Garage Find - Another Avanti Saved

[Paul K.]

Today was a great day. I purchased R-2569 ( R1 Auto) in 2008 on a tip from another Avanti club member. He mentioned the car was his neighbors and had been sitting for years in their garage. He wasn't kidding, 400 miles between 1972 and 1976 and nothing after that. Total miles on the car, 104k. Mostly original, one owner, Southern CA (San Diego) black plate car. Zero rust.

Other car projects got in the way but little by little things got done on the Avanti. Although the engine ran great, the water jackets were clogged.so I decided to pull the engine and go through it, plus the usual cooling and fuel systems rebuild. Brake system rebuilt and tires of course plus front and rear suspension rebuild with springs. Often projects lose momentum and don't get finished. I'm way over the hump now and FINALLY enough work has been completed to take it for a drive.

Today was its first shakedown cruise to the exhaust shop. She ran well and very strong.

Pic below. After hours of polishing, I was finally able to get some shine out of the original paint,

Thanks to all on the forum for their help and expertise.

Edited January 14, 2015 by Paul K.

[warren55]

Wow. Looks very nice,and unique!

[GlennW]

yay!!!

[boogieman]

Beautiful car. Good work on maintaining the originality of your new toy. Enjoy.

I spent over 40 hours bringing the shine back to my '78. Well worth the efforts.

[Guest dapy]

How does one determine if the paint is restorable? And if so how to restore it?

Edited January 14, 2015 by dapy

[Gunslinger]

Dapy...you'll find tons of good information on Autogeek.net. They have tutorials, a forum for asking those questions and sell most of the quality over the counter car care brands plus some boutique products not available in retail stores. I think you can find your answers there.

If you decide to buy anything from Autogeek, use the promo code "Avanti10" and you'll get a 10% discount...I set that up with them a couple of years back. They also run regular specials and sales on different lines.

[mfg]

Wow Paul,...Your '63 Avanti looks beautiful, and it sounds like you're doing all the right thing to it.....Best of luck!

[Guest dapy]

Gunny,

Thanks...I'll contact them.

[Paul K.]

Yes, Autogeek is a great resource. I'm an auto tech instructor, mostly teach engine performance and computer controls but I started a detailing course a couple of years ago that I teach. Mike Phillips is a great person at Autogeek and will answer your emails. His book, "The Complete Guide To A Show Car Shine" is excellent and I use it for my textbook. Before Mike was at Autogeek, he spent many years at Meguiars. Here is the link for the book: http://autogeek.comm...il book&x=0&y=0

The book explains single stage and two stage paints and how to approach them, and the differences between polishes, glazes, waxes and compounds. Plus various methods of hand polishing, machine polishing and pads. The book is a bargain at $20.00 considering the information.

To determine if a finish is restorable requires a few steps. Test spots are done starting with less aggressive polishes then going more aggressive until you get the results you want.

In the case of my Avanti, I broke a lot of rules to get a shine. There was paint spilled on it and other stains from years of junk piled on it. The rear quarters and trunk have been repainted and they are not as nice as the original paint. There are MANY scratches and chips. I just wanted to make the car look better and presentable from 20 or 30 feet. It looks much better in the photo I posted than in person, but it has that cool worn "patina" look.

Studebaker applied single stage paints and my color Avanti Gray is a metallic. This means is cannot be wet sanded because there is no clearcoat layer over the metallic and if sanded, the metallic will go away. In the case of my car, no metallic could be found because the paint was so oxidized. After not getting good results with what I feel is one of the best and most aggressive compound, Meguiars 105, I decided to wet sand the car to quickly cut the heavy layer of oxidation. After that I compounded a few times, then polished a few times. I used a rotary polisher and the biggest problem was the pad would get so dirty and clogged with old paint that it was very time consuming due to constantly having to wash the pad(s). In addition, dirty pads get hot quick and get sticky so I had to be careful to not burn the paint. There were already some thin areas on the paint where I had to go easy. This WAS the most difficult polishing job I have done. I am at the point now where I am polishing with a Rupes dual action polisher and Meguiars #7 Show Car Glaze. #7 is very high in oil content compared to other polishes and "feeds" old dried paint. This polish is recommended to restore old paint by many professionals, however, my paint was so bad, it was not strong enough begin with. The dual action polisher removes swirls and haze left from the rotary polisher, and in my case there was a lot because so much of the paint was old and "dead" and I had to use a lot of pressure. If anyone gets the itch to buy a polisher, let me know. We have most of the popular ones at the school and I can share my experiences with them. Below is a pic of the car before any polishing the day I bought it. First one is in the garage where it sat for years with flat tires, ( the seller is wiping the years of dust off) and the other is after I had it towed and washed.

Edited January 15, 2015 by Paul K.

[GlennW]

Yes, Autogeek is a great resource. I'm an auto tech instructor, mostly teach engine performance and computer controls but I started a detailing course a couple of years ago that I teach. Mike Phillips is a great person at Autogeek and will answer your emails. His book, "The Complete Guide To A Show Car Shine" is excellent and I use it for my textbook. Before Mike was at Autogeek, he spent many years at Meguiars. Here is the link for the book: http://autogeek.comm...il book&x=0&y=0

The book explains single stage and two stage paints and how to approach them, and the differences between polishes, glazes, waxes and compounds. Plus various methods of hand polishing, machine polishing and pads. The book is a bargain at $20.00 considering the information.

To determine if a finish is restorable requires a few steps. Test spots are done starting with less aggressive polishes then going more aggressive until you get the results you want.

In the case of my Avanti, I broke a lot of rules to get a shine. There was paint spilled on it and other stains from years of junk piled on it. The rear quarters and trunk have been repainted and they are not as nice as the original paint. There are MANY scratches and chips. I just wanted to make the car look better and presentable from 20 or 30 feet. It looks much better in the photo I posted than in person, but it has that cool worn "patina" look.

Studebaker applied single stage paints and my color Avanti Gray is a metallic. This means is cannot be wet sanded because there is no clearcoat layer over the metallic and if sanded, the metallic will go away. In the case of my car, no metallic could be found because the paint was so oxidized. After not getting good results with what I feel is one of the best and most aggressive compound, Meguiars 105, I decided to wet sand the car to quickly cut the heavy layer of oxidation. After that I compounded a few times, then polished a few times. I used a rotary polisher and the biggest problem was the pad would get so dirty and clogged with old paint that it was very time consuming due to constantly having to wash the pad(s). In addition, dirty pads get hot quick and get sticky so I had to be careful to not burn the paint. There were already some thin areas on the paint where I had to go easy. This WAS the most difficult polishing job I have done. I am at the point now where I am polishing with a Rupes dual action polisher and Meguiars #7 Show Car Glaze. #7 is very high in oil content compared to other polishes and "feeds" old dried paint. This polish is recommended to restore old paint by many professionals, however, my paint was so bad, it was not strong enough begin with. The dual action polisher removes swirls and haze left from the rotary polisher, and in my case there was a lot because so much of the paint was old and "dead" and I had to use a lot of pressure. If anyone gets the itch to buy a polisher, let me know. We have most of the popular ones at the school and I can share my experiences with them. Below is a pic of the car before any polishing the day I bought it. First one is in the garage where it sat for years with flat tires, ( the seller is wiping the years of dust off) and the other is after I had it towed and washed.

Excellent info, thanks. FWIW, I saw a metallic copper colored one some years back where the owner cleaned the heck out of the the single stage paint with wax-stripping solvent followed by wetsanding with #1000 paper. Then he clearcoated it and did all the block sanding and buffing in the clear. I was very impressed the way all the physical imperfections and minor scratches simply disappeared.

[GEOFFREY S.P.GOGLE]

CONGRATULATIONS ON SAVING AN AVANTI FOR POSTERITY//-YOU DESERVE A MEDAL OF HONOUR FROM AOAI OR FROM ME PERSONALLY//--I AM A TRUE STUDEBAKER ENTHUSIAST AND THE AVANTI WAS A VALIANT EFFORT BY SHERWOOD EGBERT AND THE SMALL AVANTI DESIGN AND ENGINEERING TEAMS TO BREATHE NEW LIFE INTO A ILLUSTRIOUS AMERICAN VEHICLE MANUFACTURER THAT GAVE OUR PIONEERS THE WHEELS TO ''GO WEST YOUNG MAN''--AS A YOUNG MAN AND STUDEBAKER FANATIC I HAD THE GOOD FORTUNE TO BUY A 3 YEAR OLD AVANTI R2 VIN R3908 ENGINE#RS2286 FROM STP CORPORATION THAT USED IT IN ENGLAND TO PROMOTE STP PRODUCTS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM--I CAN FURTHER REPORT THAT IT IS NOW IN THE SAFE CUSTODY OF MY GOOD FRIEND TONY WEBER WHO IS HAVING IT COMPLETELY REBUILT IN SOUTH AFRICA AND HOPES TO DRIVE IT BACK TO ZAMBIA IN MAY OF THIS YEAR--WITH LUCK I WILL BE HIS CO-PILOT IN THE RIGHT HAND SEAT//-MY NAME IS GEOFF GOGLE AND I LIVE IN SUMMERLAND BRITISH COLUMBIA--MY SMALL STUDEY FLEET CONSISTS OF --A BEAUTIFUL 57 SILVER HAWK HARDTOP[EX--BASKET CASE]--56 GOLDEN HAWK[sTILL BASKET CASE] 60 LARKV111 HARDTOP AND MY FIRST STUDEY A 57SILVER HAWK COUPE 289X4BBL AFFECTIONATELY CALLED ''THE JAG SLAYER''WITH MY SON IN AFRICA

[Paul K.]

Thanks for the kind words.

This is my fifth Avanti, four of which were "brought back from the dead" after sitting for years with no use. This one, however, had the longest slumber of over 35 years before it drove under its own power again. The others sat for 22 years, 10 years and 5 years.