Skip Lackie

Asking price and editing still under ponderation. And need to get some better/more pictures. But this is what I have come up with so far. 1974 Avanti II. Original drive train, 400 cu in Chevy, T-10 4-speed trans, Dana 44 rear axle w/Twin Traction. Saturn Bronze Firemist with Gladstone Bittersweet vinyl interior. 69,000 miles since new. Repainted original color in early 1990s; otherwise all original inside and out. A/C, PS, PB, electric windows, Nardi tilt wheel, Lucas fog lights, rear defogger. 1990s-era Sanyo AM/FM/cassette (original Blaupunkt comes with car). New Diamond Back tires on original Magnum 500 wheels. New fuel pump and hoses; rebuilt carb, fuel tank boiled out and sealed. Halogen headlights. Front bumper guard shortened. Was either the last or next-to-last Altman Avanti with 4-speed. Briefly owned by Steve Blake in 1980s and was supposedly the car that convinced him to bring back the 4-speed when he bought Avanti Motors. One owner since 1992. Always sleeps in climate-controlled garage. Never been in rain. Very solid hog troughs and frame. Comes with original sale paperwork and all service records since 1992. Everything works, except A/C needs to be recharged – drive anywhere.

Am not in North Jersey, but a couple of hours south -- Turmont, Maryland. I have only recently decided to sell my 74 Avanti II, all original except for a repaint in the 1990s. Am still writing up a description and pondering asking price, but thought I would respond to your post.

Thanks Dwight. I shoulda looked at my own engine number table! My memory said 1963 because I believe it actually started in August 1963 (for the 1964 model year).

Until 1963, Studebaker engines were sequentially numbered within each series. Beginning with the 1963 [edit: 1964] model year, they were dated as of the date of assembly, so more than one engine could have the same engine number. The V8 engine table lists the FIRST/STARTING engine number for each year and model series. There is no way the table can list all possible engine numbers. Studebaker-V-8-Engine-Identification.pdf

Good plan. Don't be in a hurry though -- only a few nice Avanti IIs are available at any given time. One will turn up that'll be perfect if you give it a bit of time.

As you said, you have made this point before. That makes it important to you, but maybe less so for others. IMs exist for lots of reasons. I was on the SDC board of directors for a number of years and remember the lengthy and heated discussions of how to best accomplish their many requirements: parking for Studebakers, parking for others, indoor and outdoor flea market spaces, security, cars-for-sale parking, trailer parking, RV parking, tours, family amusements, economy hotels, upscale hotels, shuttle busses, conference and hospitality rooms, volunteer assignments, etc, etc. Some of us just go to look at the cars, see old friends and make a few new ones, and maybe drink a few beers. Most of us have budget limitations, but turning a profit is not a consideration. It takes all kinds.

Not sure this will help, but here is my stock 74 gas tank.

I think I have a new-in-the-box 1980s-vintage Sanyo AM/FM/cassette with adjustable shafts in my stash somewhere. I have the same radio in my 74 and it fits fine.

Not sure I'm qualified to answer your question, but the idea is to remove all air bubbles from the master cylinder before it's hooked up to the brake lines for further bleeding. I don't remember being told to do that ~30 years ago -- so we didn't. But I now do it automatically, especially when instructed to do so.

Back up on line.

No, but what I should have said was the PCV (not EGR) started in 1962/63. I dunno what I was thinking (another old age brain fart). Thanks for correcting me. I will edit my earlier post.

Both the engine and T-10 trans in my 74 Avanti are original to the car. The engine is Chevrolet orange. Both the bell housing and trans are unpainted aluminum. I also have five (1962-1995) Chevys with their original V8s and standard (3, 4, 5, and 6-speed) transmissions. They all have painted bell housings and unpainted transmissions. I don't think GM painted their standard transmissions.

True, but that depends on the model year. [Edit: PCV] valves started in 1962 in California and nationwide in 1963. Various other systems were added in later years (usually more in Calif). Probably the worst year was 1974, when the various systems (and things like revised ignition timing) really strangled horsepower. The adoption of catalytic converters in 1975 allowed the manufacturers to remove some of that stuff -- but others (air injection pumps, etc) were added in subsequent years. There's an interesting conflict/conundrum WRT our cars: Federal law prohibits the removal of any mandated emissions equipment -- but doesn't require the manufacturers to continue to keep such stuff available. So some of us have had to completely remove emissions systems because the parts to fix it were NLA. In addition (and probably most importantly), the EPA allows the states to exempt vehicles with historic/antique license plates from emissions inspection. So if you have historic tags, you can pretty much modify your car any way you want. (That said, some states require cars with antique/historic tags to be unmodified. However, their ability to enforce such rules is pretty limited.)

Still down for me.

I stopped reading this thread a couple of weeks ago -- and woke up this morning to discover it has added 2.5 pages in a couple of days! You guys really know how to beat a subject to death.