1964 Studebaker Avanti R 2

Supercharged, 4  speed, serial R 5410

 

Be sure and follow the more pictures link at the end of my description !

As some of you may know, I find nice Studebakers around the country, fix them up and find new
 homes for them on Ebay. I bought this project car from a owner that parked it in his garage 
in the 70's.  Once I got the car home, I ignored my own advice about playing with a project car 
and did some work on the old gal. I could have parted the car out for well over what I paid, but
 just could not do it without giving her a chance.   First, the R2, 4 speed Avanti's sell in the 
20-30K range for nice drivers, and this one is near the end of the production run with every added 
improvement.  It has all the fancy wood grain interior trim, and even the more comfortable, thick 
back buckets featured on the last 200 or so. I decided to invest a few bucks to get it running and
 driving again. Since it had never been restored, it was not missing parts, or had any shoddy work
 done, it was just tired and neglected.  My intention was not to restore the car, or even to make 
it a daily driver, I just wanted to make it stop and go so the new owner could pull it in and out of the garage and for short trips while fixing her up.

 

I got her running with a new battery, then rebuilt the carb, and fuel pump, adding a new water 
pump, plug wires and tune up items. I replaced the radiator expansion tank, installed a new gas 
tank, with all new hoses and replaced about half the exhaust system. Once I had it moving under 
it's own power, I moved on to the brake system. I rebuilt the master cylinder, front calipers and
 installed new rear wheel cylinders and all the brakes hoses. I installed four new, wider then stock
 steel wheels, and new radial tires The engine starts right up, carries good oil pressure and there
 are no unusual noises, but spots the driveway with a oil leak o two. . I installed a new voltage 
regulator and a good used alternator and the battery charges fine now. The supercharger works, but
 since it had bearing noise and needs a rebuild, I removed the belts to prevent damage. It'll cost
 you between $200-$500 to rebuild depending on if you do it yourself or pay a pro. I've only driven
 the car maybe 50 miles and can't be sure the engine will not need work at some point, but it is 
fine so far.

The car only shows 41,000 miles, but I can't document that as being accurate. The overall good
 condition of the interior, especially the perfect dash pad, and rubber sill plates point to a
 low mileage car that was just parked 40 years ago. Other then the seam split on the top of the
 two  buckets, the interior is much better then average. The steering wheel is nice, as is the
 wood grain, glass and carpeting, the gages are not rusty or sun faded.

 

 

All the gages work except the clock, as do the lights, turn signals,` heater, horn wiper and even
 the radio.  As you can see, the exterior paint is shot, but since it's the factory lacquer that 
is well worn and thin, should be a easy strip for repaint. The fiberglass body is undamaged, but 
will need new weather stripping when repainted.  The frame is rusty, but not rusted out, the hog 
troughs should be replaced if you are doing a frame off, but could be patched for a driver. The 
rear trunk support tube is also rusty, but a new one is $100 or so. The rear bumper is badly 
rusted, and a better, used core should be found for a replate.

This is a project car, but well worth saving if you can do some of the work yourself. If all your 
tools fit in a kitchen drawer, this may not be the car for you. For example, 100 hours of your own 
labor over a few months could run you big money at $50-$75/hour if you had a shop do it. Even if you 
do it all yourself, expect to spend more then you estimated, but well under the amount buying a done 
car would. You'll also have the satisfaction of doing the first restoration of of a rare, original 
Avanti that has never been restored. 

 I set my reserve at less then the parts value of a Avanti R2 drive line and body just to see it 
restored by someone with the time to do it correctly  Low NADA book value for a 64, R2 4speed is 
over 14K.

More Pictures at www.stude.com/r24speed  

Call me (John) 410-757-5147