Gunslinger

Studebaker owners are very fortunate, indeed, to be able to have access to such records. From experience I know how Mopar and other Brand X owners get so extreme for originality. I owned a '69 Corvette L71...427 435 hp convertible and was fortunate to have its original sales invoice, window sticker, copies of all prior titles, complete service history of the car and the broadcast sheet from on the gas tank. That was an uncommon thing to own a car that was maintained as it was plus all its records. No knows whether Chevrolet has records for them anymore...they disappeared long ago...either lost or destroyed. It's well recognized within the Corvette world that if those records were suddenly found and people had access to them there would be many unhappy current owners as they would find out their "all original" and "correct" Corvette left the factory in a completely different configuration. It's already generally acknowledged that there are more "original" big block Corvettes extant than ever left the factory during the big block years. Having the original records found would be a disaster for the Corvette hobby. Pontiac owners generally do well as the factory records for them are pretty complete and available.

Roughly 8000-9000 Avantis were built. I don’t know if anyone has a firm figure of survivors but I would think there’s a good 50% still around whether running or not.

Much depends on the sound you want. I’ve used both Flowmasters and Magnaflow. Flowmasters will give you a loud, raspy sound that makes you think will shake or even break glass windows as you drive by. Magnaflows give a lower, soft burble at idle and will open up much more as rpm’s increase. Go to each maker’s website. They usually have a sample of the sound their products make you can listen to.

Very true...wavy body panels is more the norm on fiberglass bodies cars. When the '70 I owned was redone the body shop went above and beyond (I paid for it) and made sure the body was so smooth that people at cars shows later couldn't believe it was fiberglass due to its smoothness. The body shop was proud of the car since its presence there sold additional restoration work for them.

What sending unit…gas tank…temperature…oil pressure…which? Different brands can look different but do the same job.

I can only tell you of my experience when I was having the '70 Avanti I owned rebuilt. The hinges and the like were painted separately before the body. The shop manager told me that being essentially a one-piece body he would only have the car painted on the frame with all body parts attached (the hood and trunk lid had their interior surfaces painted separately before being mounted). He said that was to have all parts painted equally and in the same direction or it would show. He also said if the body was not on the frame when painted there could be paint damage when mounted and bolted down. I'm no paint expert but I accepted his explanation and felt he was the expert and had the expertise. I watched as the car was painted and the tech went around the car about a dozen times with the color coat followed by the clear coat. They did a magnificent job...people couldn't believe that the car was fiberglass and not steel as there were no flaws in the body and finish. When my car was done the boss said he was hesitant to give my car back to me as simply having it at his facility sold a lot of other restorations from potential customers seeing it.

Avanti Motors would paint a car any color the buyer wanted...so there are no standard color list to pick from. Look under the mirror tray in the glove box or on the back of the mirror itself as they often put a sticker with the color there. The other way to find the original color is to order a build sheet from Nostalgia Motors...the build sheet will also provide the color applied by the factory. All that assumes it's still the factory color and not changed by someone over the years.

Is this the answer?

The “bookshelf bumpers”?

I'll guess AMC...Saturn was not yet in production with GM as it was founded in 1985. Avanti Motors borrowed other parts from AMC such as external mirrors. For a time Avanti used Chrysler steering columns but I think that was done with by 1983. I don't know what Ford parts Avanti used.

When Avanti Motors formed...Nate Altman approached Bob Morrison of MFG about supplying bodies again for the new startup company. Morrison was elated to do so and at great rates as he had something like 150 Avanti complete bodies leftover from Studebaker cancelling the contract with him. About all that was necessary to use them was to design and produce the filler for the front wheel arch. Following the sale and use of all these car bodies Nate Altman brought body assembly into his facility for assembly...just buying the fiberglass body parts from MFG. I would think he exercised better quality control and labor costs by doing so. I'm thinking Bob Morrison was doing the happy dance after making that agreement with Altman.

Chevrolet didn’t need to do anything to harm Avanti production…Studebaker really didn’t need any help in destroying themselves. I doubt if Chevrolet…or other carmakers…gave Studebaker much thought as Studebaker had such a small market share. The problem had less to do with Chevrolet than with Studebaker requiring MFG to supply complete, assembled and painted Avanti bodies…which MFG had no experience doing. Corvette bodies were shipped to Chevrolet in sections…far fewer sections than in an Avanti body. There are many horror stories about the MFG production issues and what Studebaker troubleshooters found when they went to Ashtabula to smooth out production. Chevrolet didn’t to do anything to hurt Studebaker…all they needed to do is sit back and watch.

That would awesome if he was. When the ‘70 Avanti II I had was being rebuilt I toyed with the idea of installing a Tremec 5-speed in it but the rebuild was expensive enough at the time…plus my wife won’t drive a manual…she’s knows how to but won’t. Still…I kinda still think I shoulda installed the 5-speed.

Hurst discontinued the Avanti specific shifter years ago. Any still available are either NOS or used. I doubt if the numbers produced was that high to begin with. If I remember correctly if it wasn’t for Nate Altman’s influence Hurst probably had never made any at all.

Fiberglass isn’t like sheet metal…it has to be cured before use and different batches of fiberglass taken from possibly different molds may cure at different rates…allowing for slightly different tolerances. Avanti Motors had a reputation for taking the time for getting things right…at least while Nate Altman was in charge…QC allegedly started a downward slide after his death. Considering the pressures to produce cars Studebaker was under I doubt if anyone on the assembly line was going for perfection.

The Avanti has a one-piece body once it's all glued together. You cannot simply take off a fender...paint it and put it back on. When the '70 I had was damaged and required a left front fender and drivers door the body shop told the insurance adjuster it would require a complete repaint or a line would eventually form where the damaged area was...no matter how well blended it might be. The adjuster simply said "Do it!".

Drivers today...the few that have manual transmission vehicles...are so used to hydraulic clutches they would think there's something wrong with a car of that era when pushing in on the clutch. A friend who owns a 2008 Mustang Bullitt Edition tried the '69 Corvette 427/435hp I owned and was shocked at the difference in effort to press in the clutch. He had forgotten how cars of that era drove.

Not all states required outside rear view mirror at the time plus they would have been prone to damage during transport. For the factory to install mirror would have also increased payroll costs...maybe not much per car but it adds up. Car makers don't think in terms of dollars or pennies...they think in terms of tenths of pennies.

Locating the battery allows you the option of a Group 24 battery or the larger Group 27 giving increased cranking amps and reserve power. This would be at the cost of losing a bit more trunk space.

I doubt if Studebaker intended or cared about such issues so far into the future…there was never a thought about these cars still being on the road sixty plus years later. I doubt if any car maker did…any words to that effect were nothing but ad copy.

The Dunlop/Bendix caliper brakes were excellent for their day…but they were also designed for cars roughly a thousand pounds lighter than an Avanti. Studebaker wanted a fully engineered disc brake setup and contacted Bendix and said they wanted it in only a few months ready to go. So Bendix licensed the design from Dunlop and put it in production. It may not have been optimal compared to a disc brake setup designed for a car the Avanti’s size but it worked and worked well…and was still better than other American car makers.

Magazine writers of the period commented on the Avanti 4-speed not having a good spread of gears. One writer even wondered whether Chevrolet had an exclusive on the gears from Borg-Warner for the Corvette…thus keeping others such as Studebaker from choosing better gear ratios. The Hurst shifter has enjoyed universal praise as superior to the Studebaker supplied shifter.

I believe dealers had a template on where to drill for the attaching screws…whether the fender of the door. Place it wrong on the door and the wing vent hits it.

Be careful with the fluid you use in the blower. Paxtons require a fluid that has at least some friction. Too slick fluid allows the planetary balls to skid rather than roll smoothly which can create heat spots and cause early failure. Original fill was Type A Suffix A which was made from whale oil and is no longer available…that’s why Ford Type F or equivalent is recommended today. Andy Granatelli in his book They Call Me Mister 500 said they used some STP in the blower as it helped keep blower oil temps down…but Andy was a master promoter and that was his product. Besides…how many drive at Salt Flats speeds?

Yes…it looks like the mounting holes are off enough to force a bend in the name plate.