1978 Avanti Trip

[mgtdsteve]

I just got home from a 1,000 mile trip in my 1978 Avanti. There are several things I would like change  and am looking for thoughts from more experienced owners.

1. I would like to make the seat backs more straight for more support.

2 . I do have the stock quiet tone mufflers and they seem loud to me so any ideas to make the cat quieter.

3. best reference source for repairing the cruise control.

Any help would be appreciated, Steve

 

[studegary]

On Studebaker Avantis and early Avanti IIs (similar seats), I have found that a large rolled up towel placed at my lower back helped a lot for seat comfort.   

[Avanti83]

My 83 and earlier Avanti's with the Recaro seat option have an adjustable seatbacks so you might look for a set of them on Ebay or at swap meets. Secondly, a good upholstery shop in your area should be able to make your seats fit as you want.

Personally, I changed out my 74 seats to a set from a Pontiac G6 which are just much better. The good news is most of the cars seats of today are sized right for the Avanti.

Lastly, the rolled up towel is a pretty good idea.

Noise, a new pair of muffler is pretty inexpensive as a first choice. They make resonator tailpipe extensions that may help but are pretty far back to have much effect.

The standard cruise control should be GM from that year or a year earlier so a GM manual should help. If it's aftermarket, look at the control box. The most popular were Dana (now Rostra) but Google should help if you can find the brand.

Edited October 29, 2017 by Avanti83

[mgtdsteve]

Thanks for the tips. I made some spacers about 5/8 think and put them under the rear seat bolts. Tis made the seats a lot more comfortable. A local exhaust added some stainless exhaust muffler ends, much better. I ordered a Haynes 1978 manual to try and get the cruise to woks.