Avanti R2, 1963, refresh

[unimogjohn]

October 18, 2009

It's Sunday, after finishing the farm and llama chores, decided to remove the other (passenger) door panel and strip the black paint. I figure I would have then two doors that would match, rather than one red and the other black.

I am getting better at stripping and found the right tools to remove the black paint, as a result this panel only took two hours.

Am I happy with the results, well yes and no. Will I continue to strip? I do not think so. Yes, the paint is off, that is the good. The bad is that it did remove most, if not all, of the little metal flake pink tone that covered the red vinyl. So while the panels are now original, they have lost their luster, and are just red. I did see that Studebaker International has some red vinyl paint, but if I sprayed that one I would be back where I started. I am leaning now to just starting to replace the vinyl at some point. But this is a long term investment, and it will not be done within the next year or so. There is just too much other critical thing that must be done. The same for the painting of the car.

On the plus side, one of the screws that hold the chrome plate around the the door latch was sheared off at some point. I removed the locking assembly and was able to get the screw body without any damage to the assembly. So it was a happy fix.

Here are before and after pics of the panels. Will post one back on the door when it has a chance to dry out in the house overnight.

Edited October 26, 2009 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[unimogjohn]

It is Tuesday, finally a nice day. Had errands and farm chores in the morning, but was able to get on the Avanti by noon.

I wanted to take a detailed look at the door and window assemblies to see what repairs are needed. Both looks good, but the grease is old and dry, and all the rubber pieces especially the outside weather strip between the door and the window are toast. To replace the rubber you have to remove the vent and window itself. I decided to leave that for another day. I did take the opportunity to at least lube the little plastic roller bearings. Both windows now roll up and down easily.

I wanted to put back on the door panels. I hate to have a car partially deconstructed, and would rather put everything back together so I always have a complete car. So that is what I did. Both panels are now back on, chrome has been cleaned and the vinyl has a coat of special wax on it. At least it looks like I have an interior again.

The new battery was dead and is now on the charger. I left the left turn signal on and while the horn was disconnected, the relay was not, so it buzzed itself until the battery was completely dead. I have disconnected horn relay so it does not happen again. I can see that the steering wheel is going to have to come off sooner than later. Oh well, a lesson learned.

Also the light went you open the door on the driver's side does not work the light, so took it out. The terminals are all rusted, the button does push in and out easily. So will work on getting the screws out (rusted solid) to see if I can get it to work. The passenger side works fine.

Tomorrow is suppose to be another nice day. On the agenda, bleeding the brakes.

Pics are the reasons for the farm chores, the installed panels, and the rusty button.

[ErnieR]

All it took was a few sprays of WD 40 into my courtesy light switches and they started working again without dismantling them.

ErnieR

[unimogjohn]

Ernie, sprayed them down with Kroil. I want to see if I can get the screws loose and clean up the terminals. That is probably all it needs.

[Guest stude8]

Regarding the brake bleeding operation on the Avanti, a friend recently asked me why he could not obtain a firm pedal after doing a complete brake overhaul on his 64 Avanti. We discussed the master cylinder piston adjustment which is critical in Avanti's, the bench bleeding method for master cylinder and then in the back of my mind I recalled another mutual friend who had the soft pedal condition and found a method to correct that problem.

I emailed our mutual friend for his solution and he responded with:

"Yes, I had the same problem and found the solution. I unbolted the calipers and rotated them so that the bleeder was at the 12 oclock position but making sure the disk was still between the pads and the shims were not getting lost (I may have removed the shims). I then bled them conventionally and got a super firm pedal.

I think silicon fluid is a little more viscous, exasperating a problem that even occurs with regular fluid. An air bubble must get trapped in the 12 oclock position that can't escape through the 10:30 positioned bleeder."

If you have a difficult time getting a firm pedal try the method described above.

Stude8

[unimogjohn]

It is Wednesday, and I got a few hours to work on the old girl. Decided today was brake day.

So got out the Mighty Vac and broke both rear bleed screws free. Well, nothing came out, and the Mighty Vac was not drawing any fluid. Took a look at the master cylinder and attempted to bleed it, did that and went back to the rear brakes. Attempted to bleed them again, this time with a human helper, aka Alice, and again nothing. I figure that the Master Cylinder is bad so I have ordered a new one. All of this fussing, pumping and checking took about three hours.

I did get a chance to really look around the underside of the car. I found a leaking power steering unit (well, somewhere around it), leaking rear end main seal, fuel line cut and suspended with wire in a couple of places, and everything is a tad rusty. On the plus side the hog channels look fine and are nice and solid. The rear round bar is about 1/3 gone, but is still solid for now.

Here are some pics of the underside of the car. I do plan to paint all the metal with black rust encapsulator from Eastwood.

Oh, and the light for the opening of the driver's door works almost all the time.

Tomorrow is going to be shocks day, will try to get at least a pair on.

[TexRiv_63]

John,

From your photos and description of the car's history, I would replace all the brake lines and rebuild / replace the master, calipers, and wheel cylinders before spending any more time on the brakes. All the components rust from both inside and outside, safety first! Just my $.02.

[unimogjohn]

Don, re replacing brakes. Yes, I agree and will replace everything necessary. But I have to get something working if I can to get it off the trailer and into the garage safely. Easier to work on while it is on the trailer for right now. Cannot pull the wheels/tires either until it is off the trailer and on jack stands. So I am stuck until I get the carb back from rebuilding and can get the old girl to start and run, and then off the trailer. Hopefully, that will be sometime late next week.

[unimogjohn]

It is Thursday. Sometimes it is two steps forward and ten backwards. Today was one of those days. Today was shock day.

A week ago I ordered KBR shocks based upon information I gleaned from several interchange parts list, which gave me the part numbers. With the numbers in hand I ordered them, planning to install them when I got the chance. Well, today was that chance.

It took me about two hours take off the backs, boy, everything was frozen solid, but got them off. Got ready to install the new shocks, and it was obvious that the mounting brackets were wrong. No good, wrong shock.

Undaunted I went to the front, pulled off the old one and compared it to the old one, looked like a match. Wrong, the little feet on the bottom of the shock were too short to be securely held in by the mounting bolts. So again, no good, wrong shock.

Now I am back to square one. Will head now to the local parts store to see what I can match up.

My rear shocks were adjustable, Gabriel 45244-7LB

My front shocks were Columbus HD 81582-106810

The shocks that did not fit were: KBR KG5507 Rear; KBR KG4550 Front

Here are some pics. I quit for the day.

[Guest stude8]

John

Now you are getting into the serious part of Avanti brakes, front calipers are usually get you old ones re-sleeved in stainless steel. The demand over the years has used up most every one on a shelf.

Just to help, from my Wagner-Lockheed brake catalog HU-700 (1961-73) pg 210;

1962-64 Avanti; Master cylinder Assy 44383; repair kit 39167.

Front caliper repair kit 46462;

Rear wheel cylinder Assy 3/4" Left 41451; right 41451; repair kit 8418;

Brake hose 11191.

Unless you are very lucky locally brake parts are best just ordered from someone like www.studebaker-intl.com 317-462-3124 who has them on the shelf.

The rear crossmember is available from Don Simmons as is complete exhaust system in stainless. 519-485-1966.

Stude8

[unimogjohn]

October 23, 2009

It is Friday, Stude8 thanks for the part numbers. I appreciate your help.

Ordered the correct shocks from Dave Thibeault in MA. He said that they are in stock and would ship today. He also said that the carb is a late 1964 model and was in reasonable, but worn condition. The stuff that needed to be replated are coming back today, and assembly and test will be this weekend. He said that if everything checked out it would be shipped on Monday. Yahoo!

Also decided to go ahead and order the SS exhaust from Don in Canada. My system looks pretty new from the headers on back to the mufflers. There it ends. So getting the resonator delete pipe, over the axle, and then the tail pipe. All my hangers are still there and are in good condition so will reuse them for now. Don says they will ship on Monday and I should have them by the end of next week.

We are suppose to get rain today, and lots tomorrow, so the Avanti is all put under cover. I am working on the Unimog today. The front brakes will not release, suspect one of the rubber brake lines that connects the fronts and the backs. Just another mechanical thing.

Will report next week when I get the shocks installed. Maybe even an engine start. Until then I will be silent.

Edited October 26, 2009 by unimogjohn
added para on exhaust (see edit history)

[unimogjohn]

October 26, 2009

It's Monday. The rain rushed through on Friday and Saturday, and Sunday was a day at the horse show.

So today, with the new brake master cylinder in hand, bench bled it, and then mounted it on the car. Put on my little vacuum pump on the furtherest brake and tried again to pull fluid. No go. So will stop messing with the brakes until I can get her off the trailer and up on jack stands. With the wheels removed I will be better able to assess what is wrong and what needs replacing. I do plan to go completely through the brakes so replacing the master was on the list anyway.

Also was able to remove all the rusted pieces of the exhaust, and now am prepared for the new SS pieces when they arrive at the end of this week or early next week.

Removed the manual choke system that was installed by the previous owner. The new carb will have an electric choke again.

Found that the fuel return line from the fuel pump is disconnected, and they removed the fitting that goes into the fuel pump. Will have to see if I can relocate the fitting and put things back. I do have the end that has the check ball in it, but not the banjo fitting that everything connects to.

And finally, removed the two rubber bumperetts as one was missing it rubber, and the second one was all cut up. Never did have the center one. I see that they are still available, so will have to order new ones at some point. The rear bumperetts looks pretty good so will leave them in place.

Oh, went to check the transmission fluid and the top of the dip stick came off. They had used JB Weld to hold it together and it gave out. On the good side the fluid looks really good and does not smell burnt.

That is about it for today. In a waiting game now for the carb, no call today that it is done and has been shipped. Maybe tomorrow.

Edited October 26, 2009 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[dalef62]

As far as your brakes go, I would guess that the rubber hose from the frame to the rear axle has collaped and the fluid can't go through it. That is a very commom problem with rubber hoses. Good luck on a nice car.

Dale

[ErnieR]

Avantis don't have electric chokes...if it does it's an aftermarket.

ErnieR

[unimogjohn]

It is Wednesday, October 28th. It rained over 3 inches yesterday and last night. As a result the installation of the shocks that arrived yesterday will wait until tomorrow.

So I decided to put in new halogen headlights to replace the standard sealed beams that were in the car. Took the opportunity to try to straighten the chrome rims that go over the glass. Yes, I have the glass out for safekeeping. The buckets looks good, cleaned and polished the headlight rims/retainer ring, and checked out the new lights. Everything came out just fine.

Also headed down to town this morning with Shadow, the dog, to see if anyone had the rubber hydraulic lines in stock. Made a score on the third shop, they had some in the town down the road at a sister store. Will pick them up tomorrow.

I also ordered the rubber bumperetts for the front of the car, and a few red light bulbs for the dash.

Oh, what is coming up the driveway, ITS THE UPS TRUCK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[unimogjohn]

It is still Wednesday, only now it is 2 PM, and the UPS is heading up towards me. I am presented with a big box, and it is from Dave T. So it has to be the rebuilt R2 carb.

Well, what to do? At first I decided to wait until tomorrow to open it as I was still working on the headlights. But after finishing the light, I said, self, just open the box and take a quick look.

The carb looks great. Dave T. did a great job. Looks brand new. Now I will just wait until tomorrow. NOT!

So decided to install it. One good thing is that the previous owner did not cut out any of the attachments/fittings/hoses that go to the new carb, he just bypassed them since they were not needed by the replacement carb. They were all just sitting there. So started the installation and everything fell into place. Yes, I replaced all the rubber lines with new. Looked at the pictures in the workshop manual and was able to figure out everything. Within an hour it was done. Checked all my work and it looks ready to go. Oh, I thought it was an electric choke, my mistake, just one of many. Filled up the radiator too. So tomorrow is the day. Start up day.

[unimogjohn]

It is Thursday, October 29th.

Well, today is the day. Let us see if it will start. Alice is at the controls, and I am ready to see what is happening in the engine bay (with a fire extinguisher at the ready). It coughs and sputters, and wants to go. Alice says it just quits when she moves the key from the start to run position. So we leave it in the start position and she finally does fire, but with the starter running too.

Pulled the new ignition key module and put in the old one. No change, so put in the new one again. Checked the wiring and started tracing after taking a look at the workshop manual. Oh, a broken wire that goes from the resistor to the coil. How did this car ever run? It has been broken for a long time. Replaced the wire and she fired right up. Lots of smoke, but running pretty good even if at a high idle.

Well, she is now running. Probably first time in 15 or more years.

Here are pics of the broken wire, and what the gauges are telling me. Looks pretty normal.

She sounds really awesome! We are sooooooooooo happy.

[unimogjohn]

I have made two videos of the initial start-up and running. They are on YouTube. I will make another this PM after I have made some adjustments. Just ran her about 15 minutes, and she is idling at 1,000 rpm, temp is 190 degrees (without shroud and lashed to the trailer), 40 lbs of oil pressure, and about 15 amps. Sounds great with a little lope.

Enjoy the vidoes, remember the running one is still with the starter engaged.

[unimogjohn]

Done for today. Happy for today's progress. Oh, checked the power steering, it works, wheels turn easily on the trailer. Put the car into reverse, it clunked into gear and lurched against the straps, scared me half to death. Also got the rear shocks installed.

Tomorrow, it is the rear brake rubber hydraulic line to see if I can get any fluid to the rear cylinders. If that goes OK will probably push it off the trailer and get it on jack stands so I can remove the wheels and take the new tires in to be mounted. This will also allow me to start work on the braking system.

I do have to do more adjustments on the carb and engine, new springs for the throttle for one thing, and more see through fuel filters.

All in all a great day. The old girl lives.

One final note, the SS exhaust pipes arrived late this afternoon from Don S. in Ontario, Canada. They look great. I will see how they fit tomorrow after I head down to town to get some clamps for the hangers and more fuel filters for the engine. the only problem in heading to town is that it takes about an hour to get to town and back, so figure a couple of hours to pick up a few things.

I do have to decide if I am going to replace the resonator delete pipes that are directly behind the mufflers. The ones on the car are new, but are not SS. I will see how everything goes together with and without the SS resonator delete pipes and make my decision. I will post pictures of the pipes tomorrow.

Have more than enough on my plate now to keep me busy for several days. Good that the weather is going to be nice with no rain for the next two days. Should be able to get a lot done.

The next major milestones are getting the car off the trailer under her own power and working brakes.

Edited October 30, 2009 by unimogjohn
exhaust system arrived late this evening (see edit history)

[Guest stude8]

This is all good news to see it runs again, it is a good habit to carry a spare ignition coil resistor in the trunk JIC to old one gives up on the road.

Keep posting the progress, a lot of us wish we could be there to share the fun.

Stude8

[unimogjohn]

It is Friday, October 30th.

Busy day today, but not on the Avanti front, but did manage to do a couple of things before it started to rain.

First thing is I changed the fuel filter. This is number 3 so far. I have three others waiting on the shelf. I did drain out all the old fuel, and have put in about 12 gallons of fresh fuel plus one can of SeaFoam. But in spite of all that the fuel coming out right now is tea colored. So I know I still have some old fuel mixed with the new. I plan on changing the fuel filter as I see the paper media changes color. I am using a Fram G2 filter, which is plastic and see through. At $3 each they are good insurance.

Also on the Studebaker Drivers forum someone was nice enough to post a pic of their R2 engine. After looking at it last night I realized that my throttle linkage was mis-connected. So with picture in hand, made mine to look like his. Pics attached of his, and my before and after.

Looked at the exhaust and took the pipes under the car. Looks to be a perfect match so I decided to route the tail pipe section. Worked for 15 minutes and gave up. Going to have to raise the body from the wheels to try to get it in there. With the axle hump it is like a Chinese chain puzzle. There must be a way. I will leave it until I get the car on the ground.

Was not suppose to rain today, but it is. So I am done.

Edited October 31, 2009 by unimogjohn (see edit history)

[unimogjohn]

It is Saturday, Halloween, October 31. Today is going to be our last good weather day for a couple of days so decided to hit it early and keep going until I dropped. So started at 8 AM and dropped at 3:30 PM.

The bumeretts for the front bumper arrived last night, put them on this morning. Looks good, but those little nuts for the center rubber were a bugger to get on, hardly any room.

Got the rear brake hose off. The line was packed with garbage, no wonder I was not getting any fluid. I can also see crud in the steel line, so took compressed air and flushed it from the master on back. Still stuff in there so took a wire and got it all out. Put in a new hose. Getting good flow from the right rear brake, still nothing from the left. This has to wait until I get the car off the trailer, just not enough room. The rear shocks looks good too. Will put on the fronts when the car is on jack stands and the wheels are off.

Started the car. It started right up, but then died. Would not start again until I primed it and it ran good after that. Going to get more gas can and am going to drain the fuel again. I am sure that I am getting crap into my new carb even with new fuel filters.

Got the car off the trailer and the beast moves under her own power. Does not want to stop either. Parked it in front of the garage. Figured I would just slowly crawl to the garage by putting it in gear for a second and then N. Well, she wants to continue a bit even putting it in N. So naturally I ran into my 1928 Buick, twice. Just a bump, no damage to either. Don't you just love no brakes.

Tomorrow am going to pull the wheels and starting working on the entire brake system. Borrowing a puller for the rear drums. Can hardly wait to see what I find. I have a feeling that I will be calling Dave T. for lots of brake parts. However, it may be raining all day so may have to wait until Monday or so.

All in all it was a great day. The beast moves and is alive again. Now if we can just figure out the stopping issues.,

[unimogjohn]

Pics from today, Saturday, Halloween.

[unimogjohn]

Does anyone have an idea as to what this fitting goes to? It has a ball in the nose. Does it go in the fuel pump for the fuel return line? My fuel pump has a threaded plug in it and the return line is just sitting there.

Happy Halloween too. Going out tonight in full costumes to one of the local farms. Alice has made cut off fingers and grave yard cupcakes.

[John Byrd]

John, sorry, I don't know about the fitting, but wanted to let you know to be very carefull with the car even while in it. Mine slightly attacked the rear of an Aerostar van once, so it is a mean streak they have in them. One friend that used to have one said they had the lousiest brakes of any car he ever owned, and his had attacked a wall and a T-Bird. Hopefully there will be LOTS of good advice from the specialists. Mine was a vacuum problem, kick it down, tap the brakes, and they were missing!! Check it all, and good luck. John in Alabama

[Guest stude8]

John,

If the item you call "Threaded Plug" in your fuel pump is a 1/8" NPT pipe plug on the top cover it is filling the hole used for the female flare elbow fitting that connects the supercharger output pressure (pipe 0301-40 pg26 in part catalog) to the fuel pump diaphragm. When the blower creates positive manifold pressure they add the blower output pressure to the fuel pump pressure otherwise it would simply blow the fuel back into the carburetor inlet when blower pressure exceeds fuel pump pressure.

The mystery black fitting sort of looks like a crankcase vent device that threads into the rear base of some carburetors. The check ball allows crankcase fumes to be drawn into the manifold and burned when there is high vacuum present at idle throttle position. *Like an early EGR valve in modern engines.

Is there a Studebaker part number connected with that fitting? The part catalog would show exactly where it is used if you have the catalog yet.

*Another suspicion is it is part 1721-5 on pg 30 the nipple that supplies vacuum to the manifold gage on instrument panel??

As for the fuel return line, (0308-8 group) in R2 models to the tank it connects to a fitting at the fuel filter/sediment bowl device and that "connection" is very special, not just an ordinary "fitting" the return line connection point has a small metered orifice to reduce the amount of fuel that is returned to the tank. Too large an opening could allow more than correct amount of fuel to return and at "WOT" (Wide Open Throttle) position the carburetor would starve for fuel at its inlet. *The return line circuit is sort of a mystery for accurate description, on pg 23 of the part catalog plate 03-1 shows the fuel lines from tank to engine BUT NOT from engine back to tank?? Must have been in a rush to release the catalog and proof readers missed this omission.

Stude8

Edited November 1, 2009 by stude8 (see edit history)

[unimogjohn]

Its Sunday, Nov. 1st. Stude8, thanks for the info, have just ordered the parts manual. I should have done that a couple of weeks ago. Yes, I do believe that the part goes in the back of the carb. I will take a pic of the fuel pump, I do have the line that goes to the supercharger, but not the return nipple to the tank.

Rained all last night and still raining. Have received about two inches so unless it lets up a bit I will not get the wheels off the car, but will try. Really want to have a look at the front brakes.

[ErnieR]

The fitting is what takes the place of a PCV Valve and it screws in the back of the carb. It's a one way valve of sorts with a needle and seat to seal when the engine is running under boost. Without it you will not only lose boost pressure but you will be pressurizing the crank case.

ErnieR

[unimogjohn]

It is Sunday, Nov 1st, PM. Ernie, thanks to you and Stude8, the valve is going back in tomorrow.

Well, the rain finally let up at noon, about two inches, the pastures are muck.

Got the Avanti up on jack stands (five points), and she is nice and stable. Removed the tires and piled them into the Trailblazer along with the new tires. Will head into town in the morning and get them mounted. At least one more thing on the to do list completed.

I have included pics of the front brakes. Like I said, nothing does more harm than just sitting for 15 to 20 years or more. Lines are going to be replaced, rust means they are about to let go, the same with the rubber. Will pull the calipers and pads to see what they look like, but planning on replacing them anyway.

The suspension pieces do not look much better, rubber bushing are turning to goo or just falling apart. I have lots of cleaning to do and checking before I start replacing stuff. But it looks like most of it is going to have to go.

Tomorrow the place is to get the tires done, and then drain the fuel again. Will take the opportunity to change the rubber line coming from the tank, and another one that was patched in. Will post pictures of that little issue tomorrow.

Here are some pics from today, and one from the neighbor's "farm hood" party. Don't laugh too hard.

[ErnieR]

John, depending on your goal, correct show car or safe cruiser, you have two options on your brake rebuild; factory parts or modern replacements.

My first brake rebuild was a refurbishing of all the original pieces. The end result was fair stopping and a caliper seal letting go on a freeway exit ramp. Having only the single reservoir master cylinder it was an adrenaline producing experience. My honing of the calipers was not enough to produce a bore capable of sealing properly.

Next phase was a complete set of calipers and wheel cylinders sleeved with stainless by Dave Thiebault and adapting a dual reservoir master cylinder. Fluid loss issues were gone but braking performance did not inspire much confidence. Brake fade occured quickly. Certainly not a function of the rebuilt calipers and cylinders but I believe a combination of tiny pads, run of the mill barke pad material and non-vented front rotors that were not as thick as they should be but VERY expensive to replace.

Phase three was an upgrade to Jim Turner's disc brake kit made up of GM G body calipers and beefy, vented Mustang rotors. The difference in brake performance is astounding so much so that phase 4 was the addition of his rear disc kit.

Initially the cost of the upgrade kit might put you off but a proper rebuild of the Stude parts including rotors will cost you more. The upgrade is reversible and unobtrusive and makes the car stop as good as it goes.

Here's a picture of the rear disc installation, I never took any of the front.

Edited November 1, 2009 by ErnieR (see edit history)

[unimogjohn]

Ernie, we are going for a good and safe driver. Thanks for the info. I will take a look at Dave Turner's site and product. So we will take a look and decide what to do within a week or so. Thanks again for the advice.

[ErnieR]

Here's a link John...best modification I've made to the car. Stops like my modern iron except no ABS.

Turner Brake

ErnieR

[R W Burgess]

Very interesting read John. Keep us informed, we love it.

[unimogjohn]

It is Monday, Nov. 2nd. Got up early so Shadow and I headed off to the local tire store to get the tires mounted and balanced. We were first in line at 7:30 AM and were back home by 9:30. The tires look great on the rims. Put them in the garage as I figure it is going to be a week or more before they go on the car. I am sure they are going to look super on the car.

At bit easier now to get under the car so decided to drain all the fuel from the car. So found the little plug under the driver's door and filled two five gallon cans plus a 2.5 gallon. So probably just a bit over 12 gallons. No real gunk came out, just some discolored fuel, the color of tea, at least it is not the color of coffee. Put on another new fuel filter, number 4, and buttoned up the little plug. Tomorrow I will put in a new five gallon can of fuel and half a can of SeaFoam. At least now I know that the fuel system is clean. I did strain the old fuel and will use it in my Unimog army truck, it will burn just about anything, and this fuel is not that bad.

I also took the opportunity to start looking at the front brakes. I was able to get one bleed screw open with just a little Kroil and some careful pressure on the wrench. The second one was a bit tougher and had to use some heat from my little butane torch to get it to break loose. I then decided to see if I could get any fluid through the calipers, both bled easily and now have new fluid in both. One side was bone dry and the other had some fluid, which looked like silicone fluid, as it had a purple tint to it. Tried the brake pedal, and I actually have some hard pedal.

Tomorrow will check out the back brakes. My goal is just to have some brake pressure and new fluid in all the lines. Over the next couple of days I am going to remove the calipers, pads, shims, etc and make an assessment of what I have and what I need to make it operational again.

Also called Jon Myer about the supercharger. He said that it is in the "dunk tank". Will probably be another couple of weeks before I see it. It really does not matter, I have lots of work to do before I install it.

Oh, almost forgot. I was going to replace the fitting in the back of the carb with the one you all identified yesterday. Turns out that Dave T. had put in a new check valve of a little different design. So the old one goes back into the spares bin.

Here are a couple of pics to include our barn cat, Gray Ghost, who was watching me from under his favorite bush.

Tomorrow, new fuel, install front shocks and check rear brakes to see if I can get fluid out of them.

[Guest Gary Hearn]

Thanks for the info. I will take a look at Dave Turner's site and product.

It is actually Jim Turner on the disc brakes (not to be confused with Dave T-Bow).

[Guest stude8]

I took the attached photos in Sept, 2009 at the AOAI National Meet in Lisle, IL. The car is a 1964 R2 powered Studebaker Avanti. You can see, a pretty nice one! It belongs to a friend in Highland Park, IL Joe Esdale. The reason I took the photos is they illustrate the fuel connections between pump and carburetor the way Studebaker did when new.

The fuel pump image does not clearly show the connection on top (upper left) from the supercharger but you can get the idea of how and where the fitting is positioned.

The important view is the fuel filter assembly (Many have been discarded over the years unfortunately) the return line to fuel tank is the upper most pipe leading away from the filter.

I am coaching another good friend in sorting out his Avanti engine plumbing from previous incorrect work which is why I took the specific images. These are reduced size for dialup emailing, if you need better resolution files let me know. I hope these will guide you through the fuel connection job.

Stude8

[unimogjohn]

It is Tuesday, Nov. 3rd. Voted today and then took the opportunity to get 6 gallons of Premium fuel, more brake fluid, and more fuel hose.

Stude8, thanks for the pics. They are very helpful. I do like the fuel filter, have ones almost like it on my 20s cars. Now I know how things should looks.

Spent the morning blowing out the gas lines with compressed air, and replacing the fuel rubber hose connections between the tank and the line, and also the line to the fuel pump. All my lines are now clean and all rubber hoses are new. Put in the new gas in the tank and started the car. She started immediately and settled down after a minute or so. The gas in the filter is now clean and transparent. I am happy now to have clean gas going to the nice carb.

We are going to get our first light freeze tonight so put in anti-freeze and let her run to make sure everything is mixed OK.

She is running at idle with 40lb of oil pressure, the vacuum steady in the green, water temp is 180 degrees, and is at about 750 rpm. I may have a misfire in the engine, but cannot really tell, it seems to be off and on. Not to concerned about it now as have not checked timing and dwell yet.

Took some before and after pics of the suspension after using my power washer for about 30 minutes. Still lots to clean, but looks better. Also you will see a pic of the wiring for the headlights, turn signals, and parking lights. All cobbled together. Will have to sort all that out. It is all the result of the horn grounding out when you turn the turn signal stock to the left. I can easily put the wiring back to original and make the horn a button under the dash, but will see what is up under the steering wheel before I do that.

Did not work on the brakes today, just ran out of daylight and time. Looks like the pads are about 95%. I think that it had a brake job before it went into slumber some twenty years ago.

Started and stopped the engine several times today. She always started right up with no hesitation. Smoke is getting less also.

Tomorrow I am going to work on the rear brakes and also see if I can put on the exhaust pipes. I repositioned the jacks so the rear end is now hanging down as far as it can go.

[Guest stude8]

The engine misfire you mention could be due to two circumstances (among many).

Studebaker engines were known for a "Mutual Inductance" misfire due to #5 and #7 spark plug wires running parallel on non-Avanti engines where ignition wires were not confined in the rubber lined metal loom that was used on Avanti R series engines.

The firing order being 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 allowed the spark pulse from #5 cylinder to pre-ignite the #7 cylinder mixture that was next in firing order. From your photos it looks like the wires are contained in the looms but if the left side cables are sloppy in arrangement you might be getting the miss problem that way. *It was most noticeable at idle.

Another common cause is the dwell of the dual point sets in the distributor not being set to optimum, with the long lack of maintenance on the car I would check the points for adjustment gaps.

Stude8

[R W Burgess]

..............The important view is the fuel filter assembly (Many have been discarded over the years unfortunately) the return line to fuel tank is the upper most pipe leading away from the filter...........

Stude, what is the purpose of this return line from the filter? I don't believe I have ever seen anything like this before.

Wayne

Edited November 4, 2009 by R W Burgess (see edit history)

[Curti]

I read these posts with interist as we have an 63 R1. Actually it is my wifes car.

Is that sediment bowl and return line common to a R1 as well?

One time we topped off the fuel tank then parked it for a couple of weeks. When my wife started it, it smoked something awful and was pumping oil out of every orifice. I checked the oil and it appeared there was none in it. It turned out there was so much oil in it that I couldn't read it on the dipstick. Some how the gas in the tank ran into the crank case. Has anyone ever expirenced this?

I havn't seen a lot of Avanti's but ours has a wood grain dash. Is this correct?