PackardV8
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Posts posted by PackardV8
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There's nothing to be done to quiet the stock engine driven fan once the clutch engages. When I'm cruising and it cuts in, my first thought is a Stuka is coming in on a dive-bombing run.
An electric fan, preferably two-speed if you have AC, is the real answer. The low speed would be set to come on whenever the AC is operating and the high speed comes on when the coolant goes over 200 degrees.
FWIW, I'm using the Dodge Viper fan in two of my Studes.
jack vines
PS - time spent sealing all the myriad holes in the firewall, then a layer of sound deadening mat is the real answer to heat and noise. If the engine is out, buy the combination heat rejection/sound absorbing and put it in the engine compartment side.
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False, including the years. The '61-early 62 Studebakers used the Chevy bolt pattern and the late '62-64 used the Ford bolt pattern.
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The Dana 44 came in Jaguars, Sunbeam Tigers, Corvettes and Vipers, among others. Nothing a Stude V8 could do would break the basic unit. TTs used for drag racing should be considered a service part, same as the clutch, pressure plate and U-joints.
The tapered axles usually break in open drive cars where the right rear wheel has been hopping on hard starts.
jack vines
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Then, who knows the back story of how the R3 head patterns made it to Stu-V in San Diego and then, less the intake cores, on to Lionel Stone in LA and now to John Erb in Nevada
jack vines
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The OEM grille will stop marble-sized rocks, but nothing smaller. It was made by a refrigerator manufacturer, so it's like the shelves in '60s fridges.
jack vines
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Since the T86 overdrive was available in the convertible and the wagon using the same frame, obviously it could fit in an Avanti.
But no, it was never an OEM option.
jack vines
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I'd pay a premium for an Avanti without a sunroof. Not only do they ruin the lines of the car, I've never seen one which didn't eventually leak and/or rattle.
Unless one is going for a 400-point show car, any SBC is pretty much the same, just some are faster than others. Again, the 350" is much preferrable to the 305", but for a driver, one is as good as another.
jack vines
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The Stude PS system is identical to early '60s Fords and anyone who can work on a Mustang can rebuild the Stude PS, even use most of the same parts. It ain't expensive, it ain't rocket science.
jack vines
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Agree. We all anxiously await the teardown of this prototype so all the anecdotal history can be confirmed via first hand measurements. Since this Avanti has circulated in a small circle, the legends will hopefully turn out to be fact.
As Reagan said, "Trust, but verify." Over the past fifty years, I've been asked to look at many performance Studebakers which after inspection were not as advertised. One local guy bought a long-distance Avanti R2 which arrived with a 259" under the supercharger. Another brought me an R2 core to rebuild which had a 259" crankshaft under the dished 289" pistons. There aren't many R3s or R4s up here in the NW, but none of those I've looked at turned out to be factory-original.
Bottom line - after conversations with a couple of those who worked at Paxton Products, in '62-64 they were developing 299" prototypes, each one different, then the nine factory-installed 304.5" engines were pretty much the same. After Studebaker closed, '65-71, they sold the few remaining completed production R3 engines. When those were gone, they began building out the remaining R3 parts. There were more piston sets than heads or rods, so some R3 numbered blocks were built and sold without R3 heads or rods.
I do remember. I have also noticed that I have never seen a lose set of used R4 pistons in anything but 299 bore diam's.I've already learned something from this, as I've never had the good fortune to come across a set of used R4 pistons. All the written materials indicate they should be R3 bore. It would be interesting to see the few supposed production R4s disassembled for bore measurement. Were those 299" R4 pistons Nels has seen just prototypes or were all R4s actually 299"s?
jack vines
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Well, if it isn't, Studebaker sure put one over on the editors of 'Hot Rod Magazine'!!!!!!!
The manufacturers lying and the magazines swearing to it? That happened all the time. The '64 Pontiac GTOs furnished to magazines for road tests had 421" engines installed. None of the production GTOs were anywhere near as quick in the quarter as those tested by Car and Driver. Jim Wangers, the Pontiac PR guy responsible for getting good press, in his book Glory Days, admitted all the road test cars were total ringers, massaged by Royal Pontiac dealership racing department.
But even more more interesting to Avanti history, IIRC, the 172 MPH Bonneville car also had a prototype 299" engine. So the fastest top speed Avanti and the quickest accelerating Avanti were both hand-built prototype engines, neither having an R3 serial number nor R3 heads and neither being 304.5". For true or false?
jack vines
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Slightly off topic....but I've always contended that although there were definitely only nine 'production' R3 Avantis built by Studebaker, 63R-1025, having an R3 engine installed in it while under Studebaker ownership, should be considered a FACTORY Studebaker R3 vehicle......And there are also a few other Studebaker passenger cars that were built with R3's, albeit installed by Paxton, that I feel should be considered legitimate Studebaker Factory R3 vehicles..
To put it another way,.....'If there was an R3 or R4 engine under the hood when Studebaker sold it off into private hands, in my eyes it's a factory R3 or R4 Studebaker vehicle' (IMHO)
To get it all back in one place, is this in fact a prototype engine, not numbered as an R3, not having R3 heads and not 100% sure via measurement of the bore and stroke as to displacement?
jack vines
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Unbelievable!.....Even the 'old timers' are learning something from these posts!
Just to confirm, has the bore and stroke actually been measured?
He said it was a short stroke 299", however as much as we can tell it is pretty much a stock 289" block. It has a 289" bore so if it is a 299", it's been stroked.jack vines
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First time I've seen it stated the R3 299" was created by stroking to 3-3/4". Everything I'd read heretofore said they were a .060" overbore.
jack vines
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For a bonus point, what was the length of warranty on the Competition Supercharger?
jack vines
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And I have a mostly complete clutch/brake setup for sale.
jack vines
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Since this is in the trivial area, we can nit-pick the title of the thread.
The "Powershift" version of the Borg-Warner automatic was only available for two years from Studebaker and then another few years in the N-A Avanti.
However, the basic design of the transmission from which the Powershift was developed was the most widely used of all time, AMC, BMC, Citroën, Datsun, Jaguar, Reliant, Rootes Group, Rover, Saab, Triumph, Volvo, Ford and Chrysler; all used versions of the B-W in various years in various countries.
The B-W automativ was in production from the mid-50s to the mid-90s, so I'd expect thirty-seven years to be an answer, just not as the Powershift.
jack vines
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A number of people have written to say that E85 fuel in a '63 R2 would be disastrous. The hot rod magazines say that this works pretty well with today's supercharged engines. Admittedly a 1963 289 Studebaker engine does not share much with a 2014 engine but I'm thinking maybe a mixture of 40/60 E85 with Shell premium (which is what I usually run in my car) might work. Any thoughts? Michael B
This is one of those, "If you have to ask the question, the answer is no."
E85 has much less energy per volume than E10, so the entire fuel system has to be increased in flow capacity - larger lines, fuel pump, needle and seat.
E85 absorbs more water from the air, so the tank system has to be sealed, with a evaporative cannister.
E85 requires much larger jets in the carburetorand different ignition curve.
E85 doesn't like to sit for long periods of time, so over the winter, the fuel system would need to be drained and flushed with E10.
Having said all that, the hot rodders have it right as to the benefits of E85. One could take an R4 with 12.5 compression, add a supercharger with 7 PSI boost and it would really fly and not detonate, if the entire fuel system was built to handle the E85 and it was tuned by someone who knows how.
jack vines
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Sorry, I should have further qualified my answer above. While the frames are similar, the Lark floor is more flat, with just a low transmission hump. The Avanti has a much deeper transmission hump and this, more than the frame would interfere with the transmission solenoid.
You could very well be right about the floor issue. I always felt that O/D wasn't offered on the Studebaker Avanti for two reasons...1) It would be an unpopular option on a performance car, that very few folks wanted a 3 speed trans in to begin with...and...2) The powerful "R" engines would simply overwhelm the overdrive with their extra torque...resulting in expensive warranty claims.
Obviously the clearance issue for the solenoid could have easily been solved.
As to strength, it's not the inherent weakness of the overdrive which was the problem. An R1 run hard and speed-whupped a few times will eat the basic T86 without overdrive like popcorn. That's why Studebaker used the much stronger T85 with overdrive in their 289" trucks and performance cars. The T85 worked fine behind the much stronger Packard V8 and would have bolted in to the Avanti.
That the engineers knew the T86 was far too weak is further proof it was only offered as an ugly baby to make buyers pay the extra for the T10 the engineers knew was really required.
jack vines
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By the time the Avanti engines came along, the supercharger was ancient history. Whomever suggested a supercharger to increase the horsepower of Studebaker V8s did it back probably around 1955 to have them ready for the '57 GH and Packards.
jack vines
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Like moving the oil breather/filler from the top of the block to the rocker covers?
jack vines
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There's literally nothing on that deal which fits an Avanti.
jack vines
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Your "It has recently started an annoying habit of making a lot of clattering noise that sounds like it is coming from the valves. This only occurs after the car has been running a few minutes." is too vague for any real diagnosis. Is it an ignition miss? Is it at cam or crank frequency? Is the volume correspondent to RPM? Does it get louder the longer you run it? Does the noise only occur after the choke has pulled off? Does the noise ever go away?
FWIW, I had a similar problem and it turned out to be just old gas. Now, before beginning any troubleshooting on a stored Stude, I drain the tank and fill with fresh fuel.
Your results may vary, but in fifty years, I've never had any magic elixir poured in the carb or the gas tank or the oil pan solve any problems. Have had a few which made them worse.
jack vines
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I have a reliable source who's seen iron R3 intakes.
jack vines
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And seldom did anyone using the optional 288-degree cam go any faster. Ted Harbit and some others think the standard R3 cam was too much duration. jack vines
Avanti Gauges!
in Avanti Trivia
Posted
Since it's all trivia anyway, but over the years, Paxton installed many non-stock parts in many Avanti,and other Studes. JMHO, but saying those are "Avanti guages" is like saying the Cadillac 429" installed by Joe Granatelli was an "Avanti optional engine".
jack vines