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Dwight FitzSimons

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Posts posted by Dwight FitzSimons

  3. Engine Compartment Color

    in 1963-64 Avanti

    Posted

    12 hours ago, Leo B said:

    Hi, I have R2 1963 Avanti Gray. When I took the engine off and checked very close what the engine compartment color is. I noticed everywhere same gray but not iridescent glossy. I saw the color even very near cluch tunnel. Yes same but more matt than exterior. Looks very original. There is no paint layer under this colour.
    Should the compartment color be exact same iridescent avanti gray or more matt like I have?

    I agree with Gunslinger.  I believe the engine compartment was painted when the rest of the body was painted.  One thing I have noticed is that the fiberglass was not finished smooth in the engine comp. -- one can see the strands in the fiberglass.  So, that may account for the lack of gloss that you see.  Also, the painter may not have worried as much about getting a smooth, thick (paint) build in the engine comp. as on the exterior.

    --Dwight

  5. Avanti Manual

    in 1963-64 Avanti

    Posted · Edited by Dwight FitzSimons

    Stan Gundry's book isn't better than the factory shop manual; It is a supplement to the shop manual.  It includes tips and fixes that evidently weren't known at the time the Avanti shop manual was written.  IMHO all Avanti owners should own a copy of Stan Gundry's book.  (No, I'm not Stan Gundry.)

    --Dwight

  8. OEM replacement wheel for my 1964 Studebaker Avanti.

    in 1963-64 Avanti

    Posted · Edited by Dwight FitzSimons

    On 7/21/2022 at 3:29 PM, 1inxs said:

    Dwight,

    Yes, I would like to keep with all OEM Studebaker Avanti wheels. I have one the got buggered up on the inside and I would feel better if I just replaced it. I would be interested in getting one or two from you.

    Thanks

    Robert

    Hi, Robert,

    I will dig two of them out and examine them.

    --Dwight

  10. Year model information needed

    in 1963-64 Avanti

    Posted

    One source (Bob Johnstone's website) states that Avanti R-4835 is considered the first 1964 Avanti.  That car is a round headlight one.  Your R4387 falls into the 1963 model year range.  But, some 1963 Avantis weren't sold until 1964, and were titled as 1964s by the state in which they were first registered.  That kind of thing happened back then.  It might be possible to get your Avanti's title changed to 1963 if you were to take the required documentation to your DMV.  I would think that doc from AOAI would be essential.

    --Dwight

  11. Avanti Summary

    in 1963-64 Avanti

    Posted · Edited by Dwight FitzSimons

    7 hours ago, Nelson said:

    Dwight. I used to wonder why there were round light Avantis after 4892 but I’m pretty certain I figured it out. I believe body shells or partially fitted or partially completed Avantis were pulled from the assembly line and put into repair bays due to assembly issued or lack of certain optional parts etc. These cars languished in a repair bay until the required repair was done or part arrived. Some round light 64’s are almost all 64 ie post 4892 and some are practically all pre 4892. This tells me there was no pool of round light bodies they needed to get rid of.

    From what I have read Studebaker built bodies and stored them in a warehouse and pulled them for final assembly of the automobile in a LIFO order (last in, first out).  Bodies were assigned body numbers as the body was completed, just before storage.  This was probably true of all Studebakers, Avantis or otherwise.  The same must have been true of frames, with the serial number plate spot welded to the Avanti frame as it was built.  So, with the LIFO retrieval system of bodies and frames the serial numbers got out of order with the body numbers.

    A repair bay may have accounted for some of the oddities too.

    --Dwight

  12. Avanti Summary

    in 1963-64 Avanti

    Posted

    The first Avanti with square headlights was serial number R4892.  Note that there were some Avantis with higher serial numbers with round headlights.  Another question one could ask is what is the serial number of the last round-headlight Avanti.  I don't know the answer to this.

    --StudeDwight

  14. R3 engine

    in 1963-64 Avanti

    Posted

    4 hours ago, VtMike said:

    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.

      

    I agree with gunslinger, plus:

    There was a '63 Avanti with a crate R4 engine near me back in the late 1960s.  I followed the car through 2 or 3 owners, probably NONE of which understood the implications of a 12:1 C.R.; i.e., necessity for using racing gas.  Who is going to do that in a street-driven car?  Having 12:1 compression ratio on a street-driven car is a very bad idea.  Plus, the R4 is very over carbureted.  The cam would have been either 276 or 288 deg. same as an R3.  An R3, with its 9.75 C.R., would have been a much better choice than an R4.  Simply remove the carb enclosure and install an R1 air cleaner.  (also dist. advance, carb jets, etc would need to be revised, but those aren't big deals)

    BTW, the R4 Avanti locally ended up with two badly damaged cylinders, and most if not all broken rings.

    Perhaps R3 engines WERE available and an R4 wasn't.  There were a hundred or so R3 engines built, but only something like 10 R4 engines.

    Note that R3s and R4s used the same cylinder heads (479).  The difference in the comp. ratio was in the pistons, not the heads.

  16. R3 engine

    in 1963-64 Avanti

    Posted · Edited by Dwight FitzSimons

    On 6/12/2022 at 12:36 AM, Rob Dudley said:

     The engine has the R3 heads, the aluminum water manifold, intake and pullies and the R3 headers.

    Note that the original R3 & R4 water manifolds are cast iron, not aluminum.  Lionel Stone made some out of aluminum and sold them for a while.  The idea here was to save weight, although the cast iron ones aren't very heavy.  The original pulleys are cast iron also.  Aftermarket ones have been made out of aluminum.

    --Dwight

  22. Avanti Delamination!

    in Avanti Trivia

    Posted

    I hate sunroofs/moonroofs because they leak, and, worst of all, take up essential headroom, especially in the back seat.

    However, I once had a car with a moonroof that I liked, a 1988 Pontiac Fiero GT.  This wasn't the elaborate apparatus that dropped and slid backward, taking up a couple inches of rear headroom.  It simply tilted up (hinged at front).  It could be closed, tilted up, or removed and stored in the trunk.  The seal was simple and easy to replace.

    Of course, Fieros had a plastic (SMS?) body, so installation might not be too difficult in an Avanti for those who want a moonroof in their Avanti.

    --Dwight.

  25. New Avanti Owner

    in 1963-64 Avanti

    Posted

    Be sure you deal with the mold properly and safely.  Mold "dust" (spores) is not something one should inhale.  Also, the mold may have already caused irreversible discoloration of the vinyl - that remains to be seen.

    -Dwight.

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