Thread: New Shocks for our 82 Avanti II

My pick of replacement shocks would be Bilstein or Koni, unfortunately I am not aware of any bolt-in replacements for the Avanti II (should be same as 63-64 Stude Avanti.)

If you have Konis on the car now, they can be rebuilt, and that would be what I would recommend that you do. If you need to drive the car while this is being done, the Gabriel shocks are a direct fit and are quite inexpensive.

There's some info. on my web site re: shocks; some of it is verified, some of it is not, so read all the footnotes carefully.

BTW I think I have a pair of the Camaro rear Konis (not the original Stude part number) floating around somewhere, but they need new bushings. Got them from Ted Harbit so they even have a racing pedigree

good luck

nate

I have a full set of Edelbrock IAS shocks on my '70 Avanti. They are a Camaro/Firebird application. You can swap the cross pins and put new bushings in and they fit fine. They are a bit pricey but are excellent quality. I bought mine from one of the Stude vendors already with the new pins and bushings installed....and it cost the same or slightly less than buying the shocks alone from a speed shop.

I put a set of KYB shocks on the 83. As Bruce described, the cross pins are too narrow to totally be supported by the bolts.

I started to press out the pins to install the originals, and in all honesty, I stopped before I had them removed in the press. It was starting to look like a goat rope so I just left the original pins in and MIGed a pair of heavy washers near the ends in the appropriate position. It didn't generate enough heat to attack the bushings and after grinding and finishing, they look quite good. They bolted up very solid.

Just another option, unless you try to return them.

Bob

Originally Posted by Avanti82

Thanks Guys,

I will get it on a lift later this week and see what shocks are on there can't really tell here in the garage. I did notice that KYB has some advertised as direct replacements but it sounds like they may not fit without alteration.

Steve

Steve

I used the KYB's listed in the Nates interchange and they were about 1/4" short on each side of the pins. I could have used a washer on the bolt to hold them on but it just didn't look solid enough. So I guess by definition "They Fit" but it just looked a little sketchy to me. By the way, I got them at Advanced with their occasional 20% off and the price was great.

Bob

Bob, I suspected that that would happen as they are listed for Stude but also lots of other apps I believe. If a shock is listed ONLY for Stude and a couple Buick apps. it likely has the right cross pins. If you are discarding shocks wouldn't hurt to press out the cross pins and save them for future use!

nate

Originally Posted by N8N

Bob, I suspected that that would happen as they are listed for Stude but also lots of other apps I believe. If a shock is listed ONLY for Stude and a couple Buick apps. it likely has the right cross pins. If you are discarding shocks wouldn't hurt to press out the cross pins and save them for future use!

nate

Nate

I used the listed KYB 343127 which is for Buick's and Avanti's. Your note (#16) says the cross pin may be short and it was. Your suggestion to keep the old cross pins should be taken a gospel. If the only way to replace the shocks was to replace the cross pin then that's the way it should be done. My problem was even with a 12 ton press and a lot of lube the results didn't look promising. I saw the suggestion about pinching the side to reduce the cross section but I didn't even get that far. My guess is that the newer bushing are a lot stiffer than the old and it will make the job more difficult.

And again, THANKS!!! for all the interchange info you have compiled.

Bob

My plan is to use Blistein front shocks from a 1970-81 Camaro/1994-96 Impala SS on
the front, and (in my case) 1994-1996 Impala SS rear shocks. The reason I need to
use the Impala rear is I have 1960 Hawk rear shock plates, not the 63/64 Avanti shock
mount plates that have the threaded shaft. The Impala SS shock has a lower eyebolt
and nut arrangment that should fit the Hawk shock plate. The upper mount will need
to be fabbed up. My plan is to mod the lower control arm to accept the shock, rather
than mod the shock. Bilstein has a lifetime warranty, so pressing out shock pins is not
an option. I also feel that there will NEVER be a decent performance shock made for
a Studebaker, so why keep the stock mounting?

Tom