PackardV8
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Posts posted by PackardV8
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For those who don't know, Tom's brackets are beautiful and the Mustang conversion is maybe the best available.
Tom, FWIW, people are lazy. Many potential customers won't bother to follow all three separate links and read up on the details. Maybe, if you'd spell out the details in the first post what is being offered, how they fit, with photos, what years calipers and rotors are needed and the costs involved, more sales might be the result.
Once again, from what I've seen Tom's brake system would be the one I'd choose.
jack vines
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Yes, no problemo. FWIW, there are usually more R2s running around with the supercharger belts disconnected or the supercharger removed entirely than there are pulling boost.
All you would need to do is get a length of plastic pipe of the appropriate diameter to connect the air cleaner hose to the carburetor hat hose.
jack vines
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And don't get tangled up in your underwear about adjusting them hot and running or cold minus .00x". The Studebaker V8 is an agricultural implement and a thou either way doesn't make any difference. I do it with the engine warm but not hot.
Having said that, I occasionally find one valve which still seems noisy after setting it to spec. This can be caused by wear on the rocker tip which throws off feeler gauge adjustment. For these, I use a magnetic stand and a dial indicator. This gives the exact clearance including any wear.
jack vines
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Just about when I say "never", someone drives up in a Lionel Stone hydraulic lifter conversion or one the owner did himself. So, no, Studebaker never sold an Avanti with hydraulic lifters. But yes, a very few were converted by the owner. Then there was the one with the Chevy V8.
jack vines
All Studebaker engines used solid, adjustable lifters. They never went to hydraulic.
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Many who inherit a long-neglected collector car are disappointed in the market value. Your results may vary.
Decide whether you are willing to make an investment of time and money to attempt to maximize the return or whether you simply want it gone and will take auction value, whatever it turns out to be.
jack vines
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Mine, R3450, out of SoCal, has a similar tag, but I always assumed it was an owner-added attempt at humor.
jack vines
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No, Dunlop adapters won't fit the Jaguar wheels. Those I have use a serrated hub rather than splines.
I did the same conversion to Jaguar wheels more than thirty years ago. IIRC, the key was getting the hubs from a Jaguar sedan which came with the same Salisbury/Dana 44 rear axle. The rear hubs, including the rear disc brakes, bolted right on. The master cylinder had to a dual disc unit.
Since Jaguar always used front disc brakes, there was no problem there, but I can't remember what was necessary to fit the Jaguar front hubs to the Avanti spindle. Wasn't too big a deal as I did it without a machine shop.
Bottom line - the wheels are the easy half. Rounding up the correct hubs and knockoffs will cost at least as much as the wheels. Makes a nice project when done, though. The Jaguar hub, knockoffs, steel wheels with tubes and flaps are much heavier than aftermarket aluminum wheels and tubeless tires, so you'll notice some ride deterioration from the additional unsprung weight.
jack vines
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Best way I've found to exercise the gauge is a MityVac tool. The good ones will provide both vacuum and pressure. Pump it alternately to max vacuum and max pressure readings while watching TV. A couple of dozen full cycles will usually free up the gauge. Of course, watch the gauge on the vac tool and don't exceed the capacity of the S-W gauge.
jack vines
Thanks gents - it comes out next weekend - will let you know what i find - hoping it's simple dirt/sludge....Steve
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Others may disagree with me...I can appreciate a well done and maintained stock car as much as anyone. A base car simply doesn't have the value of more highly optioned cars and is a good candidate for modifications and improvements.
Interestingly, the most perfect and high-dollar pure restoration ever done on an Avanti was a base car featured last year in Classic Car. It's what the owner had, so he spent more than ten years and probably $100k on it. Since it is a trailer queen, the transmission is immaterial. As far as rarity goes, the 3-speed is probably only second to R3s in the low production numbers of that power train combination. That is, unless someone totally clueless bought an R2 3-speed.
jack vines
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Thanks for the info. After fifty years of reading about this stuff, I didn't know the 3-speed was always the base transmission and was installed right up til the end.
I can't imagine anyone buying a 3-speed rather than a 4-speed. The 3-speed is slower, clunkier, doesn't have synchro low gear and entirely inappropriate to the car.
How much extra did Stude gouge for the 4-speed option?
jack vines
It appears that there were more 3-speed transmissions installed by the factory than I thought...in the Production Data booklet put out by the SNM Archives, it states there were 67 factory equipped 3-speed cars for the 1963 model year and 11 for the '64 model year for a combined total of 78 factory equipped as such. I see no listing of the last 3-speed car built but the 3-speed was still available for 1964. The first 3-speed car was 63R-1138, or the 138th Avanti built.
It makes sense for Studebaker to keep the 3-speed manual as least nominally available to maintain the $4445 base MSRP for the car. The 4-speed and automatic transmissions were always considered extra cost options.
While I have seen no evidence to back this up, I would imagine most and maybe all, 3-speed Avantis were dealer spec rather than special ordered by customers. It seems unlikely for someone interested enough in a performance car like the Avanti would purposely order it with a 3-speed rather than a 4-speed or automatic.
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Sort of contradicts what I thought I knew. If you'd asked me, I'd have said the first dozen or so Avanti came with the 3-speed and after that the 4-speed was standard. Does this mean the 3-speed was always the base transmission and the 4-speed was always an extra cost option? Was the low number the total of all 3-speed cars built over the two year run?
Anyone else ever seen a late-build 3-speed Avanti?
jack vines
Ditto to everything just said..
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Photo?
jack vines
Thinking about a replacement damper for a '64 R1. This engine has a pointer instead of a plate with degree marks and no TDC on the damper.
Doesn't look like the illustration in the shop manual but I think this is the correct engine for the car. Have not received the build sheet
but ordered it from SNM. Anyone using an after market damper? Cost? Vendor? Thanks
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Glad you can finally get back at it. We've all had life get in the way of projects.
jack vines
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Raising compression from 8.5 to 10.25
Increased camshaft duration and stiffer valve springs
Dual point distributor.
Everything else was pretty much the same as far as horsepower production.
The improved pan ventilation and the heavy duty front damper were needed because the Avantis mostly came with the 3.73 rear gear. This had them spinning higher RPMs.
jack vines
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Supercharged cars with primitive 1960s carburetor and ignition technology required over-rich jetting at cruise in order to prevent detonation under boost. There is also the continuous parasitic drag from the supercharger and the belts. Thus, most R2 and R3s with 3.73 rear gears are 10-14 MPG cars. Your 3.73 x .63 gives a 2.35 final drive ratio. That will help considerably, but it's still improving on a low starting point.
If you spend some time and money on the chassis dyno and have someone who really knows how to jet the Edelbrock AFB and curve the distributor, 16-18 MPG should be possible on a steady highway cruise.
FWIW, do an odometer check over several 10-mile test sections. With tire changes, transmission swaps and age, most Stude odometers are off enough to matter in MPG calculations.
jack vines
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With an R1 automatic and 3.73 gears, I got about 12-14 in town and 14-16 on the highway. With the 700R4 overdrive, it now gets 18 MPG on the highway. With that improvement, it will only take about 100 years to pay for the trans swap. The reduction in noise made it worth the money spent the first year.
jack vines
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Unless the situation has changed in the past couple of weeks, they're currently out of stock.I'm not sure if the various Studebaker vendors have some of in stock or not and they may be hard to find.
Just asking, by what method have you quantified this? Dyno? Drag strip? G-Tech GPS? How much did the R3 manifolds enhance the performance over the R1 manifolds?They enhance performance over the standard R1 headers.jack vines
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I use the two-speed electric fan from the Dodge Viper on my Hawk and my C-cab pickup. Since it cools 500hp in a smaller space, it will cool anything Studebaker. I'll have to measure the Avanti, but I think the Viper fan will probably fit. If it will, I've got a new-in-box unit on the shelf I'd sell at my cost.
jack vines
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There have never been any catalog headers for the Avanti, so how would we get enough votes for a consensus?Seems many people believe there is no improvement to be gained by moving to tube headers - is this the consensus?A few years back, I had a set of four-tube headers custom made and through the mufflers on a stock R1, there was no difference in performance. When opened up at the strip and with the carburetor rejetted, air cleaner removed, distributor custom curved, IIRC, they were worth two-tenths and three MPH.
jack vines
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Does anyone know for sure the Larks and the Avanti forks are the same?
jack vines
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Good to see you up and running.
Never take anything for granted on old Studes, or any old car. Verify every fluid, every valve and ignition and carburetor setting.So check your diff's - mine was totally dry on the outside and so I thought it was full and not leaking.
Again, take nothing for granted, but most 6-cyl cars used the lighter duty Dana 27 without TwinTraction.what was the standard rear axle ratio for 6 cylinder Commander 4 doors in 1964?jack vines
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The best seats of any car I've ever sat in are the Saab 9000 Aero. Good luck finding those, but most any late Saab has leather, heated, 6-way power and can be made to fit the Avant.Jack, any particular model or brand you have in mind for the Brand X seats for the Avanti?jack vines
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Agree, the OEM seats are too close and too upright. I changed the seats completely, going with some leather heated 6-way power seats from a brandX import. Being able to put the seat at the distance, angle and rake I like completely changed the feel of the car.
Yes, the stock seats can be moved back and put at a bit more of an tilt also.
jack vines
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Most of the guys who really knew are long since dead, but the version I remember is so S-P only had to build and stock one short block and it could be used for either an R1 or an R2.If I recall, part of the reason Stude went with the truck heads and flat top piston combo was to give more material in the top of the piston for boosted applications.FWIW, I've never had any problems with dished pistons and R1 heads on an R2.
jack vines
New PS cylinder
in 1963-64 Avanti
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A friend has a PS with a cylinder which he says only leaks on hard right turns. That to me suggests a rusty or worn section of the rod. He'd prefer to replace rather than rebuild.
Anyone have a best price source for a new or guaranteed rebuilt PS cylinder for him? Nostalgic prices give him sticker shock as it would me.
jack vines