Gunslinger
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Posts posted by Gunslinger
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A standard steering wheel puller will work. A gear puller is a different tool. The correct puller is not very expensive at Pep Boys, Auto Zone, Advance Auto or other store. Some stores will even loan them out for free.
Plan on a long afternoon to do it, but as straight forward a procedure as it is, plan on it being a pain in the rear. I'd leave the turn signal stalk on...don't remove any more parts than you have to...don't tempt fate.
Another hint...get a magnet made for magnetizing tools. Magnetize the socket you use to remove the four hold down nuts for the dash...they're real easy to lose if they drop. Even if they aren't lost, it can save time searching for them. Don't ask how I know all this!
Replacing all the ductwork is a good idea. While you're back there, take a good look at everything and fix or replace anything that needs it while you're there anyway. It can save some grief later. Lubricate anything that's movable...like vent cables, etc.
As I said earlier...it's not a tough procedure, but you have to be careful and patient. It's really easy to get frustrated if things don't go so easy.
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There are cutouts to match the gauges. Each gauge is individually set in the dash.
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You're definitely experiencing what many, if not most purchasers of older cars have to deal with...undoing what past owners have done before you can do it correctly.
There is no real way to get the radio out of an Avanti with a/c without pulling the dash...at least no way I've discovered. Maybe someone with tiny hands can get a lot of the effort done, but it's very difficult at best. The glove box doesn't come out...it's molded as part of the dash itself.
Pulling the dash, in concept and procedure anyway, is not a difficult job...but reality gets in the way of working in tight spaces in a 40+ year old car. That...plus the additions Avanti Motors did in adding certain items not in the original design such as driving lights switches, rear defogger switches, etc. Your car may or may not have these. Make sure you have a Studebaker shop manual...it gives step by step instructions.
If you do pull your dash, you can make life a bit easier by removing the steering wheel and the front seats...particularly the driver's seat. It makes for easier moving around on your back. Wrap the steering column with foam padding for its protection. Any wires you remove from gauges, lights, etc., carefully mark them so you can reconnect them correctly. While the dash is out, go ahead and replace every dash and gauge light bulb. They're inexpensive and most are likely old anyway. You don't want to go rooting around under and behind the dash any more than you have to later so take care of them now.
If at all possible when rewiring, use the same color and gauge wires for each application as original. That can save you a lot of grief down the road when needing to identify wires.
While the dash is out, go ahead and replace the front radio speaker...the one there is likely in sad shape from age and sun. Get a dual cone stereo front speaker from Studebaker International. If your car has the single rear speaker, Studebaker International also sells a stereo dual speaker for that as well. You always have the option of adding speakers to the doors as well as the rear package shelf if you care to cut holes for them.
Pulling the dash isn't a really bad job, you have to be careful and patient.
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Does your '85 still have the non-swing type of sunvisor the earlier Avanti's used? If it does, I'd take the visors down, pull out the rods that attach them and slide on some vacuum caps you can find at most auto supply stores and reattach. The vacuum caps will create some friction and take up whatever slack is necessary to keep the visors from flopping down. You may or may not be able to find a color vacuum cap that matches, but it's better than having the sunvisors flopping down in your line of sight.
If nothing else, wrap a little duct tape around the metal rod and it will do the same thing, but will eventually wear away and you'll have to do it again.
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Hope you find what you're looking for. You don't have to jump on the first Avanti you might see available...wait for the right one to come along. You'll be happier in the long run.
Keep in mind...few things are more expensive than a cheap Avanti!
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In my '70 the bracket is a satin black, but that's not saying a '63 would be the same.
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I hope you're getting the car cheap.
Good luck finding a rear glass. New windshields are still available, no so with the rear. You'll have to find a donor car or someone parting out one.
Do yourself a favor with the brakes...spend the money and get the Turner brake conversion kit. Rebuilding or replacing the originals with identical parts will run about as much. While you're at it, convert the single circuit master cylinder to a dual master cylinder. Also install a mechanical brake light switch and eliminate the pressure operated switch...an easy conversion as well with about $10 in parts plus the effort to do it.
The rear brakes will likely need replacing and rebuilding...those parts are available but some parts (like wheel cylinders) are pricey. The original wheel cylinders are likely rusted shut anyway. Replace all the rubber hoses and very carefully check the metal brake lines...they may need replacing as well.
Pull the rear axles and replace the seals and repack or replace the axle bearings.
Before trying to start the engine, remove the spark plugs and squirt in some penetrating oil...let it sit for several days, then try to turn the engine over by hand. The engine may require a complete tear down to make sure everything internally is OK. No way of telling what kind of shape it will be after twenty years. After you determine what you're actually facing with the engine, you can consider simply replacing seals, etc., a rebuild, or replacing it with a crate engine which is usually the most cost effective way to go.
You might consider sourcing a Studebaker engine to put in it, but since the original is gone and will never be original again, I'd stick with a small block Chevy unless you want to make a Studebaker powered resto-mod.
Also...before you spend any time or money on the car, check the hog troughs. If they're gone and require replacing, that is a major undertaking. You would have to consider simply selling it as a parts car or parting it out yourself. Without replacing the hog troughs if they're needed, you're wasting any further money and effort.
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I would tend to believe John Hull's figures are correct. He doesn't have a vested interest in providing inflated figures like the company might when trying to find a buyer. Also...the figures in the article could include sales of used Avanti's as they also has prior generation Avanti's in inventory for sale as well. The sales of Beck and Lister cars could also be included as they were produced by Avanti Motors.
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Hmmm, it's registered as a '64, according to the DMV. Could be that there was a mistake made long ago. Which VINs were the early '64 with the round headlights?
Thanks for the taillight info. Good to know.
Being registered as a '64 was not uncommon. Since the VIN had no year designator dealers would title them as a '64 if they sat on the lot past the model year change. That way they didn't lose anything due to depreciation. That can't be done now as VIN's have been required to have model year designators since about 1981 or so, though most car makers were already doing that by then. It was about 1981 when the Feds required a standardized seventeen digit VIN code to manufacturers of autos, trucks, trailers, etc.
It has created some confusion as some true '63 cars have unknowingly or otherwise been represented as one of the few "transitional" model Avanti's...early production '64's with round headlights and some different interior appointments from '63 and later '64s. There are supposedly about eighty true "transitional" cars...at least the the figure I've seen regarding that.
I wouldn't worry about it. When it comes to getting necessary parts for your car you go by the VIN rather than the registered model year anyway. As I said...it's not an uncommon thing. It was done way back when the car was first sold and titled.
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For some reason, a number of Avanti's have the "B" added to the VIN. There's been speculation why, but I don't know if anyone has uncovered the real reason.
Your car is definitely a '63. The tail light lenses reflect the year they met federal regs that pertain to them. In fact, my '70 Avanti has tail light lenses that have '62 molded into them. As long as there's no redesign of the lens or federal regs change, a manufacturer can use the same lens indefinitely. Actually, I've never seen an Avanti with the original design lenses that weren't 1962 marked. Studebaker must have made a ton of such parts as Avanti Motors used them for many years. Outside of the engine and few other items, my '70 was probably 95% left over Studebaker parts when it was made.
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The VIN plate on a Stude Avanti is on the top of the frame rail on the passenger side of the car. Look under the hood, under the area where the blower fan is and you should see it. It may well be covered in oil and grease that needs wiping off. The plate should say "Studebaker Corporation" and underneath that line, either "63R-XXXX" or simply "R-XXXX", depending on when the car was assembled.
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I spent some “quality” time in the car, in the garage with the lights off (yes, my wife thinks I'm nuts), seeing what the various switches are (and aren’t) doing.
#1 Turns headlights on.
CORRECT
#2 Driving (or parking?) lights come on ( the front turn indicators). The panel reads "Pk" & "DR". What do they mean? Parking lights and driving (literally normal driving with headlights or auxillary driving/fog lights?).
THIS SWITCHES BETWEEN YOUR HEADLIGHTS AND RUNNING LIGHTS. "DR" IS FOR HEADLIGHTS..."PK" IS FOR PARKING (OR RUNNING) LIGHTS. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH AUXILIARY DRIVING/FOG LIGHTS.
#3 Turns on overhead panel light
NO...IT TURNS ON YOUR INSTRUMENT LIGHTS AND RADIO DIAL INDICATOR LIGHT.
#4 Turn on instrument lights…but only if switches #1 & 3 are on …High only, not low & high as marked on switch & owners manual.
THIS SHOULD EITHER DIM OR BRIGHTEN YOUR DASH LIGHTS...TWO SETTINGS ONLY. ONLY IF #1 AND #3 ARE ON AS YOU SAID.
#5 blower power only...no noise.
YES...IT TURNS THE BLOWER FAN ON AND OFF.
#6 Blower high…no low
IT SHOULD BE HIGH AND LOW.
How does that sound?
Is that stuff normal or has some previous owner messed it up?
Would new switches fix the problems?
Help!!! I wish someone would publish "Avantis for Dummies".
It sounds like you may have connection or ground problems WITH #6. These switches don't often go bad, but they are nearly fifty years old so anything is possible. From what I've seen, they discolor from age long before they go bad. I would take the switches out and check the connections. Use a test light to see if power is coming out of the low blower terminal. Since you said you have high blower the switch is getting power. If nothing is coming out of the low setting, replace the switch. If you have power from that side, you need to look elsewhere for the problem.
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Studebaker International sells a reprint of an early '70s owners manual. It's good for '71 through maybe mid- to late-'70s cars. I've never seen or heard of a manual for Avanti II's earlier than that.
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This is the second time this Avanti has been listed on Ebay. Last week the bidding ended at about $28k and didn't hit the reserve, whatever that's set at. Maybe the seller lowered the reserve, maybe not.
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Follow the wires from the electric choke and the dash light and see where they meet. That should be the relay. Since most things with Avanti's don't come easy, I'd expect to find the relay somewhere under or behind the dash where only a six year old has hands small enough to work with it.
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If your '84 has chrome bumpers...you can get the front quarter panels and nose sections from Studebaker International and probably Nostalgic Motors. No one I'm aware of has new hoods...you'll have to find a donor car or someone with a car being parted out.
If your car has rubber bumpers...I'm not sure where to get those pieces...some may be the same as the earlier parts, but I don't know that. Nostalgic Motors may be your best bet for those.
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Is that an internal or external voltage regulator? GM had gone to all internal regulators by about '69 (for GM built cars). If it's an internal one, it should be standard GM or equivalent aftermarket like NAPA Echlin. Get the numbers off your alternator to make sure.
If your car has an external regulator, the same goes...get the numbers off the alternator and you should be able to get the appropriate regulator. It's probably a Delco-Remy.
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I agree wholeheartedly. A crate engine is far more cost effective than rebuilding your 305 or installing a Caddy engine. The engineering headaches alone would likely drive the cost of such a conversion into the stratosphere.
With a crate engine you have many, many options regarding power levels. From GM Performance alone you can go from a 350 260hp version up to a 383 stroker, with several versions in between. That doesn't even include all the other crate engine builders out there.
You can get a Vortech supercharger kit made for the small block Chevy if you like that idea, or, as I did with my '70, go with electronic fuel injection mated to a GM Performance 350HO 330hp crate engine...or simply go with a carburetor, of which you have options of Edelbrock, Holley or Demon that will all give excellent performance based on your needs. Barry Grant even makes a "Six-Shooter" system...an intake with three 2-barrel carbs mounted and all the linkages. That would give some real "WOW" factor to any car.
Crate is definitely the way to go.
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I believe the original design was a reinforced threaded area that the seat mounting bolts simply threaded into. If there's any nuts holding the back side of the bolts, then someone added them due to the fiberglass breaking away...a not too uncommon way these were fixed over the years rather than do a proper repair. The reinforcing part could have simply torn away from the fiberglass and is simply spinning with the bolt.
Since your going to use the repair kit from Classic, I'd just use an air chisel and knock the bolt heads off. After that you could simply drill out the remains of the bolts. A hand chisel will do the same thing but take longer.
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I believe it's one of two things...it's either your high beam indicator or it's telling you the electric choke is on. Avanti's of that vintage seem to have several dash lights that are unmarked. After the first or second owner the handbooks seem to get lost and the information within along with it.
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GM calls that part the transducer. It may be the same part used on Corvettes (I replaced one on a '78 Vette). Look at Corvette Central, Eckler's, Corvette America websites for C3 and C4 generation Corvettes and see if the part looks the same. I believe they came in 2- and 3-wire applications. I don't know if it is, but it may work equally well since you have a GM engine and transmission. A transducer runs about $100 depending on where you get it from.
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I have a tire information sticker for an '87-'90 Avanti, but it doesn't differentiate between a coupe, convertible or 4-door. It does state the tire size is P205/65R15 all the way around with a cold inflation of 28 psi. The temp spare is listed as a T155/80D16.
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I'm not sure, but I believe the front studs have to be pressed into the rotor hub by a machine shop equipped to do so. See what the shop manual says.
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Looking at the sales literature put out by Avanti Motors, there's a purple coupe and a blue (maybe Corvette Electron Blue) convertible that show supercharged emblems. Outside of that, I have no idea if any other cars had superchargers. It was a $10k option...I would think not too many out of the 53 GM based cars had it.
My '02 without a supercharger has a few modifications and is probably pushing a good bit more than the 345hp it's rated at. That's plenty powerful and fast enough for me.
uh oh, sat/pepper vs solid at 1064
in 1963-64 Avanti
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There are several vendors where you can get reproduction black carpeting, so it could definitely look original. The salt and pepper style is very difficult to find or even reproduce.
After all these years, and considering the water leak issues Avanti's had, plus normal wear and tear, I don't believe it's unreasonable to assume most surviving Avanti's in any kind of decent condition have had their carpeting replaced at least once.