While attending the 2002 meet in South Bend, a few of us elected to take an "unauthorized tour" of the old South Bend stamping plant. Yes, we trespassed onto the property and walked thru one of the cavernous bays where various mighty presses once hammered out various bits and pieces of the Studes we know and love.
I had no preconcieved notions that we'd see ANYthing that related to the days of Studebaker since the plant had continued to turn out parts for Big 3 customers, long after the last Stude fender was formed there.
But at the far, far end of the one bay we explored was what must've been a foreman's shanty. It had been vandalized inside and out. But curiously, there were several racks and shelves that had books pertaining to this and that about work procedures and safety.[:I]
Then there was this little two-drawer file thingy that was full of some manila-colored cards. Each one about 4 inches by 6 and bearing the header: "Studebaker Engineering Release" on one end. HEY! Honest-to-goodness Studebaker fossils! Cool![:0]
Well, I grabbed a handfull (I figured Studebaker wasn't gonna miss 'em now - BTW, they all have dates from 1956 on them! And they all make reference to the looming 1957 models.-) and so did one or two others in our clandestine exploration party. And I subsequently shared some of the ones I grabbed with other folks that I knew.
I guess there's nothin' really wowsie about these except that they had probably set in that file drawer ever since 1956 - unmolested until we came along.[V]
Each card carries a part number and brief description of the part. Then there's some reference as to what models of car that part was called out for.
AND!!! I just discovered something I'd not realized about some of the cards I have. SO - here goes - (drum roll please!) There's callouts as to how many of the part on a given sheet are used on a particular model of car. For instance, I've got one such card in front of me that shows 4each of a # 306331X27 "fastener" is used to hold the pkg shelf cardboard cover in place. 4 for 57G models (Champions) 4 for 57B models (Commanders) 4 for 57H models (Presidents) and - here goes - FOUR for a 57J model! Do you realize what that means? [?]
It means that there at least was SOME expectation that a Packard-powered 57J car (and the callout DOES indicate C or K-body cars) were in the offing!
I've never read this anywhere before. This is a neat little factoid discovery.[:0] And you were in on it with me! And by the way - if anyone WAS aware of such, I'd like to hear about it.[:I] And I'll take an extra slice of humble pie for getting worked up over something that's old news.[V]
Still - if you'd like to have a little bit of Stude history - straight from a Stude plant - you can send me a first class postage stamp and I'll mail you one. I CAN NOT promise you one with the 57J reference on it. Most of them don't reflect such. But there ARE a number of cards that reference parts for the 3E series of trucks, so if you preferred one for a truck, I could certainly pick such out. I doubt there'll be any real "run" on these (Maybe NO run at all!). But IF you would like to have one, I'll be glad to share until they run out. All I really want is a couple for keepsakes.[^]
Miscreant at large.
I had no preconcieved notions that we'd see ANYthing that related to the days of Studebaker since the plant had continued to turn out parts for Big 3 customers, long after the last Stude fender was formed there.
But at the far, far end of the one bay we explored was what must've been a foreman's shanty. It had been vandalized inside and out. But curiously, there were several racks and shelves that had books pertaining to this and that about work procedures and safety.[:I]
Then there was this little two-drawer file thingy that was full of some manila-colored cards. Each one about 4 inches by 6 and bearing the header: "Studebaker Engineering Release" on one end. HEY! Honest-to-goodness Studebaker fossils! Cool![:0]
Well, I grabbed a handfull (I figured Studebaker wasn't gonna miss 'em now - BTW, they all have dates from 1956 on them! And they all make reference to the looming 1957 models.-) and so did one or two others in our clandestine exploration party. And I subsequently shared some of the ones I grabbed with other folks that I knew.
I guess there's nothin' really wowsie about these except that they had probably set in that file drawer ever since 1956 - unmolested until we came along.[V]
Each card carries a part number and brief description of the part. Then there's some reference as to what models of car that part was called out for.
AND!!! I just discovered something I'd not realized about some of the cards I have. SO - here goes - (drum roll please!) There's callouts as to how many of the part on a given sheet are used on a particular model of car. For instance, I've got one such card in front of me that shows 4each of a # 306331X27 "fastener" is used to hold the pkg shelf cardboard cover in place. 4 for 57G models (Champions) 4 for 57B models (Commanders) 4 for 57H models (Presidents) and - here goes - FOUR for a 57J model! Do you realize what that means? [?]
It means that there at least was SOME expectation that a Packard-powered 57J car (and the callout DOES indicate C or K-body cars) were in the offing!I've never read this anywhere before. This is a neat little factoid discovery.[:0] And you were in on it with me!
And by the way - if anyone WAS aware of such, I'd like to hear about it.[:I] And I'll take an extra slice of humble pie for getting worked up over something that's old news.[V]Still - if you'd like to have a little bit of Stude history - straight from a Stude plant - you can send me a first class postage stamp and I'll mail you one. I CAN NOT promise you one with the 57J reference on it. Most of them don't reflect such. But there ARE a number of cards that reference parts for the 3E series of trucks, so if you preferred one for a truck, I could certainly pick such out. I doubt there'll be any real "run" on these (Maybe NO run at all!). But IF you would like to have one, I'll be glad to share until they run out. All I really want is a couple for keepsakes.[^]
Miscreant at large.
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