Avanti83
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Posts posted by Avanti83
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Drip rail - Chrome trim piece on the upper door opening (lower side of roof) to direct water to the sail (C) panel. The front license bracket fits between the rubber pad and the front bumper.
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22 hours ago, Norman Hansen said:
Its a borg warner.Probably original. A 32k mile car I'm reasonably sure.
This is a picture borrowed from the SDC website. I'm a GM tranny guy so I'm not sure what you are referring to.
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A picture of yours would be helpful, not sure which trans you have. Could be original could be any number of replacements.
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I've included a link to one of the best resources you will find. Bob Johnstone's Avanti and Studebaker site.
http://www.studebaker-info.org/
Scroll down the page and you will find a search box. Type Avanti wiring or Avanti wiring diagram into it and you will find a number of references including a number of wiring diagrams for 70's issue Avanti. It will be hard to find an exact one for your car but it should help identify what you have.
My 74 was a mess when I got it, and instead of mucking with the existing tangle, I replaced it with an aftermarket universal 21 fuse harness. I totally gutted the car so it wasn't to bad. A bit drastic for most but I now know where everything goes.
Questions about tack on items are usually helped with a picture or two.
BIAC, Avanti, Bob
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To be sure we are on the same page, the dash is a one piece fiberglass molding with holes in it to mount the instruments. The trim panel that is painted or wood grained is held to the dash by the gauges and switches in the dash.
The complete dash unit including the pad is held in by 4 bolts below the windshield and 2 or 3 bolts under the dash. To remove it requires disconnecting all the wiring under the dash including the radio. Take a look under the dash and see what's involved before you plot what you want to remove. Neither instrument nor complete dash removal is any kind of fun.
The bolts that hold the dash below the windshield, IIRC are part of the dash and the nuts need to be removed from below.
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I can't think of a good reason why you can't swap in an LS series engine with a T56. There is at least one on the SDC forum. There are engine mount conversions that will adapt the LS to SBC engine mounts. The rear mount is straight forward, so the other hurdles are a rear sump oil pan (available) and headers.
As far as the T56, I have one in my 74 behind a 383 SBC. You need to convert to a hydraulic clutch but that's straight forward also.
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It's still true as the carpet in my trunk matches the interior and it's not listed as an option on the window sticker. The question does not say in every case it just asks if it was standard and in my case it was. True
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Apparently varies on a case by case level. My data (83 Avanti) in my polebarn has/had matching shag carpeting in both the interior and trunk as described in the standard equipment on the window sticker. No where does it say the matching trunk carpet was optional.
Based on my data, answer is true.
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Sorry about the bad advice on the Rock Auto parts. Setting on the shelf in my polebarn is a set of calipers and rotors from my 74. They are high mileage and the cost to replace them was so high I just went with a new Turner setup when I rebuilt the front end. If you are interested in a piston, I'll pull a caliper apart and take a couple of pictures of what I have.
If it's acceptable, I'll donate it to your build. $200 is a pretty steep lesson at your age.
Almost tripped over the caliper today so I disassembled one. Here are the pistons from it. I only wiped them off and decided not to clean them any further. If you can use one of them, PM me here. The first two shots are one piston and the third pix with the #2 is the second piston.
Bob
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Gunslinger is correct, you can use the Vin in Carfax to get quite a bit more data.
Mine is RQB-3651 and it is an 83. Nice wheels.
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True
Standard equipment lists carpet (including trunk)
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41 minutes ago, plwindish said:
Has anyone priced a Art Morrison frame for an Avanti? Morrison supposedly has brackets added for putting a modern suspension under the Avanti. Just wondering!
A quick trip to their website would sugget about $18K for a normal complete chassis and $20K+ for independent rear suspension.
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Rock auto seems to have the calipers for under $40. I would cut my losses and order another one. Damaged brake parts are something I won't deal with and for $40 a pretty cheap lesson.
BTW, I've been at this hobby for over 60 years and I/we've all learned to work on cars the same way you are, Fix it/break it/fix it.
Glad to have you on board, nice to see young folks entering the hobby. Let us know what we can do to help further.
Bob
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2 hours ago, Cbitz23 said:
What's best way to go about fixing all the weather strips around the car. Found a set online for my 83 but it's $950 and I'm not wanting to pay that for weather stripping.
That's about right and possibly on the low side if you need the windshield and rear window gaskets included. As Gunslinger said, the quarter window seals are nla. If you want to try for a less expensive route you could Google automobile weather strip and look at the websites that offer same. Look at the cross sections and dimensions of yours compared to what they have available. You can come close in many cases.
The bad news is the cost will still be in the many hundreds of dollars to replace what you have. There are a lot of pieces of weather stripping on these and most other cars.
Realistically, the doors are the most important area and you can do them for between $300-400 complete.
I like Nostalgic Motors in Wixom, Mi as Dan has most of the original molds and parts from the originals. Others like Myers, Fennessey and Studebaker International.
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Turner Brakes makes a disc brake conversion to more modern parts, Fatman makes a front suspension sub frame upgrade and Morrision and a couple other make complete frame and suspension upgrades. Google can be your friend. Also remember the Avanti rides on a Studebaker Lark Vert frame up to 1985 when looking at chassis mods.
There's been a ton of discussion on the SDC forum about home brew suspension and rack and pinion conversions but with mixed results.
For starters, Bob
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A $11.95/pt mix of hydrocarbons and up to 20% Isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) diluted in up to 15 gallons of gasoline, call me a skeptic at a minimum. I can believe that Techron Fuel Injector Cleaner can help as it has a couple of strong aromatic solvents in it but rubbing alcohol? Meh!!
My guess is running it on good gas for 20 minutes would do the same thing. Mine starts in the spring and run really well after they have a chance to warm up and rid themselves of the grunge that has accumulated in the carb as the fuel has partially evaporated over the winter.
I'll just add $4 to that and bought a fifth of Evan Williams black for later.
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Just a thought unless your desire is to keep the Avanti original would be to use the Vintage air unit. The original design used R12 which is difficult to come by and expensive. I know you can use R134 to replace it but that usually reduces the cooling capacity.
The original Avanti insulation also wasn't the best so getting all the cooling one can would be my recommendation in your area.
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Depends on what you want to spend. Lizard Skin is probably the best for heat. I've used Fatmat Megamat on my 83 with good results and again on my 74. You can buy foil/foam/foil insulation at Big Box stores if you want to keep the cost down.
Never buy asphalt based insulation no matter how it's advertised. Melts/runs/smells.
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If the interior is leather, dying is a good option. I did my 83 leather with a dye from Leatherque.com. I sent them a sample of the leather to match the color and it was a excellent match and worked well. For vinyl, the best I've found is SEM vinyl dye. I did my 74 interior with it. I can't speak to how well it will wear but it's finicky to spray thickness. To work well it needs to be done in thin coats.
As far as a new interior, go to a couple of car shows in your area and talk to the folks with nice interiors about who did them and the quality they produced. Most towns have a shop or two that do good work. My county has about 70,000 soles total and there are two shops that do very good work. Two things, the prices are generally in line with mail order except I don't know who makes later Avanti upholstery for mail order. Secondly, don't expect a two week turn around. Most local guys depend on repeat business so if a regular customer shows up, you move back in line. The shop that did my 89 Avanti dash told me in November that it would be ready in early January. It was done in April. Why, a few regular customers had moved ahead of me and the businesses owners cousin that helped out spent three month in the county lockup.
Be prepared to wait it out, don't yell and scream, just show up occasionally to check progress and let them know you are paying attention but don't overtly push.
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2 hours ago, DTM1 said:
What shifter do you use? What exactly is the "tv" cable??
The Avanti shifter on my 83 is what I used. When Avanti Motors installed the 4-speed OD trans, they changed the OEM shifter to have one more detent than previously installed. I don't know much about the difference but my guess is the older ones will work but limit low gear selection or could be modified to work. Not fact just my thoughts. You can sometimes find the later shifter on Ebay, Studebaker swap page or asking around on these forums.
The TV cable connects the carb linkage to the trans to allow proper shifting. Accurate adjustment is critical to trans life.
As a thought, in this day and age, if I were to add a 4-speed auto to an older Avanti, I'd go with the "e" series (4L60e as an example) GM autos that are totally computer controlled and buy the control box to control them. It's several hundred dollars more but those transmission are probably much easier to find in good nick in the wrecking yards and eliminates the seperate controllers for shift and lockup.
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No rubbing, about 4.5". I'll check the boxes the rear wheels came in for data if you're interested. The front are about 3.5" backspace and a size or two smaller tire width.
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On 3/1/2018 at 3:42 PM, DTM1 said:
Something on the order of say 245. What size tires are you running??
P245/60R15 on 15X8 wheels
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16 minutes ago, DTM1 said:
I doubt I could do it around here for that.
You could do the 66 for much less. Hiring it done adds up quickly.
Rebuilt 700R4 - $1100 or so
Driveshaft - $200
TV cable & lockup switch $150
You can modify your rear mount for free and the radiator should have trans cooling already.
You can use your shifter but to select the lowerst gear you may need one off Ebay. - $100
Find a good used 700R4/4L60 trans for less and save more money.
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25 minutes ago, DTM1 said:
Good Morning, I ended up with the '66- really like it, its in pretty good shape. I think its got a semi built 327 so its peppy, its really begging for an overdrive transmission though. Tach' s 3100 at about 65 with 3.54 posi rear end. Your cars are very nice and you drive them alot it which is cool. I would really like to put some fat tires on the rear but that might be a challenge.
Dan
I'm running 15X8 rims on my 83 and 17X8 rims on my 74 both with about 4.5" backspacing. The tires on both fit within the rear fenders with no Boy Racer look.
How much bigger do you need?
So how much of a blasphemy would this be?
in 1965-83 Avanti
Posted · Edited by Avanti83
You can pull the spring spacer out to help some and use a softer spring, or just cut a portion of the coil off. Personally, I'd pull the spacer and see what it looks like. I have big and little's on my 83 but if I was going to drive a couple of thousand miles, I'd have the same size on all four wheels so I had a spare. But that's just me but my 74 has all the same size.
A little searching will find you a 63 front panel. Should be pretty easy to graft it back on a later body. Main problem is the cost of the headlight assemblies including the glass. Personally I like the side lights and bumper appendages much less than the square headlights. Somehow mine have disappeared on both my 74 and 83.
All it will take is money so forge ahead fearlessly.