Fuel System: Starting to get Avanti 63R1406 R2 ready for spring

[avantibngrant]

Good evening folks. I am continuing to work out the bugs on this car since getting it on the road last fall. One left is the accelerator pump - I could not get the inlet check valve out and ended up drilling it out (mostly). My questions - does any one know what thread is on the check valve? I will need to tap out out the bore and re-thread and replace with the new check valve I got in a kit along the way.
Next is to replace the seal on the shaft with the new one I got from SI. Any tricks or special techniques involved in this?
Next is to see where in the fuel tank area I am getting a gas smell when running it. I will just take out he seat back and go for a drive. Sad part is I paid the local shop a lot of money to have the tank cleaned and sealed.
As an aside, I last ran the car 2 months ago and thought it would have the fuel all out of the carburetor by know. There was still some - black ugly looking sediment and stuff. I will make a point to not use gas with ethanol from now on in this car.
I am still very much enjoying it. It never left the garage for it's back shed all winter as I enjoyed looking at it too much. Downside was I had to scape the snow and ice off my dailly driver!
Have a good evening all.

Neil

[unimogjohn]

Re the gas smell. On mine it was hairline cracks in the large rubber hose connector between the gas tank and the filler tube. I bet this is the problem if your tank has already been repaired. This is often overlooked. An easy fix. I cut out the old one first, then removed the filler tube. The tube is held in place with three or four screws that you access from the filler opening. Then it just pulls right out. I got my replacement rubber from SI. Good luck.

And of course it could also be a loose hose too.

And a great looking ride too!

[showbizkid]

Looking good! Bob Johnstone has a note on his site from Stan Gundry about replacing ALL the fuel lines on Avantis - hard and soft. Check it out: http://www.studebaker-info.org/text3/orig_gas_lines.txt

Happy Studebakering!

[Buck]

Hey Beau, I too had my fuel tank cleaned out by a "professional" and I still got rust in the carburetor. I did it my self with a kit from Eastwoods and it has been fine every since.
I rebuilt my carb and I had a check valve problem too. I found a guy in NY that only does carbs and fuel pumps. He has the best kit I have ever used. All the parts are top quality and he will only sell American made kits. His name is Hal and his number is 518 374 5078. He is a wealth of information on carns and such. Give him a call. Tom

[avantibngrant]

Thanks very much for the good feedback. I just got to the carburetor again tonight. 5/16-24 UNF is the thread the check valve takes and it is now in place - a little deeper than original, but it seems to work. I will be at the other stuff over the nest while. I have a new filler hose for the tank from SI, so if it is that, I am ready! I need to take the back seat out to change the trunk release cable anyway. It is coming together slowly. I have 10 Cockshutt tractors (3 Raymond Lowey styled ones - 540, 550, 570
Super) and one International 460 Utility (also Raymond Lowey styled) which I like to work at too now as the weather warms up.
Thanks again.

Neil

[avantibngrant]

Another update: I got the carburetor installed with the new pump and seal. I got one link rod to the choke on backwards, but corrected it. I then took out the back seat and went for a little drive after putting 40 liters of Esso 91 octane which is not supposed to contain ethanol. The good news is the gas tank is all dry all around it and the smell of gas is gone. It must have been the leak at the accelerator pump letting the gas smell migrate into the cabin. I also installed the trunk release cable while I was in there.
I had put a few new parts from SI on it last year, some of which were a new ignition switch and a new heate control valve. Quality issues with both of these. The ignition switch sometimes does not acticate the starter and the heater control valve leaks. Otherwise, all of the other parts have worked out fine. I will check the connections at the heater control valve firest before I get another one. If it is leaking, I might just send the old one to SI to get rebuilt. anyone have similar experiences with these parts?
I may just wait a little bit yet before I head out again for a couple of rains to take the salt off the eastern Ontario roads! With the new springs (Moog CC653 - 13.44 free lenght and K= 357 lb/in) and shocks, the ride is firmer than the 02 Grand Am i drive to work.
The 3.73 rear end sure lets the motor wind up at 60 miles per hr (about 2700 rpm). Lot of fun. Looking forward to going to some of the local show.

Regards

Neil

[avantibngrant]

One more question: my Avanti has drip rails around the windows. They seem to leak and are not caulked. Anyone have access to the original service bulletin which would show how they were to be installed? I think my Avanti is old enough that they would have been added.

Thansk again

Neil