plwindish
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Posts posted by plwindish
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I had the 400 SBC in my 76 rebuilt 2 years ago, cranking out 365 hp and 460 ibs torque before it was put back in. I may have to see what it will do this summer now that its broken in and has over 10,000 miles on it.
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Geez, is the frame even useable on that? Those pix make me sick as to what fire can do to a 'glass body. After reading a blog on the SDC forum about fire extinguishers, I'm replacing my 2# dry chemical with a larger one in my 76.
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My RPM's dropped from 3000 @ 70 mph to 2000 RPM's @ 70 mph. My car has a 3:31 Dana 44 twin traction rear end. I have gotten 21.5 mpg going to Gettysburg in 2011 right after having the 200R4 put in. I averaged in the 12's before the trans switch from the THM 400. The switch will make you around $2500 lighter, depending on the amount of work you can do. I didn't do anything except order the parts for the shift linkage and set things up with the trans shop. Good luck with your decision, you're getting a good "CASO" start by checking around the forum for parts. You might get lucky and find someone with an Avanti that is wanting to go to a manual from a 700R4.
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I had changed out my gauges 2 years ago with Autometer when I had a powertrain restoration done. Gauges were sold with excess engine parts after the rebuild. If you can't find used SW gauges, look at the Autometer Zseries(I think) gauges. They are very similar to the SW having a black face, white letter and markings with florescent orange needles and black rims to gauges. The Speedo was 160 mph and had a trip odometer as well as the regular odometer.
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Lower end, the parts are probably identical. The upper end with the shifter and indicator are most likely different. The trans guy that R & R'd my THM 400 and put in the 200R4 said a lot of stuff under the Avanti is Vette. The parking brake set up also is Corvette. I did get the rods, butterfly, shift indicator and trans mount donut from Nostalgia, pricey, but they worked and looks factory in my 76.
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Warren, it sounds like you haven't run out of Avanti projects yet! Good luck on any remaining projects.
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Good luck in the hunt for a nice Avanti. That nice car might be just around the corner, literally. In 2010 when I was looking in Hemmings at Avanti ads, I saw a car 40 minutes away in Naperville IL. I went to look at the car, loved it and bought it after thinking it over a few days. Please remember the quote that has appeared on this forum and the Studebaker forum many, many times. "There's no such thing as a cheap Avanti." Unless the car you get has been recently restored, be prepared to invest your time, talents and treasure into the car to get it where you want it.
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The speedo in my car reads 8 mph higher at highway cruising speeds than the actual speed. I had all the SW gauges replaced with Auto Meter when I had the engine rebuilt and before I had the THM 400 replaced with the 200 R4 so I don't know if the old speedo/THM400 combo was as inaccurate. I found the speedo error by driving with my Tom Tom GPS, so the 80 cruising speed on super slabs is actually 72, which does help me stay out of speeding troubles with "John Law". The trans shop that did the swap had played with the speedo cable switching a gear out of the trans to get it to only being 8 mph off. One of these days, I may try to get it closer, but its not a high priority since I know its reading fast.
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Good luck with the swap. You might miss some of the 350's power going with the 305 though. I take it that the 305 is pre -computer?
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The parts list from Nostalgic sounds like what I had gotten 2 years ago. The rods, butterfly, bushing and shift indicator work fine. The steering column locks just as the THM 400 trans did. Nostalgic tends to be pricey on their parts but Dan is a walking encyclopedia on anything Avanti. He knows what you need to make the trans a factory installation. The price I had listed earlier did not include what I spent with Nostalgic to get those parts. A trans shop can set the lock up a couple of different ways, by a switch or by speed. I had mine set by speed, but had it readjusted once last fall as it was locking up around 40. Cruising around town at lower speed, I usually keep the trans in D3 which keeps it from locking up. I had also looked into a gear vendors unit, but they are higher than the trans swap, plus you'll need to have the driveshaft altered. I kept the THM 400 trans in case I would ever sell the car and the owner would want to go back original, but after driving it with the OD trans, I don't know why anyone would want to go back to the 3 speed THM. The 200R4 is the best geared match to the THM, having the first three gear ratios very similar to the THM. The are several good articles on OD trans swaps in Bob Johnstone's Studebaker Resource pages. I'd do a little more research before deciding what to do. Having a highway cruising gear makes the Avanti much more drivable at today's highway speeds without getting "droned" out of the car listening to the motor. Good luck with your decision. I think most owners that have done the swap will tell you that after everything is adjusted and running right, it made their Avanti a lot better driver.
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I had the THM 400 replaced in my 76 with a 200R4. If your car has the 327 or 350, then the yoke on the driveshaft will not need to be replaced. My car has the 400 motor and it had the larger yoke so it was replaced. The driveshaft did not need to be altered other than the yoke and new rear u-joint. A trans rear mount needs to be made for a 200R4. I got the rear mount, trans linkage and a new shift indicator plastic piece that shows PRNDD321 from Nostalgic Motors. I had a trans shop I had dealt with earlier with other cars rebuild a 200R4 and do the installation. That took care of all the TV cable adjustment for me. The shop also put in a Lokar trans fluid dipstick on the firewall as its really tight to use the standard dipstick in the regular location. The 76 has a 3:31 rear end in it. The rpm's dropped from 3000 @ 70 mph to between 2000 - 2100 rpm's with the 200R4. If you intend to drive the car very much, I would encourage you to do the swap. I have put 10,000 on the car since the swap two years ago and have had no trouble. MPG went from 12.5 up to a best so far of 22.5. I live in the Chicago suburbs and the total trans swap cost was just over $2,000.
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Were the gas tanks located in the same place as coupes, over the rear axle? I imagine the tank size was decreased in the convertible due to the top motor and some room for the top frame to go into that space. I understood the N & A Avanti's had a 21 gallon tank. I suppose the ever changing suppliers changed the sizes in the Kelly era.
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Good to see the car rolling. What motor is in the car, 327, 350, or 400? Are you putting the Avanti Hubcaps back on when its finished or other wheels? Seeing the car without the hubcaps reminded me of how I drove my 64 back in the day (66-69) when I had it. It was black and I vaguely remember painting the white rims black so I could take off the hubcaps (of course with narrow white wall Firestone 500's) and run it that way.
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Try Dan and Betty Booth at Nostalgic Motors in Wixom MI.
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Bob, I'm in total agreement with you that AC is highly desirable. As much as I'd love the power of an R2, I would not want the being inside a greenhouse feeling one would have driving it in warm weather. My first Avanti was an R1 with air back in 66 and it was comfortable in warm weather. My current Avanti is a 76 with air. The AC lost its charge driving to Gettysburg in June 2011 and it got nice and warm in the car during 90 degree weather. I did a Walmart run and picked up 6 cans of R34A to keep the AC going till I got back home and to the AC repair shop. If I was buying a 63 or 64 R2, I would definitely look into putting AC into it.
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I had the front suspension rebuilt with the delran bushings by Brad Bez last September. The bushings do tighten up the steering and suspension quite a bit. Brad also put a grease zerk in each bushing, added to the life of the bushings. Based on the couple months of driving I had with the car before putting it away for the winter, it was worth it.
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Rich,
I put all the work into my 76 to make it a reliable driver. I've put 10,000 miles on it since I bought it in January 2011. I've driven it to the past 2 AOAI meets in Gettysburg and South Bend. I'll be driving it to Colorado Springs in June. I don't use it as a daily driver, but manage to put 5 K miles on it from March to December, putting it away during the Chicago winter season. Again, great job and the car. I'm looking forward to seeing the pix when posted.
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Nice job indeed! Those calipers and rotors look great and should easily be seen through those wheels. I've got to believe you've put about another 25K into the car, but it'll look and run like no other 90 4 door Avanti. I thought that I had done a lot to my 76 in the two years that I have had it, more than doubling the original purchase price with engine rebuild and livening up, 200R4 rebuild and install, Turner brakes, brake system rebuild, suspension rebuild, dynomat installed, ac work, radiator work, new radio with XM, invisible bra, new weatherstripping, tires and new Dayton wire wheels. It also looks like some flares have been added to the rear fenders. That's the nicest looking 4 door that I have seen in 3 conventions. Please give us a link to see more pix.
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www.rockauto.com may have some things for you also. I went to their site after seeing it advertised on one of the car programs and saw that they had things for my '76 with the 400 motor.
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Yes it sounds as if the fog lights were removed and you still have a live switch for the lights. Doing a search up front , you may be able to find the wires that fed the fog lights. The red light that lights up was a safety reminder so you don't leave the fog lights on by mistake. You do have a switch to power another accessory should you choose to. Personally, I would leave the switch in place, but find to wires termination point in front and make sure they are taped off should you choose not to re-install the fog lights. Good luck with your car.
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Jean-Louis, Welcome to Avanti ownership,the AOAI and AOAI forum. The Aux lite switch is usually for the fog lights. You might want to check the fuse panel block located on the interior side of the firewall just above the carpet line above where you left foot would rest when in the drivers seat. There may be some blown fuses on the block. You can also check Bob Johnstone's Studebaker Resource page, accessed by the AOAI home page, clicking on the blue resources button under the forum button, then click on Studebaker info button on the right side. Do a search on the site for Avanti Electical systems and you should be able to find the wiring schematics for the Avantis. The schematics can be printed and you can study them to understand the wiring. I have a 76 and the dash lights are red. Good luck with tracking down your problem.
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I had a similar issue with my 76. Left front signal worked but did not come on as a parking light with headlights on or off. I had the problem twice over two years. I replaced the entire turn signal light assembly the first time as the dog eared tab on the bottom was broken off and it was hard to keep the unit fastened into the fender. The second time it went out, the grounds were redone and its been fine since.
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Brad, that sounds like a recipe for success.
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It reminds me of the saying "Thrown at and missed, sh_t at and hit."
Sticky power locks
in 1965-83 Avanti
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I used some WD-40 sprayed inside the locks and later on some graphite powder and got both sides working well. If the car has power locks, its an easy add to put the remote door controls in the car. I've got the remotes on my which also opens the trunk. The location for the power locks from the factory at the bottom corner of the driver's side of the dash puts it where I occasionally hit it with my knee getting out of the car, locking the car when that happens, possibly causing some anxious moments.