Gunslinger

It’s not a Studebaker part but one sourced by Avanti Motors…sometime from the mid-70s or ‘80s. I may have some lists that give a more accurate time frame but I don’t have access to it at the moment. One way to tell whether a part is originally a Studebaker part and still used by Avanti Motors is the part number…most Studebaker parts numbers began with “15xxx” and parts sourced later for changes by Avanti Motors were “17xxx”. Avanti Motors would change parts for several reasons…a genuine improvement…they ran out of original Studebaker parts…a changed forced by government requirements…forced by circumstances such as General Motors changing engine and drivetrain specs.

Look on Amazon.com…search for the number bulb and add LED to the search line. Lots of available choices and colors will pop up. Also…be advised…some LED bulbs are directional in how they mount…the current flows one way…if you don’t install them properly they won’t work until you reinstall them the other way. I don’t believe that’s an issue with the dash bulbs or maybe any bulb used in an Avanti but is something to be aware of.

There were no 1986 Avantis...too busy with handing the paint/body mess plus financial troubles from it...so probably 1985 era cars or possibly late '84 cars as well. Someone else may have a better handle on exactly what time period. If you look at Avanti history...it's rife with production issues. Sherwood Egbert was a man in a hurry...he was known as "Mister Go-Go-Go". He wanted the Avanti put into production quickly and lack of testing made for production problems...warranty claims...you name it. The car's (and Studebaker's) name suffered for it. Steve Blake was a man in a hurry...he made many of the same mistakes and the car and company suffered for it. Mike Kelly and JJ Caffaro...much the same. Only under Nate Altman did the Avanti really reach its intended goals...and then that statement can be qualified as Avanti Motors had certain problems and limitations. After Nate's death the company pretty much lost its soul and driving force. It makes one wonder with its convoluted history and mix of executives leading the company how the Avanti soldiered on and succeeded as well as it did for so long. There's just something about that fabulous design that Raymond Loewy and his team molded strikes an emotional tone in otherwise conservative businessmen that makes them want to risk it all on building the Avanti.

The Delton paint debacle was more due to the new process body composition than the paint. The new body required much more curing time than the fiberglass used previously. When the Delton paint was put over it the body chemicals used kept coming to the surface and caused the paint to bubble and come off in sheets. If Blake had done some testing with one or a limited number of cars the whole debacle could have been avoided or at least minimized. Most likely...no one ever thought there might be a problem as Delton had a good reputation otherwise.

I don't know at what serial number the quick steering arms began being used, but I doubt if it was immediate. The first thing Steve Blake changed...according to the ad...was the tires...Blake made Goodyear tires standard. It must have taken a bit of time to work out the engineering and manufacture of the quick-steering arms before installing them. I'd also say add time for testing but Blake was a man in a hurry and may not have done any testing...the new body and paint process debacle is evidence of that.

No...the Newman & Altman cars started with the fork-lift steering box sometime after 1977 and the original steering arms stayed in use. As far as I know Blake kept using the fork-lift steering box but changed to the short steering arms to restore the steering to original specs.

That's what the initial reports said...the latest report I read said it was steam burns from a steam powered vehicle he was tinkering with. No idea which reports are accurate...but either kind of burns are horrible and painful. Let's hope Jay has a full recovery.

Steve Blake purchased Avanti Motors prior to the introduction of the plastic bumpers…he initiated the change but design studies could possibly pre-date that.

When the '70 I owned was converted to EFI the electric fuel pump was mounted close to the fuel tank...inside the frame rails and insulated there from vibration.

Edelbrock used to sell their version of the Quadrajet which was and is an outstanding carburetor. The molds/castings for the carburetor were accidentally destroyed some years back so they had to stop selling them. Too bad...it would solve a lot of problems today without resorting to different carbs and intake manifolds for best performance. Summit is a a great place for parts. Tell their techs what you want out of an engine and what kind of driving it will receive and they will give solid recommendations for the right mix of parts to achieve that regardless of name brand or house brand. I'm a big fan of Edlelbrock carbs and intakes and Lunati Voodoo asymmetric cams...gives good power and idle without the lope of a standard high lift design. But there's a lot of great products out there by many makers.

Yes. I would have suggested an Edelbrock Performer EPS intake as well if there was hood clearance. The EPS is designed specifically for their square-bore carbs and posts somewhat better numbers than a stock intake or Edelbrock’s Performer intake.

The last...if I remember it's a R-3 which makes it double rare....last Studebaker Avanti plus last factory R-3.

Dan Booth at Nostalgic Motors is your guy for this.

Not sure if it's the same...in the late '70s Avanti Motors ran out of original Avanti frames. A Lark-type non-convertible frame of thinner gauge was substituted with the "X" welded in and stiffeners added. Whether the "X" was the same gauge as the original I don't know. I'll take a SWAG and say false...same design but possibly a thinner gauge.

I don't have the information handy but at a certain serial number all Avantis came with black carpeting. It should be in the body and parts manual if you have it...it will give what serial number car the carpeting was black for all.

Lark V8 emblem.

Mine were in bad need of recovering when I purchased them. The upholstery shop I used for many years had trouble finding matching leather for them. Ultimately they found what I wanted from an aircraft upholstery supplier. The shop did a superb job recovering them. I doubt if you will ever find ready to go covers but if you find matching leather you're ahead of the game.

I believe it was an Avanti exclusive seat for Avanti Motors...at least that's what they told me when I purchased a used set of Recaros from a later Avanti I installed in the '70 I owned. Some parts may be more or less universal for Recaro seats but that's about it...and they were about the most comfortable and supportive auto seats I've ever sat in. Recaro does not have sliders or bases anymore. The sliders are more or less universal and go with Avanti-specific bases. If sliders and bases are what you want information on...contact Wedge Engineering. They have sliders and the Avanti-specific base design and can whip up bases in short order.

Since it only does it at a specific speed I would agree with the driveshaft balance theory. Sometimes vibrations balance out after a certain point...something like exhaust would simply change tone or get worse as it strikes the frame.

You could always replace the TH400 with a 5- or 6-speed Tremec. Performance and economy! It would take a while to recover the conversion costs but it would be a great swap.

That's a smog era engine with a 3-speed automatic...excellent transmission it is...but that's probably about what you can expect from the combination. Without knowing the rear axle ratio you might be able to squeeze out 16mpg if the car is tuned on a computerized machine. Changing the transmission to an automatic overdrive such as a 200R4 or 700R4 will help drop the rpms and improve mileage.

I "think" I have some of the Avanti disc labels but everything is in storage since we moved and I won't have access for at least a month.

There's no specific Avanti center cap...the generic Magnum 500 cap was used. This is what was used... Later...aftermarket vendors had center discs made with the Avanti logo you could glue in.

Avanti Motors used the stock Magnum 500 cap. Check out Summit Racing or Jegs...they list the caps. They came in several styles depending on whether it going to Ford, AMC, Chrysler or Avanti Motors which used the generic "Magnum 500" center cap.

I used the Mr. Goodwrench scissors jack I purchased from Walmart as I said previously. I don't remember the handle it came with but since I used a donut emergency spare instead of a full-size spare tire I had no problems fitting the jack inside the spare tire well as well as other emergency equipment with room to spare.