Dwight FitzSimons
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Posts posted by Dwight FitzSimons
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There is no direct replacement for the stock Avanti rotor. Most Avanti owners seem to go with the Turner front disc brake kit, but there is another kit available from Hot Rods and Brakes (easy to find with Google). It is a little cheaper and the mounting bracket is a bit lighter (a good thing). The Turner kit is (off the top of my head) $700 or so. So, there's no cheap solution to Avanti brakes.
I believe the stock Avanti rotors available now are new manufacture. That's why they cost what they do.
--Dwight
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I think the LeMay Museum later corrected this one, because there are pictures of 63R1001's engine with the expansion tank's cap on the passenger's side. I suspect that none was made by Studebaker with the cap on the driver's side. Probably many of these expansion tanks have been opened up (due to a leak) and re-soldered backwards by mistake.
My Avanti R5255 has a beautifully redone expansion tank. The radiator cap was indeed soldered on backwards by the shop, but the then owner of the car made them reverse it.
--Dwight
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On 1/26/2022 at 9:50 AM, pantera928 said:
Thanks Jim! I see that you are in Virginia. Where is he located?
Don Simmons is in Canada. He has ads in Turning Wheels, and probably also in the Avanti Magazine. He is a great guy to deal with, and, of course, he ships.
--Dwight
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Studebaker Corp. sold its parts inventory to Newman & Altman?:
--Dwight
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9 hours ago, brad said:
Later post 61 Saginaw recirculating ball boxes have three spots on the pitman arm that have no splines so they only fit one way. I have broached splines in them and made them work. The pre 61 Larks had Ross steering boxes also. The Hawk pitman arm is longer and will change the steering ratio if used.
Would a Hawk pitman arm installed on an Avanti quicken the steering or slow it? Just trying to "think like a lever" I would guess it would quicken it.
--Dwight
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I will guess 4) 5/16". Looking at an R3 head with the rockers installed the offset is obvious and appears to be considerable.
--Dwight.
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The R4 piston is heavier because of the raised portion of the top of the piston (versus the R3 piston). That reduces the combustion chamber volume, thus increasing the compression ratio from 9.75:1 to 12:1.
--Dwight
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1964 Daytona. I reason that the '59 & '60 Lark arms probably are the same.
--Dwight
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32 minutes ago, Skip Lackie said:
All that said, Studebaker people don't spend a lot of time obsessing over numbers matching anyway.
Exactly. I once had to replace an R2 engine in a '63 Avanti that had no engine. I built an exact replica of the original engine, using parts from at least 5 engines. All the parts were the best that I had, except that I paid no attention to the date codes. I just picked the best parts to build the best engine I could. The casting date codes on the parts I used ranged from 1963 to April 1964 (long after the last Avanti was built). The point was to build the best R2 that I could.
As an aside, all the major castings have a casting date code, indicating the day the part was cast. If interested in that I can send some information.
--Dwight
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6 hours ago, hillsidehemi said:
Another question, is there a difference with steering boxes for a manual steering car?
Yes, a manual steering Avanti has a different steering box than a PS Avanti. The manual box is a "slower" one. A manual steering Avanti takes something like 5 turns lock to lock, whereas a power steering Avanti takes something like 3.5 turns lock to lock. One detail is that Studebaker offered the quick steering box as an option without power steering, but there were probably few Avantis ordered that way. I knew of one '63 ordered that way by the local Studebaker dealer.
--Dwight
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That's the engine "serial" number. It is actually an identifier of the engine type and the date the engine was assembled. RS means an R2 engine (R for Avanti, S for supercharged). H means August. 3 is the year (1963). 7 is the date (7th). So, your R2 engine was assembled on August 7, 1963. This scheme of engine number was used only for the 1964 model year. One assumes Studebaker would have continued to use this scheme in succeeding years, but, alas, South Bend shut down in Dec 1963.
--Dwight
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But, Avanti II bumper ends can be swapped. At least, the couple I have had were finished on both sides.
--Dwight
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The phrase "living" would eliminate #1. I will guess Valvoline.
--Dwight
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Air intake under the front bumper (as opposed to above the bumper).
--Dwight
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I always wondered why R4's weren't red, like R3's. After all, they are both of the same ilk. Good to know that they were.
There was an R4 (in a '63 Avanti) near here in the '60's. The owners didn't understand the octane requirements of that 12:1 C.R.
--Dwight
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But, the question concerned only the trunk carpeting.
--Dwight
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False. The R4 engine is blue.
--Dwight
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The answer depends on whether the Avanti is a '63 or '64. A "complete set of carpeting" for a '64 would be fewer pieces than for a '63.
--Dwight
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How could it have been "cost" when, only 5 years earlier, Studebaker spent the money to add quad headlamps to the '58 Studebaker sedans? I say the styling department personnel all were still having nightmares about those 1958 quad headlamps.
--Dwight
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The original 15 x 5" steel rims are inadequate for use with modern radials. There seems to be widespread agreement on this. Perhaps they are adequate for use with bias-ply tires. This is supposing that you're satisfied with the going-to-crash-any-minute feeling that you get when driving with bias-ply tires. Also, the steel is so thin on those rims that modern tire store equipment will easily bend them. (I had that happen.) So, make sure that you don't have a bent rim.
--Dwight
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Yes.
--Dwight
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The disc brake calipers do need to be centered on the rotor with shims. These aren't floating calipers like modern cars, so they won't center themselves. If the caliper is significantly out of center, then when the brakes are applied the cylinder closer to the rotor will push first and try to bend the rotor. That would likely cause a vibration. But, it sounds like your vibration isn't under braking conditions. If so, then the calipers would have to be quite a bit out of center to cause a vibration (when not braking), and I wouldn't think a brake vibration of this type would be quite as speed dependent as your symptom.
So, I would guess that the vibration is something else. But, I would check the centering of the calipers to ensure that the brakes will work correctly.
--Dwight
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Good on the vlogger too. The videos are informative and encouraging too.
--Dwight
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Re the THM200-4R trans: I once read an article about a '63 Tempest drag car with a 455 Pontiac engine with something like 600 HP. Because the 700-R4 has only a Chevy bolt pattern he had to use a 200-4R trans (which has a dual pattern). The 200-4R was built to racing specs and held up behind that 600 HP engine.
--Dwight
Brake rotors for 1964 R1
in 1963-64 Avanti
Posted · Edited by Dwight FitzSimons
I would agree. The original Bendix/Dunlop disc brakes stop an Avanti quite well. I have a '64 Avanti (R5255) that has been hovered over like a baby chick all its life and it stops straight and quickly. The car mag. road tests in the '60's had Avantis stopping from 60 MPH in about 120 ft. That is still a good number even for a modern car.
It is true that the original brakes (like any) need to be in good shape to work properly.
The Studebaker that I converted to Turner discs is my '64 Hawk R1, which came with 4-wheel drums. Even drum brakes work well when in perfect condition, but the worries with them are: 1) Fading with heat buildup (think mountain), and 2) not stopping straight. So, I converted it to Turner discs.
Still, your car, your money, your decision.
--Dwight