I've never been to either a swap meet nor a judged Studebaker car show, so I need a little advice.
I've finally had a chance to take a closer look at my '55. I already knew the engine was not the one on the build sheet, but I thought I had read that isn't a problem when Studebaker events are judged. However, while I was crawling all over and under the car a couple days ago, I discovered that the tranny it came with is a DG200, not the DG250 which should have been in it.
Since I don't even know if this tranny is any good at this point, I'm starting to think of swapping out the DG200 for a 3 speed/overdrive. A few Speedsters were built that way. So while it's not original to this particular car, it would be appropriate as a Speedster option. Would a change like that push it over into a "modified" class for judging? (For that matter, can it all be crammed in there with a Saginaw power steering unit in place?)
And what about parts availability? Which particular model of manual tranny would be correct for a '55 259? How often does a 3 Speed/overdrive tranny/cluth become available out there? How hard would it be to find a complete clutch pedal/arm/mounting assmebly proper to a '55?
Finally, if I'm going to end up making that change along with the incorrect engine serial # as well, how much difference does it make if I paint the car in original Speedster colors, but not necessarily the colors original to the car? At the very least, I think I'd put a white roof on my coraltone, gray, coraltone, and make it a tri-tone.
But in researching Speedsters in some back issues of TW, I noticed a list of one of a kind experimental paint combos, including a white/gold/white. This car is presently not known to have survived. But it IS a proper Speedster color combo. It's just not what's on my build sheet. Would that knock it out of competition in judging as a restoration, and push it into "modified"?
It's not that I'm trying to be a "restoration original" snob. But I feel like a Speedster is historically significant enough that it ought to be kept as original as possible. But I really don't like Coraltone all that much, and I actually think the white and gold would look better. I might even have the interior side panels done up in white rather than Pimlico gray vinyl when I get that far. At least that would be easy to change back if I wanted to sell it and a
"purist" wanted to change it.
Any suggestions about such changes or info on parts availability would be appreciated.
I've finally had a chance to take a closer look at my '55. I already knew the engine was not the one on the build sheet, but I thought I had read that isn't a problem when Studebaker events are judged. However, while I was crawling all over and under the car a couple days ago, I discovered that the tranny it came with is a DG200, not the DG250 which should have been in it.
Since I don't even know if this tranny is any good at this point, I'm starting to think of swapping out the DG200 for a 3 speed/overdrive. A few Speedsters were built that way. So while it's not original to this particular car, it would be appropriate as a Speedster option. Would a change like that push it over into a "modified" class for judging? (For that matter, can it all be crammed in there with a Saginaw power steering unit in place?)
And what about parts availability? Which particular model of manual tranny would be correct for a '55 259? How often does a 3 Speed/overdrive tranny/cluth become available out there? How hard would it be to find a complete clutch pedal/arm/mounting assmebly proper to a '55?
Finally, if I'm going to end up making that change along with the incorrect engine serial # as well, how much difference does it make if I paint the car in original Speedster colors, but not necessarily the colors original to the car? At the very least, I think I'd put a white roof on my coraltone, gray, coraltone, and make it a tri-tone.
But in researching Speedsters in some back issues of TW, I noticed a list of one of a kind experimental paint combos, including a white/gold/white. This car is presently not known to have survived. But it IS a proper Speedster color combo. It's just not what's on my build sheet. Would that knock it out of competition in judging as a restoration, and push it into "modified"?
It's not that I'm trying to be a "restoration original" snob. But I feel like a Speedster is historically significant enough that it ought to be kept as original as possible. But I really don't like Coraltone all that much, and I actually think the white and gold would look better. I might even have the interior side panels done up in white rather than Pimlico gray vinyl when I get that far. At least that would be easy to change back if I wanted to sell it and a
"purist" wanted to change it.
Any suggestions about such changes or info on parts availability would be appreciated.
Comment