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Gunslinger

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Posts posted by Gunslinger

  1. 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.

  2. 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.  

  3. 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.

  4. 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!".  

  5. 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.  

  6. 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.  

  7. 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.

  8. 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.

  9. 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.  

  10. 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?  

  11. The Edelbrock Torker is designed for higher rpm driving...the Performer EPS is optimized for better all around performance.  The EPS is optimized for the Edelbrock Performer carbs but the Holley will work just fine.  

  12. 5 hours ago, mfg said:

    I tend to repeat myself… sorry… but what the heck were Studebaker engineers thinking when they decided to use a 3EE battery in an ‘advanced’ car…. as their new Avanti, at the time, truly was??

    ( Well, at least they didn’t return to a 6 volt electrical system!)

     

    Considering the time frame and rush to get the Avanti into production...it's likely no more than simply a quick way of solving a problem...find space for a battery.  The engine is tight enough and using the 3EE battery simply was the cheaper and easy way out.  Once they transitioned to the Group 24 battery for the '64 model year after incorporating it into the redesign of the front it made for much more versatility in battery selection by the factory and by consumers.  That being said...the engine bay changes for the Group 24 battery do make a tight area even more so.  If only someone at Studebaker had thought of locating the battery in the trunk it could possibly have made for a more logical radiator/belt drive design for the car...maybe even incorporating a/c with the supercharger from the factory.  

    But...as out of the box forward thinking as the Avanti design was...the Studebaker mindset was stuck in what they most knew and could afford...traditional thinking.  

  13. First…welcome to world of Avantis…one of the most strikingly beautiful cars ever…and can also be one of the most frustrating at times.   This is great bunch here with lots of real world experience with these cars.  By experience I mean that’s what you get when don’t get what you want.  By that definition we’re very experienced here.
     

    Before anything else…upgrade brakes…pads…calipers…hoses…metal lines.  Safety is paramount.  If the car won’t stop safely nothing else you do will matter.

    The Turner brake kit is the way to go.  It’s far more cost effective than rebuilding the original system.  You can sell the old parts to offset the costs as well as they have value.  

    On the ‘70 Avanti I had I had a set of Sanderson block hugger headers installed and a 2.5” exhaust system to let the engine breathe. 

    I had a GM Performance 350/330hp crate engine installed with Edelbrock fuel injection…that’s not where you seem to be going but Edelbrock carbs are excellent.  

    There’s nothing wrong with the GM HEI…it may need tweaking by a carb tech as it’s set up for smog reduction…not performance.  There are good hi-po distributors marketed if you want one.

    For information on camshafts…give a call to Summit Racing’s tech line.  They will ask you specific questions about what you want out of the car and will give you solid recommendations.  I’m kinda partial to Lunati VooDoo cams…they have asymmetric lobe profiles that can give power without a loping idle…but there’s lots of good cams and profiles to choose from.

    As far as a radiator…aluminum is fine…anything that helps take some weight off the front end is a plus.  I would suggest whichever way to go…aluminum or brass…get one with a core that has more fins per inch than stock…it increases swept area and aids cooling.  Electric fans are an advantage as well.

  14. While it may not have anything to do with your problem…I would swap out every light with a LED replacement along with a flasher made for LED lights.  You’ll get brighter illumination…longer life…less heat to fade the lenses…and it uses less power draw on the electrical system. 

  15. I looked it up and Avanti Motors switched to the Lark frame in the 1977 model year...the frame was used continuously from serial number RQB-2607 with earlier numbers RQB-2696 and RQB-2699 also receiving the same frame.  

  16. Avanti Motors ran out of Avanti frames in the late ‘70s and began using true Lark frames and welded in the X-member and supposedly added some additional stiffeners as the Lark frame was a thinner gauge steel.  
     

    I believe many of the safety standards Avanti Motors received exemptions from had run out…along with running out of parts for a 30+ year old chassis prompted the need for a modern chassis.  
     

    Prior to Mike Kelly…Steve Blake initiated a design for a proprietary chassis for the Avanti which never reached fruition.

  17. First fill of trans fluid in a dry transmission…making sure the torque converter is properly filled before starting then adding the appropriate amount to top it off.

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