Gunslinger

Yes…I remember the event and the heat as well…particularly in Dover a few days later. A good time was had by all.

At least with transmission fluid the color of any oil on the ground should give it away.

When I had my '02 Avanti I received a Best Foreign Car award as it fit in no other category for some reason.

The Studebaker V-8 has a multi-piece oil pan gasket(s)...something like a dozen separate pieces. It's very common for any of them to shrink and leave an opening for oil to leak from. The rear main seal is a problem area as well with some engines.

‘65 through about ‘71 are possibly the best to rebuild…still using most Studebaker parts and the Chebbie engine makes things easier. Add to that Avanti II cars are all individual…few are exactly alike so you can modify them easily to suit your personal tastes. After about ‘71 Avanti Motors started changing things as original parts became used up and more to the point…meeting increasing federal emissions and safety standards they had previously been exempted from as a small manufacturer. The down side? Post-Studebaker Avantis will rarely ever maintain the value of original Studebaker Avantis in equal condition.

I looked at a crossover chart and the XR4 is equivalent to a Champion RJ14YC…I think that’s a bit too hot. The XR5 is closer to the proper heat range but crossover charts can be inaccurate when it comes to heat ranges.

No…full timer here.

Not simply the costs of a Ferrari engine itself but the shipping costs…the time and expense for engineering changes to properly fit the engine…transmission changes and changes to the driveline geometry…plus costs and time for things not even considered. Given time and money it was probably doable…but in the end would have made no difference.

From RQA0057-RQA0257 Avanti used a Holley carburetor but I don’t have what model Holley. Beginning with RQA0258 Avantis were equipped with a Rochester Quadrajet. Prior to RQA0057 Carter AFB carburetors were used.

I don't know exactly when the change to an impact absorbing steering column was made...but the '70 Avanti RQ-B I owned had the original design steering column that Studebaker used. Avanti Motors...being a small volume producer...received a temporary exemption from some safety standards from the feds to phase in compliance with safety standards. My car was built in September 1970 so it had to be after that date...likely around 1971 or possibly even 1972 before the change was made. Does your '72 have an impact absorbing steering column or the standard Studebaker unit? An option is to buy a modern, custom steering column through Summit Racing or Jeg's. That would be a brand new unit rather than one that might require refurbishing.

Contact Jon Myer at Myer’s Studebaker. He has a number of Avanti parts cars.

I had a manual for the 2002 Avanti I owned. It was nothing more than the GM manual with an Avanti Motors cover on it.

Can you trace the wires and see where they’re connected?

I've seen that more than once...having to undo what past owners have done before doing it correctly.

John Hull was a principle in Avanti Motors for maybe two years early on...not the entire run until the doors closed. The records he has would be incomplete at best since he left and would have little if any further access to such records.

Did the problem begin at the same time with the two motors? If so there might be some kind of cross-connection in the wiring creating an overheating issue requiring the circuit breakers or fuse to trip/blow. I would check all the ground connections as well as connections to the fuse box. After so many years the connections could be corroded making for overheating of the wires. The motors themselves might need overhauled...maybe the wiring harness itself has become suspect and required replacing.

Contact Dan Booth at Nostalgic. The man believes in service after the sale.

Look for numbers and letters on the lens…there may be a DOT number. Do a web search on that number and the application may come up. Your photo didn’t come through I can’t tell whether there’s any numbers on the lens. If there’s no numbers on the lens there may be one on the back of the assembly.

You might try and get hold of John Hull…he was an officer in Avanti Motors early on. He may have copies of the drawings for such parts…or have an idea where they may be found.

It's probably something Avanti designed and made for the car. Can the arm that attached it to the car be removed and taken to a fabricator out of metal?

Great read. Thanks for posting it.

Put a full dual exhaust system on the car and remove the catalytic converter (if state laws allow by exempting cars over a certain age)...make the pipes 2.5" diameter and let that puppy breathe! I know you said "on a budget"...but performance costs and there's no way around it...especially with a smogger engine. We can really get into the weeds with recommendations but you have to start with a plan...what do you want out of the car regarding performance? A smooth boulevard cruiser...an all-around fun car or an all-out road burner? Each will require it's own set of plans and specifications to achieve the desired end result. You can go crazy with a carburetor...intake manifold change...headers...camshaft...pretty much everything mechanical. Before getting into the engine's internals (assuming it performing as designed with no issues)...look at installing a 200R4 or 700R4 transmission. The 700R4 will smoke the tire in first gear as it's designed for a much heavier vehicle. The 200R4 can be very stoutly built and has a better spread of gears for the average driver. The 4-speed automatic should give a nice improvement in performance by itself. If you want to go crazy with improvements...doesn't sound like that's your desire...get EFI and ditch the carburetor. One thing can easily lead to another and suddenly you're financially very deep. That's why you need a plan.

Back in the early '60s when Pontiac was a force on the drag strips...the days of their "Swiss cheese frames" to lighten the car...they also had aluminum headers. Supposedly one could always tell when one of these cars made a run due to the molten aluminum drops on the track.

From what I've always understood Lionel Stone's repops showed a lot of flashing and required some work to get them to fit properly.

My conclusion was that two of the four 500s on my Avanti had slightly different offsets and came from different construction lots. Avanti Motors would simply order 15"x6" Magnum 500s which were duly shipped to them and could have come from various production lots. Since they fit the stock Bendix brakes there was no issues to be concerned about or even know about. If I remember correctly...the tech who installed the Turner kit on my car said it was about a 3/8" difference in offset...enough to cause the scraping between the caliper and the rim. I had two solutions...they could grind the high spot on the calipers or...what I did do...keep the offending rims on the rear of the car and two that didn't scrape on the front. At the time it was about forty years past any warranty concern. More modern sport rims are likely far more able to fit without issue as they would have been designed with clearances for more modern calipers. But one never knows until a test fit is done.