Gunslinger
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Posts posted by Gunslinger
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My '02 has no light like you're describing. I checked the owners manual and it shows no light of any kind there...not even an optional feature. I thought that if your car has a manual transmission it could have something to do with the skip shift feature, but that's an indicator light on the gauge cluster. The only blinking light my car has is the security anti-theft light mounted on top of the dash near the windshield. It blinks when the engine is off but makes no noise.
Maybe it's something that Avanti Motors added? If you decipher this mystery, please let us know.
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The good news is that it's repairable and the parts are available...though some may be quite expensive. The bad news is that unless you're capable of doing the work yourself, it will cost more than the car is worth to repair it right...even if the frame itself is not damaged. I have no idea of the condition of the rest of the car...frame, torque boxes, interior, engine condition, etc.
Unless you're interested in a long, expensive process, give it a lot of thought. The fact that it was your mom's car can add a lot of emotional attachment to it and that can certainly outweigh practicality and normal common sense. There's nothing wrong with that, especially if you plan on keeping the car rather than looking at it as an investment. I have more invested in my '70 than I could expect to get in return, but that's not why I rebuilt the car.
My own feeling is that every Avanti that can be save should be saved, but I also know that's simply not a practical proposition. We do need parts cars to keep otherwise unavailable parts in the food chain for other cars to stay on the road.
Think it through...get estimates, add up the parts you know it needs, try and figure the cost of labor, than double it (at least)...and you might have an idea of how much money you're going to need. You didn't say if there's any insurance coverage on repairing the car either...that will certainly make a difference.
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It looks great! That really pops! Congratulations and kudos to Myers Studebaker for the quality of their work.
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I can't say for sure, but I would think if you determine what steering column you have (American Motors or Mopar), you can probably use what would have been installed on that make column. Avanti Motors may well have used an aftermarket system as well that could work on whatever steering column they used. Somehow my memory tells me they used kits from Dana Corporation, but are now sold by Rostra.
You might be better off buying and installing a new aftermarket setup...all the parts will be there and have a warranty and customer support. There are a number on the market...some have a turn signal stalk and control that looks factory (depending on what year car the steering column is from), and some have a switch that either mounts under the dash or snaps onto the turn signal stalk. Summit Racing sells kits, as does JC Whitney and others.
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I don't have the answer but with that engine/tranny combination it's gonna scream!
You can get the upgraded motor mounts from Nostalgic and go with it. That's what was done with my '70 and there were no problems at all. I have a GM 350HO 330hp crate engine with a 700R4 and aluminum driveshaft...it can smoke the rear tires all too easily so you might have trouble keeping tread on your rear tires!
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Have the tech install some a/c leak detector in the system and make sure there is a leak. Is the system cooling normally? If so, don't worry about it until there is a verified problem.
Cars today don't have receiver/dryers like cars used to. I think the replacement part is called an accumulator but it's mounted in the engine bay. Much easier to use than the dryer mounted under the front end. It's how my car is set up now...I can post pics of the setup if you want. The disadvantage is you have to have new hoses etc. and mounts for under the hood. It all depends on how much you want to spend.
You can probably come up with a condenser from a catalog the same size...maybe have to fabricate some mounts for it. The dryer would be long obsolete and I doubt if any local place would carry any dryer much less that one. Again, you may be able to match it up by dimensions with one in a catalog, but honestly, just calling Nostalgic is probably the fastest way to go and will fit without fabricating anything.
My own recommendation is either get what you need from Nostalgic or upgrade the entire a/c system with new design parts...compressor, condenser, accumulator, hoses...everything. You can run into trouble way too easily trying make do with parts adapted that look "close enough".
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First...pressure test the system to make sure the leak is actually coming from the radiator. No point in going to the trouble of pulling it out and finding it's something else.
Yes...removing the hood is part of the job. It's not difficult to remove, but it helps to have a second set of hands. Once the hood is off and safely stored, it does make access to the radiator much, much easier. The procedure for a '78 should be identical to a '63 or '64 as shown in the shop manual. Be careful when undoing the transmission cooling lines.
Any good radiator shop should be able to repair it for you. If it needs a new core, shops order them by dimensions...the make of car really has little to do with it. The shop can then attach the side tanks after making sure they're in good shape. If you do need a core, have the shop order a core with increased fins per inch. That greatly increases the cooling area and makes for much more efficient heat transfer.
You might also contact Dan and Betty Booth at Nostalgic Motors. I believe they carry reconditioned radiators. You can compare obtaining one from them with shipping costs to a radiator shop re-coring and repairing yours.
I've done it before...it's not a tough job considering how many other repairs on an Avanti are a royal pain.
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I have seen that many times and always wondered what the reason was for. I did a web search and here's what I found (from a Ford forum)...
"The line will vibrate with any movement or vibration from road or engine. The longer the line is straight the more the vibration is amplified. The loop reduces the vibration where it screws into the master cylinder. If you don't put loops in it is likely that you will crack a line where it is flared at the master cylinder. It also helps to have a dampening coil wrapped around the tubing where it is looped."
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That ad doesn't say much. If it's as advertised, the price may be a bit on the high side to some, but considering what it costs to fix an Avanti that needs frame work or hog troughs, that may not be an unreasonable asking price. Avanti's after Nate Altman passed away allegedly suffered from indifferent quality control and less than sterling performance from the 305 engine, though that's not exclusive to Avanti's but pretty much across the board industry wide.
If everything is as nice as the ad says and all the power accessories work well, it's definitely cheaper than rebuilding a lesser car. You won't have a particularly collectible car (as Avanti's go) but a nice driver.
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What is the price and the description? I don't get Turning Wheels.
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That's why I particularly avoided Avanti's with sunroofs and '87-'91 cars...too many parts that their source is unknown for repair or replacement (as well as no shop manual) plus the legendary and inevitable leaks. The sunroofs were adapted from a generic design (or from a Lincoln depending on model year and who you talk to) instead of being designed specifically for an Avanti.
The tube you found is probably the drain. I understand it drains into the hog troughs. Since they're not drilled to allow water to escape, they're a rust problem waiting to happen from day one.
As far as the rear deck goes, I would get a sheet of acrylic and cut it to shape and cover it with matching upholstery...that problem won't occur again.
As far as the headliner goes, I don't have answer. If it's like the Stude design, the shop manual can tell you how to replace the headliner. What a local Avanti owner did with his '85 (he owns a body shop), is obtain a new roof from Dan Booth at Nostalgic and slice off the original roof and graft on the solid roof in its place and no more problem. Of course, he owns the body shop and gave daily supervision to the work being done.
Not saying this is an option for other Avanti owners with sunroof problems...this was a pretty extreme resolution to the problem by someone who owns a body shop.
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Great for you! Now you have two different generation Avanti's to enjoy! Once you're done with the restoration of the R2, you can start looking for a Blake generation car, a Kelly and Kelly/Caffaro and finally a Villa Rica/Cancun car to add to your stable!
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That tri-power setup...what does it fit...big block Chevy? If so, does the intake have square exhaust ports or oval ports. A lot of Corvette guys might give up a gonad for that setup, depending on date codes, etc.
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Metric speedometers were listed in the parts manual, so they were inventoried for at least the potential of overseas sales. How many were actually factory installed would be difficult to determine without someone going over the production sheet for every Avanti Studebaker built and making a database to draw from. That would be quite the project, to say the least.
I would expect the number of metric speedometers Studebaker ordered (presumably from Stewart Warner) would be unknown short of someone finding documents such as purchase orders, invoices and inventory sheets...either Studebaker or Stewart Warner. It's possible Studebaker only ordered them when they had a firm order for a car to be exported to a country that required metric. That's sounds unlikely as I would think they wanted a supply in inventory, but who knows? They must have kept some in inventory or they wouldn't have assigned a part number to standardize one.
I can't think of ever seeing an Avanti with a metric speedometer installed, but obviously there was at least one (yours) and possibly more. Outside of any that might have gone to parts depots, I would expect any metric speedometers would have been sold to Avanti Motor Corporation when they purchased all rights and tooling for the Avanti plus all spare parts. Dan Booth purchased the supposedly entire inventory of pre-1987 Avanti parts in the late 1980's. If he never found any of these speedometers than it's likely the supply of them was exhausted prior to that date...if they ever existed at all in any numbers.
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Here's copies of the 1975 and 1980 price lists...I don't seem to have 1976-1979, but these can give you a ballpark idea of what your car originally retailed for. The options don't seem to have risen as fast as the MSRP of the basic car did, though some of the increases were due to previously optional items like power steering, tilt steering wheel, electric antenna, etc., being made standard. If I come up with an actual 1978 price list, I'll post it.
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Most places would list a "Zip Kit" which is only a few parts, not a complete rebuild kit...if they have anything at all. You might try a local carb rebuild shop but the best thing is probably a vendor like Jon Myers who does this service for a living.
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I believe that the ratio in the manual steering box is different to the power steering one. Whether that makes any difference i'm not sure.
pb
The manual steering does have a different ratio (22:1 I believe), though a faster ratio (16:1 power steering ratio...again I'm not sure) was a special order option, but greatly increased steering effort. It has to do with mechanical advantage...make the manual steering easier to turn, but at an increased number of turns lock-to-lock of the steering wheel. It effectively increased the turning radius of the car.
To add power steering to a manual steering car you should change the steering box as well...unless it has the optional quick steering ratio. Without changing the steering box from 22:1 to the 16:1 ratio, you're really not gaining any performance...just a little less effort.
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Will do...the 2002-2007 models pop up on Ebay every now and then.
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The market is somewhat slim on the 2001-2007 Avanti's since so few were built. This is just a guess but I'd say a price range of $25k-$40k for one in good shape and whether it's a coupe or convertible, supercharged, or in the case of the 2006-2007 models, V6 or V8. I could be way off in that price range as the market is pretty roiled right now, and Avanti's have never been a blue chip investment.
As far as guns go...I'm more into collecting these days than shooting. Actually, I'm in a selling mood...way too many that I don't or have never fired. I'm big into Colt handguns as well as Colt rifles and shotguns. Way too many Weatherby's. I'm also into M1 Garands, M1903 Springfields, an even a couple of 1941 Johnsons. Others as well, depending on how they interested me at the time. I'm formerly a law enforcement firearms instructor...taught handgun, shotgun and submachine gun. I shot competitively for a while as well, but rarely get to the range these days.
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There's no real way of telling what an AVX might be worth since none have been on the market to set a value. There were only three (or six) made, depending on the source. Most believe only three were built...one coupe, one convertible and one T-Top. As far as build quality, it will take someone who has actually inspected one to give you an idea. They were built on converted mid-'90s Firebird chassis...most likely with LT1 engines. Besides the obvious differences (coupe, convertible, T-Top), there appears to be various detail differences between them.
It would be easier to find a 2001-2007 Avanti built on either the TransAm or Mustang platforms...somewhat under a hundred were assembled. Even there there's detail differences...my '02 doesn't have additional tail lights in the trunk lid...earlier '02s did. Mine has chrome "Avanti" emblems...some had blacked out script. All were more or less prototypes it seems, with various things being tried out.
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Does anyone have more information on the Jensen Interceptor. Your post is the very first time I've ever heard of this car.
There's lots of information online about them. Wikipedia is a good start but there's tons of info on websites.
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The Interceptor has always reminded me of the Avanti...definitely the same design themes. It came out in 1966, so the Avanti design was quite recent and may have influenced it. Jensen didn't design it in-house...they had an Italian firm design it. Performance-wise...the Interceptor came with big-block Mopars so I would think it could stomp an Avanti from a standing start. Top speed...who knows? That could depend on how the cars were set up...R1 or R2, transmission, rear axle ratio, etc.
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I bought reproductions from Nostalgic Motors a couple of years ago...they look and fit great, but others have said the ones they got from Nostalgic didn't fit well. It may depend on what particular lot they were cast. You might try Studebaker International as well. I can't think of seeing NOS housings come up on Ebay, but occasionally good used ones show up. Vendors like Jon Myers may have good used in inventory.
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Without trying to sound like a smart aleck, any part is only worth as much as anyone is willing to pay for it. Timing is everything and you have little to no control over that. You might put a particular part on Ebay and it pulls in far less than you might expect. Then put the same part on Ebay next month and now several people might be looking for it that weren't the month before and get into a bidding war. All you can do take your chances on Ebay...start with a low opening bid and set a reserve if you feel it necessary.
Even NOS parts can go for varying dollar amounts. Someone who pays full price from a vendor gets a warranty with it in case it's defective or is otherwise dissatisfied with it. You don't, or rarely get that with buying from Ebay, so identical parts should sell for less that way...with a big "but" on that...I've seen many parts go for far more on Ebay than from vendors simply because the purchaser doesn't know where to look for the parts otherwise.
It's a fact of Avanti's that they seem to go for more as parts than as complete cars. I wish it were otherwise, but that seems to be the case.
Which should I buy?
in Avanti Pub
Posted · Edited by Gunslinger
These are my opinions and anyone is welcome to agree or disagree..
With respect to Studebaker vs. Altman cars...
Studebaker Avanti...the original and most likely to retain future value. A bit cruder than an Avanti II as it's more performance oriented. The supercharged cars definitely have panache the others don't.
Altman Avanti II...known for superb build quality (at least until Nate Altman's passing in 1976). More refined than Stude cars and intended to be a high performance touring car than for pure performance. Of course, after 40+ years build quality isn't an issue anymore. Outside of the occasional anomaly of a garaged low mileage car, all Avanti's built are either in need of a rebuild or have been rebuilt by now.
Studebaker Avanti...few interiors and paint colors in comparison. One would think it should be easier to restore, but in practice, no way...hard to find proper matching vinyls, carpets, etc., to do so.
Altman Avanti...huge variation of interiors, exterior colors, etc. Many were quite bizarre in color schemes and trim. Since essentially no two were built alike you can change whatever you want and not really hurt the value as long as it's done tastefully.
Chevy power vs. Stude power...the Chevy engine is probably the easiest engine of all time to find parts for...stock or performance. The Studebaker engine, while an excellent engine, is easy to find stock parts for, but you generally have to order them and wait for delivery. Performance parts for Studes are available, but not inexpensive and the selection is limited.
Transmissions...the Borg Warner Power Shift is an excellent transmission, but servicing isn't as universally easy as a GM tranny. The BW T-10 4-speed is also an excellent unit if you're determined for a manual. With an Altman car a swap to a 5-speed like a Tremec would be simple in comparison to doing the same in a Stude engine car.
Basically...to my way of thinking, a Studebaker Avanti is a great car. I've owned one and enjoyed it for years when I was much younger. When I wanted another Avanti I wanted an early Altman car...I felt I could make whatever changes I wanted without hurting its value. I'm more of a purist when it comes to the original cars...that doesn't matter for Altman cars.
If you decide on an Altman car, I would limit my choices to pre-mid 1970's. Outside of the drivetrain, they were still almost all Studebaker...parts are easier to find. After the mid-'70s, some original parts ran out and they started adapting more and more from other makes. That certainly doesn't make them bad cars, just finding parts sources after that point gets a little trickier. The later cars are nice, though as you mentioned, pretty heavily detuned for emissions controls. Again...my opinion...feel free to disagree.