Rick Allen

My steering wheel has developed some play at both ends where the two metals spokes meet the wheel, and I see some small stress cracks in plastic where the metal spokes attach. I need to repair this before it gets worse, luckily the steering wheel itself has no other cracks or breaks, appreciate any suggestions on how to make this repair,,,

Thanks, that's good to know that they fit and are working well so far,,,

Nice ’63 R2 up for auction on bring-a-trailer, lots of pictures (and videos) and documentation but I was under the impression all R2 had 160 MPH speedometers, this one shows a 140 speedo; did any early R2 come from factory with a 140 mph gauge?,,, No Reserve: 1963 Studebaker Avanti R2 for sale on BaT Auctions - ending July 5 (Lot #112,553) | Bring a Trailer

I'm thinking of doing a body off restoration myself and I'm curious how many bolts hold the body to the frame?,,,

Yes, there is the 1-8 cylinder numbers on the rods; putting only casting number on parts is very confusing for someone like me, thanks for the clarification. So any rod with that same casting # is correct for an R1/R2 engine? What do the other numbers mean, if anything, date codes, foundry, etc. ?

In the process of rebuilding my ’64 R2, have new pistons and am ready to put the connecting rods on. The book calls for connecting rod #s 527114 for odd number cylinders and 527114 for even, my connecting rods numbers are 526956 for all 8 pistons and I’ wondering why the number is different than what the book calls for, I’m sure the engine is original and never apart! Any feedback is appreciated!,,,

In the process of rebuilding my R2 engine, I ordered all the parts except the camshaft so far. I was told by a respected Stude engine builder that the camshaft very rarely wears out and needs replacement, baring any catastrophic failure. That being said, can anyone venture a guess as to what is an acceptable wear difference (in mm) from lobe to lobe on the camshaft? I should add the engine/camshaft has 57,000 miles on it.

A google search indicated Moss has been in business since 1921 but Anything is possible! For me, brake pads are not an issue, but could be for someone who's Avanit is a daily driver and puts on 15K miles a year of stop and go traffic, a set of new pads will probably last me forever but not for everybody. As another member mentioned, buy 2 sets of pads, they are very reasonable, $24 for semi-metallic, $32 for ceramic, should last a long time. Many went to the Turner system which uses the aftermarket conversion brackets to mount the calipers and uses a single piston floating style caliper where as the original Bendix/Dunlop system uses dual calipers for each wheel/pad as do the new Cobalt calipers, which promotes more even wear and braking power it is said. All in all, any upgrade to the original system is a plus, there will always be a down side to everything! As always, I appreciate and respect anyone one's comments!

The shop I use is in Hazleton, Pa., not too many around any more like in the days when these cars were new. The shop bored my engine to .030, the heads were already done when I bought the car in February but not installed, I ordered all the engine parts myself and I will assemble it when it comes back from the machine shop, the only other thing I will have the shop do is install the new cam bearings,,,,,,

I started a new topic to update my evaluation of the Cobalt calipers for those who are interested!

Now that I received the correct brake pads, I can show how things fit compared to the original Bendix calipers. 1st, the backing plate of the new Moss/Cobalt pads is much heavier/thicker than on the original pads, which is what Cobalt indicated is needed for their piston design. 2nd, the new pads are about 3+ mm shorter than the original pads which leaves a greater gap between the top of the pad and the silver metal “retainer” that you remove to replace the pads when needed. 3rd, the roll pins which are installed on the Cobalt calipers, which I originally thought needed to be removed for clearance on the mounting brackets, are there to keep the pad from slipping down in the bracket. That original thin plate needs to be removed as it would interfere with the new piston design of the Cobalt and the roll pins replace it. I don’t know if that extra gap at the top of the pad would be a problem but I could either slot the silver retainer to move it down, slot the hole in the bracket and that would move it down, or glue an appropriate size piece of metal or other suitable material on top of the pad, and that would take up the gap. Also, it’s possible nothing at all would need to be done since when the piston (s) move out they will hold the pad from moving (I would think). It would be some time before I can evaluate the braking power of the new calipers/pads, as my car is completely apart and the engine is in the machine shop. Initially, for the price of $270 for 4 newly designed calipers, it seems a good alternative, for me at least, especially because I’d like to keep things as original as possible. The car stopped fine when Stude made it new in ’62 so no reason it won’t now, I’m not a crazy driver and only drive my classic cars occasionally in the better months of the year here in Pennsylvania!

Sorry, I assumed you were referring to retaining the pads in the carrier/mounting bracket once assembled, not the piston, so yes it would work like most modern disc brake systems, being the pad is free floating against the piston where as the Stude the pad was attached to the piston,,,thanks

As my previous comments mentioned, I don't have the correct pads yet but my assumption is the pads would stay in place the same as the original Dunlop pads would, and as far as the pins, they are something that may fit into the Jag caliper brackets but not the Avanti ones and should/will be removed, they are only "pressed in" light duty roll pins, other wise the Cobalt caliper is the same,,,

Looking closely at the Cobalt vs. the original caliper, it seems the Cobalt piston retracts (or is shorter or less deep) than the original piston so it would allow for a thicker pad than the original Bendix, so it would accommodate the thicker backing plate and provide the same, if not more, pad thickness (wear). As far as, metal to metal wear, in my experience classic cars are not driven hard or many miles and in my case at least, I won't worry what might happen in 100 years; thanks for your observations and comments!,,,

It's not a problem, if you go back and scan some of the previous comments, it's mentioned Cobalt calipers come with special pads to accommodate the different style piston so you don't use the original Bendix pads at all, unfortunately in my case, Moss motors sent me the wrong pads which will delay me a week until I received the correct pads,,,

Yes they are the correct pads which should have come with the calipers, they can be bought in either ceramic or semi-metallic, their website does not state which ones are included with the calipers I purchased, semi-metallic are less expensive so I assume that's what they would have sent with the package,,, thanks

It is not an issue of needing special pads and me not knowing that, the correct pads are supposed to be included with the calipers and they were not, the pads they sent me (by the number) are for an Austin Healey. Again, they send the wrong pads, see Dwight's post in which he shows the correct pads which I had also located on their website, I will have to call them on Monday (tomorrow) and have them resend!

Received the new "on sale" $269.99 Cobalt calipers last night from Moss Auto, they look good, are heavy, of course made in China. They seem to be a correct fit replacement for the original Avanti caliper set-up, except for the 2 pins, which I believe to be for alignment on the Jag brackets, but of course would need to be removed to mount on the Avanti brackets. It seems they can be removed easily as they are a type of "roll" pin and probably only press fitted. One issue I have is that they went me the wrong brake pads, completely different from what would be needed for the Avanti set-up, so I'll need to call them on Monday to get the correct ones sent. When I do, I can then determine if both the calipers and the pads are a correct replacement fit for my '64 R2; this will probably be into later next week by the time I get the new pads.; stay tuned!,,,

I received them last evening, I am starting a new post on them so look for it later this evening,,,

I ordered the $269.99 Colbalt calipers from Moss today, probably get them Monday if not sooner, I'll report back when I do and have a chance to evaluate them; I'm keeping my fingers crossed, stay tuned!

As a follow up, I called Moss and they answered within 1 minute, I pressed #1 for "quick sales/order" and I guess you get right in as they are expecting you to order, which I did not, but asked about return policy instead. I was told returns of un-used parts is 6 months for a refund, and/or another 6 months beyond that for store credit, sound incredible but that's what I was told; also, no restocking fee either!,,,

yes, the bold pattern has a specific pattern, thanks to all who replied,,,

I'm close to buying them but I'd 1st like to know if there is some unreasonable "restocking" charge like 20% or so if I decided to return them?,,,

When I raised the question about metric or SAE, I was referring to the bolts that mount the caliper brackets, not anything related to the brake lines or rubber hoses; the hoses pictured (if they are what you get in the master kit) have male threaded ends on both ends, the original Avanti hoses have female threaded ends as I'm sure we all know. My point was no use paying for things that won't work or can't use, seems the basic kit for $270 would be best for me,,,

Seems like a low-cost alternative; what you have pictured is a master kit which sells for 359.00 on their website, so I'm wondering since this is sold as Jag parts, is the hardware metric or American, as used by Studebaker in '62/'63 and if the brake hoses are the ones pictured then they don't seem to be a correct replacement for Avanti, I found it impossible to get anyone on the phone at Moss to ask these questions,,,