plwindish
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Posts posted by plwindish
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According to John Hull's post on the Studebaker forum there are an 07 coupe and 3 07 convertibles recently completed that may appear for sale very shortly. Contact John at avantifromct@aol.com for more information about these 4 cars.
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I know the "ground effects" (on the sides) were added to the 89's to hide the full size Caprice frame rails, but don't know when the chin spoiler was put on the front. It could have been a running change in the 88's, but may have been to get more air into the engine compartment similar to the Saturn spoilers being installed on the Avantis.
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I had to use the screwdriver for the first time in June while driving my 76 to CA. The power plug aka cigar lighter was shorting out the circuit and blowing the fuse, with the trunk solenoid also on the same circuit. I put in a new lighter from O'Riellys and got the electric button working again. The cable pull is still in place but doesn't operate the latch.
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I think its amazing there are still the number of 63's and 64's still on the road. Many new Avanti's were not babied by the original owners. In horse talk, they were rode hard and put away wet. As a 17 year old buying a 2 year old 64 Avanti R1 in 1966, I ran the living hell out of that car. I'm sure that I was like a lot of other Avanti owners that didn't appreciate what a rare car they had.
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Doing both bumpers (re-chroming) as well as 2 sets of tail light bezels and polishing all the stainless was around $1600 and shipping from a SDC member in GA. A place on Northwest Highway in Chicago quoted $1500 a bumper.
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The Halibrands probably made it look 40 mph faster!!
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True.
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The paint shop owner, bra installer and I talked about making sure the paint was cured before the bras was applied. The shop also gave out a warranty on the complete job as well.
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BRitz, We must live in the same general area as I had also gotten an estimate from Bump and Grind last Spring for my 76. I sourced out the bumpers and stainless to Jerry Forrestor in GA for re-chroming and polishing the stainless. Bump and Grind's estimate was about $1500 higher than Countryside Customs in Warrenville. Countryside had done my 76 back in 1989, changing it from a Tawny Gold to a dark red metallic. I was happy with the way the paint and body had held up so I went back to Warrenville for the job. I've seen several examples of Bump and Grind's work and all looked very good. My brother in law is taking his 67 Buick Skylark to American Restorations just west of Bump and Grind past Bell Road also. There are many places in the Chicago area to get good work done.
Brad Bez has also done work on my 76 in St. Louis, rebuilding the suspension 3 years ago. I drove the car down and dropped it off flying back to Chicago, then picked it up about a month later flying down to get it, Brad picked me up at the airport and I drove back. Mike Baker in Greenfield IN also has an Avanti shop.
No matter where you get the work done, make sure you have an Avanti repair manual for them to use for the windshield and rear window removal and installation procedures. Today's glass shops probably don't have anyone working for them that is familiar with installing Avanti windshields and the rain gutters. Another item I put on the car that I would recommend is having the 3M product "Invisible bra" put on at least the front end of the car. I had it put on the sides from the front tires to rear bumper from the rocker panels up to the belt line molding on both sides. I wanted to make sure the paint is going to stay on the car. The material is invisible and will protect from the chips, but will add around a grand to the total.
One last thing is come to the Chicago land Avanti Owners Meetings, held in Mt Prospect at Mr. Beef and Pizza on the 1st Wednesday of each month. Its located about on Elmhurst Rd about 2 miles north of I-90. Meetings are around 7:30 PM for meet and greet. PM me if you need more information.
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$4,000 a gallon? I guess that makes the $200 a pint Lambo Red paint on my 89 super cheap, Earl Schieb territory! LOL.
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Try Heidt Automotive in Lake Zurich IL. I don't have a number, but the Hot Rod Power Tour has stopped there twice in the past two years. The made up a IRS for a Nova on one of the recent Phantom Garage episodes. The width on a Nova has got to be close to an Avanti.
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Steve any luck yet on selling the 83? A lot of us share you problem of not enough garage for all your cars. During the summer, I have my two Avantis in my two car garage. When the cold weather hits, the Avantis go to my daughter and son-in-law's to be parked and covered in their combination garage/storage shed until Spring when they'll come out again.
Another source for determining value is Hagerty's website. Good luck.
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Gunslinger is correct in the amount for a paint job. I was quoted $12500 in the Chicago area for prepping and painting the car with a 2 stage, with windshield and rear window out. I had some extra mechanical work done and a lot of the clear bra material put on the front and down the sides from belt line to rocker panels, which added to the cost. Engine bay was black, I did not have it color changed to red, which would have pulled the motor out to do that, so the bay was repainted black. As I said in an earlier post, the paint is gorgeous. The car did tie for Best of Division in St Louis.
All new weatherstripping, doors, windows, rear window and windshield, and having chrome done will also add to the total, around 2 G's or more depending on the quality of chroming.
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I found out when the trans shop that swapped in a 200R4 for the Turbo-hydramatic 400 on my 76 with a 400 motor that another flywheel and torque convertor had to be used in the swap as well.
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My 76 has a toggle type switch on the bottom of the dash on the lower left corner, its down far enough that you can hit it with your knee when getting out of the car. That switch is the automatic door lock switch. It had me panicked once at a gas station in the late fall with windows up. One of the guys I was traveling with had a worn pentagram shaped Chrysler key he was able to wiggle around in the door lock and unlock the door.
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Larry, I heard the same thing as well in the 87's and 88's, but not the 89's.
Other differences are that the 87's and 88's are on the Monte Carlo frame and the 89's, 90 4 doors and the 7 91 convertibles are on the Caprice frame. 87's & 88's have the gas tank mounted pretty much in the same location as the coupes, over the rear axle with the gas fill on the left rear deck in front of the trunk where the 89's have a larger 25 gal tank under the trunk, making the donut and a large donut cover take up most of the room in the trunk. and the gas filler is slightly above and behind the left rear wheel opening. All models had some issue with the window switches, mainly grounding issues. Interiors were pretty much identical.
Only 7 1991 convertibles were produced before production ceased. Its said they were the best quality with slight differences in the front end and the body is supposed to be just a little longer.
I do have a 89 convertible, PM me if interested.
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Yes, a SBC is an SBC, so things will all bolt on with no problem.
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I had my 76 Avanti II recently painted. I dropped it off at Countryside Customs in Warrenville IL Dec 13th and picked it up June 17th. The windshield, rear window, glass,doors, hood, trunk and bumpers were removed for paint. Bumpers re-chromed and Stainless redone by Jerry Forrester. The car was painted a new GM color - Crystal Red Tintcoat that is used for the Vettes and Camaros. The car turned out to be stunning.
The only issue was that the shop had a glass co. put the windshield and rear window with new gaskets back in the car, which were not familiar with the Avanti method of putting putty behind the windshield causing the windshield to leak down through the cowl on my legs when driving in a huge downpour in June. The shop also did not use putty or sealant between the top of the rain gutter attachment to the underside of the roof. Water was wicking through the rain gutter and over the top of the window weather stripping dripping on our shoulders in the same downpour. The car has now returned from a revisit to the shop to get the windshield and rear window properly installed with a bed of putty under them and the rain gutter sealing issues taken care of.
I have to laugh at all these car flipper programs that turn out paint jobs within a week. To have a quality job done, it won't be done in a week. Just be patient. Another thing I had done on the car was having the new generation invisible bra material put on the front of the car as well as down the sides of the car from the rocker panels up to the belt line molding from front tires to the back bumper. I drove the car to California following Rte 66 in late June and the material helped prevent road rash, hopefully for quite a few years.
I'm driving from Chicago to the Meet in St. Louis on Wednesday. Hopefully my trip will be drier on the outside and inside of the car than it was when we made the trip in June in a torrential downpour.
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The front "bumper" on my 76 must have been set a little high as there were 4 hairline cracks in the paint right over the bumper location on the top surface of the hood. My body man saw this and adjusted the bumper down so the new paint won't crack.
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As I recall, one of our members has a Avanti II that was made with one serial number and then sold as a different year model and serial number during the Altman Days.
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My 89's top is in good shape, but the rubber strips on the top of the doors is cracked and needs to replaced for both doors and both rear quarter windows. Are the strips available through Steel Products as well?
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Ken, your 89 is looking good! My 89 is very similar to yours except my interior is black with red stitching instead of the tan interior yours has. My 89 has the blackout trim and black top as well. I've also got the American Racing wheels Torque Thrust models, 18's in front and 20's in the back.
I saw your car in Dover but did not get a chance to talk with you. Great looking set up!
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Body floor pan modifications to get away from torque box perimeter mounts to a perimeter type frame mounting and wheel base length.
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Compare it to other cars that had roll bars from the factory in 63. Yes, that's right, there were no other cars that came with a roll bar in 63!
'New' Avanti!
in Avanti Trivia
Posted
The last generations of the Avanti had an impressive presence at the recent St. Louis International Meet. 2 of the 3 AVX's, 5 Villa Ricca Avantis, and 2 Cancun Avantis were on hand for the meet.