A 'fun' Avanti!

[SN-60]

I have SEEN FACTORY experimental CAST IRON R4 intakes. Ed, use the Offenhauser air horns available from Speedway. They are lower.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]60999[/ATTACH]

Not a bad thought!.........By the way, if the 'look' of the engine in my Avanti turns out half as nice as the engine in this photo ( the one that YOU built Brad) I'd be a VERY HAPPY CAMPER!!!...........WELL DONE!!

[SN-60]

I took the '63 Avanti for a ride this afternoon, first time in about three weeks. It's been quite cold around here (between 15-40' F.), however, there's very little snow on the ground!

Getting back to the cold,....before I left, the hood was open, and I felt the intake manifold crossover passage getting nice and warm. (the heat riser plate is installed and functions well)

I could see the choke plate slowly opening to its 'fully opened' position.....NICE!!

I can't imagine how anyone would get by around here with a blocked off intake crossover passage...I KNOW this Avanti would run lousy, and burn a lot of extra fuel...probably foul spark plugs too!

The electric choke kits work well and alleviate a 'choked up' engine condition, but without that factory heated crossover passage, I'm afraid Studebakers would be relegated to 'tropic climates ONLY'!

[Buzzard]

orecrush, post# 72.
I have 3:73 Twin Trac in my '63 GT Hawk R4 Clone and it runs about 3000 rpm in top gear (Powershift) at 60 mph, and 28.0 " tall tire (235/70R15). If it didn't, the execs at Exxon/Mobil wouldn't get bonuses.
Bill

[SN-60]

Saw my friend Chet last weekend, he mentioned that he's reluctantly placing his '63 Avanti (see post # 29) up for sale. This is a VERY NICE Studebaker Avanti, which has been in his family since purchased new.

PM me if seriously interested, I'll put you in touch with him....and I'm really not sure of the asking price.

UPDATE:...An add for this '63 Avanti is now in latest issue of the AOAI Magazine!

[JoeHall]

I took the '63 Avanti for a ride this afternoon, first time in about three weeks. It's been quite cold around here (between 15-40' F.), however, there's very little snow on the ground!

Getting back to the cold,....before I left, the hood was open, and I felt the intake manifold crossover passage getting nice and warm. (the heat riser plate is installed and functions well)

I could see the choke plate slowly opening to its 'fully opened' position.....NICE!!

I can't imagine how anyone would get by around here with a blocked off intake crossover passage...I KNOW this Avanti would run lousy, and burn a lot of extra fuel...probably foul spark plugs too!

The electric choke kits work well and alleviate a 'choked up' engine condition, but without that factory heated crossover passage, I'm afraid Studebakers would be relegated to 'tropic climates ONLY'!

Ed,
I agree on problems with blocking off the intake crossover. A few years ago, I tried it on a 56J. It was easy enough tap a 1.5" freeze plug into the round (versus rectangular on 259/289) crossover entrance/exit on each side of the intake. Even in warm weather, and max rich setting on the choke, the choke butterfly would open while the manifold was still cold, so the car would take a long time to warm up enough to stop coughing & spitting. Even so, about 20 miles up the road and the manifold would eventually warm up as hot as ever, and problems such as hot restart would still occur. A total waste of time, so I took the 1.5" plugs back out in short order.

[SN-60]

Ed,
I agree on problems with blocking off the intake crossover. A few years ago, I tried it on a 56J. It was easy enough tap a 1.5" freeze plug into the round (versus rectangular on 259/289) crossover entrance/exit on each side of the intake. Even in warm weather, and max rich setting on the choke, the choke butterfly would open while the manifold was still cold, so the car would take a long time to warm up enough to stop coughing & spitting. Even so, about 20 miles up the road and the manifold would eventually warm up as hot as ever, and problems such as hot restart would still occur. A total waste of time, so I took the 1.5" plugs back out in short order.

Yes Joe, that's exactly why I was trying to forewarn folks living in 'cooler' parts of the country that the custom Studebaker V8 performance intake manifolds we see advertised, although probably quite good on the drag strip, might be a big disappointment & real waste of money for their street driven Studes!

They LOOK kind of pretty though!

[DEEPNHOCK]

Ed,
Your ability to 'forwarn' other people is not warranted, wanted, or appreciated.
Until you have personally installed, run, and have had a bad experience, your snyde little comments are just one old man's opinion.
I will personally stand behind my products anywhere they are installed.
I have more experienced customers than you have, or have ever had. So your warnings are feckless.
Put your purchased dual quad manifold on, run it, and then give the forum some quality feedback.
Until then, I would suggest you stick to what you know... Trivia, and leave your nescient forum oratory on the shelf.
Trivia is your specialty. Stick with your strengths.

(copy)
Originally Posted by JoeHall
Ed,
I agree on problems with blocking off the intake crossover. A few years ago, I tried it on a 56J. It was easy enough tap a 1.5" freeze plug into the round (versus rectangular on 259/289) crossover entrance/exit on each side of the intake. Even in warm weather, and max rich setting on the choke, the choke butterfly would open while the manifold was still cold, so the car would take a long time to warm up enough to stop coughing & spitting. Even so, about 20 miles up the road and the manifold would eventually warm up as hot as ever, and problems such as hot restart would still occur. A total waste of time, so I took the 1.5" plugs back out in short order.



Yes Joe, that's exactly why I was trying to forewarn folks living in 'cooler' parts of the country that the custom Studebaker V8 performance intake manifolds we see advertised, although probably quite good on the drag strip, might be a big disappointment & real waste of money for their street driven Studes!

They LOOK kind of pretty though!

[SN-60]

Jeff, Intake manifolds without heated crossover passages are of no use in the colder areas of this country. The automotive engineers who designed the original intake manifolds used on Studebaker engines knew that...and NOTHING has changed since then.

I have no agenda against the manifolds which you, or anyone else, make at home! On the drag strip these manifolds MAY perform well, however, please do not tell folks who intend to actually DRIVE their Studebakers to work, school, etc. that these manifolds will work satisfactorily here in the cold northeast, (it's 10' outside tonight!), because they simply wont.

And one more thing Jeff, I feel that calling fellow Stude Forum members 'OLD' is a REAL CHEAP SHOT!!!...You ought to be ashamed of yourself!

[SN-60]

Boy, I CAN'T WAIT for spring!! .................................

[DEEPNHOCK]

My apologies to you about your age.
It is wrong to say that.
It is your posting style that is old.

Your comments are just your opinion.
Keep your opinions to yourself and don't tell other people what their experience might be with products you have never used, or have any experience with.
To say you have no agenda, and then post with trite comments is hypocritical, and unprofessional.

Jeff, Intake manifolds without heated crossover passages are of no use in the colder areas of this country. The automotive engineers who designed the original intake manifolds used on Studebaker engines knew that...and NOTHING has changed since then.

I have no agenda against the manifolds which you, or anyone else, make at home! On the drag strip these manifolds MAY perform well, however, please do not tell folks who intend to actually DRIVE their Studebakers to work, school, etc. that these manifolds will work satisfactorily here in the cold northeast, (it's 10' outside tonight!), because they simply wont.

And one more thing Jeff, I feel that calling fellow Stude Forum members 'OLD' is a REAL CHEAP SHOT!!!...You ought to be ashamed of yourself!

[bezhawk]

Ed If your Avanti had a nice 6 volt system and a Packard V8 hooked to a ultramatic , it would be perfect. Better yet would be a DG 150!

[SN-60]

Ed If your Avanti had a nice 6 volt system and a Packard V8 hooked to a ultramatic , it would be perfect. Better yet would be a DG 150!

That's FUNNY Brad!...And in your rather humorous way you've managed to point out a series of mechanical weaknesses that Studebaker owners must deal with!

You need to remember though Brad, there are 'MANY MORE POSITIVES THAN NEGATIVES' to owning and driving a Studebaker!!

[SN-60]

My apologies to you about your age.
It is wrong to say that.
It is your posting style that is old.

Your comments are just your opinion.
Keep your opinions to yourself and don't tell other people what their experience might be with products you have never used, or have any experience with.
To say you have no agenda, and then post with trite comments is hypocritical, and unprofessional.

I accept your apology Jeff........I realize that we can all get 'wound up' sometimes, and post something out of anger.

However, I also hope you don't mean it when you say "keep your opinions to yourself"....This is America Jeff, in this country I truly hope we can still express our opinions without ridicule!

[JoeHall]

That's FUNNY Brad!...And in your rather humorous way you've managed to point out a series of mechanical weaknesses that Studebaker owners must deal with!

You need to remember though Brad, there are 'MANY MORE POSITIVES THAN NEGATIVES' to owning and driving a Studebaker!!

Sometimes positives derive from negatives. A good example may be the DG and Ultra transmissions; thanks to them we now, over 60 years later, have lots of low mileage Speedsters and 56Js to play with

[fargoguy]

I accept your apology Jeff........I realize that we can all get 'wound up' sometimes, and post something out of anger.

However, I also hope you don't mean it when you say "keep your opinions to yourself"....This is America Jeff, in this country I truly hope we can still express our opinions without ridicule!

For someone who will assert their position beyond a point where anyone else would have reasonably stopped, I find it amusing that you would use the word ridicule- I have seen you do it to other members of this forum on many occasions. We are all aware of how strongly you hold your opinions, your strong assertions of them is, in fact, what causes such strong reaction to your comments. You are right, this is America, so how about we treat each other with respect and decency, and learn moderation in our dealings with others on this forum, instead of the manner in which you choose to address others. Whether it be aftermarket manifolds or DG transmissions, why not let it go?