Mark L

Would you happen to have any from San Bernardino? My Avanti was sold new from there.

For a non-Avanti vehicle, I found my local auto parts store had the bottle of defroster grid liquid/paste. It was super easy to apply and it worked great. Installing the masking on the grid on the back window of an Avanti will be a lot more difficult than the back wimdow of my minivan, however. Once the edges are masked, however, the application should be easy.

Most likely 1204 was the first car they owned that was wrecked. After their insurance company found them a replacement, the insurance company probably sold 1204 at an auction, and it was subsequently rebuilt with a different body (what I have today).

There's a one-owner 2007 convertible available on Bring-A-Trailer with about 3o,000 miles. VIN 1ZVFT85HX75222117 https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2007-avanti-convertible/?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaign_2648441

There's a 1988 Avanti Luxury Sport Coupe available near Vancouver, WA: https://portland.craigslist.org/clk/cto/d/vancouver-avanti-ll-coupe-1988avanti/7851685963.html

There's a 1988 Avanti convertible available near Vancouver, WA: https://portland.craigslist.org/clk/cto/d/vancouver-avanti-ll-convertible-1988/7851689172.html

There's a 1964 Avanti R2 project available near Goodland, Kansas: https://oklahomacity.craigslist.org/pts/d/goodland-1964-studebaker-avanti-r2/7827207038.html

There's a running 1987 Avanti project car available near Prineville, Oregon. https://bend.craigslist.org/cto/d/powell-butte-1987-avanti-project-car/7852929211.html

Yes, the lighting of the blue Avanti in the "Photos" page is better. Thanks.

Would you happen to have a different photograph that has different (better) lighting under the front end? The shadow in the one above is really dark. It makes it hard to see the spoiler.

I'm interested, as the A/C in my 63 does not currently work. I'm just trying to decide to pull the trigger. When it was operating the last time, was it using R12, or converted to R134?

I'll do that. Thanks.

Doing some research, I went to the Nostalgic Motor Cars website to see if Dan Booth is advertising any Avanti II cars for sale. He's currently selling a 1982 and a 1983. Both have defroster elements on the rear window. That partially answers one of my questions. Now I just need to find a source, if any are available.

My questions below are relevant to the Avanti II. I need to replace the rear window seal in my 1963 Avanti. The window is also scratched in multiple places, so while I have the window out, I'd like to just go ahead and replace the glass. I'm not doing this soon, but I'd like to get it done in the next two years. Questions: What years, if any, did the Avanti II have a rear window defroster (wires or surface elements) in or on the glass? (I'm not concerned about originality. I want to make this car a three-season driver, and I'd like to have a functional defroster). If this glass is still available, what is the part number? Thank you.

No, sorry, nothing new to report. I haven't done any work on my Avanti since last fall. It's still sitting on the driveway on jack stands under a cover. I have a garage project I must finish before June 2. Once that's done, I can get back to work on the Avanti. One thing I did find at the SDC site is that someone found the rear disk brake caliper brackets that Jim designed hold the calipers in auch a way that the bleed valves are pointed down slightly, which might be creating a pocket inside the cylinder that's holding air away from the valves. When I get back at it, I'm planning to remove at least one of the caliper bolts so I can pivot the caliper so that the bleed valve is at top dead center. I also bought a new master cylinder from a local source. I think I may have damaged the seals inside one of the previous units when I experimented with the port to the rear brakes capped off. I would have attempted to rebuild it, but Raybestos does not sell replacement parts for it.

If one were to buy the correct well nuts for an Avanti side mirror from a Studebaker or Avanti parts vendor, what would be the correct part number to order?

"You may want to have a shop do the charging part if not experienced with it." Or take it to a state-licensed facility, if you live somewhere like Washington state, where it is now illegal to do any automotive air conditioning work unless it's done by a facility licensed by the state. In Washington the local auto parts stores can no longer sell cans of R134 or even do-it-yourself recharge / top-off kits, and it can't be shipped to residential addresses. We can buy it out of state and bring it back across the state line in a personal vehicle, but I'm sure that is also somehow illegal, and it's illegal to do the work in my driveway or inside my garage. Irritating. I have all the equipment to evacuate and service air conditioning, but I can't use it. What's really stupid, the national marketing office of a national chain auto parts store I frequent makes the local store put up posters advertising supplies to "get your air conditioning ready for summer", but the store can't sell any of it.

Also, I think the Avanti needs some kind of special inserts that fit in the holes in the fiberglass, and the screws that go through the mirror base screw into the centers of the inserts, not directly into the fiberglass.

Possibly distributor cap and rotor, maybe spark plug wire set. Enjoy your trip. Which island(s) will you see?

What is fishy about it? I bought my Avanti from the same seller, but not through Bring-a-Trailer. I inspected my Avanti in the seller's driveway so I knew what I was getting, where the photographs for this car were taken. Everything was smooth and legitimate.

Not only are the refrigerants different, the lubricating oils in the refrigerant lines to lubricate the compressor are different, too. R12 uses mineral oil. R134 uses polyalkylene glycol (PAG). If you convert from R12 to R134, any parts that are retained for re-use must be thoroughly flushed with an appropriate solvent to remove all the mineral oil, something that will cut and remove the mineral oil without damaging the parts. About 25-30 years ago I converted the A/C system in a 1993 Ford Crown Victoria to R134. The kit came with everything except the evaporator. Since I didn't replace it (buried inside the dashboard) I flushed it with some kind of alcohol and blew out the alcohol with compressed air. I don't remember what alcohol I used. The conversion worked well, and it was still cooling when we sold the car in 2006.

Deal. Send me a private message with your name and address. I'll break them down into manageable bundles and box them up in multiple boxes for shipping.

The Studebaker Lark I sold last year was originally equipped with power steering from the factory, but sometime before I bought it, it was converted to standard steering. To make steering at low speed a bit easier, I learned to anticipate which way I was planning to turn after a stop. I did some of the turn while the car was still rolling, stopped, then began the rest of the turn when I started roll and avoided turning the wheel when the car was stationary.

For those of you who collect physical ephemera, I am giving away an almost complete set of AOAI magazines, from volume 1 issue 1 up to about 2017 or so. They are currently in three large boxes. When these were given to me a few years ago, I went through all of them and put them in order. A few individual issues are missing. There are some duplicates. These are free to anyone who wants them. No shipping. I'll drive up to 3 hours one way from Seattle to meet you somewhere halfway to transfer ownership.

Do they sell radiators specific to the Avanti, or did you have to pick one for a different car and make it work? What was the part number you ordered?