Gunslinger
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Posts posted by Gunslinger
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Contact Jon Myer of Myer’s Studebaker. The last I was there he had a number of parts cars of various model years. He may have one.
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That car should have the same front brakes as the Studebaker Avanti. I believe by the early '70s there was a change in rear brakes. The Studebaker Parts and Shop Manuals are about all that's available. Avanti Motors never put out anything to replace them.
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Withdrawn...going into storage while moving.
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The schematics available are for the Studebaker Avanti as already said. For Avanti II cars...every year changed some in many respects and Avanti Motors make their own wiring harnesses. There years with separate alternator/voltage regulators...years with alternators with integral regulators...different a/c compressors and locations for them...alarm systems options, etc. When flashers were required by law it was an add-on flasher unit wired by splicing it rather than part of the harness. Some years there were options that required an additional harness pigtail and eventually the pigtail was included whether necessary or not to simplify harness making.
I've also seen different Avantis that have some options with activating switches mounted differently...sometimes under the left side of the dash and sometimes under the right side of the steering wheel. My own theory is it depended on the various assembly persons...one guy would wire it one way and someone else wired it the other...very little standardization.
Be very careful when working with Avanti II wiring...mark and tag wires as you work in there.
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Welcome from not far from you in Maryland! At least for two more weeks when I'm moving to Arizona. There's a pretty fair number of Avanti owners in your area.
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GM changed its parts numbering system sometime during those years. You might not be able to find a current part number to run down. You may be able to match it up by finding an exploded diagram from a contemporary GM manual online. Once you identify it that way a web search may be able to run one down. If that doesn’t work, try a local Chevy dealer’s parts department. They’re tied in to a nationwide inventory system. It’s possible one or more dealers might have the part gathering dust unsold and could be willing to sell it cheap to get rid of it.
I once had a ‘78 Corvette that needed a new a/c kick up solenoid and the local Chevy dealer’s parts guy found several dealers nationwide that had them in inventory. I called one and talked to the parts manager who gave me a killer price if I bought the two he had. I installed one on my car and sold the other on eBay for more than both cost.
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If the panel between the seat and gas tank has never been removed there should be sealer slathered over the screws and edges of the panel that will be fun to scrape off to get the panel removed.
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While not an Avanti part...this book is written by Bob Morrison of Molded Fiberglass which made the Avanti bodies for Studebaker. While not exclusively about the Avanti it does detail the experience his company had with Studebaker and the Avanti project. $25 and I'll pay the shipping.
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The engine bay received body color paint but didn’t get polished…add engine heat to that and it’s no wonder it has no gloss.
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The engine bay is body color.
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Check out #4…
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I doubt if an '80 Avanti would have the quick steering arms...it was Steve Blake who initiated that upgrade and he purchased the company about 1982.
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It will help some but not much. The quick steering arms were designed to restore the turning radius to the original design with the original steering box before the change to the forklift steering box. Remember the Avanti is on what is basically a 1953 chassis and the comparison to modern platforms is huge in how ancient the platform truly is.
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I like Cooper tires…but there are many quality brands out there. Tires are a big investment…I consider them like brakes…even the best is barely good enough.
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If you plan on rebuilding your present engine…call Summit Racing and talk to their techs. They will ask specific questions about how the engine is to be used…what is wanted from it. They will give solid recommendations on the parts…intake, carb, heads, etc….regardless of brand to match everything together for best performance for the job.
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If I remember correctly the Turner kit uses different wheel bearings than the original design.
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Check the radiator mounting bracket…if it’s broken or cracked that side of the body will flex more than designed and the fiberglass can crack in the area of the wheel arch. If that’s the problem the proper fix is to first repair the radiator bracket then cut out the fiberglass and lay in a new repair. If all that’s done is to file or sand down the crack and fill it…the crack will come back.
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It was originally covered by some kind of supposedly water resistant paper taped down…at least every Avanti I’ve seen was like that.
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Use ARP bolts and a two bolt main cap will be just as safe as a four bolt main of standard grade bolts used. But...four ARP bolts will do even better if you have an engine with four bolt mains.
Essentially...regardless of what engine you have...you'll be golden with ARP bolts. They're considered the best bolts on the market.
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You won’t get it out through the speaker opening…too small an opening. Does your car have a/c? If not it should come out from underneath. If you have a/c then you have to remove the dash. Get the shop manual if you don’t already have one. The procedure is pretty straightforward and not that tough.
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It's probably more cost effective to buy a crate engine and drop it in...they're available in many horsepower/torque levels. When you rebuild the current engine it's all too easy to go down the rabbit hole with modifications. When it comes to Avantis having the original engine has never really been an issue among collectors.
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First...make sure whatever heel you pick clears the calipers...especially if it has the Turner Disc Brake conversion or another conversion done to it. You also have limited clearance in the front...the rear not so much. If the front coil springs have compressed (not at all uncommon), they should be replaced to restore ride height or the chances of the tire striking the inner fender edge is greater. I wouldn't go wider than a 70-series aspect ratio regardless of rim diameter for the front. Again you have more room to work with in the rear. Maintain a standard offset rather than one that makes the tires stick out from the fenders or body contact potential increases plus it's better for the wheel bearings.
With 16" tires you will find a much greater selection of tires available for the car...15" sizes appropriate for older cars are more or less a dying breed with limited selections from most major tire makers.
Regardless of what you choose, try and make sure you keep the overall diameter as close to factory specs as possible otherwise your speedometer will be inaccurate...probably even more inaccurate than when the car was new.
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Beginning with RQB1563 the serial number was also attached to the dash where it was visible from outside the car...at the corner of the dash on the driver side. If there's no serial number placed there it's prior to that...but that may not be really conclusive as the dash pad could have been replaced at some point.
As Pantera said...there should be a plate riveted to the door jamb when you open the river door.
A couple of tips to at least narrow down the model year it might be...do the seats have headrests? Are the windshield wipers bright chrome or matte finished? What make carburetor does it have? Does it have a single or dual brake master cylinder? Do the doors have cups in the armrests or pull straps? Is the ignition switch on the dash or the steering column?
All those features can narrow it down but again are not definitive as the car could have been modified over the years.
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Starting with the 1981 model year the government mandated a 17-digit VIN which contained information such as manufacturer, engine class and actual serial number. Poor to that Avanti II cars were all RQA/RQB/RQC plus numbers. After the VIN requirement was mandated Avanti Motors continued their "RQ" sequence but for internal accounting purposes.
1980 Avanti Magnum 500
in 1965-83 Avanti
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The difference is offset and different runs of he Magnum 500 wheels by the manufacturer. I put the Turner kit on the '70 I owned and two of the Magnum 500 wheels would contact the caliper and two wouldn't. The difference was a very slight difference in offset between the two pairs. I could only assume they came from two different production runs. Avanti Motors didn't care or bother to check wheels as they were purchased as they only specified 15"x6" standard offset wheels and they easily cleared the original calipers so there was no need to check. I'm sure it was simply an assumption that they were all the same.