Studebaker Avanti with Chevy motor (Avanti Mag, Issue 179)

[BillyBob]

Issue 179 p20, "The only significant change came in the engine bay. Studebaker had switched from making its own engines to buying them from Chevrolet. Altman followed suit," says Jonathan A. Stein.

 

News to me!  Yes, Studebaker, once settled in Canada and running out of Studebaker motors, began putting Chevy motors in Canadian-made Studes. From where does Stein, executive editor and associate publisher of Hagerty Classic Cars, get his info on Studebaker Avantis?

 

This, most likely will join the other and well-known falsehoods, including Avantis,

• are kit cars
• were built in Canada
• are Italian cars
• used Ford 289 cid motors
• were not made in Mexico
• do not use fibreglass bodies

[64studeavanti]

It could have been worded better, but i believe the context is Avanti II which initially used Corvette engines.

[Gunslinger]

Definitely a misstatement or the writer was misinformed.  Nate Altman never had the option of using Studebaker engines as they had already been discontinued by Studebaker.  The choice of the GM engine was an easy one...available and Studebaker had already done the engineering necessary to make the SBC fit.  The only real question was which SBC to use.  Avanti Motors could have easily saved money by using the 283 but the Corvette 327 fit the image Altman wanted and better replicated the performance of the Studebaker Avanti if not actually improved upon it (which it did).   

 

I still get the kit car question as well as the "made in Canada" thing as well.  

[Avanti83]

I'm confused.

The statement that Studebaker switched to Chevrolet engines is true. They switched from building their own to buying SBC's. He didn't say they put them in Avanti's.

The statement that Altman followed suit is also true. He bought engines from Chevrolet also.

Two truths make a false??? I guess I must have failed English as I'm not sure what's wrong other than it's a poorly worded statement.

What am I missing?

[Gunslinger]

The way it's written it reads like Altman followed Studebaker's lead in switching to the Chevy engine...he never did follow their lead as he had little choice.  He never used the Stude engine to transition from.

At least that's how it reads to me.  It's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[dynolou2]

With the Studebaker engine plant capable of producing 20000 engines in one month, reality struck as production in Hamilton was around 20000 vehicles or less per year it made no economic sense to keep the engine operating.    Lou Cote

[saddletramp]

I once read that the 283" that was used in Canadian models was a GM sanctioned copy, made by a Canadian firm, not Chebby.

[Avanti83]

SBC's are SBC's are SBC's

The only real difference between them is where they're made.

From Nasty Z28

Engine ID Code Example: V0101CLJ - (V = Plant, 01 = Month, 01 = Day, CLJ = Engine Suffix Code)
Another example: T0830CTY - (T = Tonawanda, 08 = August, 30 = 30th day, CTY = 1970 396 Camaro, 375 hp, 11.0:1, TH400)

 

Code	Engine Plant		Code	Engine Plant
F	Flint (Motor)		S	Saginaw Service
H	Hydramatic		T	Tonawanda
K	St. Catherines, Ontario		V	Flint (Engine)
	(McKinnon Industries Canada)
M	GM of Mexico

[Avanti83]

11 minutes ago, Avanti83 said:

SBC's are SBC's are SBC's

The only real difference between them is where they're made. If I read the internet correctly Mckinnion was owned by GM and eventually became GM of Canada.

From Nasty Z28

Engine ID Code Example: V0101CLJ - (V = Plant, 01 = Month, 01 = Day, CLJ = Engine Suffix Code)
Another example: T0830CTY - (T = Tonawanda, 08 = August, 30 = 30th day, CTY = 1970 396 Camaro, 375 hp, 11.0:1, TH400)

 

Code	Engine Plant		Code	Engine Plant
F	Flint (Motor)		S	Saginaw Service
H	Hydramatic		T	Tonawanda
K	St. Catherines, Ontario		V	Flint (Engine)
	(McKinnon Industries Canada)
M	GM of Mexico

 

[mfg]

I always wondered how a 'Big Block' Chevy V8 (396, 427, 454) would fit into an Avanti ll?....The motor mount frame set up should be the same, and the Avanti ll transmission should be a bolt up....Perhaps the height of the engine would be too great?, or the Avanti fiberglass fender inner aprons would need modification?.....Steering box clearance issues?

[Gunslinger]

This might give you an idea of what a big block Chevy looks like in an Avanti...

 

[mfg]

WOW!...that's BIG allright!.......But I was thinking more on the lines of a factory 'Corvette type' 427.....perhaps the triple carb 435 horse version!

[Gunslinger]

I used to own a 427/435 Corvette...sold it last year.  It was designed to handle the big block but besides the expected chassis and cooling modifications it took a different hood...and even the the 3X2 intake manifold wasn't a high-rise or low-rise design...it was slightly sunken to maintaine sufficient clearance.  The special L88 Corvettes used a special really high-rise hood to clear the huge 4-barrel carburetor and flame arrestor.

[BillyBob]

Re above image with Big Block Chevy in Avanti.  Either photoshopped or, Fake News.  lol

[PackardV8]

FWIW, the Studebaker V8 is in external dimension a big block.  Unfortunately, in internal displacement, it's a very small block.  Since it's so huge and heavy, literally any post-WWII OHV8 can and has been swapped into the Avanti engine compartment.  I've seen BBCs, Oldsmobile, Cadillac, BBM, hemi Mopar in there.

Just be aware, installing anything more than the SBC is a total waste.  The Avanti is inherently traction-limited and without major rear suspension work, big block torque just produces tire smoke.

jack vines

[Gunslinger]

3 hours ago, PackardV8 said:

 The Avanti is inherently traction-limited and without major rear suspension work, big block torque just produces tire smoke.

jack vines

That might just be the goal of some.  A friend, when he was a teen and drove a Firebird fit a couple of bottles of bleach in his rear fender wells and had a cable set up he could pull and let bleach out on his tires.  He would smoke the tires in a way his friends were all amazed at the "power" his car had.  I don't know if he ever smartened them up on what he did.