avantey

I know it's a long shot but just found out I need a head for my '31 Hupmobile model L, 8 cyl. Just looking for any leads on such a thing. Thanks,

I know it's a long shot but just found out I need a head for my '31 Hupmobile model L, 8 cyl. Just looking for any leads on such a thing. Thanks,

Bush Mechanic- are you planning to route thru upstate NY and see the Glenn Curtiss Museum? It is an hour from me and I call it a hidden jewel of the Finger Lakes with great cars, airplanes and early motorcycles. It also had an open workshop where they are restoring a P51 Mustang right now and you can walk in , around and under the plane as you talk to the restorers. They also have a great doll collection, some china and other lifestyle displays for the ladies. If you do come to the area I would enjoy meeting up with you or maybe show you my small collection. Could even put you to work in the garage if you insist! The Finger Lakes is a beautiful area of lakes, hills, scenic rural roads and many world class wineries. Come enjoy a visit if you can. As for Maine you must see Seal Cove if you like brass, Owls head for early airplanes and pre-war cars and Cole Museum for a variety of transportation displays. Truly love Maine myself, feels like a second home on the coast up there! I have a friend who spent seven weeks kayaking in your Tasmania, all the way down some big river to the ocean. She loved it and made many friends! However they are now in Las Vegas and would be unable to meet with us.

John, sorry to hear about the Jag but it doesn't look too bad. I had a similar up close and personal meeting last year when touring the '31 Hupp. Had a good size buck cross the road in front me when I was going about 20-25 mph. Got him solid in the rear haunches, shook the car really bad on impact. The car came through pretty good, just a bent under 4" of lip on the passenger front fender but the deer had a really bad day. We have to get these deer to have more respect for the old iron!

Not sure I should jump in this murky pool but I got an interesting mail from a fellow collector the other day on the subject of the grid and charging all those cars. Not sure if the math or the prices used are accurate but the theory is interesting at least. Infrastructure may be a big stumbling block for a mass conversion to electric vehicles. Also here is a nice little math problem on owning/running an EV. Here is the mail text: At a neighborhood BBQ I was talking to a neighbor, a BC Hydro executive.I asked him how that renewable thing was doing.

You may find them here. He does his own manufacturing and does a lot of plug wires where he makes the ends. Sells them separately too. http://www.rjlautofasteners.com/contact.html

Steve- try Bill Gift in Chambersburg, PA, not far from you. Has done sheetmetal for duesies and other high end cars for years. I have had him do things for me for years.

Thank you countrytraveler for the great info on the Avanti. Some really in depth tech/spec and production info. I had always heard there were only a couple of Avanti R4's at best and your articles say none with documentation. I guess my question is even stronger with the pedigree your articles show about the Avanti's capabilities. Why isn't it considered in the conversation as one of the first and best muscle cars? Not too mention setting the whole styling cue for muscle cars! It must be because of rarity and timing (a little early for the muscle car era). I have R&T road test articles putting it up against Rivvies and the like in '63 and doing well but the articles are testing them as personal luxury sport cars or 2+2's. Not sure the muscle car label/category had been invented at that point in history. Again I learned a lot here! Some very knowledgeable and helpful people here!

Like many here I am a little prejudice but how come the 1963-64 Studebaker Avanti never makes these conversations? I really think it deserves a place at the table but never gets it- probably because of low production and the Studebaker rep as stodgy old folks cars. It was one of the first with higher HP in an intermediate body, Raymond Loewy created the muscle/pony look with a long hood and short rear deck and bubble back window and it was very fast for 1963. My R1-4 speed was guaranteed factory stock at 149mph and the R4 was guaranteed at 197 mph in stock condition if memory serves me. I have a heard a story that the NJ SP liked them on the Turnpike as they could easily run down a new Corvette of the day! It was also the first US production car with a built in roll bar and front disc brakes as standard equipment. Like I said, I really am prejudice but love to drive my little red go-like-hell car! And it does go fast if you want to.....

Thank you all for the 'legal' answers! I was thinking more in terms of the legality of a car maker intentionally building a RH drive for the US market but either way legal is legal. Am I correct in my assumption that the sheer volume of T's since 1909 tipped the scales to LH by the 1920's? Or were all the rules of motoring already set by then and incorporated LH as the common choice?

I agree with Vila about the weird pedal configurations n the early cars. My 12 Overland is maybe the weirdest- the brake and clutch are on the angled part of the floorboard. The accelerator is directly behind them on the flat floor but is pushed sideways towards the outside (right side) of the car by the side of your right foot to go. I believe '12 is the only year for this as a '13 has a button you push don on in the same placement. My '13 Stude is a small button you push down that is between the two pedals on the angled part of the floorboard. Both are quite awkward with size 13 feet! Oh and,yes, both have the 3 speed shift pattern mirrored from a LH so first and reverse are still nearest you in RH driving, that did take some getting used to. And still no one has helped me with the legality of LH vs. RH in the USof A. Does anyone really know?

Neither do I not see an issue with driving a RH drive car here in the U.S., in fact it is fun! I have two now and have toured both in all kids of traffic and roads. The biggest challenge I have had is my navigator wanting to do the hand signals from the left seat because that is where she thought people would look for them. Sometimes we ended up doing mirrored images of them from both sides!! I have never been able to verify this question either. Is it a law that all U.S. cars should be LH or did it just become standard from the flood of Henry's T's by the mid-20's? Sometimes market forces drive a particular solution to universal acceptance and I have never seen a law mandating LH drive. Probably out there just never found it! Also were we a LH side drive in the horse and buggy era? I'm to young to remember!

Hi all, looking for some info on my Avanti. For some time now the horns have sounded awful but it was farther down the punch list than other jobs. I think the HI tone is not working at all and the LO tone sounds very muted. Is this a horn or relay problem? Are the same horns in other Studes of this age? I assume they were purchased components and I have seen horns that look like them in many cars over the years. Any help on this is appreciated! Thanks,

Until last December I drove an 01 VW Golf TDI as my daily driver. I loved the car, especially the diesel and five speed. I got it in 05 with 106k and sold it in April with 318K, still ran like a top but had issues starting to crop up. Some electrical gremlins, AC was compressor dead and starting to miss a little on the 5/reverse tranny gate. Put it on CL and it went to MD in a week or so. My only complaint with VW is the price to fix and maintain them. Seemed most things I broke were factory parts only and very expensive. It was the deciding factor in not buying another VW even though I loved the car- was very comfortable for a big guy like me and a blast drive with the turbo diesel!

Thanks John, it's fun to have her back again!

John- Still faithfully following this thread even though I don't chime in much. Dexter is kinda cute but too small for me to even get in I bet! I finally got my Avanti sorted out after the trouble last early summer. New points, rotor, cap, condenser and much retiming would not stop the intermittent backfires coming from the left bank. Finally went to do a compression test thinking head gasket, broken valve spring or something else pretty serious. The plugs looked awful - wet with oil, burnt porcelain, the gap actually bridged and closed by buildup on 2 and 3. Put in new plugs, checked/reset the timing and she ran well for a nice long powerful, cool ride this evening! I am a happy camper!! I got new valve stem seals and will put them in to slow the oil leakage into the cylinders which is wetting the plugs and the compression numbers were fine (160,155,145,155) for the left side. The one small nagging problem is the clutch pedal rattles very noisily in the cabin. I think the nylon bushings on the pivot arm are worn out or gone. Do you know of a source for these little gems or ever had this problem and it might be something else? I can feather the pedal to quiet it or push sideways on it helps but it is very noisy and annoying when in the car. I have the shop and parts manuals but the Stude part number is probably not too useful. Any help would be appreciated on where to get these bushings, thanks in advance,

Thank you Joe too! I am off to the store to get the compression tool, I know a couple of places have KD tools on the shelf near me.

Thanks Larry! The fitting is basically the same thing as the hose I already have but I do have to get the spring compressor.

OK, so I just went searching on you tube and have the air tool! The comp test gauge has a quick disconnect head so I can just use the hose from that on my air line. Another technique I saw was to stuff the cylinder full of rope to hold the valve up. I can then get a valve spring compressor tool and I am on my way. Gotta love you tube!!

I have discovered that the plugs on my 1963 Studebaker Avanti (289, R-1) are pretty oily. After a compression test checked out OK I talked to good mechanic friend and it seems the valve seals are a likely bad spot. The shop manual says they can be replaced while still in the engine. They show use of a 2 piece Stude tool to help remove the retainers, springs, etc. It is two pieces where one goes thru the spark plug hole and clamps the valve up while the second piece is a spring compressor mounted to the head on rocker arm bolt holes. Is there a modern equivalent of this? or what other technique can be used to hold the valve up while still in the car? He mentioned a fitting to screw in the SP hole and use compressed air to retain the valves. Where can I get this tool? Thanks for the help,

I am currently the proud keeper of this little beautiful car in the video. It is an SA-25 roadster with about 7000 miles and is mostly original. The engine and drivetrain have never been rebuilt or the body off the car as far as I can tell. The previous owner shot this and a few other videos that you can find on U tube. She is a sweetheart to run and drive! And yes usually starts on the first or second 1/4 pull. I am currently rebuilding the Splitdorf mag as I lost spark a while ago, hope to be on the road again this summer.

Hi John, haven't chimed in in a long time but still read of your adventures. I was coming home from Kentucky Saturday heading east on I-68 between Morgantown WV and Cumberland, MD when I saw a Jag of your vintage heading west. Very pretty convertible in either green like yours or tan, not sure. It was running strong on an uphill and I noticed it a little late but looked good flying down the interstate! Now that I am home the spring list of work starts. This includes trying to figure out the erratic left bank exhaust backfire in the Avanti, getting the '31 Hupp back to the engine builder for an oil burning issue and getting the rest of the fleet up and running. Can't wait to get going on everything and doing some serious house work this summer. But I still gotta find time for a tour or two....

What a great car and fantastic piece of racing history! I am very intrigues by the close up of the wheel. I assume it is a painted wood spoke wheel but have never seen that configuration before. The extra stud through the brake drum part way up the fellow is probably very strong! Very interesting early engineering with the staggered pattern relative to the stud pattern of the hub.

Thanks for the chart! It says the Hupp model S takes an EA-1/2. The S is the six cylinder version of the L and this might be the same filter for my L. Not sure from the picture page what the difference is between an EA and an L-2, and the EA comes in 2 lengths. Is the length of the L2 cartridge a third size? The filter I have is only about 10" on the body length.

I agree with Xander about going slow is OK. For me a great part of the interest in old cars is driving them as built for the driving experience. They are different from modern cars and I like that. Knowing their limits makes it all the better to go slower on back roads and enjoy the ride. As a fairly recent joiner to the brass cars era I am going even slower and enjoying it even more! I actually really dislike taking any of my cars on an interstate- I do not feel safe, it is not what my cars were made for (except maybe the Avanti) and I feel I am a hazard to others on the road. If I have to go fast and drive highways I have modern cars. I say slow down, enjoy the cars as built on the roads they traveled when new! But this is just one ol' guy's opinion.....