Avanti R2, 1963, refresh - Page 3

TexRiv_63 · October 9th, 2009

John,

That is a rare bird with lots of potential, thanks for the detailed coverage of the awakening.

Avantidon · October 9th, 2009

John, I spent all day yesterday at Hershey and like Gary says while there are parts there for Studebakers you really have to look for them. I know Dave T was there and he always has Studeparts with him. Craig Piper was also there and while he generlly has no parts he has them at home. As for for a parts manual, look me up in the AACA roster (Lehigh Valley Region president) call me and we will talk about parts manuals. I have three I think and will either loan you one or possibly sell you one. Studebaker International has them for approx $35.00 but they are reproduced, Original ones are available but you need to look for them. Mine are original. I will be back at Hershey tomorrow on the show field however I will also be in Flea market area and can look for one if you want me too. If you call me I will give you address for Gundy's book which is a must for an Avanti redo. Sure does make life a lot easier.

stude8 · October 9th, 2009

John,
Once you get enrolled in AOAI and SDC clubs you will see from their publications who all the Avanti and Studebaker mechanical suppliers are. Most anything the Avanti will need is available from several sources. The interior should be available from www.phantomstudebakers.com to fit OEM seating as long as that is what is still in your car.

The brake stop light circuit is probably related to the severed wires in the steering column area BUT the Wagner hydraulic stop light switch on the end of the master cylinder is almost guaranteed to be defective at this age. You can test it with an ohm meter for continuity with someone stepping on the brake pedal assuming your hydraulic system is up to par.

Keep posting where you are along the restoration work and we all can prompt you who to seek help from. I have been through total Avanti rehab several times myself.
Stude8

unimogjohn · October 12th, 2009

Returned home from our weekend in the mountains of PA. Had a dusting of snow in the morning !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We did have a package delivery on Saturday so now I have more parts to install. Took off the glass headlight covers as am going to replace the gaskets as they are all checked and torn. Boy, they were sure dirty inside. Look fine now with a quick wash. Also installed one of the new brackets for the battery. The back one as no attachment point for the back J hook as it has been cut out.

I do think that the car has a replacement nose, I can see now a slight ripple in the fender glass on both sides where it has been cut and redone. Must have been done many years ago.

Also, I am more and more certain that the car probably has more than 44K on the odometer, probably more like 144K. No biggie in the grand scheme of things.

We have also decided to take off the black vinyl paint on the seats/interior to bring back the red. The black is nasty, ugly, etc. Anything would be better.

Here are the parts that arrived yesterday. Will probably replace the ignition switch next.

No news on the rebuilding of the carb and supercharger. I figure that it will be a couple of weeks before I hear anything.

unimogjohn · October 12th, 2009

Had to do farm and other car chores (rear brakes and an oil change on our Chev Trailblazer) so did not get a lot accomplished today.

But the new front and rear KBR shocks arrived today. They will go on sometime over the next few weeks.

And then took the opportunity to try some "Goof Off" on a door panel. I tried several little different attempts to see what worked best before I invest in several bottles of the remover. So after about an hour of trial and error this is how far I got today. Figure that I will have many hours of investment in the process over the next few months. I am pleased at how it came out. It did not seem to damage the original vinyl, and I used a vinyl condition and polish after I used the Goof Off. What do you all think?

A couple of the pics show the "before" to include the bubbling black paint.

stude8 · October 12th, 2009

The original Red upholstery is sure better than the black slop covering it.
Not familiar with KBR shocks, in the memory of Bonneville record winner Ron Hall I always lean toward Gabriel and Maremont products who under wrote much of the work on the 1993 Bonneville Avanti. Ron had them continue production of the OEM type Avanti shocks long after every other outfit dropped those sizes.
Stude8

Avantidon · October 13th, 2009

The red interior color does look a lot etter so the work will pay off in the long run John so keep at it!! Just as a suggestion, if you are going to drive this car, replace the glass headlight covers with the plastic ones that are available as the glass covers are as rare as hens teeth. I keep mine for show only. They aree asy to remove and replace as you undoubtedly have found out.

unimogjohn · October 13th, 2009

Don, thanks for the info on the light covers. Will look into it.

Spent the afternoon working on the electrical system. Put in the new ignition switch, works great, now we have key that actually works. No more pushing, jiggling, etc.

I also worked on the wiring for the brakes after draining the master cylinder of the old brake fluid. The old fluid was really nasty so will bleed all the brakes over the next week or so. The result is that I now have brake lights.

Cleaned the contacts for the fuel gauge, and it now works. Played with the radio a bit. it is getting power, but nothing from either speaker.

Next week I also plan on looking into tires. Thinking of going the white wall radial tires from Universal Tire in Hershey, PA. Can I run radials with my stock rims? Any recommendation as to size?

Heading out this afternoon for an hour or so and will continue cleaning the interior. It is so dirty and full of mold. The dirt is giving up little by little.

unimogjohn · October 14th, 2009

We heard the weather report for tomorrow, lows in the 30s to a high of 53 with lots of rain. The Avainti is still on the trailer and covered so she is protected, but we are not. So it looks to be an inside day.

Monday, looking at the weather report we figured that we would start cleaning the interior for a couple of hours. Alice and I scrubbed, rubbed, and polished as best we could. Dirt and grunge came off in buckets. We got the majority of the interior done, first time; and boy she is starting to look good.

The stickey feeling on the seats, etc is gone, the mold has been scrubbed off, and the tarnish and rust on the gauge faces and controls are bright again. Looks great for an older girl. We have a few more hours to go before we are done with the interior, but we have gone a long way. Did not touch the headliner, looks to be very brittle. We do have a badly worn and torn driver's seat, and a gouge out of the back seat. But other than the ugly black vinyl paint, the vinyl looks pretty good for its age.

Found a Duplicolor paint that could be a good match to my green paint. Since the car is not going to be painted this year it needs to have a few spots repainted to be presentable. So we will try it on a couple of small spots to see what we have. It is a Ford color, Dark Jade Metallic Green.

Here are some pics of the interior after the cleaning.

John Byrd · October 14th, 2009

Morning, John, this is John in Alabama you had some correspondence with about our Avanti before it sold. The battery is also the same one that forklifts use, but we learned that there is not only a bit of difference in length, but a couple of them are a bit taller- - be a carpenter, measure twice, install once. Later, and good luck, John