Today I continued to extract parts from this car:
I'd already removed the engine, and separated the transmission for Studebaker George in Florida. He also wanted some other parts, including the rear shocks, which I took out this morning. I decided to hang the hood, grille and front and rear fenders back on it, so it would look more complete, and also to clear up a small fraction of the clutter in my yard. (I did say, "small fraction.") I even welded a broken hood hinge. I couldn't find the hood side panels; maybe I didn't get them with the car.
I had the engine sitting on blocks, and also supported by the hoist, so I decided to have one more go at starting it, after having been skunked last Fall. So I pulled out all the plugs, and poured a dollop of 80W-90 into each cylinder. Hit the starter, and got an oil gusher out of each spark plug hole. I replaced all the plugs, trickled a little gas into the carb, and gave it a shot. BIG backfire, and a cloud of smoke. #4 and #5 spark plugs were miswired; that'll do it every time. Sorted that out, trickled some more gas into it, and finally got it to run for a few seconds at a time, enough to build up good RPM and to build oil pressure. Best reading on the gauge was 100 PSI, but I don't trust that gauge all that much. At least it has oil pressure and no knocks, so the bottom end must be relatively sound. It made several brief runs of 2 or 3 seconds each, enough to get the block pleasantly warm. I'd seen enough, so I picked it up with the loader on my tractor, and set it on blocks in my shed for the time being. As far as I'm concerned, it's a rebuildable core. I KNOW the pistons are bad, because I had the head off last Fall.
Here's a pic of the engine, with the loader poised behind it:
The engine number is H36671, incidentally.
This car would make somebody a real nice streetrod or rat rod. There's a little rust in the body, but not much in conspicuous places, and it wouldn't be a huge chore to make it right. I feel the car is too far gone to be restored, especially seeing as it's a W3 body, with fairly low trim, and because I've robbed important parts off it to make another car good. It rolls, and it steers, and the brakes are all there, but don't work. Even has a hill holder. Door hinges and latches all work, more or less.
I plan to eventually put this car up on eBay, but if anyone on the Forum is interested, $750 will take it right now. I also have a 250 cu. in. Chevy six (with separate intake manifold) and a Flightomatic transmission which will fit it. You'd have to cut the floor to make room for the Flightomatic, of course. I probably have one or two later crossmembers on hand which would accomodate the Flightomatic mounts. Special mounts would have to be fabbed to support the engine, as the original mounted right under the timing cover, and the 250 has mounts about 1/3 of the way back along the sides of the block. The left side mount would have to be some kind of arch or cantilever to clear the steering box, if you wanted to keep the stock suspension, which appears to be in decent shape. I have the radiator for this car, too, by the way. I figure another $500 for the engine and transmission would be fair. You could probably talk me into mounting the engine and transmission, but I don't want to build the entire car; too many projects.
A few more pictures at this link: http://s210.photobucket.com/albums/b...u/38Commander/
Gord Richmond, within Weasel range of the Alberta Badlands
I'd already removed the engine, and separated the transmission for Studebaker George in Florida. He also wanted some other parts, including the rear shocks, which I took out this morning. I decided to hang the hood, grille and front and rear fenders back on it, so it would look more complete, and also to clear up a small fraction of the clutter in my yard. (I did say, "small fraction.") I even welded a broken hood hinge. I couldn't find the hood side panels; maybe I didn't get them with the car.
I had the engine sitting on blocks, and also supported by the hoist, so I decided to have one more go at starting it, after having been skunked last Fall. So I pulled out all the plugs, and poured a dollop of 80W-90 into each cylinder. Hit the starter, and got an oil gusher out of each spark plug hole. I replaced all the plugs, trickled a little gas into the carb, and gave it a shot. BIG backfire, and a cloud of smoke. #4 and #5 spark plugs were miswired; that'll do it every time. Sorted that out, trickled some more gas into it, and finally got it to run for a few seconds at a time, enough to build up good RPM and to build oil pressure. Best reading on the gauge was 100 PSI, but I don't trust that gauge all that much. At least it has oil pressure and no knocks, so the bottom end must be relatively sound. It made several brief runs of 2 or 3 seconds each, enough to get the block pleasantly warm. I'd seen enough, so I picked it up with the loader on my tractor, and set it on blocks in my shed for the time being. As far as I'm concerned, it's a rebuildable core. I KNOW the pistons are bad, because I had the head off last Fall.
Here's a pic of the engine, with the loader poised behind it:
The engine number is H36671, incidentally.
This car would make somebody a real nice streetrod or rat rod. There's a little rust in the body, but not much in conspicuous places, and it wouldn't be a huge chore to make it right. I feel the car is too far gone to be restored, especially seeing as it's a W3 body, with fairly low trim, and because I've robbed important parts off it to make another car good. It rolls, and it steers, and the brakes are all there, but don't work. Even has a hill holder. Door hinges and latches all work, more or less.
I plan to eventually put this car up on eBay, but if anyone on the Forum is interested, $750 will take it right now. I also have a 250 cu. in. Chevy six (with separate intake manifold) and a Flightomatic transmission which will fit it. You'd have to cut the floor to make room for the Flightomatic, of course. I probably have one or two later crossmembers on hand which would accomodate the Flightomatic mounts. Special mounts would have to be fabbed to support the engine, as the original mounted right under the timing cover, and the 250 has mounts about 1/3 of the way back along the sides of the block. The left side mount would have to be some kind of arch or cantilever to clear the steering box, if you wanted to keep the stock suspension, which appears to be in decent shape. I have the radiator for this car, too, by the way. I figure another $500 for the engine and transmission would be fair. You could probably talk me into mounting the engine and transmission, but I don't want to build the entire car; too many projects.
A few more pictures at this link: http://s210.photobucket.com/albums/b...u/38Commander/
Gord Richmond, within Weasel range of the Alberta Badlands
It's actually the name I picked. I use it on many forums. Nobody ever forgets me. 
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