Avanti Update!

[mfg]

Blake 'lucked out' modernizing the disc brakes on his 1984 Avanti models, when his engineers discovered that GM, (Camaro type), front brake rotors utilized the same inner & outer wheel bearings as the Bendix/Dunlop rotor he was replacing. (thereby perfectly fitting onto the Stude/Avanti front spindle).....True?

[Avanti83]

I'm going to say false only because you specifically stated the bearing set. When I changed my 54K over to Camaro rotors, the rotors fit fine but way in the deep crevasses of my old brain I seem to remember needing to change one bearing. 50/50 chance. 

[Dwight FitzSimons]

False.  Even if the bearings were the same there are other dimensions that would be critical: (1) the distance between the bearings, and (2) the distance from the inner bearing seating spot to the threads on the outer end of the spindle.  And, maybe others.

--Dwight

[pantera928]

False

[mfg]

10 hours ago, Avanti83 said:

I'm going to say false only because you specifically stated the bearing set. When I changed my 54K over to Camaro rotors, the rotors fit fine but way in the deep crevasses of my old brain I seem to remember needing to change one bearing. 50/50 chance. 

 

8 hours ago, Dwight FitzSimons said:

False.  Even if the bearings were the same there are other dimensions that would be critical: (1) the distance between the bearings, and (2) the distance from the inner bearing seating spot to the threads on the outer end of the spindle.  And, maybe others.

--Dwight

You Gents are both very close on this question!    (FALSE is indeed correct answer).......Long story short, everything (rotor, bearings) fall right into place with no issues EXCEPT ONE!!

If you slide the Camaro rotor & bearings onto the Stude/Avanti spindle it fits nicely....however...it will rub on the dust shield attaching bolts....NOT GOOD!

Avanti Motors solved this issue on the '84's and '85's by pressing a 3/16" spacer into the back of the rotor hub BEFORE the inside wheel bearing outer cone is pressed in....This spacer, in effect, allows clearance to this critical area!

[plwindish]

He wasn't quite so lucky on his new paint choice that wouldn't stick to the car bodies.

[mfg]

17 hours ago, plwindish said:

He wasn't quite so lucky on his new paint choice that wouldn't stick to the car bodies.

Yes, I sure wish, at the time, Blake stuck with the traditional acrylic lacquer.....But how would he know???

[Gunslinger]

It wasn’t the paint so much as the new body material.  Blake selected a different process to be able to make the bodies in larger sections to save on the man-hours necessary to assemble it.  It took far longer for the material to cure and the new paint was simply incompatible.  Most any paint would likely have had adhesion problems as the body hadn’t cured long enough.

If Blake has tried one or a small number of cars to test the new body/paint combination he may have been able to avoid so many problems that caused his ownership to fail.  He could easily have left the bulk of production in the original way of doing things until the new process either proved out or…as we know…failed.

Of course…hindsight is 20-20.

[mfg]

5 hours ago, Gunslinger said:

It wasn’t the paint so much as the new body material.  Blake selected a different process to be able to make the bodies in larger sections to save on the man-hours necessary to assemble it.  It took far longer for the material to cure and the new paint was simply incompatible.  Most any paint would likely have had adhesion problems as the body hadn’t cured long enough.

If Blake has tried one or a small number of cars to test the new body/paint combination he may have been able to avoid so many problems that caused his ownership to fail.  He could easily have left the bulk of production in the original way of doing things until the new process either proved out or…as we know…failed.

Of course…hindsight is 20-20.

Yes, a tough break for Mr. Blake!