[Information ?]

Welcome to the group, Tom.

$15K should buy you a nice Avanti...not perfect, but nice. You need to decide what you're looking for...a nice driver like an R1, or more performance oriented like the supercharged R2. Everything else being equal, an R2 will cost you more, especially if it has a 4-speed instead of an automatic.

Regardless of what you acquire, the best thing you can do is get a shop manual and parts manual. You won't regret having them.

[Air Cleaner Decal]

You can get it from Studebaker International. Their web address is

<http://www.studebaker-intl.com/products.html>

The part number is 800913 and the cost is $6.00.

[Stereo]

Custom Autosound (http://www.custom-autosound.com) custom makes stereos for many cars and lists Studebaker and Avanti II's among them. They have several feature levels and styles with cassette players.

The only downside is I've heard they have a spotty reputation...I've heard some good and not so good reports from Corvette people who have tried their products. I've no experience with them myself.

It's at least worth investigating.

[1987 AVANTI brakes]

I'm not saying silicone brake fluid is a bad thing...to use it you simply have to be very thorough in purging your old brake fluid first and in bleeding the air out of the system after adding the new fluid.

If you've had no problems with it after twenty years, then you're definitely doing something right. It is true that if you look at most, if not all performance cars, their manuals specifically say to use DOT 3 fluid, but generally don't say why. Besides my Avanti, I own two Corvettes and the same goes for them...every Vette specialist I know of says don't use silicone fluid...just use DOT 3 and change the fluid annually. Of course, old habits and prejudices die hard...I still use good ole STP in my cars when I know it's not necessary with the quality of today's motor oils.

[1987 AVANTI brakes]

Be very careful when using silicone brake fluid. You have to completely purge the old, non-silicone fluid from the system or you're going to have problems. If not done properly, silicone fluid will aerate and cause problems with spongy pedal feel and is very difficult to completely bleed.

Just about all makers of performance cars specifically say that DOT 5 (silicone fluid) NOT be used in their cars as aggressive handling promotes this aeration. Silicone fluid is great for cars that are driven little or in a museum, but shouldn't be used in performance oriented vehicles.