI. At one time Dave Thibeault had some made in aluminum, but I don't know if he still has those available. So, my answer is C) Maybe
--Dwight
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I saw that car (or one purported to be it) in the car corral at Carlisle, PA maybe 15 or so years ago. It was well restored and was possibly for sale. The price I remember is ~$75k.
--Dwight
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Wanted: R2 Carb or R3 Air Box <Carb found!>
in Avanti Parts
Posted
Everyone likes the look of the R3 carb box, and there are a number of R2s out there with an R3 carb box. Once upon a time Lionel Stone made them.
Short story: Back in the late 1960's I had a '64 Avanti with a crate R3 engine (B86). I was in the USAF and took it to a local SDC chapter meet. One guy tried to buy my R3 carb box. After I said no, he said: "You don't need that!"
--Dwight