1963 Studebaker AVANTI

Coupe

Corvette LT-1

Automatic

63R3246

Clear

Gasoline

1963 STUDEBAKER AVANTI R1 RESTO-MOD restoration I am the third project owner of this Avanti. I purchased the car as an incomplete project. The owner before me did the same, and the owner before that purchased the car unrestored. That owner lived in Michigan, but purchased the car in California. Except for the 3000 miles that I have put on the car, nearly all of the 63,000 original miles occurred as a California car, purchased in Santa Rosa. The frame, hog troughs and cross members are in excellent condition. The first project owner pulled the R1 engine to put in his Lark and repainted the car from Turquoise to Avanti Gold. He then sold the car due to health reasons and the second project owner installed the Phantom tubular front suspension and the LT1 engine / 4L60E transmission. He sold the car to me because of a job relocation. My contribution was to get all of the systems hooked up to the drive train, I modified the Phantom kit from manual rack and pinion to power, upgraded the 4 wheel disk brakes to power, installed the factory A/C and reupholstered the interior and trunk. This car has many upgrades to improve performance and drivability, here is a list of the details: ENGINE -1995 Corvette LT1, I was told it had less than 10,000 miles -Rear seal does leak some. -Chrome dress up kit for serpentine belt system -Painless wire harness was used to marry the engine to the old electrical system. The ECM is located by the drives left foot and the OBDII connection is by the drives left knee. -All welded aluminized dual exhaust with no crossover pipe, just like original. This gives it a distinctive sound. -Aluminum 3 row radiator with twin cooling fans. This car does not overheat! TRANSMISSION -4L60E electronic shift transmission -The transmission shifts a little slow and a little firm into 2nd when the engine is prodded, compared to the other gears. SUSPENSION / BRAKES -Phantom tubular front suspension kit, with poly bushings, modified to power rack and Pinion -Heavy duty mono tube gas shocks on all 4 corners -1” anti sway bar on the front, stock sway bar on the rear -Mono leaf fiberglass springs on the rear axle -The car has been converted to power 4 wheel disk brakes with dual circuit master circuit. The front calipers are 2 piston Willwood and the rears are 84’ Elderado. The original E-brake still works. -The car stops very well, but does tug to the right a little under hard stopping. BODY -The body was painted by the first project owner in PPG Deltron basecoat / clearcoat in about 2003 -The paint is not perfect, there are 2 repair spots (see pic’s) and some chips that have been touched up,  but the paint does still have a very nice appearance. -I did not install the Avanti or Studebaker script on the body, but I do have them and they go with the car. -All new rubber seals were installed for the windows and doors. -This car has power windows and they work great! -The drivers window has a few small spots on the glass that will not come off. The rest of the glass is very nice. -All of the chrome has been redone and the stainless has all been polished, it was expensive, but it’s beautiful! WHEELS -The wheels are Ford Mustang with custom painted spinner caps with Studebaker logo -They are all in excellent condition. The car has a space saver spare tire. -The tires have plenty of tread left on them. INTERIOR -The seats and dash are original. The rest of the interior has been reupholstered. -Custom tilt steering column and wheel with custom painted horn button -original restored steering column and wheel goes with the car and can be easily converted back. -Modern rearview mirror with garage door opener and compass have been installed, original but worthless mirror goes with the car. -The original radio has been converted to 4 channel AM/FM stereo with Ipod hook up in center arm rest. and power antenna. It works very well. -The original clock has been converted to quartz movement, it keeps perfect time. -All of the original gauges work as they should, except for the vacuum / pressure gauge, it must have a leak. -StarDrive keyless entry and push button start. The original ignition switch also goes with the car and can easily be converted back. -The trunk has been custom upholstered and has a built in battery maintainer. OVERALL DESCRIPTION  I have tried to be as honest as possible about the good points and issues the car still has. I also put a lot a effort into making the transplant engine look like it belongs in the engine bay. The car is reliable and ready to drive anywhere. Please do not hesitate to contact me with questions you might have. Since completing the Resto-Mod I have put about 2000 miles on the car and have found it to be a lot of fun to drive. The car is very responsive and rides very well.  You will make a lot of new friends at the gas station and parking lot because a lot of people are interested  and ask, what is it? I require $500 at the end of the auction and the remainder before the car changes hands.