[Is it a 63 or 64?]

You have my sympathies for the loss of your Dad. It's always tough to lose a loved one.

With Avanti's, round or square from headlights, it really doesn't matter what their VIN is or when they were made as much as how it was originally titled by the dealer. If it's registered as a '64, it's a '64. As far as parts, you go by the VIN to get the correct parts for repair or restoration.

Since Stude Avanti's didn't have a VIN code that designated model year, it wasn't uncommon at all for dealers to title one as a '64 regardless of assembly date. An R1 a friend used to own was titled as a '64 even though by serial number it was about 1000 units older than my '63 R1. Cars today have date codes in their VIN to keep such shennanigans from going on.

Your car may well be one of the few accepted as a "true" '64 instead of a '63 titled as such. It's kind of a transition car, with items installed that earlier cars and later cars don't have. Regardless, use the VIN for most purposes. That will be more accurate instead of using the model year in just about any case.

Welocme to the club and look forwrad to hear your experiences. A lot of help you might require is here as well.

[Stock Magnum 500 wheel size]

They're the same Magnum 500 wheel that Ford and Chrysler used. The difference was the emblem in the cap and the fact that Ford and Mopar generally, if not exclusively, used 14" wheels while Avanti used 15". All three manufacturers use the same 4 1/2" bolt circle.

The only current manufacturer of Magnum 500 reproduction wheels now (as far as I know) is Wheel Vintiques. There are a number of resellers for them and prices seem to be pretty comparable across the board. Motorspot is likely a reseller of Wheel Vintique products.

Every now and then you might see a used Magnum 500 on Ebay. I don't know where you live, but if you're close enough to Carlisle, PA, their Spring swap meet is this week. I wouldn't be surpised to find some Magnum 500's there for sale...used and new. Carlisle is a Mecca for postwar car parts.

[Stock Magnum 500 wheel size]

I have a '70 as well. I believe the Magnum 500's are 15"x6" but I'm not sure. They could be 7" wide, but I think 6" is correct. That would be appropriate for 78, 75 and 70 series tires. I don't believe Avanti Motors installed 60 series tires on them at that time, if ever, and 7" wide wheel would have been appropriate for them.

Magnum 500's aren't being made anymore by the original manufacturer, but are available by a reproduction supplier. You should be able to find them through Coker Tire, Summit Racing and several other vendors. They're even made now in 16" and 17" sizes.

[E-Mailing Avanti Motors]

Nostalgic does have the records for Avanti's from late '80s forward. It costs about $20 to get a production order.

An e-mail I sent Avanti came back the same way.

[wheels and tires]

Even though it's been a while, I used to sell tires. While you can make some generalizations, all is not equal in the tire world. To my way of thinking, tire selection is so important that even the absolute best tires are barely good enough. A quality 75 series tire can outperform a 60 or wider series tire of lesser quality, the same goes for the opposite situation as well.

You need to decide on what kind of driving you do...cruising and highway, autocross, etc. Do you want long life in the tires? High performance tires and long tread life are pretty much mutually exclusive. It has to do with tread compounds. A sticky, great handling tire will wear out faster than a long wearing, harder rubber compound tire. To get one thing, you have to give up something else. The trick is finding the best compromise for your style driving.

You should try and find a tire with an overall diameter as close as possible to the original size for an Avanti. Even if you go wider, get the overall diameter correct. To do otherwise will cause an error in your speedometer and odometer which can hurt (or help) your fuel mileage. If you go to a bigger diameter tire, you can improve your fuel mileage, but it will hurt acceleration at take off and possibly put added stress on the rear end and transmission, but that's unlikely unless you go to extremes in tire sizes. If your Avanti suffers from the common problem of compressed front coil springs, a larger (wider) tire could hit the body when hitting bumps or bottoming out.

Determine the use your car will be given then buy the tires that best suit that. You may be going for a look as much as anything else, and that's certainly to be taken into consideration.

It seems to be a fact in today's automotive world that most, if not all the research and development and manufacturing expertise in tires is going into the larger sizes...16" and above. More and more the tires most all old cars use are not being improved in technology nor are they as widely available as in the past. It's just a part of supply and demand...new car manufacturers are equipping new cars with larger diameter tires and the tire companies are servicing that need. They're simply going where their market is.

I believe as time passes, most of the older tire sizes will be phased out by the major companies and left to the niche market suppliers, like Coker and Diamondback Tires.

[Lowering Springs?? Headliner Trouble]

What kind of effect or goal do you have in mind by "lowering" the car. Do you want to lower the chassis to be closer to the ground or lower the appearance of the body? They're not the same thing.

To lower the body orientation it's a matter of removing rubber insulators between the body and frame...not really recommended. They're in place to maintain the body being level and insulate it from excessive vibration other than the obvious reason of attaching the body to the frame.

To lower the chassis you can take the car to a qualified spring shop. They can either install somewhat shorter height front coil springs and the same with the rear leaf springs. A pitfall of lowering the front springs is the possibility or even probablility of the front tires hitting the body in a turn or from a severe bounce.

If you're after restoring the original Studebaker Avanti "rake" to the car, that's a body orientation issue...it has nothing to do with the suspension.

[Rollbar cover]

The only place I know of to get a new replacement is Studebaker International. They sell a reproduction roll bar cover but it's not padded...it's solid. You paint it to match. They have new clips and the correct fawn paint as well.

You might look for an upholstery shop to tackle redoing your original or look for someone with a donor car that still has a usable cover to sell.

[Changing driver's Seat Height]

Go to the Classic Enterprises website for reference to what I'm suggesting (www.classicent.com). They manufacture a seat anchor repair kit that is a piece of steel formed to match the floor ridge where the front hold down bolts attach the seat track.

See if you or a machine shop can fabricate a bracket similar in concept, but moves the front facing with the mounting holes forward four inches. If that can be done, you can either drill new mounting holes for the two rear hold down bolts or add extensions to the seat's rear brackets to continue to use the factory mounting bolt holes.

This way the seats and seat tracks don't have to be modified and there are no permanent changes to the car. It may require you either get seat belt extensions or longer belts.

I hope I've described this clear enough to understand what I'm getting at. Maybe even Classic Enterprises can fabricate them for you. They make the repair brackets as well as hog troughs. They may be able to come up with something that can work.

[Production Order]

Contact Dan or Betty Booth at Nostalgia Motors. They have the records to provide you with a copy of the production order. 1-800-AVANTI-1.

I believe it's like a $20 fee for the service. Have your VIN handy for them to look it up.

[Cancun Factory Boarded Up]

Let's hope it is just temporary. The factory opened with such fanfare last Fall and now it's boarded up? It certainly doesn't look good.

I like to be an optimistic person, but Avanti Motors has been less than forthcoming with information since it reformed several years ago. We usually find things out way after the fact...after rumors and misinformation go flying about. A lot of this could be avoided if the factory would simply issue regular updates to their website or the AOAI. They don't even keep their website current or even complete...something is forever under construction.

[Power Windows]

Look for the circuit breaker. Replace it and make sure it's located away from the heat. If it's located in the engine bay where Studebaker originally put it, they learned the heat would affect it. The '63 R1 I used to own had the problem and I relocated the breaker to under the dash.

[Red light on dash by clock]

That is the brake warning light. It's wired to a switch on the proportioning valve which activates it if there's a pressure problem. It looks like someone may have tried to do something different with it with the mysterious button.

If you try and replace the switch on the proportioning valve, it's long unavailable. I've been trying for months to find a replacement for my '70 since it's having a body off reconstruction. It's the only part I've been unable to find, no matter how many suppliers I contact. Even Bendix, which designed and built the brake system on the car said they got out of that kind of part years ago.

[SPEEDOMETER]

Thomas...

Congratulations on the easy repair. Everyone wishes things could always go so easily and inexpensively. Glad you got the copy of Gundry's book. It can be very helpful, as you've already found out.

If I spot you driving your car, I'll take you up on your offer for dinner. The same goes if you find your way out here to the east coast and you see a red '02 Avanti convertible or a '70 Avanti II in pearlescent cream...flag me down and I'll buy!

Take care.

[Mystery Button]

In my '70 I found three buttons and switches in that area under the dash. In my case they were the emergency flasher switch, rear defroster switch and the driving lights switch. The driving lights were long gone from the car so the switch was there for no reason and not connected.

[motor mount 63r2]

R3's used a thinner motor mounts to gain clearance. I don't think the the drive angle was changed enough to make a difference, at least I've never heard of that being an issue. They also were given stiffer springs by the factory.

[SPEEDOMETER]

Avanti Motors adapted regularly available parts from many suppliers to their cars...and sometimes on an as available basis. They used the Bendix brake booster as did Studebaker, but other car makers used Bendix as well. Again...just because the parts might look alike and they may fit the same, doesn't mean the internal valving, etc., is the same. The parts are built for specific cars and if interchanged, MAY cause problems. Then again, swapping them many improve things as well.

Just because many have found parts swaps from other makes to our cars out of good intentions or expediency, it doesn't automatically follow the result will be safe or perform as desired. That's what engineering is about. I have a couple of older Corvettes and as popular as they are, and as great as parts availablility is for them, especially compared to an Avanti, Vette owners talk about watching out for "Bubba" working on your car. There's a lot of "Bubbas" out there who try and fix or modify their car out of expediency or lack of good judgement and the car (and maybe you) suffers for it. I'm sure lots of "Bubbas" have worked on Avanti's over the years...my '70 showed it when I bought it. Undoing what "Bubba" did doubles your work involved in getting these cars right...fixing what he did then fixing it right.

Both Studebaker and Avanti Motors, though small companies, put a lot of effort into properly engineering their products correctly to the best of their abilities and finances. The Altman's in particular, put a lot of pride in their engineering for such a small company, but then again. Stude did most of the engineering prior to them. That being said, it still left a lot of engineering work to transition to the Chevy engine, Federal safety mandates, new transmissions, a sunroof, etc., as time went on and market conditions changed.

I don't believe they made changes without a lot of thought and design time. Sometimes they did adapt rather than redesign, but that was probably a matter of economics more than desire.

Any changes you make need to be well thought out to make sure it won't have a negative effect on the car's safety and performance. Sometimes making changes requires more changes and then a project can get out of hand and costs escalate out of control. A more powerful engine can require more powerful brakes, which can require different wheels to clear the new brakes, which require bigger tires for the new wheels, and the engine puts out more heat which require a bigger radiator...you get the picture.

There's nothing wrong with changing things and making improvements to a 30-40+ year old car. It's your car and your money. I'm just suggesting every change needs to be thought through. The law of unintended consequences can bite hard.

[SPEEDOMETER]

Borg-Warner desgned automatic transmissions for several car manufacturers, or it's more accurate to say several car makers used B-W based automatic transmissions. Each was built to suit their particular engines with specific internals, bell housings, torque converters, etc. They may look similar externally, and may share a few internal parts, but won't interchange without problems showing up.

I imagine it might be easy to confuse them to someone only familiar with the Ford version, or possibly what AMC used. The Borg-Warner had a cast iron case and had no vacuum leads going to it like a GM Hydramatic would have. I believe the GM trannies had aluminum cases as well.

You said your transmission was a 2-speed unit. It does sound like you're describing the B-W Power Shift used in Studebaker Avanti's and Avanti II's until the end of the '70 model year. It is a 3-speed, but has a 2nd gear start in Drive. If you want it in first gear, you have to manually put it in first. Is that what you're experiencing? I never really understood the logic and reasoning behind that, but Stude and Borg-Warner must have had their reasons for it...or Stude specified it and B-W simply gave them what was specified.

There have been articles in back issues of AOAI on how to convert your Power Shift to first gear start. Maybe someone here knows what issue or can provide you with the information.

There is an Avanti registry on-line <www.theavanti.com/register.htm>. It's purely voluntary so there's no way of telling how accurate or complete it is.

As far as build records go, all records through about '87 or '88 are owned by Dan and Betty Booth of Nostalgic Motors. How difficult it would be for someone to go through them all and make some kind of data base I have no idea. No telling how complete those records are. It would also be an impossible task to determine how many are left and what changes have been done to them. When my RQB1574 is done, it will be very different from the car that left South Bend in 1970. Many, many Avanti's are far different cars from when they were new.

[SPEEDOMETER]

The car is running its original 3.31 rear end...no fuel mileage yet as I don't have the car back from its body off recostruction yet. In fact, it got painted today.

When the speed shop that installed the new engine, fuel injection and transmission, they called in a transmission specialist who built the transmission to match the 3.31 rear, engine power curve and camshaft specs. The tech said the car should smoke the tires and still idle down the highway in overdrive.

After the body shop wet sands and buffs the car, they still have to reinstall all the trim, weatherstripping, glass, etc. After that it goes back to the speed shop for final tweaking then the upholstery shop for fitting of new door panels and carpeting.

I figure by the end of April or early May I'll have a new 1970 Avanti to drive and enjoy. It's been a long and bumpy road to get to this point, but I'm really looking forward to it.

[SPEEDOMETER]

Thomas...

My guess, and it's just a guess by the "SWAG" method (Scientific Wild-Assed Guess), is since some have dimensional differences making swaps to 700R4 or 200R4's difficult, is maybe, just maybe, Avanti Motors made changes to the molds sometime during 1970 since they planned on transitioning to the GM transmissions anyway. I've never seen any documentation or reports to support my guess, but it does seem logical.

My '70 was assembled in August of '70, so it seems apparent that any modifications had to have been completed by that point since a 700R4 had no clearance problems when installed in my car. Mine is an RQB so maybe that is the starting point and not with the RQA's. From what information I have read the "B" models did institute a number of changes justifying a new designation. Maybe the changes to accept the GM transmissions was one of them.

The only other conclusion I can draw is that since there are dimensional differences between cars on its non-traditional assembly line, it's simply a car by car thing whether the tranny swap will create problems. While that might make some sense on RQA cars that came only with the B-W Power Shift or T-10 4-speed, it would create major headaches when Avanti Motors knew they were changing to GM automatic transmissions. That would introduce an intolerable situation on the assembly line modifying car bodies on an as-needed basis. It does seem far more logical they would change the molds to eliminate assembly line delays and tends to make be believe my first guess.

[SPEEDOMETER]

I had a 700R4 installed in place of the B-W in my '70, and there were no issues with clearance with the tranny tunnel. The stock shifter was used but the linkages had to be fabricated. The speed shop tech also had to fabricate a different arrangement for a neutral safety switch and back up light switch as there wasn't clearance for the stock set-up. Since a different driveshaft was needed I went with an aluminum unit to reduce rotating mass. I used the shifter indicator dial from Nostalgia Motors for an automatic overdrive...you need the shifter housing as well since it is different. It's the same parts Avanti Motors used when they went to the four speed automatics.

The transmission support was not a problem. A new standard support was mounted on the frame in the appropriate place for the 700.

Other issues that had to be addressed were mainly due to my having fuel injection installed with cable operation instead of the stock linkages. The accelerator pedal mounted on the floor would not work as the angles were all wrong for cables. A Lokar accelerator pedal that mounts on the firewall was put in. It required a steel plate contoured to match the firewall be installed on the engine side of the firewall for mounting security.

This thread has wandered from the original question about a speedometer gear, but I wanted to address the concerns regarding installing a 700R4.

[SPEEDOMETER]

Even though it uses a different torque converter, it's still the Borg-Warner Power Shift used in the Studes. I see no reason why the information in the shop manual on transmission service isn't applicable to your car. If you don't have the shop manual, you should have one.

[1964 Keys]

I agree...the car carrier has the liability of replacing the keys or fixing the problem in whatever way solves the problem. They took repsonsibility for the car's care from the time they picked it up until it was delivered to you.

Look over the sheet the driver filled out when he picked the car up. It should list the condition of the car with all scrapes, etc., and the number of keys it was sent with.

A locksmith can diassemble the door locks (a real PITA) and the ignition switch and make new keys. The glove box and console locks are not really able to be disassmbled due to the way they're made. You're better off finding replacements with keys. They pop up on Ebay regularly or you can buy used from any number of suppliers.

This is the problem of the trucking company to resolve...to your satisfaction. Hold them to it.

[Engine pics/information]

Both heater hoses go to the water manifold on the front of the engine that the water pump bolts to. There are no water passages through the intake manifold.

[Ian Flemming's Avanti]

Ian Fleming owned a '63 R2 with Power Shift automatic. He insisted it be black in color. From what I've read, the South Bend people were apoplectic over that as black shows every flaw in the bodywork and paint. It eventually became an extra cost option to have that color due to the extra man hours in prepping the body and painting it. Fleming's car was allegedly the first Avanti painted black.

There was an article some time ago in Avanti magazine regarding which VIN Avanti was purchased by Fleming. There seems to be no documentation as yet discovered to show positively what car was his, so the research centered on the cars exported to England. Of the cars that were sent there, the article assumes the first R2 Avanti painted black sent to England was his, based on the assumption his was the first Avanti produced in black. It's likely so, but is still supposition until more positive documentation is found.

In the April 1963 issue of the British auto magazine Sporting Motorist there is an article on Ian Fleming and his Avanti. His British registration plate is "8 EYR". Maybe someone with access to Brit registration records can definitively find the car's VIN? BTW - the article also describes the car inaccurately as having a "turbocharger".

I don't remember the VIN identified as most likely belonging to Fleming. If I can find the right issue of Avanti magazine, I'll come back and post it.

This also begs the question...where is his car now? Ian Fleming died in 1964, so what ever happened to his car? Does anyone know? Maybe someone owns it and is completely unaware of its history?

That car would be sweet to own if provenance can be proven.

[Correct color of metal front arm rest insert plates?]

When I had my '63, that plate was natural metal. I don't know if it's supposed to be colored-keyed or not. It didn't look like it ever had any color finish on it. If I remember, the screws were natural finish as well.

I'll be at York tomorrow as well. I guess we can look at any Avanti's there and get a sure answer to your question.