jccatwb

Have an 80 Avanti with a Skytop. It leaked and didn't work so the po silicone sealed it shut. For now at least I'm just going to leave it, but it has no inside slider --that aluminum panel you can slide from back to front to shade the sun. Can anyone out there provide me with the exact dimensions of one ? There machine shop said he'll make me one but don't want to guess on the dimensions. Thanks!

I replaced my shocks on my 1980 with Rock Auto in expensive shocks. It was a huge improvement. And getting rid of those abomnable Korean tires and replacing them with Coopers made a world of difference. The purpose of a shock absorber is to absorb shocks, not transmit them to the driver! (extra weight of a 350 ???) They modulate spring rebound--they shouldn't be so stiff as to prevent spring function!

Just did that. Seat belts Plus is a good source. Got full set from Wesco; fronts went in nicely but the rears were unusable! They were so long they'd have been loose on Sidney Greenstreet or Andy Divine! If you order the fronts only from Wesco, they should work OK and aren't too $$$

Am going to agree with 'gunslinger; you can move the water too fast. For adequate cooling you need an adequate volume and area to transfer heat. My heating problem was solved with a re=cored radiator with 50% more volume and 50% more area for heat exchange. You have to move air through it, too. I found a 6 blade stainless steel flexfan worked far better than the original - and it is much, much lighter putting less stress on the water pump bearing.

Thx for the headsup--I'm always glad to not do something!

What is the best timing for it? That can make a huge difference all by itself. New pipes and headers will have to wait a bit, but are anticipated. Camshaft is a huge item too but a lot bigger job than setting timing. And, besides, I'm not sure acceleration an elderly fellow should be allowed. A 3:07 rear end isn't too bad especially out here where there is a lot of cruising and not a lot of stop and go. I think a 3:54 is a nice compromise.

Probably no fix since wheel covers and wheels aren't made for one another. I have never lost a wheel cover in 60 years of Studebaker driving. But I have no brand X wheels or repo wheel covers. My daughter has a 66 Mustang and the reproduction wheel covers kept flying off in the road ditch requiring stopping and retrieval. Finally She got mag type (correct accessory) wheels. I do believe the Chinese repo wheel covers are at fault; Val's were Taiwanese.

I'd do just as Michael said and replace them. You want to be careful not to route the pie that connects the inner and outer cylinders around the outside since it is vulnerable to wear and failure from the wheel rubbing on it.

I have a new -to-me 1980 Avanti with a 350cid sbc, TH400 trans, and type44 (3.07) differential. It does not perform as well as my old 63 R2 with power-shift and a 3:73 diff. The exhaust system is a mess But is functional so it will wait. What have some of you all done to make these strangled engines perform a bit better? (On a budget!) (The meadow burner is thankfully gone as well as smog pump and all that crap. ) Best timing? Thanks in advance!

Have a 1980 and the AC has been removed. If I use a Sanden I'd need a new bracket (which I cannot find) or a PRO5ten Al compressor might fit existing brackets. Anyone have any experience with either?? THX

Jon Myers says he really doesn't have much for Skytop.

An Avanti- ( a veritable hothouse) ---in Florida---and you removed the AC ?????? Do you only drive it on cloudy winter days????

Same piece with air; with air has a hole in it for ac. And, yes, the other is kick panel cover.(I Iooked yesterday -to be sure!) Do some of these carpet makers send out 2.? I have a pair sans holes in the trunk (??)

So what was the problem? I've had bent yoke, bent drive shaft, bad pinion bearing, bent axle, bad U-joint, misaligned drive shaft, incorrectly installed motor mounts, and engine not dial indicated to the bell housing cause vibration. I've had and have Studebakers that vibrate a little at 35 mph. No reason, they just do but that doesn't pertain to an RQB. My son used to be a Mustang fan but they vibrate - they just do. Ford pick-ups are noted for suddenly going into violent convulsions - they just do (and I don't believe the geniuses in Ford engineering ever figured out why. (It happened to me once and it was really scary! Felt like the whole truck was disintegrating around me. Stopped looked over things and started back out and it was just fine and never did it again.

Thought I'd just spruce up a bit around the sway bar. Ended up replacing bushings and retainers. It is called mission creep; (you set out to do one simple thing and that leads to another--and another and....

Re; mfg post. The hawk rear brake is 'self energizing' The Avanti, while slightly larger, is not. That makes the Hawk brake much more efficient. I'm not sure why they did this; I can only guess that the Dunlop discs in the front require a huge amount of pressure and therefore a good, functioning power brake booster. (One of the first things you must learn as an Avanti driver is NEVER tailgate!) Perhaps the engineers were seeking balance with the less-than-good rear brakes. (The power booster would compensate for the systems deficiencies - but then the used a kinda not-so-great booster.)

I had a 1963 R2 and now have a 1980 with a 350 SBC. I really do not think that the later performs quite as well as the former.

They are great when new, but are essentially unrebuildable. I'd just get an Edelbrock. I've had 3 and been happy with all of them. (But they did replace AFB's so the install was super-easy)

I don't think you could do much better than Gabriels (but you could spend a lot more) SI has originals.

Go to ' Drive Train America' They probably have what you need. (I got one for a really screwed up 63 Ford 390 with a T-10 4spd.)

I took mine to the body shop to have it replaced, but they found that it was a bad ground. They also put a manual release cable on it so that access to the trunk is possible the next time it malfunctions (or with a dead battery.)