Frame / Springs: Who is doing these conversions?

[hausdok]

Hi All,

Does anyone know who the guy is who is doing these conversions? Has anyone bought one of these? If so; opinion?

Avanti Chassis Conversion

[1962larksedan]

That adjustable upper control arm concept may also be useful with a ball joint conversion on a 1951-66 Stude.

[DEEPNHOCK]

Call 'em up!

352-379-0409
Crusin' Cars Inc.
5725 N 13th Ave, gainesville, FL 32653

[Xcalibur]

Interesting, but what I find MOST interesting is how LITTLE info is provided. I've seen much more on $7.50 items!

[Ed Gray]

For me the benefit of an Avanti is having a cool car that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. I think upgrades for the Avanti front end might be the best solution on a cost basis. There are faster steering arms available; what would it take to get a newer ball joint front end on the existing chassis?

And anything that requires taking the body off the frame can lead to consequences, if the number of shims on my 1980 Avanti II is any indication.

[mmagic]

5725 NW 13th St, Gainesville, Florida.... their Ebay store has lots of Corvette stuff including a Vette front end.

[SN-60]

Maybe just purchasing an '87 up Avanti would be a simpler (and possibly better) way to go?

[Ed Gray]

I see Southeast Studebaker has front end and rear end kits. Has anybody looked at these? I'm mostly interested in how hard it would be to install these (or maybe just the front end) in my 1980 Avanti II.

[Mike Van Veghten]

On one hand, from the pictures, it "appears" that they do nice work.

On the other hand, I'd want two things.
1. To see more than one or two pieces of their work...first hand, in the flesh...as they say.
2. And MOST important, from their photos....it's the SAME OL FREAKING THING...at least on the shots on e-bay...the control arms "appear" parallel (or VERY nearly so). The control arms appear parallel...not a stutter or typo..! If this is the case...it's a lot of time, effort and money for nuthin..!

Go out and take a look at ANY factory/OEM hot rod (Vette, Mustang GT, Porsche, etc., etc.) or any factory based road race car. The control arms are NOT parallel in any plane (or viewing angle) to each other. This makes a very large difference in the way the car handles and drives.

If you want something cool looking and pretty...sure, go for it.
If you want all the time, effort and money to really mean something....make them design the front suspension "correctly.....".

I keep saying this, but it seems not too many pay much attention. It's not just me people, do some homework on suspension design. If you are gonna have $7500+ lifted from your bank account...at least learn what your are or are not getting. It's in print, it's in books, it's not secret.

Like the doctor cutting off the wrong leg...!

Mike

[Ed Gray]

For drivers, and not trailer queens, we would need something that likely comes from existing part bins at Chevy and Ford. Thanks to the Altmans' Avanti II we can do this easily for engines and transmissions from lots of parts catalogs. A lot of the already done suspension swaps look like they are by guys who want Ford parts in Fords and Chevy parts in Chevys, but has anyone tried Ford or Chevy front ends in Studes?

[SScopelli]

If you notice, YOU still have to provide him with your frame. The conversion is to the front and rear suspension.

[Ed Gray]

I was not thinking about the doing the specific example that started this thread, but rather more generally if somebody with a reasonable effort could, by himself, upgrade the front suspension. Maybe the only reasonable fix is to put in steering arms that lower the lock to lock turns, but that still doesn't get rid of the plowing in turns.

BTW, I've had my 1980 Avanti II for around 15 years and recently retired so I have the time (if not the money) to work on it. To me every potential project starts with an armchair mechanic phase that may lead to real work. For example, shortly after I bought it I swapped out the engine for a new Goodwrench long block crate engine in my garage. Most potential ideas aren't that much of a no brainer

[SN-60]

I was not thinking about the doing the specific example that started this thread, but rather more generally if somebody with a reasonable effort could, by himself, upgrade the front suspension. Maybe the only reasonable fix is to put in steering arms that lower the lock to lock turns, but that still doesn't get rid of the plowing in turns.

BTW, I've had my 1980 Avanti II for around 15 years and recently retired so I have the time (if not the money) to work on it. To me every potential project starts with an armchair mechanic phase that may lead to real work. For example, shortly after I bought it I swapped out the engine for a new Goodwrench long block crate engine in my garage. Most potential ideas aren't that much of a no brainer

I did the same 'Goodwrench' swap on My '83 Avanti a few years ago.....Good Deal! But as far as the front suspension in Your '80 Avanti goes....If You have the time to rebuild the original suspension system, replacing all the worn out parts and returning it to 'as new' condition....I bet You'll wonder why You ever thought about ripping the whole thing out, and replacing it with something "Better"???

[sweetolbob]

I was not thinking about the doing the specific example that started this thread, but rather more generally if somebody with a reasonable effort could, by himself, upgrade the front suspension. Maybe the only reasonable fix is to put in steering arms that lower the lock to lock turns, but that still doesn't get rid of the plowing in turns.

BTW, I've had my 1980 Avanti II for around 15 years and recently retired so I have the time (if not the money) to work on it. To me every potential project starts with an armchair mechanic phase that may lead to real work. For example, shortly after I bought it I swapped out the engine for a new Goodwrench long block crate engine in my garage. Most potential ideas aren't that much of a no brainer

SN-60 is correct about the rebuilding being a major improvement but also get the best sway bar setup you can and better shocks. Your research should include the AOAI forum and Bob Johnstones site also. http://www.studebaker-info.org/rjtechx4.html

Your research hasn't even scratched the surface yet. This site's search resources are full of answers if asked. Remember that anything added to an Avanti frame adds stress it was not designed to take so changes should not be considered lightly.

The silver 83 in my signature has all the upgrades mentioned above and while not a 'vette, it handles quite well for it 1960's heritage.

Here's what just a 350 (74 vintage) can do to the frame around the mounts.



Good luck, Bob

[Ed Gray]

I'm familiar with the other sites since I went round and round on whether to replace the TH350 with a 200 or 700 R4. At the time I was thinking of making the Avanti II a daily driver, but we got a good deal on something else at auction, so I can keep the current tranny and not worry about length, number of splines, computers, whatever.

So back to the suspension topic, sounds like rebuilding would be a good bet.