Avanti Swap!

[mfg]

A Paxton supercharger taken from a Studebaker R2 powered Lark is a direct bolt on replacement for a Studebaker Avanti's supercharger.....True?

[Dwight FitzSimons]

Farue.  The supercharger is the same, but it will require "clocking" to swap from one to the other.

--Dwight

[mfg]

27 minutes ago, Dwight FitzSimons said:

Farue.  The supercharger is the same, but it will require "clocking" to swap from one to the other.

--Dwight

Sorry, the answer here is indeed FALSE....however, not for your stated reason.

[Gunslinger]

Different pulley.

[mfg]

8 minutes ago, Gunslinger said:

Different pulley.

Sorry no, that would not stop it from being "bolted on".

[Dwight FitzSimons]

Different shaft coming out of the front?

--Dwight

[mfg]

5 minutes ago, Dwight FitzSimons said:

Different shaft coming out of the front?

--Dwight

Nope, I'm pretty sure the input shafts are the same!

[Nelson]

case is clocked differently and dual belt Avant and single on Lark, Hawk. Exception being R3 Lark. 

[mfg]

2 hours ago, Nelson said:

case is clocked differently and dual belt Avant and single on Lark, Hawk. Exception being R3 Lark. 

All true!... but none of these would stop bolting up supercharger to the different mounting brackets....

HINT!.... Think I'll drill some holes!!

[Dwight FitzSimons]

Some Paxtons have only a few holes while others have many holes, making clocking easier/possible.

--Dwight

[Nelson]

I don’t think you need to drill extra or different mounting holes. The Lark Paxton bolts on the Avanti bracket ok but the output hose would be in the wrong location. There are plenty of available threaded holes available so the back of the case gets rotated to fit the Avanti orientation. The dip stick location remains constant.

 

[Nelson]

23 minutes ago, Dwight FitzSimons said:

Some Paxtons have only a few holes while others have many holes, making clocking easier/possible.

--Dwight

I think the extra holes you are talking about are for brand X mounting configurations.

[mfg]

47 minutes ago, Nelson said:

I think the extra holes you are talking about are for brand X mounting configurations.

Well, not really!......

The three 5/16X20 mounting holes in an original Stude Avanti side mount  'MS' code Paxton supercharger were drilled at the factory in completely different locations on the bearing housing than the locations of the three factory mounting holes found in a top mount Lark-Hawk "ML" code Paxton charger.

This is the reason they cannot be swapped without re-drilling and tapping.

[Nelson]

Hmmm. When the snow quits I’ll have to go out and take a look at that. Well, maybe when it warms up after the snow quits.

[mfg]

7 hours ago, Nelson said:

Hmmm. When the snow quits I’ll have to go out and take a look at that. Well, maybe when it warms up after the snow quits.

Sounds good!...when Paxton began drilling and tapping the mounting  holes 360' around  the front of the bearing  housing, it made mounting blowers on 'brand X's' and custom installations much easier.....however, as far a I know Studebaker never utilized the 360' drilled and tapped supercharger bearing housing.

'

[mfg]

I was wondering  if anyone out there in Avantiland owns an R2 equipped Studebaker Avanti with a supercharger which they feel is original to the car...and if said supercharger's bearing housing has a series of drilled & tapped screw holes around 360' of its mounting face?

[Nelson]

Here are some photos of a side mount setup with no extra holes in the blower also a photo of an R2 Hawk/Lark blower bracket next to an Avanti blower bracket. Each take three mounting holes/bolts to secure the supercharger and the bolt spacings look to be the same. So I’m fairly certain blowers can be interchanged if the front end is fastened at the mounting holes and the rear scroll is clocked for the correct outlet location.

[mfg]

24 minutes ago, Nelson said:

Here are some photos of a side mount setup with no extra holes in the blower also a photo of an R2 Hawk/Lark blower bracket next to an Avanti blower bracket. Each take three mounting holes/bolts to secure the supercharger and the bolt spacings look to be the same. So I’m fairly certain blowers can be interchanged if the front end is fastened at the mounting holes and the rear scroll is clocked for the correct outlet location.

Thanks for posting the photos...I just took a few photos myself of a Lark top mount (ML) Paxton side by side with an Avanti (MS sidemount)...I've always had problems trying to post pics on this forum.....

ANYWAY, although the spacing is indeed similar, the three mounting holes are on the opposite side of the bearing housing face.....

Sorry, but there is no way these superchargers can be interchanged without drilling new holes in one or the other.....

I will work on posting the pics I took..they plainly show what I'm saying here.

[Nelson]

Ok. I would have tried that but it’s zero outside and not much warmer in the garage.

[Nelson]

Since it’s warm inside I thought I’d do the intelligent thing and compare part numbers for the two housings, ie the Lark/ Hawk type and the Avanti type. There are two different part numbers so you are probably correct. I’ve done the clocking to get a Lark type to work on an Avanti but it was Many years ago and it must have had the holes drilled all the way around the housing like many you see out there.

[mfg]

33 minutes ago, Nelson said:

Since it’s warm inside I thought I’d do the intelligent thing and compare part numbers for the two housings, ie the Lark/ Hawk type and the Avanti type. There are two different part numbers so you are probably correct. I’ve done the clocking to get a Lark type to work on an Avanti but it was Many years ago and it must have had the holes drilled all the way around the housing like many you see out there.

I believe you are 'right on the money' now...and the only real difference I can see between the 'MS' and the 'ML' blowers is the location of those three mounting holes.

Thanks much for your efforts here!