2 more emerge from the darkness

[bugnbox]

About 10 years ago or so I had a 64 Avanti that I had some fun with. It was a good runner and needed some cosmetics, but it was a good car and I had a blast with it. I sold it to a fellow from Canada who flew to California and drove it home (after rebuilding the brakes in my driveway).

Anyway...a couple days ago I saw an ad locally for two 63 R1s that were in storage and I followed up and bought the pair of them. The price was right and I just couldnt pass them up. Now Ive got to figure out what to do with them ! The cars had been sitting for probably a good 20 years or more...indoors, but near the ocean, so there is some heavy deterioration to the brightwork. The bodies look good, paint is poor and the interiors need some serious cleaning...mechanically they are a mystery but as is normally told...they both "ran when parked".

All Ive done so far is to drag them home and stare at them a little...Im hoping to get a little time after the holidays pass to play with them and see how well the clean up and if they will fire back to life.

Since Im a bit of a neophyte Im sure I will have a lot of questions...but I figured it would be fun to share "the find" with everyone.

Any comments?

[bugnbox]

First question...

Is there a way to figure out the chassis number of a car based on the body number?

On one of the cars the chassis plate is really hard to read...I think it reads 63R 3376 but Im not certain...the body tag on the same car reads 63 RQ2394.

Is there some way to crack this code?

[Gunslinger]

The VIN plate is located on the frame rail on the right side, just below the heater blower motor. It may well be covered in grease and difficult to read if that where you're already looking. The body number plate is not the same number as you've already seen. There really is no code to crack...the body number is just that..."RQ" simply designates an Avanti body and it's sequence in production and has no relation to the VIN. The VIN is also sequential in order of construction...Avanti VIN's start at 1001, so if you're reading the VIN plate correctly, it's the 2376th Avanti Studebaker built. That's all there is to the code.

You can order copies of the original build sheets for each car through Nostalgic Motors or the Studebaker National Museum. There's something like a $20-$25 cost for each and the build sheets will tell you exactly how the cars were originally equipped from the factory.

As far as working on the cars...outside of a cleanup to see exactly what you have, I wouldn't worry about the cosmetics at first. Concentrate on safety and driveability items...brakes, engine, electrics, lights, etc. Check to make sure the frame and hog troughs are solid...if not, be prepared for some big expenses or even consider them little more than parts cars depending on how severe the problems might be or how much money you're willing to invest. I'm not tying to scare you...Avanti's are absolutely wonderful cars, but there are certain things than can ruin the experience if you don't go about it in a planned and orderly manner. You can very easily end up in a ridiculously cash intensive endeavor if not careful. Depending on what you find after doing a complete survey of the cars, you might find they're quite rebuildable, or maybe use one for a parts car to restore the other then sell what's left, or both beyond economic restoration. Hopefully, both will be restorable...I for one want to see as many Avanti's saved as possible. I know parts cars are needed quite often, but at the same time, I hate to see any taken apart.

Feel free to ask anything you like...there's a lot of experience here.

[63 Avanti R2]

I got my build sheet through the Studebaker national museum for $25.00 plus $3.00 for shipping.

Steve

[bugnbox]

Thanks for the info...I will send off for the build sheet info on both cars.

I found the vin plate but it is really worn and the stamped numbers are hard to see clearly.

So far, everything looks pretty good on the cars. The hog troughs are very solid, the cars are complete and the bodies look to be in nice shape. Possibly a little front end repair to one of them...well done but under the hood the corners up front look a little thicker than the other car. The interiors are complete and look like they will clean up pretty well. Worst part about them so far from my initial scan is that the chrome is really heavily pitted up and the pot metal emblems and such are virtually goners.

I dont have any dreams of full restorations on either car...on one I may do a little paint touch up just to fluff it up a bit but keep it original, on the other possibly a quick coat of paint as the paint on the hood and fenders has really flaked off and it looks bad.

I tried to attach a photo here but it didnt seem to take...what's the trick?

[J Boyle]

Before you purchased your cars, a member of the Studebaker Drivers Club was looking at them.

There was a posting on the SDC site about tyhem and someone listed the two serials....

Here's a link:

http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/top...?TOPIC_ID=24792

A poster said ehe white Avanti's serial # is 63R-2394 and the Gold is 63R-1819.

I don't know if it's correct, but it's a place to start.

[attrite1]

Before you purchased your cars, a member of the Studebaker Drivers Club was looking at them.

There was a posting on the SDC site about tyhem and someone listed the two serials....

Here's a link:

http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/top...?TOPIC_ID=24792

A poster said ehe white Avanti's serial # is 63R-2394 and the Gold is 63R-1819.

I don't know if it's correct, but it's a place to start.

Yep, that was me...........seems "Freddie" didn't bother to call me after he sold the cars to you, so when I showed up Friday @ 1PM as per my appointment, the cars were gone and Freddie was no where to be found. He gave me the numbers a few days earlier, I wanted to verify them first myself since the cars were to be sold without Title. I'm up in North County San Diego. If You'd like some assistance or on-site help, just let me know, I'd be happy to help.

[bugnbox]

Those numbers are the body numbers... I showed him where the vin numbers were.

I was down there Thursday afternoon to strike the deal and went back first thing Friday to haul em out of there. He mentioned that there were other interested parties, but the first one with the cash would get them. I guess I was the guy.

I checked out the numbers and the history of the cars...I am confident that everything is on the up and up...met the whole family, etc.

Im out east of Temecula if you want to come by for a look-see...just let me know.

Im considering selling one to finance the rebuild of the other...hard part is choosing which one to keep. I like the gold color better but the white car has A/C.

[attrite1]

Im out east of Temecula if you want to come by for a look-see...just let me know.

Yes, I'd like to, very much! PM me at attrite1(at)coxdotnet and we can set some time. I've got an interesting one in storage in Escondido you might want to see too.