Billy Shears
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Posts posted by Billy Shears
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I have the 6.5 inch x 15 1997 Ford Crown Victoria wheels on my Avanti because they look stock and I can put the OEM hubcaps on them, but they're better wheels to run radials on than the narrower, thinner gauge steel OEM wheels. And I can tell you the 6.5 wheel is too wide to fit in the spare tire well. I don't sweat it -- I just have an original 5x15 wheel in there (and 5 smaller, OEM lugs -- the holes are different sizes, and you have to use the larger Ford lug nuts with the Ford wheels). It's no different really than a modern car with the smaller donut spare that way. You wouldn't want to drive any great distance that way, but it will get you home, or to the nearest garage, as well as motivate you to get the proper wheel back on ASAP and not drive around on the spare.
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Thanks. Don't have the catalog. didn't come up in a search on their website -- must have used the wrong search term.
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Personally, unless the Studebaker is in worse shape, I'd go for the '64, but that's me. I used to own a '75, but I was never quite happy with it, and ended up selling it and buying a '63. I only bought the '75 in the first place because I missed by one lousy day the '63 R2 4 speed Dan Booth had for sale. Someone else snapped it up just before I called about it. I wanted the raked stance and the round headlights, and the Studebaker original is simply always going to be worth more. Also, and this may mean nothing to anyone else, but whenever I was asked about the car (and they do attract a lot of attention, and therefore questions), I found I always had to explain the car's history at length to tell people what it really was -- they tended to assume it was kit car, and I always had to correct them.
The plus side of the Avanti II is that it's got a lighter engine, which helps remove some of the front weight bias that the originals suffered from, and the Chevy engine will be a little easier to get parts for. If you're going to do any restoration, you can do whatever you want as far as paint and interior goes, because there were no factory colors/materials; Avanti Motors would paint it whatever color the customer wanted, and use any interior materials the customer wanted, so you don't ever have to feel badly about departing from factory original specs to have it the way you want it, and it won't affect the value any.
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Anyone know a good replacement for the rubber seal at the base of the antenna. My car is soon to be repainted, and I need to replace the runner antenna seal, as the original is split nearly in two, and the new antenna I got from Dan Booth has no rubber seal. He doesn't have them, I don't see them available at Studebaker International, and I don't know where to get one. Dan advised buying a universal kit and using the seal from that, but the only universal antenna kits I see in local auto parts stores don't appear to have a rubber seal anywhere near the correct size.
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12 minutes ago, Avanti83 said:
Have you contacted Dan Booth about the dies. I think he has a lot of the original ones. Might just be easier to work out use if they exist.
I have contacted him. I am stripping my Avanti down to bare fiberglass right now and will be replacing some of the seals. His current advice, as of July 2017: reuse your original rear quarter window seals, there are no good replacements on the market now, or in the immediate future.
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On 2/18/2017 at 3:47 PM, avantibngrant said:
I am doing a little cad modeling for Valerie Hansen to get a new dies made to produce this seal. I asked on facebook and on the SDC Forum if I could borrow a window and frame to check my work. The Studebaker drawing is very difficult to read, but I have a sample seal she provided me with. A fellow is loaning me a window which will help and another fellow is loaning me the channel frame that bolts to the car and the seas sits in. Would someone have an original actual seal from Studebaker, preferable for the left side I could borrow?
I am doing this pro bono so we will all have access to seals. If you can help me we will all get access to better seals as the ones I got from SI in 2010 are way to hard and broke all my latches.
Regards
Neil
I'll definitely be interested in a pair if you get them made. I am within a couple of weeks of having my car painted. I have a set of replacements I bought some years ago, but I may stick with the originals, as I think the repros are the SI-made ones, and I've heard elsewhere they were too hard, didn't seal properly, and could damage the latches.
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Billy..........there is another thing that you might check, but it is a little involved, but very beneficial.The clearance of the water pump impeller blades to the back of the water pump manifold is very important. When I checked mine, both the pump I pulled out of the car and a brand new pump, were out of the correct clearance range.I don't recall what that clearance should be, but a search on the Studebaker Forum, or possibly here should get you the information you need. I "pulled" the impeller back on the shaft to get the desired clearance and recall that when I put the pump in the housing WITHOUT the gasket, there was a very slight impeller to housing interference/contact. With the gasket in place, ( gasket is.004 as I recall ), no contact, no interference. The result is more water flow, which should result in more cooling. If you have difficulty finding the specs for the pump, let me know and I'll dig them out.
John
Yes, I remember your mentioning that. I guess I am going to have to check that to when I get a chance to pull the thing.
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Well, I've put the new fan shroud on, and have finally had the chance to drive the car in warmer temperatures. The car is cooling much better now, but it still shows some tendency for temps to climb at idle with the A/C on -- much less pronounced now, but it's still doing it. I am not content with this, because if it's doing it on a balmy 75 degree day, with the car parked in the shade, there's no way the car is not going to overheat if I get stuck in traffic on a hot, sunny, mid-to-upper nineties day.
One thing about the replacement fan shroud that concerns me is that there is quite a large gap at the top. The blades sweep pretty close to the rim of the opening at the bottom, but they are also more outside the shroud than in. At the top, the blades are more or less halfway in the shroud like they are supposed to be, but there is a good inch and a half between the blades and the rim of the shroud. I suspect this is preventing the blades from working as efficiently as they should to pull air through the radiator, but I'm damned if I know what to do about it. Who makes a better fitting shroud?
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You may find other issues on that pad if/when you try to install it. It's probably one of the pads that Studebaker International used to sell before they ran out, and I have heard from a few sources they those things never did fit perfectly. I was lucky enough to get a NOS Avanti II dash -- complete -- from Dan Booth. The only issue with that is that it was for the later Avanti II, which used the AMC steering column, so the cutout for the column is larger. I'm going to have to fabricate a spacer, which I'll cover with vinyl dyed to match the dash pad. With the aluminum instrument overlay in place, the seam where the vinyl covering the spacer meets the dash pad should be pretty unnoticeable.
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I've cut my shroud in half, but did it a little bit different from your description. As well, I could possibly help you with the cooling issue, but both issues will require much more time to type the responses than I can afford rigfht now. So, I'd be glad to discuss it with you in a 'phone call
John 502773zero ,nine,five,two normally east coast time.........today central time.
Thanks. I'll be very interested to hear what you can tell me. I'll call you after I get home from work , after 6pm EST.
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There's two shrouds...the fully enclosed style which you appear to be looking for, and the horseshoe style which is open at the bottom. They are interchangeable and the horseshoe style is easier to install. I've seen claims that the horseshoe style is more efficient but I don't know how factual that might be.
Does anybody have any definite info on this one way or another? I resurrect this old thread because I am having a persistent cooling problem at idle, and after troubleshooting the system and not finding anything else wrong with it, I even went to the expense and trouble of recoring the radiator. And I still have the problem.
My original shroud was long ago modified by a previous owner by having a panel cut out of the bottom, so that it's now like the horseshoe type -- penannular (open circle), as opposed to annular (enclosed circle). But I can't see how that will possibly be more efficient, since it opens a way for the fan to draw air from someplace other than through the radiator. From everything I have ever read, the aim is to make the fan pull all the air it draws through the radiator. An opening in the shroud should, therefore, reduce efficiency by making some of the air the fan is pulling come from around the backside the radiator, rather than through it, for maximum airflow across the fins.
There is no doubt the horseshoe type is easier to install, and if you ever need to work on your fan and pulley, just being able to unbolt the shroud and pull it off is a Godsend. I don't want to lose that, so I am thinking of buying one of the annular shrouds that Studebaker International is selling, cutting it in half at the narrowest point on the sides, and then riveting a couple of sheet metal brackets to the sides to bolt the two halves back together. With a rubber strip to seal the seams, this should give a completely enclosed shroud that doesn't allow air to get in from the sides, but the shroud should still be easy to remove for maintenance.
I am also contemplating swapping out the OEM 5 blade fan for one of the 17 or 17.5 inch GM 7 blade fans from early 1970s cars, which I understand some Hawk owners have successfully done, and which is supposed to pull more air.
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Dan's a good guy. I got the 7/8 inch kit from him. It's a good setup, and I've noticed the improvement. Haven't driven the car as much as I'd like since installing it, since the damn thing seems intent on making me rebuild it into a brand new car. Once I got my electrical problem sorted out, the lower control arm bushings decided it was time to start coming apart. Since I had them replaced, I bit the bullet and decided to make an improvement I'd been wanting in the name of better handling, and put the R3 style upper control arms in (these dispense with the rubber bushing on the upper control arms, in favor of steel bushings and zerk fittings to grease them -- I haven't noticed the ride being significantly rougher either, and handling isn't much changed in normal driving, but the car should be more stable at high speed). Made sense to get that done while the front end was all apart anyway. Rebuilt my kingpins at the same time. Once that was done, the car started running warm at idle. Troubleshooting revealed that, dammit, the radiator needs to be recored. So I took the radiator out last week and sent it off to Dan. Believe it or not, he can get it done quite a bit cheaper than I've been able to find a shop to do it around here, which is surprising to me. But the car's parked until I get the radiator back in.
I keep trying to save for the repaint and interior work, but the car keeps sticking me with mechanical repairs, one after another. At this rate I might get it done once I'm too old to drive it anymore.
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I found the ones off of earlier Studebakers will fit. These are of a standard diameter, same as some Chevy's and Ford's. Doesn't mean they will fit though. The diameter might be the same, but the Avanti's spindles were too long to let the first cap I bought fit on.
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Yeah that's what I thought too, until I bought one and found out it doesn't fit.
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Anybody know where I can get a wheel bearing dust cap for the Avanti? Studebaker International doesn't list one for that model.
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Billy...
Just because it's running a bit hot doesn't necessarily mean the radiator is the problem...it could be...but don't start throwing money around without doing a complete diagnosis. It could be engine timing needing set properly, a bad radiator cap, the lower radiator hose going bad, the engine block with a restriction in the cooling passages, a bad sending unit or a bad gauge, a loose belt...plus other things that could individually or in concert with another problem.
Oh I have no intention of doing so. But the car was running even hotter than this before, and a valve adjustment cured that problem. The cooling system was flushed at the time as well, and pressure tested. I'm trying to avoid replacing the radiator actually, but if it becomes necessary, obviously I want the most efficient one I can get.
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I'd be interested in this. I may need to replace the radiator in my Avanti. I'm going to keep driving it for a while and keep an eye on things, but it seems like my car is running just a wee bit hot, even after the Saturn air dam was installed.
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For the little I've driven it since then, I noticed a definite improvement in body roll. Unfortunately, I have not been able to drive it all that much, because right after I got it installed, the fiberglass around the bolts that anchor the front of my driver's seat let go, and I developed an electrical problem -- my alternator was not supplying as much electricity as it should at idle, and the battery was draining. The seat mounts are repaired, and I am hoping the rebuilt alternator will go back in the car tomorrow.
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Did you ever cut the fenders?
I just purchased 71 RQB-1703 and it appears to have fillers. I also own 63R-1025 and want to drop the body and cut the fenders on the 71. Any tips from anyone would be appreciated regarding both the body drop and the fender cut.
Before I sold my '75, and bought a '63, I was intending to do what you are now intending. Dan Booth gave me a template he can make -- it's a paper overlay he makes by tracing it out carefully over an original Studebaker Avanti fender. You tape it to your fender, lining the upper edge with the top of the fender, and the front and and back with those respective edges of the fender panel, and then use a marker to trace the outline of the wheel opening, which should coincide with where the edge of your filler panel is. Then you make your cut along the line you've made, and build up a rolled edge or lip to the opening you've enlarged, and prepare and paint your surface. I don't still have the template, as there was no need to modify the '63's fenders, obviously, but I'm sure if you call Dan at Nostalgic Motors, he could make you one, or if someone in your area has a Studebaker Avanti, you can get a similar tracing off that car.
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've read that when Studebaker discontinued the Avanti and cancelled its contract with Molded Fiberglass that MFB was left with about 150 Avanti bodies. When Nate Altman approached Robert Morrison of MFB to supply him with bodies it's little wonder why Morrison was so willing to work with Nate.
That approximately 150 bodies would have (or did) supplied Avanti Motors for the first 2-3 years of production with only the filler piece required for the front wheel arch. At some point after that the front panels were modified and molded so no filler was needed. At exactly what point in production I don't know...whether it was an RQA or RQB series car. My 1970 is a fairly early RQB car and it had one front panel with the filler and one without when I purchased it. Paperwork that came with the car showed receipts for body repairs over the years so who knows if either front panel was still original?
I wasn't aware that Avanti Motors had ever stopped using the filler. They must have had a pretty fair number of the early style fenders on hand -- the '75 I sold Joe Beatty had the filler panels, so they were still using the original style fenders, with the filler, nearly a decade after the start of their production, and possibly a good while longer.
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Why would you ever need to tow an Avanti?
Well, once it was because my starter motor died. Once it was because the fuel pump died. Once it was because of an issue with the carburetor (this was just after I put Nimesh Solanki's engine in the car) and the car would quit once it got warm, and the old starter (the one that eventually died altogether), wouldn't start it when the car was warm.
These are old cars. They break down sometimes. Sometimes in ways you can't fix on the roadside when it happens. That's what I have AAA for.
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Out of curiosity, has anyone who has installed these things noticed any problems in the event the car has to be towed? As in, the tow truck damages the air dam when the hook is fasted on and the winch starts to pull the car onto the flatbed?
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I bought a set of the 7/8 inch sway bars from Dan Booth. I'll let you know how much difference they make when I get them installed. I hope I'll see as noticeable a difference as I saw in the car's braking after installing the Turner front disk brake kit.
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They're not. I have an original one for my '63. It's a replacement -- the original rusted into solidity before I bought the car, thanks to the dried out, leaky rear window seal, that let water drip down into the trunk, and the rear seat both (rusted out the springs on the rear seat, in addition to the jack and tire iron). My Avanti II, which I sold, had a different jack -- a scissor jack also, but wider. I asked Dan Booth about that -- according to him, one of Nathan Altman's partners was a lawyer, and was worried about the original, narrow jack Studebaker supplied tipping over and potentially injuring an owner, so he convinced Altman to switch to a wider one that would be more stable and thus safer.
Tire size
in 1963-64 Avanti
Posted
I put a set of Uniroyal Tiger Paw AWP II tires, size P205/75R15 on the aforementioned Ford 15x6.5 1997 Crown Victoria wheels I bought (which I had painted to match the OEM 15x5 off-white Stude rims). They are narrow white sidewall tires, like a lot of cars from this period came with, and look great on the car. They don't have the "pie crust" shoulder of bias plies, of course, but I really couldn't care less about that -- though I like to maintain an outwardly stock appearance, my car is for driving, not show. They are a good all-weather touring tire (S speed rating, which is well above how fast most of us are ever going to drive these cars), that get very good reviews for traction, braking, and longevity. The car rides and handles a lot better with these tires. And with the size I bought, they fit just fine with no rubbing. I'm very happy with them. You might look at those to start with.