Searching for Avanti

[rggreenley@yahoo.com]

If you could please provide suggestions where to find QUALITY Avantis for sale please. I read somewhere that I may only see junk (rust) on ebay, is this so? Outside of rusted hog troughs, what should I watch out for? Is there an approximate cost for 1) What should a Quality paint job cost? Would this be base plus clearcoat or is there a better process? How long should a quality job last if car is garaged? 2) If engine needs work, is it better to overhaul or get a new crated engine? 3) Interior - What does a quality redo (leather and new carprt) of the interior cost? 4) Where is the best place to go for quality rechrome? I understand they fix any dents, etc. in the process?

Thanks for helping a novice find the right car.

Edited January 2, 2006 by rggreenley@yahoo.com

[J Boyle]

If you could please provide suggestions where to find QUALITY Avantis for sale please.  I read somewhere that I may only see junk (rust) on ebay, is this so?  Outside of rusted hog troughs, what should I watch out for?  Is there an approximate cost for 1) What should a Quality paint job cost? Would this be base plus clearcoat or is there a better process? How long should a quality job last if car is garaged? 2) If engine needs work, is it better to overhaul or get a new crated engine?  3) Interior - What does a quality redo (leather and new carprt) of the interior cost?  4) Where is the best place to go for quality rechrome? I understand they fix any dents, etc. in the process?

Thanks for helping a novice find the right car.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Try Hemmings Motor news for ads. Also, the AOAI & the Studebaker Drivers Club websites. Also, e-bay isn't necessarily a bad place to shop...if you can get someone to give it an honest inspection for you...tough to do with an auction deadline. The November Sports Car Market had an article from a guy who got burned by buying an Avanti off ebay. He paid $24K for a 2- or 3 condition 64 R2!

Paint....figure on $5000-10,000. Go to car shows and ask members of local hot rod and Corvette clubs to see who does good fiberglass work.

I found interior kits from one of the Avanti parts outfits for $500, plus $300 for the carpets, $175 for the trunk. WayneC's follow-up post is correct...These are Studebaker kits...for Vinyl.

Do youself a favor...buy the very best car you can afford, it's always cheaper to buy someone else's restoration than to bring back a basket case yourself (unless you can do a lot of work and you are doing it for fun...paying youself a dollar an hour.

Even the best Altman-eara Avanti IIs aren't that expensive compared to most cars today. Take your time and wait to buy a great car.

Edited January 4, 2006 by J Boyle

[IndyJimW]

Purchased my '87 off of e-bay a little over a year ago. Car was as advertised and I picked it up for about $3000.00 less than I expected to pay. Even got my Credit Union to finance the full purchase price. I'm happy.

[WayneC]

If you could please provide suggestions where to find QUALITY Avantis for sale please.  I read somewhere that I may only see junk (rust) on ebay, is this so?  Outside of rusted hog troughs, what should I watch out for?  Is there an approximate cost for 1) What should a Quality paint job cost? Would this be base plus clearcoat or is there a better process? How long should a quality job last if car is garaged? 2) If engine needs work, is it better to overhaul or get a new crated engine?  3) Interior - What does a quality redo (leather and new carprt) of the interior cost?  4) Where is the best place to go for quality rechrome? I understand they fix any dents, etc. in the process?

Thanks for helping a novice find the right car.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Quality cars and rough cars can be found anywhere, the trick as J Boyle says, is to have someone inspect it before purchase.

Aside from rust in the frame and signs of rust around the window frames and in door openings, look for cracks in the frame around the area of the front spring pockets. Also look at the underside of fiberglass panels for signs of major repairs. If the front end feels like you hit an anvil when you go over bumps, you'll need to rebuild the front suspension.

Base coat/clear coat will be in the area of $5k to $8K, more if the shop finds significant prior damage repairs in the body. A single-stage acrylic enamel might be a bit less if you like a non-metallic with a softer-gloss finish. Paint will look decent indefinitely, probably 15 to 20 years or so if the car is mostly garaged (and not left in open parking lots all day).

A complete leather interior is very expensive (thousands, maybe 6 to 8), and has to be custom-made (I don't think anyone offers pre-made Avanti interior leather upholstery)... I think J Boyle meant vinyl when he quoted $500... that might not even buy a leather headliner.

Chrome platers vary... these places should offer quality work (triple plating), but expect to pay at least $400 to $750 to do a quality rechrome on a bumper:

Frankford Plating, Philadelphia PA 215 288 4518

Paul's Chrome Plating, Evans City PA 800-245-8679

Rick Applegate, Jackson TN 731-422-0567

http://arebachrome.com/

Also, make sure the pieces fit properly before you give them to a plater, because the plater has no way to know if they are slightly bent. Yes they can fix dents and fill in rust areas after they grind them out, but that will all cost extra.

Whether to rebuild an old engine or buy a crate engine (I assume you are talking Avanti II) is just about a toss-up, unless you want to keep the original engine or you know an engine builder you really like & trust. Crate engines are nice, quick, some have aluminum heads to accept lower octane fuels without knocking, and it's hard to beat the price, but you could run into problems hanging accessories if the new engine doesn't have threaded holes in all the correct places for the old brackets, and tall intake manifolds may not fit under the hood.

***

If you want an Avanti needing work, I've been toying with the idea of selling my '80 Avanti, which I rarely drive (I also own a 71 Avanti, pretty but not currently operable, and 4 brand x cars). The '80 has 50K original miles, is unmolested and in decent shape; although not rust-free, there are no rust-outs. It's had 3 owners and has been in Tx and CA, where I live, nearly all it's life, but has lived in my driveway under a car cover for some years now while I mostly procrastinate about working on a Corvette project that's taking up space in my garage. It needs a repaint (original paint is seriously spider-webbed) and some upholstery (Recaro front seat leather is cracking) and could probably use carpeting, too; rear bumper needs rechrome. No body damage; 350 runs/drives great, w/ low emissions on smog checks, brakes work good; haven't tried the a/c recently. If you trust the tires (I don't, they have good tread but sun-cracked sidewalls), it could be driven anywhere. In short, it's a solid basic car that needs cosmetics and TLC (where've I heard THAT before?). I'm soon to lose garage space for another car of mine at a neighbors, and my driveway is chokablok full, so I could use the parking space. I'll probably put decent tires on it and ask somewhere around $8500. E-mail me for some pics if interested.

[SBCA96]

Base coat/clear coat will be in the area of $5k to $8K, more if the shop finds significant prior damage repairs in the body. A single-stage acrylic enamel might be a bit less if you like a non-metallic with a softer-gloss finish.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

http://www.earlscheib.com/

I recently had my wifes 1986 Camaro IROC painted at Earl Scheib, they have

come a long way from the crappy quality paints they used to use, and the poor

applications. I am not saying that they are show quality, but for a driver, or an

improvement over a tired paint job, they are damn good. I paid 600 for the total

job, and that included stripping the paint off a couple panels, and filling a small

rust hole on the hood. They also removed all the stickers. They use only acrylic

urethane paint - which is the GOOD stuff. We got the higher end job, which also

included a clear coat. It has a 6 year warrenty - try getting that on a 7000 dollar

specialty shop job. Here are some before and after pics :

As I said, its NOT perfect, but its a HUGE improvement from an aged paint job or

one with a clear coat delamination problem like this IROC had. It looks GREAT

from 10 feet away and the Earl-Tech was upfront about that. You could work out

things to get an even better job then this, but I just wanted to make the car easier

to sell then the eye sore it was.

I actually plan on having the Avanti painted there as well, though I will work with

them to get an even better result. The only negative was the amount of dirt that

was on the paint in the front of the car. My guess is that the dirt along the edge

of the hood seam blew out as they painted the car. I recommend giving the car

a REALLY good cleaning BEFORE bringing it in. Earl doesnt do a WET cleaning of

the car, and this car had a LOT of dirt from sitting. They pressure air blew it out,

but it wasnt enough. Most of the dirt came off during the first waxing, so it wasnt

a big deal really. Compared to how it looked before - its a show car now! Also

keep in mind that these are the pics RIGHT after receiving the car, the paint is a

lot more shiny now after its first waxing. The paint is airborn and already painted

surfaces are 'dulled' by the airborn color landing on the surface. Rubbing out the

paint during waxing/polishing will fix that nicely.

Chrome platers vary... these places should offer quality work (triple plating), but expect to pay at least $400 to $750 to do a quality rechrome on a bumper.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

http://www.verneschromeplating.com/contact.html

These guys are in California, in Gardena. They were recomended to me by Jon

Myer, and also by a few guys on the Impala SS site. They quoted me just a hair

over 700 bucks for both front AND rear bumpers (all 4 main pieces). They do a

"triple" deal, but told me that most shops push "hype" and not quality.

They also told me to stay away from "black chrome", I was tempted to have that

done to my Avanti, since I am not a fan of chrome. They said that its not very

durable, so it would be bad on the front of the car (rock chips).

Tom

Edited January 4, 2006 by SBCA96

[Gunslinger]

I can recommend Paul's for chrome plating. A friend has a '63 Lincoln 4-door convertible and sent them all the chrome from the car. When it was returned, it was very carefully packed and the chrome plating was magnificent to say the least. They were not inexpensive by any means, but Avanti's have far less chrome than a contemporary Lincoln.