unimogjohn

I would open it up and take a look inside. If the bore looked good I would do a very light hone and put in a new rubber seal and boot. If you did the brakes, you can certainly to the clutch cylinder. Good job on the other stuff too.

I am all done for a few days, waiting for parts, and have to get a 23 Buick ready for a show. But here is what I did today: Picked up and put in the new Interstate Battery and cables, fit perfect. Installed the two radiator hoses to include new clamps, refilled with water, no leaks. Drained and refilled the rear axle. Installed new vacuum lines to distributer and supercharger. Ordered many more parts to include new spark plugs. Ordered new KBR shocks, front and rear. With the new battery was able to test out the electrics. Everything is working except: Radio, has light, no sound. Horn, (well it works when you depress the turn signal to turn left) Turn signals Brake light Instrument lights Fuel gauge Clock Now I know why the turn signal wires were cut, because of the horn. It must be the connection inside the steering wheel. Will investigate, but everything else is good, but they all need cleaning and adjusting. Decided to check the spark plug wiring, found one wire off and also a plug loose. Pulled it and it looks terrible so ordered some Autolite AP85s. I have a receipt for the wires, distributer cap, and rotor. They are new, err well five years ago, but they have seen little running time. So will leave them for now. Here are a couple of pics to include the parts installed today. Used some Goof Off to take off a bit of the black paint from the seat to see the original red. Why they changed red to black is a mystery to me. At some point next year we will have the car repainted and a new interior made. Right now we do not have an ideas what it will be. I am leaning to Avanti Red and red interior as original, but then it is the bride's car, it will be her choice. At some point I will tally up what I have spent in getting the car started and rolling under her own power, and post it here. Just to give everyone an idea as to what to expect in bringing a car back to life. Any recommendations for a radio repair shop?

Dave, if you run into trouble or have a question, do send me an email at unimogjohn@aol.com or call 540-364-2454.

Don, thanks, will look for the Stan Gundy book, have the factory service manual and looking for the illustrated parts book. They are on Ebay, but pricey. We drove three and a half hours to Hershey, PA; and dropped off the carb to be rebuilt. Did not find any parts that I could use. We had a good time looking at all the stuff and all the cars for sale. The wind really kicked up and everyone ran for cover. We left around 3 PM and headed for home. Our package from StudebakerParts came so now I have all new belts and radiator hoses. The hoses will go on tomorrow. Cut the old ones off yesterday, and they were well used and nasty. Also got a call that the battery is in, so will head to town tomorrow and pick that up along with a J hook, gear oil for the rear end, and new battery cables. With the battery in I will be able to at least see what is working or not. I have noticed that the wires to the parking/turn signal lights are cut, why? No clue. Also the wires to the horn and brake light were also disconnected. Will give a report tomorrow.

Stud8 and others, at your urging I took off the supercharger and talked to Jon Myer. This afternoon I boxed it up, and it is now off to Jon for a service/rebuild. I feel much better, and I know you all do too. Heading to Hershey tomorrow and will drop off the carb with Dave T. to be rebuilt. For now I will be just content with cleaning and scrubbing both the engine bay and interior until they both get back. I did find the serial number of the engine. It is RS1669. The color of the block is Red, the same as the intake. I have no idea as to the significance of the color, was just asked. Here are some pics of the supercharger and serial number. Note the rust in the pulleys, they have not turned a belt in many a year.

Dave, I made a video recently on how I start my 23-45, yours should be the same. Good luck. Only took me a year to get mine started due to a stuck engine. Runs great now.

Stude8, will do on the start-up and the supercharger. The Interstate Battery is a 3EE-VHD(Commercial) per their specs. I will check clearances. Thanks for all the advice. I appreciate it. I did check the oil in the supercharger and it is nice and red, but will drain it out and refill. TX again.

Not much going on today. Ordered the correct size and type battery from Interstate Battery. It will be delivered to the local shop on Thursday, cost around $115. Also talked to Dave Thibeault in MA. We talked about the carb, and he validated that I had the correct carb, but that it is missing parts. He said that he had the parts and would rebuild the carb next week. We will deliver the carb to him on Wednesday. We also discussed the supercharger and the condition of mine. He recommended that I change the oil and run it at low speed to see if any noise or play in the assembly. So we will do that after we get the engine running with the rebuilt carb. Tomorrow have to get parts ready to go to Hershey, but hope to remove the two rad/engine hoses to get ready for their replacements to arrive. Here are pics of the carb to be rebuilt.

Taking the day off today to do farm and chores. Have contacted an Avanti carb and supercharger re-builder so will see what he says about my sealed carb. Will order a correct size Interstate Battery from my local shop today too. I do have an offer for a "loaner" carb until mine is rebuilt. Will make that decision is a couple of days. Still lots of cleaning to do inside the car, has not been touched in many years. On an interesting note, just received a comment on the Stude forum that he remembers the car in RI in 1977. He gave me the name of the owner at that time. Small word indeed. Heading to Hershey on Wednesday, hope to find some parts for all my cars. Always an adventure. Only one day this year, next year it will be the usual three. Should be some Avanti parts to find.

Dave, tell us the history of the car. Looks great, why is it not on the road?

Dave, you can get Kerosene in bulk or a gallon can. Some gas stations sell kero for heating, some hardware stores carry a gallon for heating/cleaning. I just finished my 23-45 McLaughlin Buick so everything you have is very familiar to me. Ask away with questions, suggestions, etc. Unimogjohn@aol.com As Mark says, clean the muck out of the pan, etc and button her back up. Marvel Mystery oil will free up any stuck rings. Mine were frozen to the block for many years and took a lot of effort to get free without taking apart the engine. Your engine and car looks great.

OK, it is the second work day, still excited, ready to go. Planned on trying to start it today. Here is the recap of today's activities. Started at 10 AM, quit at 5 PM. Progress: Ordered all new drive belts to include the supercharger; ordered the molded hoses for upper and lower radiator/engine. Changed oil and filter. The old oil was a black as night. Flushed the lines of old fuel, and made sure that good clean fuel was getting to the carb through a new filter. Lots of crap came out, but it is now clean. Installed the battery as it showed that it was charged. Lights work, interior lights work, brake lights OK, turn signals, NOT. Radio, NOT. Horn NOT. The bad and the ugly: battery immediately went to a discharge, so jumped the car with van battery. Nothing when the ignition key is turned, bad ignition, you have to push on the key to get it to make contact, slowly the engine started to turn. it coughed once. that was it. Fuel pouring into the carb, no way would it start. So I opened up the carb, worse I have never seen, total crapola. To make matters worse they jammed the second set of butterflies and bent the rod so they would never open. trying to make a two barrel carb during the fuel shortage of the 70s I guess. So the carb is really junk, I do not think that it is worth even trying to get it clean and working as it is just mechanically broken. Going to order a new special battery, rectangle and long. Have not decided what to do about the carb yet. Will sleep on it and make a decision tomorrow. Here are pics of the carb.

First day at home, got started around 10 AM, quit around 5 PM. Got the driver's side window up, an arm is bent and is catching the bottom of the window channel mounting when you put the window all the way down, so going up it catches. The arm is really beefy so how it got bent escapes me. I will have to take out the mechanism anyway to replace seals, etc. At least I know what it is and the window is up. Until fixed we will just not put it all the way down. Oh, the original color is not maroon like the seller said. It is Avanti Red with red interior. The seats were upgraded as they have the perforations in the center panels. The serial number is 63R2502. It was therefore built in January of 63, one of 592 that month. The total run for the car by Studebaker was 4647, so ours was the 1,501 built the total production run. Opened the hood, thought that the hinge was just disconnected, NOT. They cut out the entire mechanism, why I have no idea. So have some fiberglass work to do to make a new mounting point. At least I have the hinge. We have removed the entire hood until I get it fixed. That is OK as it makes the engine access easier for now The engine bay is crap, hoses to no where, disconnected wires, old rubber, nasty carb with manual choke (not standard). Oh well, I expected it. Going to drain the old fuel out, looks like orange pee, and put in some new fuel before we try to start it. It has what looks to be a new battery, but dead. Have it on the charger to see what happens. It is a long 12 volt. Supercharger turns, but rough, but really do not know how good it is at this point. The special sealed supercharger carb will go to a specialist rebuilder. For now I will run with the carb now on it now until we can get it ready for the supercharger. The rear end is posi-traction. Rear brace under the tire well is about half eaten away from rust, will have to be replaced at some point. The leaf springs are flat, I think that they should have a concave curve, they may need to be replaced. Will have to do more research. Got the trunk latch working. A good cleaning and a little new great was all it took. Filled the radiator with water, thought it would leak like a fire hose. Nothing, holds water fine for now. Reconnected the fuel lines with new hose and filter. Will put in 5 gallons of fresh gas tomorrow, and then will see if it will START. Should be an interesting day. If anyone wants a pic of something in particular, just email me at unimogjohn@aol.com

October 3rd. Made it home. 1,100 miles with a drive time of 23 hours in two days. We bought the 63 R2 Avanti. Not as good as I had hoped, but better than I feared. It is a 46 year old car, and still all original. So we dickered a bit on price, struck a deal, and the old girl is ours. Original owner is now 90 and second owner 77. Color is a dark green, repaint from Maroon/Red. Interior has been resprayed black from Maroon. The good: Complete, no missing parts from what I can see from a visual inspection. No frame or rail rust except the rear cross brace. 44K showing on the odometer. No body damage, bumpers are all in great condition, except missing one rubber on the front bumper corner. Interior looks great, but driver's seat torn due to age, everything is there including two good visors. The bad: Does not run due to leak in cooling system and fuel disconnected. Did run three years ago before fuel leak. Has not been out of the garage for at least ten years. Missing only the front parking light lenses, cut out clear plastic as replacements. Supercharger disconnected as has different carb, supercharger has disconnected for 30 years. Have original carb for supercharger. Brakes non functional. Will need a re-paint. Some trim and hood off the car as previous owner decided to make some repairs, and then lost interest. Tires are new, but age cracking, will need to be replaced. Brakes are a big unknown, but really not an issue in the short term. My current plan is really a short term one, get her running under her own power and drive her off the trailer. Things to do first: Driver's side window is off the track and will not go up, so that has to be immediately addressed. Trunk does not latch, maybe just a stuck cable. Will investigate. Determine location of coolant and fuel leaks. Repair as needed. Put in a new battery, turn the key, see if she will start. Then on to brakes. Well that is it for this first real report, I am sure that I will find many other things over the next few days. Will keep you all posted. My goal is get a great mechanical driver before we tackle the paint and interior. Actually, she looks great as a survivor, but I doubt that we will keep her in such a condition. She deserves to be all cleaned up and looking good.

Gary, heading up in a few hours. If I have to walk away will give you a shout.

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Do not be afraid of opening up the Marvel carb and cleaning everything. A good cleaning is all they need. My 28 Buick has been running terrible, would only run with the choke half out, and then she was way down on power. So opened everything up, cleaned everything, etc. The two long and short venturi tubes were both blocked with debris, so cleaned them out, made new gaskets, and put everything back together. Here are a couple of pics. Also do not put the carb in a hot tank/solution. Just use carb cleaner in a can and use it to clean everything up. I used a dremel tool with a little wire brush to clean the bowl, etc, and compressed air and carb cleaner for the venturis and jets.

Great looking car. At some point you will need a new interior LeBaron Bonney Company - Antique Auto Upholstery Bob's Automobilia is a good source for specific parts as well as many other vendors. I watch Ebay too for manuals, parts, etc. Good luck on your restoration, lots of help here.

The picture I posted for the bracket is incorrect. Found one of my broken originals. There is a number on the little arm. It looks to read BUI 15 R (R is for the right side). Here are a couple of pics. Thanks.

What a great barn find, and in your own barn too. Great looking car. How is the interior? Keep us posted on your work, we love to follow along.

At Mark's suggestion I am adding a picture. The basic design of the bracket is right, but the little arm (smaller of the two) is too short. The ones I have are four inches long, and I need five inches to reach my connecting bolt. Hope that the pic helps.

Looking for front bumper mounts/brackets for a 1928 Buick, model 29, Town Brougham. This is a standard model. I do have a pair, but the little arm that attaches to the side bolt is about two inches too short. I hate to cut these and have them extended if anyone has the brackets. If you have a good pair pls. contact me at unimogjohn@aol.com TX,

Dwight, I am assuming a Buick? Anyway, I have seen red, green, black, yellow cloth wires. I think that it is really your choice. I believe that most Buick's came out of the factory with black cloth over rubber wire. But again, it is your choice. New wires in the color of your choice are available at any good wire shop such as Rhode Island Wiring. On points, take off your distributer cap, if you see two sets of points then you have dual points. Hope this helps.

Leon, the caps are the standard Buick script. I was able to find some McL/Buick caps, but they were far more money than I wanted or could spend. The ones I have on the car are perfect, so will use them until I run across McL caps at a price I can afford. That would be great on the speedo cable. TX.

September 30, 2009. Refresh, I hope. Thought I would start a thread of my latest project to be. I have just completed a total three year restoration of a 1923 McLaughlin Buick, Model 45, Export; and have an original 1928 Buick, model 29, Town Brougham. So decided that it was my wife's turn for her favorite car. She said Avanti. So have been looking for about 6 months and finally found a car in RI. I am in VA. So we reached a deal, and we are heading up to pick it up and trailer it home on October 1st. It will take us a couple of days to get it home, about 1,200 round trip. Here is what I know about the car now. Two owner car, in same family for the past 37 years; has had a repaint from maroon to misty blue; seats were maroon now vinyl painted black; 44K original miles; no modifications done; auto with the Paxton Supercharger. Current owner is 73, and does not have any time to spend on the car and realized that he was never going to get it going. Now for the issues. Not running due to dead battery, fuel leaks around carb, a leaking radiator, and little brakes. Not run in at least two years. Have only seen pictures on Craig's list, and he does not have a digital camera; so we agreed that no money would change hands until we actually saw it, including a deposit. So we have a bit of final negotiations to due when we get there, but if the car is half of what he describes over the phone, then we have a deal and will load her up and take her home. If not, then it was a nice ride with the wife and our dog. Will post pictures when we get back from the trip and will keep everyone updated. It is my goal to get the car running and stopping; and to give it a good cleaning. Then we will figure out what needs and should be done to make us a good, presentable, reliable, original driver. This will be my first 60s car since high school. Should be lots of fun. John