PackardV8
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Posts posted by PackardV8
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7 hours ago, plwindish said:
Jack, it sound like you are describing my '76. It still has the original 400 block, crank and oil pan. Motor was first rebuilt in '11 and equipped with a hydraulic roller cam, head work, new aluminum intake and carb putting out 360 hp over the original 175. Two years ago, as motor was undergoing conversion to TBI fuel injection, a cracked head was discovered and it had another tear down, new pistons, rods, cam and aluminum heads were added. Motor is running nicely now, putting out 470 hp and 570 torque. A 200R4 was added in 2011 as well, making it a nice highway cruiser that can more than keep up with today's traffic. I'm thankful it does not have a sunroof. I was impressed with the overall quality of the car as I had a '64 years ago and the Avanti II's body quality, build quality and interior are superior to what the '64 had.
Yes, your car is pretty much the way I'd do one, maybe with improved anti-roll bars, shocks, tires and wheels.
jack vines
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5 hours ago, mfg said:
What you're possibly not seeing Jack, is that there are only so many ORIGINAL Sunbeam Tigers out there.....a limited supply of Tigers that are probably best left unmolested.
Wouldn't it perhaps be more practical to purchase something like a 'Factory Five' reproduction Cobra...and build it any way the spirit moves you?....Ed
Your car, your money, your decision. And no, I'd never want a Cobra under any circumstances. They were and are a miserable thing to drive on the street. Difficult to believe, but the Sunbeam Tiger is a much more comfortable car, especially for taller drivers.
FWIW, the original Tiger needed a lot of help and frankly wasn't that much fun to drive with skinny bias ply tires on skinny steel wheels, a 260" 2bbl which floated the valves at 4800 RPM.
Another FWIW, I was president of STOA back in the early 1970s and there just wasn't that much interest in restoring Tigers because they were so much more fun to drive when modified, but when resale came, a restored car usually brought more money. Modifications and color choices are so individual; especially flared fenders and pearlescent paint were sometimes difficult to find a buyer who liked that combination of changes. I know I didn't.
jack vines
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As with any old car, what we buy today depends on how many sympathetic owners and their budget for maintenance and improvement during the past fifty years; also whether we want improved or restored. JMHO, but an Avanti with a all-aluminum LS 6.0 and six-speed automatic would be a nice ride.
FWIW, I had a growing-family budget during the fifteen years I owned our 1965 Sunbeam Tiger. It was well-taken-care-of and carefully modified. I sold it to a guy with more money and during his twenty-five-year ownership, he added a 5-speed, aluminum heads and many other expensive improvements. My little brother and I bought it back and he has had the budget to take it to the next level with EFI, new suspension, new wheels, et al. Today, it's an infinitely better quality and faster and better handling car than an original 1965 Sunbeam Tiger and many design compromises have been corrected. Still, there are those who'll pay more if it were a restored original. Their money, their car, their decision.
jack vines
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4 hours ago, Avanti83 said:
I can only speak of 74 and 83 but the 83 is quality assembly with high end materials. The 74, I consider a kit car assembled by folks that didn't seem to care as much as the folks that did the 83. Materials are also lower quality than the 83. If I wanted to build a cruiser, I find the best 83 with Recaro seats I could find and start there unless you wanted the later style bumpers.
Of course, the 83 stickered at $33K so it had a head start on the 74. I'd also agree about the sunroof, mine doesn't leak but I don't open it and it reduces headroom. I'm 6'3" with a 32"inseam for comparison and I can't wear a ball cap in mine.
When I sent Leatherque a sample of leather from the 83 to match colors, they said it was one of the best leather qualities they had seen from that era.
JMO, Bob
Hi, Bob,
So you're saying from experience the last Altman Avanti II was the best in quality and materials? This begs the question of why essentially the same facility, same employees, same basic design, made a better car in 1983 than they did in 1974? To what do we attribute the difference?
jack vines
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As a third-generation Studebaker guy and having owned too many to count, I've never owned an Avanti II. If one were to undertake a search, which years would you recommend and why? Here are my thoughts and rationale:
1. I'd never consider an Avanti II with a sunroof. I consider them an abomination in any car, but have heard nothing but problems with those in Avanti II. Obviously, Avanti II were often custom-ordered, thus could be had without the leaker, but were sunroofs standard in some years?
2. Many Avanti II no longer have the original engine/transmission, but which have you liked best? The 327", 350" or 400"? It's not a deal breaker in any case. The engine and transmission is easily and inexpensively converted to that of one's personal preference. The cost of a strong and reliable SBC and transmission to suit one's needs is barely antshit percentage of the cost of the car, paint and interior.
If I were building an engine for myself, it would most likely be a 400" with aluminum heads and cast iron block hugger headers, a hydraulic roller cam, GM TPI and a TH200-4R transmission. Again, what have you liked best?
jack vines
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On 6/8/2019 at 6:07 AM, Skip Lackie said:
learn something every day here. For whatever reason, I'd been thinking only the first seventy or so '63s came with 3-speed transmissions. So there were more than three '64 3-speeds?
jack vines
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Agree, the original Avanti/Lark suspended clutch linkage is a total POS and agree, he shouldn't replicate that.
Also agree, it's probably easier to add a suspended pedal and convert it to driving a hydraulic master cylinder and a hydraulic throwout bearing. He'll love the feel and the action.
Also agree, if doing a trans swap, go all the way to a 5-speed. It will transform the car and the driving experience.
jack vines
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JMHO, but bias plys are for show cars and radials are for cars which are driven. I have run radials since the late 1960s.
Same with air pressures; the recommended 24 front and 20 rear was suicidal, even for the crap bias tires which were OEM. The high-speed recommendation of 30 PSI was slightly less bad. With today's radials, it depends upon the size chosen, the wheel width and the manufacturer and how the car will be driven.
jack vines
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Yes, thanks for the correction. If it in fact has a supercharger on a 259", it would be the second such fraud perpetrated on an Avanti buyer we've heard of. Some years back, a Spokane Avanti member bought an R2 out of the midwest and it arrived with a stock 259" under the Paxton.
jack vines
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The only difference in standard engines is the 259" has a 3.25" stroke and 185 horsepower the 289" has a 3.625" stroke and 225 horsepower.
Your Avanti should have come with an R1 engine, 289", 10.25 compression, longer camshaft duration, dual point ignition and a Carter AFB 4-bbl and dual exhausts for 240 horsepower.
BTW, it's not unheard-of for CASOs to swap in 259"s and whatever when the original engine was worn out. The alternative possibility is someone used the 259" block and installed the 289" crankshaft and other R1 parts.
jack vines
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When all the front suspension and steering parts are new and tight and properly aligned, the Avanti steering and handling need no apology. They're fine for a daily driver. FWIW, I've seen more Avanti screwed up by conversion to R&P and/or aftermarket front clips than I've seen improved.
Same with the front disc brakes. When they're new and right, they are fine for a daily driver.
jack vines
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Fairborn Studebaker has the axles.
jack vines
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Actually only need the little L-shaped connecting piece, but will buy the complete latch.
Can anyone with a parts book confirm what years will fit the '75?
jack vines
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27 minutes ago, Gunslinger said:
The 327 will be easier. The LS1 will be awesome.
X2 - the 327" will have all the power the Avanti can hook and is a bolt in. The LS1/T56 will be two generations better, but way more work and way more expensive. One doesn't just bolt in and drive away a modern EFI computer controlled engine.
jack vines
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Quote
conversations with Nimesh . . . Can't find my specific notes on the phone chat but it seems he was actually casting up a couple of pairs of new R3 iron heads
Yes, I was told the same thing many years ago. However, a conversation with one of our members here who actually bought the heads will be very enlightening.
jack vines
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6 hours ago, scottgriggs said:
Not much of an R3 without upgraded heads...
Someone once estimated there are three times as many 427" 425hp Corvettes extant than Chevrolet ever built. We know from shows, sales and wannabees there are more than three times as many R3 Studes out there. How many have the correct components, only a competent disassembly will know.
At a recent show, I walked by an R1 Avanti with an R3 airbox and hose on it; no supercharger in sight, but a passerby read the "R3" on the air box and gave a great dissertation about what a rare and valuable Avanti this was.
jack vines
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VA offers a kit for the V8 C/K cars with everything you'll need.
jack
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5 hours ago, scottgriggs said:
Were the R2 heads ported?
If the buyer wanted to pay for it, Paxton would send the heads over to Joe Mondello (RIP).
jack vines
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FWIW, I've installed Vintage Air systems in other Studes for which there were no OEM systems and repaired OEM systems where they already existed, but just never in a N-A Avanti. Based solely on hand's-on experience, which would you choose and why?
jack vines
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I have it first hand from one who worked there, Paxton sold bitsa R3s with stock rods, R2 heads, iron intakes and stock oil pans.
jack vines
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Connecting rods.
jack vines
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Yes, the Phoenix/Scottsdale collector car market goes nuts each year just prior to and during Barrett-Jackson week. Anyone even thinking about selling his car posts it on line with a wishful thinking price. Just maybe one of those rich bidders will be looking on line and land on a car not at the auction.
jack vines
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This is a gorgeous car and probably better in every respect than many of the nine original cars. Having said that, it's still a clone and that will matter to some evaluating whether it's a $140,000 car or not.
jack vines
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18 hours ago, mfg said:
Well, I guess if I were trying to prop up one of those '55-'56 Packard V8's I'd also be feeling quite negative about driving older vehicles!
......Driving an Avanti is a pleasure I partake every day!
Don't forget ....when we're gone, someone else will surely be driving our cars!!
FWIW, I own and drive a Studebaker Avanti. I'm just not under the mistaken impression that the OEM brakes are unrepairable/unreliable and must be thrown out.
My other driver is a '55 Studebaker E12 3/4t also with the original brakes. With a Packard Caribbean V8, in it, it runs rings around Studebaker R1s. It's all good.
jack vines
The best year(s) for Altman-era Avanti and why?
in 1965-83 Avanti
Posted
For those of you who've built some power and tires into your SBC/Avanti II, how do the OEM traction bars handle hard starts?
jack vines