plwindish
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Posts posted by plwindish
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Mike, as the artists say, you now have a blank canvass to work with. Clean up all the years of accumulated grease and grime in the engine bay so it'll be ready for whatever you put back in, be the original or a crate. Your budget will determine that. As I said earlier in a post, I had the 400 in my '76 rebuilt to keep it original. It was most likely more expensive to stay original when I had the machine/engine builders tear everything completely down, clean and build it back the right way. Today's crate motors are very reasonable and the cheaper way to go if you're not hung up on keeping it original. When I see what one can get a new crate LS complete with computer, wiring and etc for, I'm thinking I should have gone that route. Today's fuel injection take all the carb related issues away! I now have over 18,000 miles on my car since the rebuild and there have been some "bugs" that have gotten worked out, such as the builders hooking the power supply for the electric choke to the coil for its power. Now I'm on the 3rd coil and hopefully, rid of backfiring that occurred at the Colorado Springs last year 1100 miles from home. I'm not anticipating doing any more engine swaps with this car, so it will stay with the 400 it was born with. If I had it to do again, I'd really think about about doing the LS.
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Its well known about the "frugality" of Studebaker, so I'm saying True.
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Don't remember if I told you before, my wife and I both will be there for dinner at Nick's after the museum photo op.
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We got in to the Hampton last night, 650+ miles in about 11 hours driving. Looking forward to today.
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I'm thinking false as 400 lbs seems pretty light for a body.
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I would say true due to there being no room left in the engine bay with 2 superchargers being used. Not so sure about the bus type battery, but it would get more weight in the back where needed.
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I had not heard of the "pneumacel" type material being used in the rear seats of the Avanti II's. My '76 has the back seat cushion made of rubber band type product. Literally, it looks like shredded rubber bands pressed together. I don't remember ever having the back seat out of the 64 that I had years earlier so I don't know if it was of the same material or not.
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No, 14th or 15th place.
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Buzz, Ernie was in the Chicagoland AOAI and the '89 is a sharp looking car. If you do some looking around Bob Johnstone's Studebaker Resource Page, you might find some answers for the window removal and window motor information. I also have an 89, convertible, and just dodged a bullet with the right door window motor not working. It turned out to be a poor connection. Good luck with the window repair.
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False as he changed to the composite type bumper shortly after he assumed control of the company.
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My black R1 '64 was likely an unsold '63 as it had round headlights, grille, drip rails, but no other transitional equipment.
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Having a power glide in an Avanti would have been a real letdown from the BW powershift trans.
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64Avanti is correct that will some "love", new, pistons, a better cam and some head work, the 400's will come alive. My '76 certainly did.
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I'm partial to the black that my '64 was dressed in.
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The round headlight Avanti titled as a '64 car I bought in April '66 had 5 K miles on it, as well as the Firestone 500 narrow white wall tires.
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FALSE. I knew about the time extension for the steering columns.
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The wording of "THE Key part" made me think of ignition keys, but Chrysler style keys were used when the ignition keys were moved to the steering columns, so I'm now wondering about an adaptor for the Chevy engine mating up to the Borg Warner Powershift transmissions?
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Good idea, please count me in.
Paul Windish
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The one set I have with the '89 convertible has the Avanti logo on GM keys. The '76 I also have has a Chrysler type key with the pentagon shaped head.
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My '76 has the wood-tone Momo wheel, but has the Avanti logo in silver lettering on a black background on the horn button. It was that way when I got it 3 1/2 years ago.
A thought on new carb and intake manifold. Your '78 350 is probably as "smogged" and detuned as the 400 in my 76 was before I had it rebuilt. If funds allow, you might want to consider a rebuild or a new crate 350. My rebuild consisted of being bored 30 over, new pistons, roller cam, new Edelbrock polished aluminum intake and performer 650 carb, head work to clean up the passages, block hugger headers, new water and fuel pumps and appropriate "bling" for the motor. I could have gotten a new crate motor for what I put into the rebuild, but I wanted to keep the original motor in the car. The rebuilt motor dynoed at 365 hp and 460 torque before being put back in the car. The car has no power issues at all. It runs great and with the rebuilt 200R4 that was put in after the motor rebuild, it cruises great with decent mpg (21.5-22.5) if I keep my foot out of it.
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Gunny,
Both items are good ideas. My 76 did come with a black vinyl flap glued to the body the folds up over the gas cap, completely storing inside the gas door. I re-glued it several times before gluing and screwing it in place, providing much needed protection for the fender while filling. The Corvette armrest pad is much more compact than the accessory that Avanti Motors used in the 70's for an arm rest in the front or back seat area.
I also had gotten the arm rest from Northeast Avanti after seeing one in a car at the Colorado Springs meet last year. I still have the original Acorn vinyl interior in my '76 and my upholstery shop found some vinyl that was a really close match. They replaced three sections in the seats that were cracked and perforated due to being used as a cat scratching area as well as covering the arm rest and everything turned out great. I have a nonpermanent solution for the cup holder the has a long side that slides between the passenger seat and console, resting against the side of the arm rest for stability. It can easily be removed for a passenger as it does take up some space needed for more full figured people.
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As much as I like the convertible in the summer time, I believe I'm going to keep the gearing as is and have it as a local cruiser. The car is crazy fast, but with the modified sport suspension, I feel every tar strip on the road. I have taken the car on a 350 mile round trip and my '76 Avanti II is a much better road cruiser than the '89 is. In June, I'll be driving the '76 from Chicago suburbs to Dover for the IM.
Joe, using your formula, my '76 with the 3.31 rear end would yield 10.1. I have gotten 22.5 on the road before with the rebuilt 400 motor and a rebuilt 200R4 swapped in for the THM400 trans. The original buckets are not as comfy as the '89's seats, but the ride is much softer and I have a ton more leg room in it.
Decision made. Thanks for the input!
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I was a freshman in high school on a field trip to the Farm Progress Show in Morton IL September 1962. Studebaker had a tent with several cars and trucks with at least 1 Avanti being the centerpiece of the display. It made such an impression on me that in April 1966 I bought a '64 round headlight Black R 1 with 5000 miles on it from our local Studebaker/Dodge dealer.
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I'd like to have a little feedback regarding changing out the rear end gears in my '89 convertible. I bought the '89 last December fully rest-modded with a Stroker 383, TCI tuned and controlled 4L60 trans and a 9" Ford rear end with 4.86 gears. The car is down right scary with the amount of power it has at any speeds. Driving along, stomp on it and you are flying. I've taken the car on extended drives the last couple of weeks going around 200 miles round trip to Milwaukee and around 350 miles round trip to the Peoria area. MPG for the first trip was around 16.5 and 17.5 on the second trip, keeping the car at highway speeds between 70 - 75. Any thoughts as to what mileage might be with this power train if I swapped the 4.86 gear set for something in the 3.50 - 3.73 range? Engine rpm's are not too obnoxious because of the automatic overdrive, but I'm sure the mileage can be improved going to a lower (numerically) gear without sacrificing much power.
I don't think I will be putting a lot of miles on the car, probably less than 5000 annually. A rear gear swap should not be all that expensive compared to like swapping transmissions out. I may be driving the car to Dover and I don't want to have the national debt from the drive out and back. Any thoughts?
Operation Avanti Airlift update...June 25...
in Avanti Pub
Posted
11 Avantis were on hand for the 1962 Avanti Airlift Tribute at the Hagerstown Air Museum in Hagerstown MD. It was a great photo op with a '63 backed onto the ramp at the rear of the Fairchild C-82 "Flying Boxcar" along with other 10 Avantis strategically placed by Lew for some great pics. A very nice dinner and great conversation followed for the nearly 30 participants at Nick's Airport Inn afterward near by the airport. Kuddos to "Gunslinger" for making the arrangements. For me it was a great stop over to break up the 940 mile drive to Dover from home. Today, its on to Dover!