ErnieR

Depends...if you want a quiet, comfortable driver the Riviera is the way to go. If you want a car that will polarize the general public as you drive down the street an Avanti especially in turquoise will stop traffic. I've spent considerable time owning both and I don't think it's a fair comparison. I think the Avanti is more comparable to an early Corvette in driving experience; hot and noisy but fun. Studebaker Avantis are not troublesome or complicated and once the appropriate refurbishing is done they are easy vehicles to own. They have their quiks but ae long as someone knowledgeable is working on them they are "set it and forget it". They are prone to water leaks, though. However, as you move to the newer Avanti II and later models with more luxury equipment things like sunroofs, power windows they start to get troublesome. Sourcing parts for later cars is both easy with the Chevy Engine and Trans and difficult due to a variety of vendors used to supply accessories. Along with the variety of vendors came inconsistent quality. I had an '88 Avanti and build quality on the inside wasn't much better than a kit car assembled in someones garage. Reliability on 50 year old cars depends more on what has been done and by whom rather than the initial design. Once I 'straightened' things out on my Rivieras and Avantis they were both extremely reliable.

Normally there's a petcock on the top of the water manifold on the driver's side of the surge tank. It's there to let trapped air escape. Probably not an issue but open it when it's cold and you should see a dribble of coolant if not there may be some air in the cooling system. Car sounds great. I've never driven a 4 speed r2 must be lots of fun.

Dave T is the man. Stand up vendor. I'll assume you 'burped' the cooling system via the petcock on the water manifold. The sender isn't that hard to change. Fortunately, the brass on steel doesn't rust itself in place. Ignition timing is tricky on the R2 and not enough advance will make you run hotter but the engine really doesn't accelerate better with more than the 26 degree total setting. I curved a replacement distributor so I had 28 total at 2000 but was able to set static at 14 at idle. It liked the extra initial advance. I look forward to reading about your progress. ErnieR

I sold my 64 R2 about a year ago. I had it for 16 years and it was in sorry, sorry shape when I bought it. Practically everything mechanical was replaced except for the engine and that got new heads and cam. As far as temps when running. I wouldn't swear by the gage. My car always ran 210 or so and never boiled over or even burped coolant when it was shut off. Infrared thermometers showed the engine was cooler in all places than the gage read. I also suspect that the gage's placement may lead to readings that are higher than the rest of the engine. I did place two thick pieces of weathersrtrip on the sides of the radiator to keep air from circulating around it rather than through it. Fan clutch condition is crucial as is the shroud. There is also an Avanti specific HD water pump. Identify it from the outside by reinforcing ribs on the shaft snout. Yours may have been changed out years ago with a standard duty one I improved hot weather driveability tremendously by eliminating the heat riser and blocking the crossovers. No more stumbling, flooding and stalling in hot weather and no problems in the cold because the supercharger is pushing warmed air and doing the job of the exhaust crossover anyway. The door hinges are bolted to the door frame so I would try tightening and/or adjusting the door before blaming worn hinges. Avanti doors aren't that heavy and don't beat up the hinges like big steel doors do. As for the lock I would spray WD-40 or your preferred penetrant/lubricant liberally on the door latch through the window opening while working the lock. Worked for me. For interior comfort make sure the hood to cowl seal is in place otherwise you will be sucking hot engine air in through the cowl vents. I ran for years without a front plate without any hassle from the police. I always carried the other plate with me but I think when they saw a restored turquoise Avanti they cut me some slack. I did think that if I ever HAD to run a plate I would make it so it would swing back as the air pushed against it to send more air through the radiator. There is literaly nothing I haven't touched or replace on the Avanti in the years it took to refurbish it so don't hesitate to ask if you get stumped on something.

Could just be the angle of the picture but that doesn't look like a factory lock. Why not try grabbing it with a plier and unscrewing it? ErnieR

Use a scewdriver to remove the cap.

I affectionately call this my 'beater' Avanti. Chevy Monte Carlo drivetrain so it starts and runs ALL the time. Truely unique exterior and rare overall as less than 300 were produced. Good 20 footer but paint is rough up close. Interior has suffered from the California sun and needs work. Priced for quick sale. Lots to talk about on this car so email me with your questions. I drive it to work frequently, 100 mile round trip, so you can enjoy while you fix it up or leave it alone like I did and just drive it. New Michelins, shocks, A/C Compressor, Belts, modern radio, window motors. There's one on ebay now going for close to $10,000 with time to go!!!! Will consider trade for no less than $3,000 cash and your car or truck. What do you have??? http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r241/AvantiR2/023.jpg http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r241/AvantiR2/AVANTIll003.jpg <!-- START CLTAGS -->

Meteor pictures by AvantiR2 - Photobucket Link to 87 Pictures... Thanks For Looking ErnieR

Reduced...will trade. Looking for nice 90's Mercury Wagon but I'm open to interesting or later model stuff of equal value. Cash is OK too!

Re your charging problem...are the connections at the AMP guage clean and tight?

My apologies to the forum...$4000 I added it to the post thanks for the heads up:)

Just too many cars and this Meteor deserves better than to be ignored. NO RUST!!!! Car was originally white but has a mediocre red paint job. Good looking 10 footer. New tires, later 289 heads with screw in studs installed, new fuel pump, and Pertronix ignition. I believe the previous owner had the engine rebuilt. No smoke or noises and it's super clean inside. The trans might have been done also as both have 'rebuilder' paint jobs. Trans shifts great, high firm brakes, and a strong battery and charging system. Minor stuff...leaking heater hose fitting at the intake, carb needs to be tanked and cleaned. Interior is presentable but it needs a carpet and the windshield sealed because it leaks. I've got some extra stainless, a complete power steering set up, beautiful 4 barrel intake, an extra 2 barrel carb and some new window and door whiskers. Reducing price to $2900. I may consider a full or partial trade...has to be arunning driving something of some value. I'm in the car business so I have an idea of what things are worth, just sayin'

The insulation does muffle the engine noise a bit, enough that I noticed a difference with and without. I wouldn't worry too much about the heat, though, I ran without for years without seeing any damage. Maybe a fiberglass vs. metal thing?

Mass air flow and crank sensors can cause intermittant problems as you describe.

I hardly recognized the pictures without a backdrop of 3 feet of snow. It's great that the car is driveable at the beginning of driving season. They drive nicely don't they? I think it's time to push some boost through that AFB.

I've expeienced that same thing as John Byrd. There are lots of places on the Stude linkage that could cause the binding. The rod through the foor can be installed upside down or if the rubber boot is there it can catch on that. Minor stuff... I've found a little stronger sping on the valve cover hookup allows for a little weaker spring on the carb itself.

You may have a band that's not releasing but I'm not a trans guy by any means. If it was a fuel or ignition issue you would think it would be the same for reverse and drive not more evident in reverse and less prevalent in drive. I wonder if you put the rear wheels in the air and let it actually run in drive and reverse for awhile you might not unstick a few things. At least you can run through all 3 gears that way and get things spinning in reverse also without frightening the llamas!

Is it just reverse? Or does it stall in drive also?

Those are my belts but my car has High Output pulleys and the belts won't be the same. BTW, matched set belts won't come in the same sleeve but are often taped together. Even if they aren't you can verify a matched set from matching run numbers. Your parts guy should know how to read the numbers.

On an R2 you want to set timing at 24 deg btdc at 1600 rpm. That will usually correlate to about 4 at idle but the manual does make a point on this so give it achexk while you're playing tomorrow. Vacuum advance disconnected of course.

No flat black on the air intake. Body color on fiberglass, black on metal. A '63 owner that wanted a grille could have requested an installation through the dealer. I ran without a grille for a few years until something pierced my newly re-cored radiator. Personally, I like the look with the grille. Your fan shroud is chopped up on the top but at the bottom what looks like a missing piece could be considered normal. It seems there's a high percentage that left the factory with shrouds that were cut on the bottom. We had a nice long discussion on that over at the SDC forum. BTW, the breakage at the top of the shroud would cause me to inspect the l/s motor mount.

And a Merry Christmas to you John.

John, I didn't take it that way at all. Just a comment. That money is an investment for sure. It wasn't too easy for me to find someone to rebuild the blower only 12 years ago. Imagine if that fuel pump decided to pump that oil into your newly rebuilt supercharger!?

I paid approximately the same amount for a blower rebuild over 10 years ago so pricing is certainly fair.

Hook a remote starter switch to the solenoid or get the Mrs. to tap the engine while you push down on the distributor and getting the oil pump to engage the shaft is a snap. Usually takes only one little 'tap' and the distributor will fall into place. Most of the gear is engaged when you do this so mis-alignment is a non issue.