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dadavanti

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Posts posted by dadavanti

  1. Well after many hours of hard work, replacing the steering ram with a rebuild from Myers Studebaker, and rebuilding the Bendix-Eaton power steering pump myself, I am happy to report that the 1964 Avanti now has the steering that I would expect her to have. She's a dream on windy roads now. I had the alignment professionally done. I wasn't going to attempt that one. Now all that is left to fix is an oil leak which I believe is coming from that damn felt "seal" in the timing cover where the crank exits.

  2. I need information on how to improve the steering of a 1964 Avanti R1. It has the factory power steering. Anyway, the car is undergoing a complete rebuild. The body, frame and engine work have been completed. I am I in the process of breaking in the engine and new ring and pinion gears. She is doing very well. I am tracking down and fixing all of the minor problems that are present. She has a tremendous amount of power and cruises the freeway effortlessly. The one major problem from a safety and driveability standpoint is the steering. There is a good amount of slop in the steering. When a hit a bump on the freeway, the bump steer is scary. One of these days it is going to throw the car sideways. There are also plenty of leaks in the power steering system. I am sure that one has to do with the other. The most serious leak is from the "ram." So, I intend on replacing the seals in the ram. Any other ideas?

  3. Anyone know exactly how the door panel goes back on? I have the door panels, a couple of round cardboard piece about 4 or 5 inches in diameter and a couple of round insulation pieces about the same diameter. Where do these little donuts go? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

  4. Tom, thanks for the info.

    I took the passenger lock unit off the door last night and cleaned it up real good. It was filthy to say the least. In the process of cleaning it, I was able to see how it works. After lubricating all the moving parts, I put the lock back in. Now I can unlock the passenger door from the outside. I still can't lock it but I don't think that the lock is designed for that (I may be wrong of course). I can lock it from the outside by depressing a small metal tab on the end of the door near the large metal cone shaped thing and at the same time flipping the lock lever on the door. Then when I close the door, it is locked. Maybe this is the way it is supposed to be. I don't have an owner's manual and the shop manual doesn't explain how the locks work.

    Anyway, I can lock the door when I get out and open it with the key. So, it is better than before.

    Tonight I will clean and lube the driver side lock mechanism!

  5. Rebuilding a 1964 R1. Frame, body and engine are rebuilt. Interior and weatherstripping left to go. I was going to leave the interior until next winter, but I want to drive it during the summer. Can I put the door weatherstripping on before redoing the interior? Or does the interior have to be redone first?

    Also, is there a way to put the outer window to door weather seal on with out taking the glass out of the door?

    Thanks.

  6. Ok, so I am in the process of rebuilding a 1964 R-1 Avanti (#5292 I think). I put a new cowl seal on with the 3M adhesive. No problem. I also installed the trunk seal. It looks great, but now the trunk will no close. Did I do it wrong? I followed the instructions and glued the right surface witht the "C" facing out.

    Anyone have any idea?

  7. Are there any down sides to using wider tires on the rear end than the front?

    I am working a complete rebuild of a 1964 Avanti, R1, auto, and want to put wider tires on it. The front, however, is a problem due to there not being enough clearance for wider tires with the wheel turned to full stop.

    Any suggestions?

    Also, I want to put in a modern audio system. Nothing to fancy, but I want to put a CD player in the dash or at the very least an AM/FM radio so that I can use an iPod with the FM transmitter. The car currently has an AM radio and a single speaker in the dash. I was thinking of adding two speakers in the rear deck. Should I also use a new speaker in the dash or put speakers in the doors? Does anyone know of an AM/FM (with or without CD player) that will fit in the dash?

    I'm sure I'll have more questions, but that's it for now. I plan on driving this thing for at least another 40 years. I want it look stock from the outside but have certain modern amenities and performance upgrades. I've put the Turner discs in the front. I'm thinking about discs in the back and will definitely be replacing the two piece axle shafts with the one piece variety.

  8. As far as the coolant temp, I recently rebuilt an R1 engine that had previously had a cooling problem. One thing to make sure from the outset is that the water pump is a genuine Avanti water pump. A water pump for a Studebaker V-8 won't do. Some people will replace the pump on an Avanti with the standard Studebaker V-8 pump, without realizing that there is a difference. I found that out because the R1 I worked on had that issue. The Avanti pump has four metal ribs (pointing out from the center, splitting the circular pump at 90 degree sections--if that makes any sense) on it, whereas a standard Studebaker V-8 pump does not have the ribs. Make sure you have the proper thermostat and that it works. Also, if you shut the car off and the fan blade continues to spin more than a few rotations, it is time to change the viscous fan clutch. I put a new vicous fan clutch on and now the Avanti will idle all day and not go about 200 degrees. You can get a new viscous fan clutch for about $65 and changing it probably takes about thirty minutes or so. I hope that helps.

  9. Greetings to all. My brothers and I are in the process of rebuilding my Dad's 64 Avanti. We have rebuilt the R1 engine, rebuilt the rear Twin Traction axle and put stock 3.31 ring and pinion back in it (someone had changed it to a 4.11), and had the automatic transmission rebuilt. We had the body taken off the frame, the frame sand blasted, repaired and painted. We also had the paint stripped off the fiberglass body and had the body repainted with the proper Avanti Red color. We still need to rebuild the HVAC system and refurbish the interior.

    Our goal has been to keep the stock look of the Avanti while making performance upgrades. For instance, we used the Turner disc brake kit in the front to replace the stock Studebaker disc brakes. It was a significant improvement in stopping power and heat dissipation. The engine was kept stock except for the .030 over pistons. So, what I am looking for is input.

    Does anyone have information on good performance upgrades to make to the Avanti to improve its driveability and safety? This car is not going to be a garage or trailer queen. We are going to drive it a lot. At some point, I would like to take my Dad on a cross country trip in this car. (Although right now I am sitting in Iraq with the 153rd Field Artillery, so I am not driving it at all.) I already have a line on one possible improvement: dual chamber master cylinder. Some things I know I want to explore are changing the two piece rear axles to the one piece design (I don't have much info about that), converting to rear disc brakes (I don't have any info about that), and using wider wheels and wider tires for better handling (I have found a decent amount of info about that).

    In return I am more than happy to share with the group any information that I have learned during the ongoing rebuilding process. I personally disassembled and reassembled the engine. I also personally rebuilt the Power Lok (Twin Traction) differential with a new clutch pack, set up the new ring and pinion gears and replaced all of the bearings and seals in the Dana 44 rear axle. So, I know a decent amount about the engine and rear axle. The other stuff I observed, but am still willing to share anything I know.

    Sorry I don't have pictures here with me in Iraq, but I will ask my family to email me some of them so that I can post them.

    Thank you (yeah, I know it's a long post).

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