Anyone out there have any measurements of the upper body of an Avanti? I am especially interested in the A pillar to A pillar distances and the A pillar to B pillar measurements. My right door doesn't fit right, too little distance to the W/S pillar for a weather strip to fit, and ran out of adjustments on glass and vent frame movement to get enough room for the rubber, even with the door almost hitting the B pillar. I believe this car was hit and repaired on the right side or right front, as the hood doesn't fit right at the rear corner/cowl top panel. Before starting to peel the fender and apron to get at the pillar to pull it, a set of measurements to go by, would be great. The left door fits "okay" but not great (a little low front and back) so I'm afraid to just use the opening measurement from that side, which would probably be close but no guaranty.
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The 74 is setting on the hoist naked ( no doors, interior, etc) so let me know what you want exactly and I'll measure it up. Mine has not been hit hard anywhere.
Bob -
Thanks, let me sketch up a quick diagram of the areas and I'll attach it to this post. I think the right pillar is in slightly and back slightly, and the cowl top panel corner is about 1/4" plus above the hood corner when all else lines up.The vent frame, with the door glass shoved back as far as it will go, leaves about 1/16" max gap between the vent frame and the w/s pillar at the top and almost touches at the base of the vent and pillar. Looks like the fender was repaired in the center but bulges above the wheel too far. Without skinning the fender from the pillar, I can't tell if it was worked, but the upper edge of the firewall to cowl top panel has some unusual distortions. Of course this is all under the fender and apron joints so without pulling it apart, won't know for sure, but I won't be able to move the pillar without getting access to the post. The windshield itself doesn't give much of a clue as the weather strip for it is pretty forgiving of minor flaws. Give me a day or so to come up with a diagram. Again, thanks for taking the time to do this.Comment
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My pleasure, It'll be warmer here in a couple of days. If you post and I don't answer in a day or so, PM me. Just in case I miss the post.
BobComment
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Frederik, check your PM box.Joseph R. ZeigerComment
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If it's any consolation... the right door on at least '63s and '64s never fit right anyway! (or, I should have said, not without post-production modifications)Comment
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Roger, check PM I'm still trying to figure out easiest points to measure "from/to" to get the relationships with just an ordinary measuring tape or a tram gage(whitch I'll have to buy or rent for easy point to point measuring.Comment
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Was your Avanti ever in the NY or NJ area? This makes me think of some Avantis that were hit and we repaired. One in particular, had a steel repair plate in the right front fender that we discovered when we tried to "correct" the car. This was in the 1970s. Of course, similar things were probably happening all over the country.
The correct (factory spec.) body dimensions should be available from the SNM Archives Center.Gary L.
Wappinger, NY
SDC member since 1968
Studebaker enthusiast much longerComment
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I know, but I'm sure they would have "adjusted" things enough so that the vent frame to w/s post seal would fit in, no?? A rough measurement from the base of the w/s pillar/hinge pillar joint to the back pillar/roll bar joint, is off by 1/2 inch left side to right side, whereas the base of the pillars near the rocker joints are only off by a 1/16" +/-. I need to find out the hinge pocket to hinge pocket distance, and the base of the w/s post to hinge pillar distance, verses a known distance to see if it is also "in" at this point. Haven't been able to find a drawing or picture of the dash area from inside car with no dash in place to show those spots to measure for those distances. Also a cross measurement of the door opening to door openings from left front to right rear and right front to left rear (top, middle and low) would help square that area and get the doors to fit better once I dig into this.Originally posted by Xcalibur View PostComment
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I have a tight fitting left door. However, mine is an early body assembled at Ashtabula, and may have been assembled without proper jigs. The tolerances on Avanti body dimensions are quite large and I suspect that you will find no two the same. That said, the polyester of my left door is a different colour from that of the balance of the car, and so may have been replaced at some point in it's history. Properly adjusted, the left lower rear/B-pillar seal is too thick to stay in position. Since this was discovered after the body was painted, I simply used neoprene adhesive backed foam weatherstripping to fashion a seal. This works quite well and maintains a dry carpet below.
With your door evenly gapped, front to back, is the space between the door frame and A-pillar surface and B-pillar surface equal. If not then the door may not have been assembled correctly. This can be fixed by de-bonding the outer door skin and re-positioning it on the door frame. This is a major job and entails a a door repaint (which I chose not to do).Comment
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I'll try the Stude Museum, but having been around the auto body business since the 70's as an appraiser, nothing would surprise me. These type of dimensions weren't in the repair books back then- they just "eyeballed" it. It looks like they repaired the fiberglass without checking the door fit till after they were finished then tried to make it "sorta" right, and blamed the manufacturer's poor quality control. This one spent most of its life in Washington state, but obviously repaired a number of times, including a "quicky" front end change from a 63 round to a 64 up square h/l without changing the H/L pockets, just the nose panel. The frame has been pulled on and the locating holes used as hold down areas and torn by hooks, but they got the frame pretty close to specs with that crude equipment.Originally posted by studegary View PostComment
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Unfortunately, debonding the skin won't help me, as the total distance of the glass, channels, and vent assembly won't fit the opening area available even with the lock almost touching the pillar itself so the door won't open. Unless I narrow the glass itself, I think I'm stuck massaging the pillar to get enough room to make it fit, that's where the correct dimensions would help a lot, giving me something to aim for.Originally posted by WCP View PostComment
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I'm guessing, without viewing your car, that the glass and vent assembly are adjusted too high. This lengthens the exposed glass. Keep in mind that the B-pillar is tight to the roll bar, and that position is set by the roll bar mounting flange of the hog trough. I would recommend that you have someone, that is experienced in basic Avanti body assembly and adjustment, look at your problem, before trying to modify the body.
You may have to enlarge the holes for the hinge captive mounting plate or remove the cage, to allow the door to be raised to the correct body position at the A-pillar. This will lower the window glass and vent assembly and effectively shorten the glass exposed. The problem here is that the body "crease" may not match that of the front fender, but this would explain what was done improperly when the right front was repaired. Your post indicates that the left door needs to be raised and re-adjusted as well.Comment
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Well, the vent frame is as low as it goes, the glass is not touching the top seal and the vent frame is still "touching the w/s pillar. The measurment from roll bar joint to the w/s frame at the top of the hinge pillar is 1/2" shorter in the passenger side and the door skin is almost touching the fender at the front (no gap) and the rear edge of the skin is at most an 1/8" at bottom and 1/4" at top. I am somewhat familiar with Avanti's, having spliced my Dad' right fender front half in 1967 after he "kissed" a baracade. The driver's door alignment is an easy fix, I just wish I had examined this more closely before I bought her as I thought I could get it to fit better by shims and adjusting the misc. internal parts. Now that I want to paint her I can't put all that effort into it and have the door misfit that badly. Does anyone have a picture with a fender removed and the hinge pillar exposed? The cowl panel to firewall joint at the rear hood corner opening is also high, and the contour at the right side fender joint crown is off slightly, leading me to believe it moved upward and pushed back, then the fiberglass bonded on without checking the door fit first.Originally posted by WCP View PostComment
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I think you are going to have to start the re-adjustment by removing the window and vent frame assembly. Then try adjusting the door to properly fit the opening. The top of the fibreglass door should line up with the rear body and front body sweep. The gaps, front and back, should be even top to bottom and equal. However, the front gap may need to be wider than the rear to clear the front fender when opening (open slowly to check for binding). Don't be surprised if the door needs more movement than the hinge mount cages allow. Door shims can be placed behind the hinges if the door needs to be moved outward. If the door needs to be moved inward, and no shims are in place, then the 4 holes in the hinge A-pillar mount need to be slotted some to accomplish this.
If proper door adjustment can't be accomplished, then further study is necessary to determine what needs to be corrected in the body or door.
Next install the vent frame assembly. Again, don't be surprised if the holes for the assembly mounts and adjusters require modification as well. Adjust the assembly for proper front gap to the A-frame and contact to the upper seal. Install the window and adjust to run to the top of the window run with the window top remaining parallel to the upper window seal.
Study and follow the shop manual on these adjustments. It's normal to chase these around a bit before arriving at a satisfactory compromise.Last edited by WCP; 03-30-2014, 05:00 PM.Comment
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