Avanti Friendly Aftermarket parts?

Zach · April 22, 2009

I'd like to get some stuff to bring the motor up to date (cam, tbi, hei, etc) but I'm not quite sure how to go about getting parts for a car that's not on any of the big name performance websites. I have a 64 r1 that's been bored out to something over 300 i think, but when i rebuild the car, I'd like to modernize just a tad.

Gunslinger · April 22, 2009

Short of dropping a small block Chevy in it, there's not much on the aftermarket specifically for a Studebaker engine to increase its performance. Basically, you follow well tried and true techniques to increase its performance, but first, you need to decide what you want out of the car and assemble the parts necessary to achieve that.

There is an aftermarket of some performance parts offered by several Studebaker vendors...some aluminum intakes, ignition systems (HEI and some other types), superchargers, aluminum heads, etc. I have no personal experience with the aluminum heads or intakes available, but some say they need some work before they can be used. True or not, I cannot say. Basically, when it comes to aluminum intake manifolds, given equal runner design, the air doesn't care what the intake is made of, so the only real advantages of aluminum is some weight reduction and some better efficiency at shedding heat. In a well designed engine system, that can mean a lot or a little. Supposedly, Edelbrock has shown some interest in making a run of intake manifolds for Stude V8's, but it would probably take a lot of Stude people asking for it as a minimum number of intakes would have to be manufactured to keep the price reasonable for resale and profitable for Edelbrock.

I'm not aware of any fuel injection units available for a Studebaker engine, outside of some custom fabricated units which are probably quite pricey to accomplish. I understand that Mopar small block intakes can be adapted to a Stude V8, so an aftermarket EFI like Edelbrock could possibly work. You have to worry about hood clearance though. I have that unit for the small block Chevy under the hood of my Avanti II and we had to do some custom work for the air cleaner I wanted to clear.

There are a few Stude vendors that sell reground camshafts for additional performance. Whether a cam company would agree to design and make new camshafts for a Stude is highly problematic. Anything is possible, but there would have to be a lot of serious campaigning by enthusiasts before a company would invest the design and manufacturing time and effort.

Since you say you want to modernize your R1 a tad, I think you might consider a reground camshaft from a Stude vendor for a step up in performance, not a huge increase or you'll end up with a badly loping idle with little engine vacuum (unless that's what you want), have the stock intake ported and polished, install a new Edelbrock Performer carburetor with electric choke which is an updated Carter AFB (500 cfm should be adequate...600 or 650 only if you do some serious porting on the intake or heads and like to drive at high rpm's).

A distributor converted to HEI or another type of electronics would be a good move...and it can be set up with an advance curve tailored to your engine specs. That alone can bring your engine alive. Having your stock distributor rebuilt and recurved, plus adding a Pertronix electronic conversion kit would accomplish the same.

There's quite a bit that can be done to wake that engine up without spending a fortune, it all depends on what you want out of the engine and work to attain that goal. An intelligent mix of the right parts will do far more than simply throwing together a bunch of performance parts, no matter what the names on them are or how high their quality.

Zach · May 7, 2009

Thank you for the thorough reply! I'm sorry I haven't been able to get back on lately. I've been super busy.

Unfortunately, I grew up in the bolt-on era, and am pretty inexperienced when it comes to the "tried and true" techniques. Maybe a little Old Engine 101?

Gunslinger · May 7, 2009

What I mean by "tried and true" is basically some more cam, improvements to the induction system...porting and polishing the intake manifold and exhaust passages, stronger ignition with a distributor curve matched to the engine performance, valve work to the heads, free flowing exhaust (though the Avanti exhaust is pretty good in that respect anyway). About the only real improvement one can make to an Avanti exhaust system is to add headers, which would have to be custom made or find a set of R3 exhaust manifolds (expensive).

Remember...more horsepower means greater heat that has to be dealt with. Many Avanti's are considered marginal in cooling ability anyway so overdoing the power modifications can mean more mods to the cooling system, though that may be a car by car issue. An old car, old radiator, possibly full of crud, fan clutch possibly not up to spec anymore...could be problems, but should be dealt with anyway if they're an issue.

Little of these are "bolt-on", though most are not difficult to have done. Much of it requires shop and machining time by someone trained in doing it. If someone says they're not sure about it since it's a Studebaker engine, you don't want them to do the work for you. The basics are the basics, regardless of who made the engine. Admittedly, Stude engines may have a few quirks, but so do most any other make.

Depending on how much originality means to you, and how much you're willing to invest, consider a transmission upgrade to either a GM 700R4 or 200R4 (if you have an automatic now) or a Tremec 5-speed if you have a manual now. You can get a well engineered and quality made transmission adapter from Michael Myers of Myers Studebaker. It allows the use of a Stude engine to a GM transmission pattern. Attach an aluminum driveshaft behind that and your car will fly. Do other engine mods as well and you won't believe it's the same car. All that can be done without resorting to extreme engine modifications...keep a good idle and drivability and better performance.

Decide what you want out of the engine, make a plan, ask questions, make sure everything is doable and reasonable in accomplishing your goals. Don't simply throw a bunch of performance parts together and expect better results. It's the right mix of parts that makes the difference.

okc63avanti · May 9, 2009

Zach,

My 1963 R1 is currently being restored/modified by Michael Myers. I would give him a call and discuss your engine and trans mods with him. He is very experienced at doing this type of work but if you are not close to Ohio then there are others in the SDC universe who have done a lot of similiar type of improvements that you may live closer to.

My R1 is a previously a 1 owner from 63 to 2000. I picked mine up from JP in Maryland in 2001 after it had been sold in a couple of auctions. It has about 130,000 original miles on it and was still running strong. I took it to Michael in late Febrauary and he has started working on it. My plans are to bore the cylinders 0.060" and using new hypertunic pistons, Michael will rework my R1 valve heads by enlarging the combustion chamber slightly, porting the valves and installing larger SS valves. All this will lower my compression ratio down to the 9.5 range vs. orginial 10.25 and help with the the engines ability to use the crappy premium gasoline available today. We are going with Edelbrock carb, Paxton supercharger, Mopar HEI ignition and R3 style exhaust headers. Michael has done this type of engine conversion (R2+ is what I call it) numerous times and on a dyno the engine should be putting out about 340 HP.

My R1 (R2386) was a white ext. with orange int.. car with Auto, AC, PW, PS, AM radio options. Along with the engine mods my plans are to replace the Powershift auto with a Tremec TKO 5-speed manual trans, and to have a Supercharged R2+ engine with AC. This will be done by removing original York AC compressor, installing Paxton SC and then about where the surge tank is located, Michael installs a Sanden style R-134A compressor and we will keep all the original AC components inside the interior. Interior mods will be to replace the original front buckets with a more comfortable higher back bucket that looks right (maybe late 80's to late 90's Camero seats???), and install shoulder belts. We are doing a complete frame off with frame getting sand blasted and powder coated. We will also install Turner disc brakes on front and put disc brakes on the rear.

Because I am building a modified Avanti my plans are to go with custom rims and probably change color schemes. I am probably going to have exterior painted a "Crimson" red versus the Avanti origianl red which is too orange red for my likes, plus I am an alumus of the University of Alabama "Crimson Tide" so I really like the dark crimson red colors. Interior will probably be a Fawn-Elk colored interior with black carpeting.

Edited May 9, 2009 by okc63avanti