Hogtrough

It has heat capability, but I'm sticking with the OEM heater for now. Should the core leak or motor quit, it will be easy to switch over. No wiring diagram with it but the Amazon listing had all that info posted. Pretty simple: red wire (fused) to power, green wire to compressor, black to ground.

I'm in the process of removing the "factory" air from my '63 Avanti R1 (personally I think most were dealer installed). So far I have the evaporator out and am taking the compressor and condenser out next week. Here's what I know about the system: 1) It was serviced in 2005 (documented) and recharged with R134. I assume it was converted at that time or earlier. However, its does not have R134 charging ports, so they must have done it through the old type ports. 2) The clutch does work. I applied power to it for a few seconds and the York compressor turned and pumped. The system then held pressure. The car had sat in a garage unused for the last 20 years and the system did leak down over that time. I did not try to charge it. 3) The blower motor is hard to turn and will need rebuilding or replacing. Bob Ziff , Avantiparts.biz apparently has them,, saw a post from someone who had bought one. 4) Hoses look good but are at least 20 years old. 5) Comes with the aluminum plate, "Studebaker AIr Conditioning" and charge info that would have been mounted somewhere under the hood (I assume). The tag was in my glovebox. I'll sell the entire system for $1200 plus shipping . If no one wants the whole system, I'll start selling it piecemeal. I'll post more photos here as I remove parts.

This is the particular unit, however, you can find it for various prices on both Ebay and Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CM8P3RMF?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title It is basically the same unit you would buy from Vintage Air for say $450 to put factory type A/C in your street rod , way up under the dash, and run hoses to the vents. I just removed the front faceplate where the hoses attach. You then drill a hole in your dash for each control. I just drilled out the holes in the stock faceplate to fit the controls. I also have a compressor and condenser/drier on the way and so far have a total of about $330 in the system. Of course at that price I'm dealing with Chinese components, which is why I check out reviews first. I'll still need some misc parts like custom hoses, which I'll probably have made up by a shop in Nashville that specializes in that. Vintage air probably gets $2200 for a similar setup. I imagine the old parts will sell for enough to easily cover my conversion, and I won't have to find surplus R12 at $40 a can!

Decided I would rather have all new components than mess with the old ones. There are lots of underdash kits on Ebay and Amazon that will work, but I decided to buy the parts piecemeal so I can research each one and check out reviews. So far I've gotten the evaporator . I noticed when I removed the old one that it looked VERY similar to an underdash unit of the time. Then I saw that underdash units had really not changed much in the last 50 years- dimensions are about the same. So I put two and two together and decided I would try to retrofit the new one in place of the old (which I will be selling along with all the other parts I remove). I followed Nostalgic's instructions on removing the old one and determined where I would have to trim the plastic evaporator cabinet and the fiberglas Avanti console to make it work. Pretty minimal work needed . I was even able to replace the old controls with new. Could have retained the old knobs but due to the length of wire provided, they would have had to have been reversed right and left, so I fitted the new ones. Next step is underhood, where I will use a York to Sanden adapter to fit a new modern compressor and swap out the existing 20 X 16 condensor with integrated drier for a new 20 x 14 with separate drier.

Just curious- can you pull that unit by just removing some screws and removing it from the RH side, or is there more to it?

Had mine ready, drove to the show, decided to check it out first. Sparse attendance, obnoxious music, only 4 or 5 cars of interest. Not worth the $20 fee, on to the next. I can rattle off the Avanti story with the best of them!

Looks like you can buy the replacement on Ebay, not as expensive as I thought. Happen to know what size the charge is?

I paid up for a used replacement from a well known vendor and got one that doesn't have chrome as nice as this one does. This bumper is for the guy looking for an inexpensive one for a nice driver- it has an area by the passenger side bracket that has a ripple. If you have hammer and dolly skills you can probably make it near perfect, except for the tiny rub on the chrome seen in the photo. Glad to take more photos of certain areas as requested. $175 plus actual shipping, which won't be too bad, they are very light.

So can I assume that since there are screw on connectors that it was never converted and the R134A note on the invoice was an error? Are there any economical replacement refrigerants for R12? Don't want to invest too much, not knowing if the existing system will even function. Might make more sense to install a modern compressor, etc.

1) Today I got the production order for my 63 R1 (4223) and air conditioning was missing from the option list. I assume this means it was dealer installed later? 2) Found an embossed aluminum tag in the glovebox that was at some point installed under the hood (I assume) with "Studebaker Air Conditioning" and info about the system. Where would it have been installed? 3) When I was a teenager in the 70's, if I got a car that with air that wasn't working or out of freon, I would simply pump down the system with a vacuum pump (maybe replacing the receiver/drier), recharge the system and usually that got it working. Any reason that won't work today, assuming I can find refrigerant? 4) Does the Avanti AC system have a pressure switch to keep the compressor from running if there is no freon? 5) How can I tell if the system has been converted over to R134A? (a service invoice from 2005 says that they added R134A to the system at that time)

All brake parts except for shoes are new, and the shoes look recently replaced. I tried slamming on the brakes in a parking lot and looked at the tire stipes. The left rear was nowhere near as strong, barely there. So I'll try re adjusting it.

He made the recommendation based on experience with his own cars, which never seemed to need a valve. Mine distinctly feels like the rear trying to come around, rather than the right front grabbing. Maybe I need to re adjust the rear brakes. I bought the dual master along with the kit

After buying a '57 Silver Hawk that had a fully documented mechanical restoration, I decided to try to find an Avanti with the same. I jumped on this '63 R1 when it became available, despite some FB forum advice to pass on it due to to very deteriorated interior (South Georgia humidity). It had a very compete engine and transmission rebuild in 2005, with all parts purchased from Myers and all parts and labor receipts provided. I was able to turn the interior around in a few weeks, as the seat covers had held up well. I only had to replace all the other vinyl pieces and headliner. Also required were a complete brake job including lines, power steering work and tuneup. The second part of the story is from this old advertisement for the car found on Bob Johnstone's site. It says the car got a "ground up" restoration, all needed parts replaced in the early 90's and described it as a "show car". The seller was Preston Hill, a rural South Dakota Studebaker dealer. I purchased it from the estate of the person who bought the car from this ad in '93 and have that title. Not sure if Hill sold the car new or bought it later. If anyone knows anything about the car or the dealership, let me know.

My OEM discs were frozen due to many years of unuse, so I elected to modernize with the much larger Turner disc kit (all lines and hoses replaced too, and rear drums checked and adjusted) . On Jim's advice, I didn't install a proportioning valve, but wonder if I might need one. Car veers heavily right on a hard stop and I think it may be the rears causing this (often described as wanting to "swap ends"). I think it would be downright dangerous on a slick road, so wondering if I need to have the rears doing less by installing a variable proportioning valve.

When you consider how many were wrecked or scrapped, that is an amazing percentage you have accounted for- probably 90%! Thanks for the years of diligence in doing that

What you describe is simply what non power steering cars are like. But as mentioned elsewhere, narrower tires and a grease job can help a lot. Be sure to hit ALL the fittings including the center link one. Top off the steering box lube. Make sure the tires are fully inflated (35 pounds should be OK depending on tire), and go with 195 tires if they are ready for a swap. This made a lot of difference on my Silver Hawk. My Avanti has power steering, which is fine when it works but my driveway may soon be condemned by the EPA if I don't get the leak fixed!

Based on all the info I could find, I thought the Elk color was way off. If it's even close I'm happy. Also, note that you can install the shoulder harnesses by simply drilling and tapping the roll bar- it's that thick. Not quite as thick as a nut, but thick enough

I haven't gotten to the console yet. Since the seats had been redone fairly recently in a beige color, I decide to just try to match that with the pleated part of the door panels, and go with Fawn on the upper part. I really don't trust paint or dye on flexible parts of the interior that are sat on, maybe you've had better luck than I have. There are quite a few pleated vinyls that could be dyed to match the door panel material , trick is to find one without padding which this appears to lack https://fabricwarehouse.com/seaquest-roll-n-pleat-dune-tan-pleated-marine-vinyl-fabric-sun-salt-proof-54-wide-by-the-yard?sku=SQRP-DUNE-03&srsltid=AfmBOorM4Xhs7YBOCSGUDnk0NCd-8wfFkCl506qnarOpBpgnLreIhp_7aRk&gQT=1

Over the past two or three months, I've been pretty busy working on this '63 R1 (4223). The car was fully restored in 1993, show car level ( I know this because the owner, who sold the car new in South Dakota, placed a Turning Wheels ad for it with some details). In 2005 it got a new owner who proceeded to have the engine and trans rebuilt. All the parts were purchased from Myers Studebaker and I have every receipt. The the car basically sat in his garage until he died two years ago. The car was then stored outside in south Georgia humidity, which did a job on the interior. I was advised to pass on buying the car by several over at the AOAI Facebook page, but didn't heed their advice (the price was right). I was unable to start the engine down there but upon getting it back to TN I started in on it, working about 7 hours a day whenever the weather was decent. What I've done: 1) Clean the fuel system, replace the carburetor, add an auxillary electric pump, tune up engine, change solenoid (why the car wouldn't start), changed oil, did chassis lube 2) Rebuild the brake system, replacing every steel and rubber line, wheel cylinders, dual master, Turner front discs 3) Add vintage type mags and tires, storing the oem wheels and wheel covers in case next owner wants them 4) Troubleshoot and fix brake lights, headlights, overhead console switches 5) Removed and replace headliner and all interior vinyl pieces with new (seats themselves held up well), removed and dyed carpet, installed dynamat underneath, plugged up firewall holes and replaced grommets as needed, removed and repaired window regulators, restore steering wheel and dash cluster 6) Injected rust preventative inside hog troughs and frame, painted exterior of them 7)Color sanded badly oxidized hood and top, machine polished the paint 😎 Took the car out in the country and did some glamour photography! More work to do such as stopping the power steering leaks, but the hard stuff is done.

Thanks Brad and MFG, very helpful info. I reinforced the bar on the side facing the outside, added probably a half inch of thickness with the bolts, hopefully it doesn't interfere with any other components

So when the holes are about lined up, will the spring be uncompressed or compressed? Should I have the 3 bolts in the triangle shaped piece above the spring while trying to do this?

Working on my windows ('63 R1, manual windows). The lift bar on passenger side was bent, I reinforced it and am ready to reassemble- but not sure how to get the spring loaded "bar", seen hanging in the access hole here, over to the two attachment holes on the right. Not sure what the correct order of assembly is and don't have the shop manual. Any help appreciated.

Was hoping that was possible. Might be able to do a dash pad replacement if it can be done from above

How did you anchor to the upper roll bar? Drill and tap for a bolt (since the stamped steel is fairly thick?)

I've installed retractable shoulder belts on every Studebaker I've owned- but this is my first Avanti and the belts will obviously have to be bolted to the roll bar. Normally I drop a threaded plate made for the purpose down inside the door pillar. Anyone done this on an Avanti, and if so, how?