plwindish
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Posts posted by plwindish
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Most likely springtime. I drove the car twice so far, the first time driving it 45 minutes bringing it home from Valparaiso and a couple of days later to my son-in-law's farm an hour south of where I live to park it in the garage for the winter. I have an unheated two car garage that has our driver's parked in so I will winter the Avantis (my 76 & 89) at my son-in-laws. Spring and Summertime, the driver's get kicked out of the garage for the "collectors". The PO did post a you tube video under the name of 1967yenko1 titled Rare 89 Avanti Convertible For Sale. It gives a pretty god view and sound of the car. If I were more technologically equipped, I would post the link.MVI6449 is the title of one of the You Tube videos that 1967yenko1 posted for the car.
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Sadly, I doubt if I ever will be able to track down my first Avanti a black, round headlight R1 with automatic, air and red & fawn interior titled as a '64. I officially bought the car 4/01/66 with about 5200 miles on it in Canton IL and sold it to a guy from Bloomington IL in early 1969 when I was a student at Illinois State University. I have no idea what the serial # is as I did not keep any of that information. In January 2011, I bought my 2nd Avanti, a 1976 from an older gentleman 45 minutes away from me in Naperville IL, who had the car since 1984. I have kept him informed of the mechanical restoration I had done on the car and have sent him pictures. He's been absolutely thrilled with seeing and hearing about the car's progress. We're going out to lunch in the spring when he's back in the area. I gave him an AOAI calendar when I bought the car to have memories of the car. I'm sending him a 2014 AOAI calendar which he should be totally surprised with when he sees that his old car is Ms. April! Through him and the paperwork he had included with the sale, I was able to get in contact with the original owner in Hatboro PA, learning about the length of time he had the car (3 years), why he got rid of it (fading paint), trading it back in to Avanti Motors for a 79 that was not any where near the car the 76 was. The car was sold by Avanti Motors to another man from Naperville, IL that had it from 79 to October 84, selling it the the man I bought the car from. As caretaker of the 76, I have kept all the information together and added a lot of paperwork from things I've had done to the car. That paperwork and documentation will go with the car whenever my length of stewardship of the vehicle comes to an end.
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Rest in peace Mike, and (I think) also Avanti.
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I added a Flame Red 89 convertible (AAV0481) to my "Avanti Collection" this past weekend. I am the car's 3rd owner. It is a "rest-o-mod" having a 383 stroker crate motor with aluminum heads, hyd. roller cam, MSD ignition, TCI programmable 4L60 trans, and Ford 9" posi rear-end. The car has a custom black leather interior with red stitching and Avanti logos in the headrests, custom stereo install, new black top, American Racing Torque Thrust wheels 20's in back and 17's up front with lowered front suspension and air shocks with ride height adjustment in rear. It drove great in the hour's drive back home. Three inches of snow yesterday prevented me from taking it to my winter storage for both it and my 76. I'm looking forward to the Spring to get in some "road time" with it.
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Could that be an open air Avanti with an old-time "Soda Fountain" type dash? There are a lot of knobs on top of that dash, making me think he has soda and syrup lines run and its complete with two cup holders in the console.
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Roll a bill (20, 50 or 100) around each wrench you put in the pouch and you'll be well prepared for any road repairs!
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Yes, the Avanti was in a scene or two in Gattaca as well another film on cable now, In Time, I think the name is where at some point in the future, everyone is issued so much time then they need to buy or barter for more if they want to live longer.
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In watching the Car Prospector a couple of times, the shots interviewing him in his office show a 63 Gold Avanti right outside the window. Has anyone seen any of the programs where the Avanti was discussed? I haven't heard anything about the Avanti in the 2 or 3 episodes that I have seen. That's a pretty nice finder's fee ($2000) he usually charges for each vehicle he buys right (next to stealing it) for the ultimate buyers.
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Yesterday was a great day in Northern IL / Southern WI. We took the 76 on a AACA outing and drove up to Cedarburg WI after the AACA event, a 400 mile day. Sadly though, the IL driving season is coming to an end. I guess that's another reason to retire in the South or West, extend the Avanti driving season!
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Jim78, I'm sure you will be happy with the Turner's. I had them put on my 76 2 yrs ago and 12,000 miles ago, having had no issues with them. Yesterday, we did a 400 mile drive from Northern IL into Southern WI. The brakes worked great on the back roads and also on I-94/294 in bumper to bumper 70-75 mph. Don't you just love it when you are holding an interval with the car in front of you that you are comfortable with and then two cars decide to "shoehorn" themselves into that space? The Turner brakes will modernize your stopping power.
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Avanti Motor Corporation had some healthy price increases through the later 70's and 80's. The base on my 76 was $12195.00, totaling $14185.00 when adding power steering, electric windows, air, electric door locks, tilt wheel, tinted windows, custom vinyl interior, Blaupunkt AM-FM stereo, outside rear view mirrors, electric trunk opener, twin traction, "fog" driving lights, rear de-icer, sound deadener. In seven years, the base price more than doubled, as well as the total optioned price. Items like power steering, air, rear de-icer, tilt wheel, custom interiors and tinted windows became standard by 1983 where they were options in 76.
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Richard Quinn a.k.a. Studebaker Wheel on the Studebaker Forum can do the 63-64's, but he said he has nothing on the II's and later Avanti continuations. I have been able to get copies of the pricing and option pricing for the 76 model year (the year of my car), but I don't know of anyone reproducing the manufacture's window sticker, if Neuman and Altman even put window stickers out on their new cars as they mainly were built to order.
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geojerry,
That's an interesting swap. I have not heard of other owners going to a 305 from a 350, usually, its the other way around. Was or is the power comparable to the 350? The 78 versions of the 350 would have be "smogged up" and not putting much power out. What was the 305 from? My 76 came with a 400 rated at 175 hp. I did keep the motor original, but had it rebuilt and de-smogged. The hp was doubled with the rebuild and its a lot more responsive now.
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I had the push bar removed when I had some work done on the car. Fog lights were attached to the bar, they were removed along with the forward part of the safety bumper bars. Lights were then mounted to where the bars come through the grille, just under the bumper. They look good there, but its harder to get them aimed.
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Locked up compressor sounds like a new one is needed.
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Was your 02 from the Nippon factory??
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This is a rather diverse post ranging from crosswords to Juliet Mills being topless in the movie Avanti! Maybe this post gets the "Booby Prize"! Any crossword fanatics could go to puzzle maker.com and make their own version of an Avanti specific or Studebaker specific crossword. It would be neat to post some versions of the puzzles for others on the forum to solve during the winter when we have the cars tucked away until spring time. I've got another drive left this coming Sunday going from Northern IL into Southern WI in the AACA's re-enactment of the Brighton Run. After Sunday the car will be put away until spring, giving my wife her stall back in the garage for her car. I'll end up with a little more than 7000 miles on the car this driving season, close to 18,000 for the 3 seasons that I have had the car.
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Its not that often that 2- 2002 Avantis are for sale on Ebay at the same time. There are distinct differences in the hoods of the two cars. The Donald Kelly 2 door coupe has the gun sight reversed from the convertible. My limited knowledge of the 02-04's was that the gun sight was recessed in the 02's. A fellow member of the Avanti club I belong to has an 02 Coupe with the gun sight recessed like the convertible has. The Kelly coupe has the sight raised from the rest of the hood. Another member of our club has an 03 supercharged convertible that has a more pronounced raised gun sight, I guessing to accommodate the supercharger. Anyone know if the hood styling (gun sight raised versus recessed) was up to the person ordering the vehicle? They are special vehicles, so I guess that would not be out of the realm of possibilities.
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With the THM 400 trans, you could have a 3:31 Dana in it also. There are tags bolted on the rear cover of the rear end that would be able to decipher what the rear end is. The tag would be located in the 8 to 9:00 position on the outside of the rear end, held on by the cover bolts. My 76 has a 3:31 twin traction. The twin traction is listed on the build sheet, but I don't think the 3:31 is listed. Take a trip down the road at 70 mph, if your rpm's are 3000, your rear end is probably a 3:31. I don't want to give you more work, but with you wanting to travel down the roads in the car, look into replacing the THM with a 200R4, or a 700R4 AOD trans. The AOD trans will drop the rpms at 70 mph by 1000 rpms. The 200R4 has been maligned because early versions were not beefed up enough. Getting one rebuilt today would be more than beefy enough for the 350. The 200R4 is also more ratio similar to the THM400 than the 700R4. The highway gear (4th) will drop the rpm's and improve miles per gallon.
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Congratulations on your purchase! Does the 79 have a 350 as the motor backed with a Turbo-hydramatic 400 trans? I have a 76, 2392, ("April" in the AOAI 2014 calendar), a little over 500 ahead of yours. Gunny has given you some good advice on what to get checked out. Depending on how long the car was stored, you might want to get the gas tank cleaned out and recoated. Replacing the gas lines and any rubber connections might be in order as well. If you're looking at original brake lines, a rebuild of the rears, replacement of the lines and rebuilding the fronts might be the first project. The Turner conversions for the front are well worth the money. Dan Booth and other suppliers also have the replacement brake lines. I pretty much went through my 76 when I got it in Jan 2011 and had a mechanical restoration done. I've put over 16000 miles on the car since getting it, similar to what you are wanting to do with yours, Drive it and Enjoy it!
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The value is where I'm currently at with Hagerty for my 76. If you want to raise the value, you usually need to send pictures for documentation. They have been an easy company to work with. Their roadside service/flatbed towing also is easy to use and and they do take good care of you. Their rates also are quite similar to what you are paying.
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Lew, Having a club member's car in the 2014 calendar certainly helped Jerry Thielen sell calendars at the Chicago-land AOAI meeting Wednesday night. Again, nice job of putting the calendar together for 2014. Now I've got to put a large order in to supply my kids and other members in the family.
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Great idea and work to set this in motion Gunny! I'm planning on driving to Dover from the Chicago suburbs and would love to get that type of a photo op. I'm sure Lew Shucart would love to have that as a feature in the magazine. Hope all the details get worked out.
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I got the calendar Friday. All the cars look great. Another good job well done Lew.
PS- Have a great birthday this week!
1989 Avanti Cabriolet
in 1984-91 Avanti
Posted
When doing a google search for Avanti convertibles used in TV series and movies, one site identified the models as Avanti Cabriolet. The window sticker for my 89 lists the car as a Sport convertible.
Were there different trim levels on the convertibles or was Cabriolet used by the web site IMCDB (Internet Movie Car Data Base) as a term meaning convertible?
BTW an Avanti convertible appeared as a regular in the later year original Dallas, Matlock, Knight Rider, Fall Guy, Battlestar Galactica, and Beverly Hills 90120.
Movie appearances included Karate Kid II (the original prototype also was used in TV show Knight Rider), Montana, Internal Affairs.