NewBee from Virginia!!

[GaryBe]

Good day Everyone!!👋 My name is Gary from Northern Virginia and I will be a new owner of a 1981 Avanti.

Its a pleasure being here and among the experts. I will have many questions, so I hope I don't sound like a pain if I ask for everyone's advice.

Thanks in advance. 👍

[wildfelr]

RQB3263/81 .... WOW What a beautiful car !!

[pantera928]

Nice looking car and welcome aboard. Ask away. WE like questions especially if we know the answers🤣

[GaryBe]

Thank you for replying Wildfeir and Pantera928, I appreciate it. I'm hoping Gunslinger and the other VA folks will chime in soon.  

[Gunslinger]

Welcome from not far from you in Maryland!  At least for two more weeks when I'm moving to Arizona.  There's a pretty fair number of Avanti owners in your area.  

[GaryBe]

17 minutes ago, Gunslinger said:

Welcome from not far from you in Maryland!  At least for two more weeks when I'm moving to Arizona.  There's a pretty fair number of Avanti owners in your area.  

WHAT!? AZ!? Good for you. Which area? I knew Yuma rather well, cause my Aunt and cousins live out there. Well, she passed Years ago, but the cuzins still live out that way. 

Looks like AZ is going to be the "Florida" of the west coast too, which is fantastic, but I digress.

I tried to PM you from this site, but it wouldn't let me. When possible, please hit me up offline, cause I have questions concerning out local area and other things. 

I'll post my main questions on another post.  

[GaryBe]

Good day. Thank you in advance for all your help. I'm not new to Antique/Classic cars and Trucks community. I own a 1968 Chevy C10 Short-widebed pickup and it's a Hot Rod. I am new to Avanti's, so please excuse my questions. I have one basic philosophy when receiving a new(to me) antique: Make it Start, Stop and move Forward and Backward RELIABLY. I also follow the K.I.S.S. method of hot rodding. 

Question 1: First step is to do an Oil change, flush and change tranny fluid and flush and change Coolant. Can someone please tell me the Part numbers, and source, to change the top and bottom Radiator hoses, if needed? Also, I read on here recently that the bottom hose must have a Spring inside of it to prevent collapse? Does the hose come with the spring or is that a separate part number?

Question 2: Brakes: Can someone please provide the brand/Mfg of the front brakes and any Pad Part numbers and/or sources for these parts please?

Question 3: Rear Brakes, Same as above.

Question 4: Wheel bolt pattern dimension, i.e. 5x5, 5x4.5, etc. I also understand that a 7-inch wheel width is about as wide as you want to go. If true, fine. If there are options, fine too. 

Thank you. 

[GaryBe]

bump

[Avanti83]

Here's a list of Studebaker vendors. Pay particular attention to Studebaker International, Stephen Allen, and Myers. https://www.studebakervendors.com/

That said, the go-to for all things Avanti is Dan Booth at Nostalgic Motors. He bought out all the original Avanti surplus back in the day and has a ton of parts reproduced. He will also spend time on the phone explaining what to do to repair most things Avanti and how to do them. Great resource.

Front brakes are Dunlop, rear are a collage of mostly chevy/chrysler parts IIRC, and the bolt circle is 4.5" or 114.3mm.

I used 17X9 Mustang wheels from a 2000-2004 on my 74. They are close to the max.

Here's my wheel posting from the Studebaker forum a while back. https://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/forum/your-studebaker-forum/tech-talk/110102-mustang-wheels-become-avanti-wheels