Turner rear brake kit on 1963 Avanti R2

[Vaaraz]

Hello all !

I have a 1963 R2 Avanti in restoration, in France http://www.facebook....135370756510340

I bought Turner's disc brake kits for Avanti and my mechanic is working on it now.

We have some trouble at rear because of the size of the bracket, it touches the inside of the wheel.

Is it because I kept the original wheels ?

Does anybody know if that kind of kit is only made for larger wheels ?

Thanks & Best regards,

Daniel

[Guest dapy]

Daniel,

Please send me a personal email so I will have your address. I would like to share pictures of my just completed 1964 R4888 R2 engine rebuild. Yours looks great. What is the color of your repainted engine area? The "V" on the front of your Avanti is unique..

Dave Pyle dap8@comcast.net

[Gunslinger]

The "V" on the front of your Avanti is unique..

Dave Pyle dap8@comcast.net

That's because he owns Raymond Loewy's Avanti. The "V" was one of Loewy's affectations he would do to his personal cars. It certainly makes the car unique though I think it's an acquired taste...I don't personally think much of it but if it was my car I'd leave it there due to its provenance.

[PackardV8]

FWIW, I haven't put Turner rear discs on my Avanti, because the absolutely last thing an Avanti needs is more rear brake. The factory purposely limited the rear braking by making the rear drums non-self-energizing. Still, on hard downhill stops, the right rear will lock easily and sometimes both rears.

This is because on a hard stop, 80% of the weight transfers onto the front wheels and the rears are barely touching the pavement. You'll have to work with the F/R balance to keep the rears from locking. You can get the balance right, but bed in the pads and then do a lot of testing on deserted roads before making a panic stop in the rain.

jack vines

[Guest dapy]

Gunny,

How many Avantis did Mr. Loewy own? Wasn't one auctioned in CA? If I owned one of his I would leave the "V".

Edited September 19, 2012 by dapy

[Gunslinger]

I'm only aware of two for sure...one in France and one in the US, but there might be a third, which may actually be one of the others from being sold several times.

He owned the Studebaker in France and the American car was an Avanti II. There's a well distributed photo of Loewy and Nate Altman talking next to an Avanti and I've seen it captioned as Loewy taking ownership of the car and others say they're simply discussing Avantis and that car just happened to be a prop for the photo. There is build sheet for an Avanti II marked for him.

Back in the late 1970's or very early '80s 60 Minutes did a story on Loewy and it showed him driving his Avanti (I believe the Avanti II).

[Guest dapy]

According to Daniel, our French friend, his restoration is a 1963 R2. Wonder what is the serial? Perhaps he could tell us the history.

[ernier]

FWIW, I haven't put Turner rear discs on my Avanti, because the absolutely last thing an Avanti needs is more rear brake. The factory purposely limited the rear braking by making the rear drums non-self-energizing. Still, on hard downhill stops, the right rear will lock easily and sometimes both rears.

This is because on a hard stop, 80% of the weight transfers onto the front wheels and the rears are barely touching the pavement. You'll have to work with the F/R balance to keep the rears from locking. You can get the balance right, but bed in the pads and then do a lot of testing on deserted roads before making a panic stop in the rain.

jack vines

I was afraid of that when I did mine but I can confidentley say it was not and issue. I tested them at the drag strip coming down from 90+ mph, multiple in town psuedo panic stops etc. No lock up issues at all.

When I did mine I used a disc/disc specific master cylinder; 1,000 lbs of pressure at each brake and no proportioning valve.

I do believe you will need to go to a Ford or Chrysler wheel for clearance. You should anyway. The original wheels are too narrow for radials to do their job properly and if you are running bias ply tires you will be negating any benfit of the 4 wheel disc conversion.