Billy Shears
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Posts posted by Billy Shears
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Well, I'll see if I can get one from a local GM dealer's parts department. If not, I have the salvaged one I managed to get, though as I said, I really want something that doesn't look so shabby. I was hoping to hear of some alternatives, just in case, and for future reference for other Avanti owners. After all, with these parts discontinued, it's only a matter of time before new ones can't be located at all, and it would be nice to have other options. Just looking at it, it seems like the air dam from the '93-'02 Camaro and Firebird could be made to fit, if some material at either end were cut away, but I don't know -- that one would have to attach to the front of the radiator support, instead of the bottom, and I'd have to look to see if that's possible.
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Thanks, I have the part number. (In fact I think that there are two people have used -- one is slightly shorter.) I've tried ordering online, and no joy. I actually placed the order with GM Wholesale Direct. The order was confirmed, and then, a few days later: "The part you ordered has been discontinued and is no longer available from GM. Unfortunately I have no other sources for this part and am therefore forced to cancel your order and refund the full amount of your order. I apologize for any inconveniences this may have caused."
If they can't get it, I have to wonder if my local parts center will have any better luck. Frankly, I'm not optimistic.
I actually have one I got off a junked car, and it's serviceable, but it's pretty scratched up, and one corner is worn down, so I'd like a new one. Problem is they no longer seem to be obtainable.
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I am aware of the longstanding practice of adding the Saturn air dam to the bottom of the Avanti's radiator support, to deflect more air up into the radiator, rather than allowing it to pass beneath the car. Problem is this is now a discontinued part. I was wondering if anyone had discovered any good alternatives?
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I put a Tremec 5 speed in my 1963 Avanti, following the example of sbca96, and I have been quite happy with it so far, until yesterday, after about 40 minutes of driving, when suddenly the damn thing wouldn't go into gear at all. I'm going to sort that out, but it got me thinking about another issue that I've been wanting to address. As many Avanti owners know, heat is our archenemy. When any part of the cooling system starts to get out of order, Avantis will show a tendency to overheat sooner than most cars. Fortunately, I've never had this problem, and my car shows no such tendency. But even when everything is working well, Avantis can be warm cars to ride in, and the A/C (if your car has one), can struggle to keep the interior cool. Even in Avantis that don't tend to overheat, the inside of the engine compartment gets quite warm, and Avanti IIs had four vent holes in the inside of the engine compartment on either side, to vent out some of this heat. (the 1975 Avanti II I used to own had these.) This hot engine bay means the seals in the firewall need to be good, or some of that heat gets into the passenger compartment.
Another source of heat can be the transmission tunnel. The shifter lever on my Avanti II could get noticeably warm after driving the car a while, and some owners have said theirs could get almost too hot to touch, though mine never got that hot. I don't know if excessive heat is a contributing factor to the transmission problems I am currently having, but it just might be, and there's no doubt that keeping that area cooler will prolong transmission life. And cooling the transmission should also mean reducing another source of heat that gets radiated into the cabin, and should thus make the car pleasanter to drive in warm weather. Later Avantis and all Avanti IIs had an extra cowl vent at the base of the "gunsite" bulge that was used to duct cool air into the transmission tunnel. My Studebaker, being a 1963, does not have this extra vent, yet I have heard of people venting air into the transmission tunnel on '63 cars. Details of this, however, are hard to come by. Bob Johnstone's site doesn't say more than "Early Studebaker Avantis didn't even have a grill at the base of the windshield. These were added as the first run progressed and things got improved on.. So you may not have the capability of tapping the fresh air intake there, but you can be innovative and get it from somewhere else. It is very effective." This isnt' terribly helpful. Has anyone here done this. If so, where did you tap the fresh air, and how much improvement have you noticed?
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I've already found out the height should not be a problem. The unit is 10 5/8th inches high, with an ability to adjust up or down about an inch. The Avanti's fuel tank is 10 1/2 inches high (according to someone over at the SDC forum who measured it). LS1 fuel pumps can supply fuel to engine up to 600 HP, so I don't think volume will be a problem either. I'll have to check about pressure.
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Actually, the setup I was thinking of was this one:
http://www.vetteworksonline.net/ls1_conversion_fuel.htm
A 99-02 GM F Body. It comes with a baffle included.
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I'm putting an EFI in this thing -- I've just about decided on one from Hamilton EFI. I was going to go with the Powerjection III, but I have an R2 with an A/C by putting the compressor (a Hamilton from an '86 Chevy Celebrity) where the surge tank used to be, and this set up leaves insufficient room for the Powerjection throttle body -- the hose connections stick backward just a tiny bit too far. I was looking at the Fast EZ Efi, but the tech at that company says the only way to set it up with a supercharger is to use the EZ EFI throttle body, and the XFI engine control system, which jacks the price up to over $3000. Hamilton can put together a system using OEM GM parts for under $1400, and I have the advantage of knowing I can still get components for it fifteen or twenty years from now if need be.
I've thought about an external pump, but I'm going to have the gas tank out soon anyway for cleaning and rustproofing, and everything I've read makes me think an in-tank set up is the better way to go. If I am going to spend the money for EFI, I'd rather do it right.
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Anybody here done one of these? I'm looking at the Aeromotive Phantom, but I am leery of that foam baffle. Aeromotive say the foam is not supposed to have a limited lifespan, but if it's the same stuff they use in fuel cells (and why wouldn't it be?) I've read that stuff should be changed out every few years. I'd rather not deal with the PIA of dragging out my gas tank every couple of years to change that baffle. Still less do I want that foam coming apart in my fuel tank after a few years.
Ideally, I'd like to put an LS1 fuel pump from a 99-02 GM F body, but I don't know if the Avanti's gas tank is too tall. Anybody happen to know the height on the Avanti fuel tank? Otherwise I'll have to take out the back seat and measure it.
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Double post for some reason.
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Hey Gunslinger! I think I just bought your armrest!
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It's sad that such things still happen... It's very unprofessional for Mr. Short to have such a condescending attitude towards potential customers. He may have to depend on being on television to stay in business as people who believe what they see on scripted shows may be his only future customers...and if ratings don't hold up that can go away very quickly. He'll find out how many friends he has should that happen.
Mr. Short's biggest problem is a big head. Everything else flows from that arrogance. I take my car to Bruce Warren Auto Repair here in Norfolk. Mr. Warren (who is 75 -- God help me when he retires), works on a lot of old cars (and owns an old Chevy -- a '48 IIRC), which is why I started taking my Avanti to him. When I mentioned my visit to Fantom Auto Works, his sone and he told me about a visit to their shop that Dan Short had made when he first opened his previous shop. He swaggered into Warren Auto Repair, looked at some of the vintage autos in the place, and told Mr. Warren "I'm gonna put you outta business fixing old cars." Some months later, he called Mr. Warren to ask him for help on something he was having difficulty with, and Mr. Warren laughed and said "why would I want to help you? You're gonna put me out of business, remember." Needless to say, Mr. Short didn't get assistance from that quarter.
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I have not seen the show, but I have seen some reviews of it, which are generally not complementary. Most of the other people in the business of fixing and restoring cars around here do not have many good things to say about Mr. Short either, including the mechanic I take my car to when I need anything done I can't do myself. I live in Norfolk where Dan Short has his shop. I am looking to paint my Avanti, and redo the interior, so I went to see him for an estimate just a couple of months ago. I was not favorably impressed.
Mr. Short, certainly appeared very knowledgeable, and the shop had worked on Avantis before – I had seen one parked out in front on Hampton Blvd. where they sometimes display some of the completed vehicles they work on, and Mr. Short told me of a customer’s 1983 Avanti II they had worked on. I had toured the shop previously, and it certainly is large and well equipped, and the cars inside looked good, that is to say, the quality of the work looked good.
However, within minutes of Mr. Short beginning to inspect my car, he began saying things which troubled me. The first occurred when I told him I was simply taking the Avanti around at this point to various shops, to get estimates, have a look at the shops and take a look at the quality of their work, and so forth. The money I have coming to complete the paint and interior work will not actually be available to me until October (it’s prize money from a Jeopardy appearance -- you may have caught me on June 11 & 12 if you watch thge show -- and that’s when they’re going to pay me). Mr. Short then told me he couldn’t give me an estimate that far out. He said “this business changes so much. It’s not what it was eight months ago, and anything I told you now I just couldn’t depend on in October.”
Horse crap.
Is the cost of paint going to double or triple between March and October? Are you going to double your employees’ hourly rates between now and then? What factors, precisely, are going to change so much as to render an estimate on labor and materials worthless in just a little over half a year? Even a very rough, ballpark figure was impossible he told me. As I said: horse crap. What it was is he just decided I’m not a serious customer, or something to that effect, and he didn’t want to be bothered putting the time in to complete a proper estimate. Some of what he said made sense: to get a really good estimate, we’d have to sit down and hash out how extensive the work was going to be; am I replating the bumpers and polishing the stainless steel window trim; what pieces am I going to replace and what am I going to refurbish, etc. I get all that. But – and this is especially true if he’s worked on Avanti’s before – he most certainly could figure out the man hours of labor needed to strip the old paint, prep the fiberglass, and paint it, plus the cost of materials. And I wouldn’t mind at all him saying “but remember, that’s just labor and materials on the paint job alone, and leaves out a lot of stuff.” It at least gives me an idea whether or not the amount charged is fair, given the quality of the work. Likewise, he could figure the cost of labor and materials for reupholstering the interior the same way. The fact that he wouldn’t answer a simple question bothered me. I could even understand if he said “look, no offense, but it takes hours to sit down with you, and go over everything I need to give you a proper estimate, and I really just would rather not until you’re ready to bring it in. I have a business to run and my time’s valuable.” That would have been the honest answer. Instead he blew smoke up my ass.
The second thing he said which really bothered me came after I spoke of some parts I had acquired for the restoration. He said “if you’re going to bring it here, the first thing we’d ask is that you stop buying your own parts. After all, you don’t go into a restaurant and bring your own steak and ask them to heat it up for you.” Well, your pardon Mr. Short, but you’re not running a restaurant; you’re running an auto restoration shop. You’re comparing cheese and chalk. There are very good and logical reasons for my coming up with some of my own parts. Take just two, for example.
First, one of the beauties of owning an Avanti, is that after Studebaker stopped making them, Avanti motors continued to do so for over twenty more years (before they changed to making re-bodied Chevy El Caminos that looked like Avantis). During all that time, Avanti Motors engineered in certain improvements in order to comply with increasingly stringent federal safety regulations, things like seats with headrests for whiplash protection, or like three point safety belts. These things were factory engineered to meet these regulations, and I want these improvements in my car for better safety, since I’m making it a driver, not show car (and the beauty of it is that these are completely reversible, so they don’t hurt the car’s value). By tracking them down myself, I was able to locate a set of Recaro seats from a parted out Avanti II, as well as new rear seat armrests, that Avanti motors recontoured to eliminate the rear seat ashtrays, and conceal the reel for the three point safety belts for the driver and front seat passenger. These are not parts one can just ring up a vendor and order. They appear sporadically, when someone parts out an Avanti II, and you have to get them when you can, which I did. So why should I not provide these parts, and leave, as my only alternative, having Fantom Works butcher my floors to fit an aftermarket seat that was never made to go in the car? Why would I ever want to do that when I can put a set of Recaros from and Avanti II in that will bolt right onto the existing seat tracks, and can be taken back out to have the originals put back in if I ever sell the car? Why should I pay Fantom Works for all the extra man hours that would be needed for them to custom fabricate a new pair of armrests to do the same job of concealing the seat belt reel that the Avanti II parts I paid forty bucks for are already made to do?
The second problem I have with this rule is similar (limited availability), but different in one crucial way. The seats with headrests and the three point seat belts I could live without if I had to. I could leave the original equipment in. But some items cannot be dispensed with, such as new rubber seals for the windows. My old ones are dried out and cracked, and no longer provide an effective weather seal. The rear quarter window seals are simply not available anymore. Since about 2012, when the most recent maker of reproduction seals decided to stop making them, no new supplier has yet emerged, and right now there is no one you can simply call up and order from who can provide these very necessary replacement pieces. When I realized how scarce these things were getting, I managed to find a guy who had a couple of pairs left, and bought one. Who knows if you could even find these things at all now? Even if Mr. Short could, it would require a lot of calling and emailing on his part to track them down – and this is time he would charge me for. Doesn’t it make a lot more sense to let me, the vehicle owner, member of both the Studebaker Driver’s Club, and the Avanti Owners’ Association, to contact the various suppliers with whom I have dealt for years, or network with other club members who might have what I need?
Apparently not for Mr. Short, who doesn’t want me to do this, and says he will charge me a ten percent surcharge on any parts I provide myself. I have paid top dollar for some of the rarer parts, and I’m damned if I can see any good reason why I should be charged for them again by someone who had bugger all to do with either making them or finding them.
Finally, when I told Mr. Short I was looking at various shops, in order to see which one looked like the best to me, he told me I basically didn’t know what I was doing, and that I was going about deciding which shop to use the worst way possible. People don’t care for being told they are stupid, and I don’t like it any more than anyone else does. I have owned Avantis for ten years now, and have done lots of my own work repairing and maintaining them. I can realign the doors, change out the instruments in the dash, replace the gas tank, etc. etc.. I stripped all the paint and primer off my 1975 Avanti myself with a razor blade and an orbital sander. I actually have a really good idea of what I am doing, and what the work should cost, and I’m not necessarily going to go with the lowest quote I get. And I’m not about to just turn my car over to Fantom Works or any other shop without looking at the place, seeing their work, and what they charge for it, and comparing them with other places, after seeing the quality of their work and what they charge for it. Apparently Mr. Short just wants me to take his word for it that he’s the best in the business around here, and that’s supposed to be good enough for me. It isn’t. And now that I’ve talked to him, I’m even less inclined to bring my car to him.
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The Maxxis MA-1 is a white wall, available in the right size, and with the same speed rating as the Goodyear Assurance. I've not read any reviews on it though. They're Chinese tires aimed at the lower end of the market, so I'm a bit leery of them however. Cooper and Coker American Classic also produce white walls, IIRC. BF Goodrich T/A radials are also available in the right size, but have raised white lettering instead of a white sidewall stripe. I'm not sure about that. That seems more at home on a muscle car, and the Avanti is more in the style of a European Grand Touring car.
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I don't think mine are sagging. My front ones anyway. I think the rear leaf springs are a bit, enough so that I've considered getting them rebent.
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I think I see the tires you mean in the Diamondback catalog. They might do nicely. Better still would be the ones on the page before them -- H speed rated, but only available in sizes 205/70/R15, and 225/70/R15, which neatly brackets, but does not hit the size I need. Damn their eyes. 70 might be too low an aspect ratio to be ideal for a 205, and 225 might be too wide. I wonder.
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I am looking at getting a lot done to my Avanti this year (paint, interior, etc.), and new tires. Some time ago, I acquired a set of four brand new Ford 1997 Crown Victoria wheels, and had then powdercoated white like the original Stude wheels. (I also acquired the Ford lug nuts, which are needed for this). The rims are 15x6 1/2in. Has anybody here got any radial tire recommendations? I plan to drive this car a lot -- not a daily driver, but whenever the weather is good. Ideally, I'd like tires with a good speed rating and grip, as the car has the supercharger, it's been bored out to 302, has R3 valves, etc. and although I'm not going to be throwing it all over the road, I don't intend to let all that horsepower go entirely to waste either.
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I just received a sample of SMS' Tuxedo carpet in elk and black. It looks pretty good. Certainly as close to the original as you are likely to find anywhere these days. I'm waiting to hear what their price for a carpet set is, but unless its really high, I think I have found the source for my car's carpeting. I've also asked them if they can make a set of mats out of the same matieral to go with it to protect the carpet. We'll see what they say.
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I don't know about the Edelbrock EFI, but the Massfloefi, according to their website, can be set up with a blower. I don't know whether or not the original bonnet will be compatible though. That actually wouldn't matter to me, as my current carburetor is not compatible with the original bonnet. I've got an Edelbrock carb I bought after my mechanic and I simply could not get the old Carter AFB I had tuned right (the one for the R2 engine); it was just a little too old and worn, and another original R2 AFB was simply too expensive. So I got an Edelbrock 500cfm carburetor, and with the addition of a marine grade seal in the throttle assembly, it won't leak fuel with the forced induction. Things have definitely improved with the Edelbrock, but it has a larger diameter that the original bonnet won't fit. I had to switch to a low-profile bonnet from Procharger. It fits perfectly but does not look original of course. On the other hand, original looks might not matter if you're switching to an EFI anyway.
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Massfloefi has a system ready to go for the Studebaker R series (http://www.massfloefi.com/mass-flo-efi-systems/studebaker.html). It uses mostly OEM Ford components, so it should be easily serviceable. They're billing is as something that doesn't need excessive work tuning with a laptop either, which is nice. It ain't cheap, but I've considered it. Owning an Avanti has reminded me of all the joys of carbureted engines that I remember from driving '70s vintage cars throughout high school and college: trouble starting in cold weather, flooding the carb if you're not careful, stalling out until the engine warms up, flat spots, etc. etc.. EFI has spoiled me. I love driving my Avanti, but I have to admit I really like turning the key and having an engine start effortlessly every time, and not stop running until you turn the key off. I'm not likely to do it anytime soon though. I have to get the car painted and redo the interior first.
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My 1983 has 15 X 8" on front and back. 3.5" back spacing on front 4.5" approx on rear. One caviat Steeltech front brakes.
Bob
If you don't mind my asking, when did you get the Steeltech brakes, did they give you any trouble installing them, and how was it dealing with Dave LeVesque? I ask because I find myself in need of more stopping power for my '63 Avanti, and I was initially attracted to the Steeltech setup over the Turner one, because of lower cost (LeVesque uses more commonly available rotors and calipers, from a more recent model car, resulting in cheaper parts), and the larger pad and rotors -- I figure if I'm going to upgrade, I might as well get the maximum possible increase in braking performance. But over at the SDC forum, there are some threads with real horror stories dealing with Steeltech: everything from purchasers going close to a year after they paid without getting their kits, or of getting kits that were incomplete, or of problems with parts that didn't fit properly, and poor support from Steeltech Solutions. The consensus on that forum seems to be that LeVesque is not a basically dishonest guy, just one who probably isn't a very good businessman, and is maybe in over his head. I hesitate to plunk my money down if I am likely to become the latest in a long line of dissatisfied customers, so I have been thinking of the Turner setup instead. What was your experience?
And to the original poster on this thread: are you the same Joe who bought my car from Norfolk, Virginia?
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Well, the good news is I got my car back. The bad news is it cost me a fair bit of money to have the heads taken off and machined flat (they weren't). The other bit of bad news is that my carburetor seems to be loading up at lower RPMs, and I have had the engine stall out a couple of times when slowing down to make a turn. I'll see if I can get the carb tuned in in the coming week. Other than that, it's running well, and makes lots of power. The five speed makes a world of difference, especially on the interstate. It's nice to do 2500RPM at highway speeds instead of 4000. The car accelerates better from a stop too, thanks to the lower first gear. The Tremec's a noisier transmission. But when I redo the car's interior, I was planning on adding some sound and thermal insulation, like Dynamat, and that will probably take the noise level down a bit.
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Billy
I'm just curious if you have contacted Nemish about the issue you encountered and if has responded to that request.
Bob
I haven't. I actually bought the engine from him back in 2009 (I said this had been a long process), but the first mechanic who was to put it in for me (and who had been recommended to me as reliable) quickly proved to be in over his head. He didn't actually do much, and the car just sat for a long time (a very long time) behind his shop. He never even got it started, and it had to wait for the new mechanic to take the job over before I finally got to hear it run.
But after two years, I can't prove that the problem was of his making, and I learned when I bought the engine that Nimesh doesn't accept criticism very well, even when it's mild. Let me give you an example of what I mean: when I picked the engine up (it was brought up from Georgia by another customer of Nimesh's who was taking his own engine to Maryland, and brought mine north with him, since I was on the way). When I pulled the engine off the trailer, it was sagging down at a 30 degree angle, because the bolts holding it to the engine mount weren't quite tight enough, and as they loosened, the engine was no longer held firm on the mount, and was able to bounce a bit as the trailer rode over any bumps or imperfections in the road. Over the course of several hundred miles, this was enough to bend the arms of the engine mount a little. That and the loose bolts are why it was sagging on the mount. No harm done really, the engine was undamaged, and if the mount was bent a bit, so what? The engine was coming off it anyway. I pointed out what had happened to Nimesh, and he responded back "those bolts were torqued down by ME to X foot pounds, etc. etc..." He actually capitalized "ME" and seemed actually a bit offended at the suggestion he might have made a small mistake, even a harmless one. As I said, it was a matter of no real consequence, so I let it drift. But the fact is, the bolts were loose enough to let them back part way out on their own during the drive up from Georgia to Maryland. The guy who carried the engine for me certainly didn't loosen them, nor did gremlins get into the trailer and do it.
Now if Nimesh wouldn't admit something like that, when it was a trivial matter, and cost him nothing, I can't see him smiling and agreeing to eat the cost of removing and re-machining the heads flat, so the new gaskets will seal properly, especially when the problem crops up two years after he finished the engine. This is even more true if this was an isolated problem. And I imagine it can't be widespread. He could hardly have stayed in the business of selling people engines all these years if they routinely came with imperfectly machined heads.
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While it's not much consolation, it's better to have done it while it's already in the shop than after you get the car back.
Years ago when I had a '63 R1, one exhaust manifold cracked. I purchased a new one from Newman & Altman and took the car to a local exhaust shop as it needed a complete exhaust system as well. One of the manifold bolts snapped off in the cylinder head so the head had to be pulled to have the bolt drilled out.
When I got the car back and drove it to where I worked a few miles away the temp gauge pegged out in very short order! I called the shop and they came and had to flatbed the car back. It turned out when they reinstalled the cylinder head they inadvertently crushed one of the metal dowel guides that passed coolant through it. The engine block was unable to circulate coolant so all it could do was overheat. The shop made good on it and there were no further problems.
What I'm getting at is the situation could have been far worse...you could have been driving the car and suffered the blown head gasket and be waiting by the side of the road in winter time for a tow. It wasn't a good thing to happen but it occurred under the best circumstances.
Oh don't get me wrong. Not only are you exactly right, I told myself the exact same thing. In fact, they noticed the problem far sooner than I would have, so I have likely avoided all kinds of damage to the bearings and so forth that would have occurred had I been driving it a while like this, and any amount of coolant gotten into the oil. If the trouble had to occur, it did it in the best place possible. What irks me about it all though is not just the delay in getting my car back, it's that this is a practically brand new engine. I doubt it's run even twenty hours since Nimesh built it. After what I paid him for this, and given his reputation for being meticulous, this simply isn't trouble I should be having at all.
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Well, it wasn't as nice a Xmas as I expected. The very day that I was to get my car (and mind you, this project has been long delayed already), they told me I had water in the number 4 cylinder. They suspected a blown head gasket. Sure enough, that's what it turned out to be. But the heads had to be machined flat. Not only were they not, the gaskets that Nimesh Solanki used when he built the engine were much thinner than the new ones I bought from Myers Studebaker. Even the one that hadn't blown had black stains on it that indicated it hadn't seated as well as it should have, and I suppose it was only a matter of time before that one would have packed it in as well. So not only is the car in the shop a week longer than it should have been, I have to shell out another grand to get it back because of the need to replace the head gaskets.
They are promising that I will have it this week now, and it will run properly at last. I sincerely hope nothing else goes wrong.
Dash Pad
in 1963-64 Avanti
Posted
I may be able to help you with this. I am in much the same situation, and some years ago, unable to find a good replacement (the ones from SI were unavailable at the time, and may still be, I don't know -- but I have heard from a number of people that they don't really fit properly in any case), so I bought a dash from a parted out Avanti II. I still have it. I am still working on the mechanical parts of the car, and haven't redone the interior yet, so it never went in. Then, much to my benefit, Dan Booth reaquired a NOS dash he had sold to someone years before, but that person never used. He put it on ebay. I saw it, and since Dan knows me and likes me, he ended the auction early, and I now have that pristine, unblemished, NOS Avanti dash. That's the one that will be going in my car. Which means I still have the Avanti II dash I was originally going to use. It has a small, sun-damage crack, which a good vinyl repair kit could almost certainly hide acceptably well, and it needs to be redyed the color of your choice (it's a medium brown), but it's a good serviceable dash, and I don't need it anymore. I do, however, want the gauges out of it,, and the Z bar, so I'd be holding onto those -- sounds like you won't be needing them anyway. If you are interested, PM me, and we may be able to work something out.
Bear in mind though that this is a later Avanti II dash, made when Avanti Motors was sourcing steering columns from AMC. The cutout for the steering column is thus slightly too large for the Stude column. You would need to make a spacer of some sort to fill the gap, and you could probably cover that with vinyl, dyed to match your dash, and it wouldn't be very noticeable.