Bob Johnstone's Studebaker and Avanti Page (Studebaker Power Window Circuit)

Bob's Resource Website (2007)

Studebaker Avanti / Avanti II Power Window Schematics
With the help of Gary Croletto of Northern California, and Marc Dahl of the Chicago area, this schematic was generated. It's been tweaked a bit for this presentation

On early Studebaker Avantis, The original electrical design only allowed the window current to flow with the ignition on. It was soon obvious that if the car's windows had to be serviced that the ignition points would burn up from leaving the ignition on while service was being done. A service letter revised the wiring instructions to allow the current for the windows be controlled by the accessory circuit.

OPERATION: Power is supplied from the HOT side of the STARTER SOLENOID to the 20 Amp CIRCUIT BREAKER to the RELAY (+12 in). When you turn the IGNITION key to the ACC position, power is supplied to the VOLTAGE REGULATOR, which energizes the post with the YELLOW Wire. This, in turn, trips the RELAY and supplies POWER to the Window Circuit.

NOTES: In the above diagram, the relay is next to the Voltage Regulator in the engine compartment. This is applicable to early Studebaker models, as the relay is under the dash by the fuseblock in late 64's and Altman models after 66.

The motors draw a high amount of amperage requiring the wire for this circuit to be almost all 10 guage (heavy). The 'fuse' is a 20 amp circuit breaker at the fuseblock

The power to the actual window circuit starts at the relay and is 10 guage BLACK. It is spliced under the dash to supply power to both window switches. All ground wiring is WHITE and is 12 guage.

The drivers side has an integrated dual switch to control both windows

Due to the heavy electrical load and unique function of the switch that supplies 2 POWER LEADS FOR EACH EVENT (red/green - down) and (yellow/green - up), there are NO OTHER switches that can be used to control these motors. Any attempt to incorporate lighter duty switches, such as on late model cars will require the use of numerous relays to switch current which you will soon regret.