New to Studebaker's and have some questions...

[jhawk11]

Hello: I'm new to the board and Studebaker's in general. I don't own a Studebaker but am interested in Hawks. The local junk yard has a Hawk, but I can't determine the year or type.

The VIN is: 60V-50929. I've tried to find a VIN Decoder that would work, but haven't been able to locate one for this old of a vehicle.

The car is not a GT. It has the turn signal lamps below the headlights vs above the headlights, on top of the fenders. I don't know if that means anything as I've seen photos of 61's with the turn signal lamps at both locations. It has a V8. On the instrument panel, the spot where I assume a tach would go is filled with what looks like a factory supplied blank...so I'm guessing tachs were optional and this car didn't come with one. There is an odd metal contraption in the passenger foot well. I'm assuming it's a heater but couldn't get close enough to it to tell. It's a rectagular box with some chrome parts and is tucked up under the dash and against the fire wall. On the left side of the trunk lid there are 2 letter "T"'s -one slightly above the other-surrounded by circles.

The car itself has rotted our floorboards and rocker panels. One fin has some damage, chrome is not great, and the interior needs complete replacing. All glass is present and in ok shape. The body above the floorboard level isn't too bad, although there is a rust thru spot in the rain gutter above the passenger side door.

I don't know Studebaker's well at all, but I'm assuming this is more of a parts car vs. candidate for restoring. Still though, I thought I'd ask the experts about it. Any information would be helpful. Thanks.

Jon

[Tom Bredehoft]

I'm sure there will be others to advise you on this.

The 60V indicates 1960 year and V8 engine. Since it has fins, (and is not a 62,3,4) it is not a GT. The TTs in a circle indidcate 'Twin Traction", Studebaker's answer to limited slip diferntials. The floorboard replacements are available, ditto rocker panels.

There was only one Hawk in 1960, so don't worry about which one it is, there were lots of options, but only one Hawk.

If you get the car free, expect to put up to $25,000 in it putting it in show room condition, but it can be done, there are almost no pieces/parts that are unavaliable.

Tom Bredehoft
'53 Commander Coupe
'60 Lark VI
'05 Legacy Ltd Wagon
All Indiana built cars

[Dick Steinkamp]

Just to add to what Tom said...

the 50929 is just a sequential number and doesn't have any additional meaning (other than approximately when in the model run the car was produced).

GT Hawks were '62-64. They had the "square Bird" sort of roof, no fins.

The heater in this car was under the passenger side of the front seat. The defroster was seperate from the heater and was under the dash. It didn't have any chrome parts on it, however. Maybe an aftermarket heater unit?

Sounds pretty rusty to me. Rust can be expensive to fix. Where are you located? Maybe we can help you find one in a little better condition.

[jimmijim8]

"Say maan, You don' wan' no steenking rusty Hawk. Buy one that needs less work. They are available, affordable, and drivable. Good things come to those who wait. If you don't have the up front cash perhaps you should seek out a loan to purchase a turn key or just about one.
You can make the payments and drive your pride and joy at the same time. If you buy a rust-bucket you will still be making payments all the while fixing it up. I'm sure you've heard the phrase {pay me now or pay me later} Well, the pay me later part coincides with buying a rusty Hawk on the cheap. You will probably pay more for it in the long run. If you want to rescue a car from the graveyard, its your time, money and waiting period before you will be driving it. This might be a long time unless you are very competent, have the facilities and just have to live, breathe and sleep Studebaker. Been there and done that. Seriously rusted coupe Hawks are easier to do rust repairs to versus G.T. or hardtop models. jimmijim

[whacker]

As you say, this sounds like a parts car. If you could get it cheap, it could supply a wealth of parts for another restoration. The Twin Traction rear axle (an invention of Packard, and the best part of the merger) and the usable/restorable chrome trim are quite valuable, as well as a lot of the little pieces. If it has power steering, that may pay for the car itself. If the front grill surrounds are not broken or too pitted, they are also quite valuable. It probably has the finned brake drums, if they haven't been turned too thin they are rare. This may be a good candidate for parts, as many of the parts are interchangable over many years, and the usable parts that are not usable on a Hawk you get for yourself can be excellent ebay or trading stock. When you look at it again, don't see a Hawk, see a pile of parts, and assess it that way.

[blackhawk]

quote:Originally posted by jhawk11

There is an odd metal contraption in the passenger foot well.
The car itself has rotted our floorboards and rocker panels.

Jon, welcome! The chromed contraption attached to the underside of the dash could be an air conditioning unit. If so, it would likely be mounted left of the passengers feet. As for the rust, it is hard to tell you what you are up against without some photos. Try to take some with a digital camera and post them. There are instructions for doing this in the General Discussion forum. People from the rust belt shudder when you say rotted out floorboards and rocker panels cause they see vehicles where it is almost all gone. But, in less rust prone areas, the damage is often more localized and relatively easy to repair because the structural integrity is still there. In this case you can make your own sheetmetal patches and get by with pop rivits and sheet metal screws instead of weld or brazing. Replacing the rocker panels likewise is not hard if all the metal behind them is not also gone. Again, they can be installed with pop rivits, etc. if you can't weld. Welding is best from a structural standpoint, but the advantage of putting sheetmetal together without the heat of a welder is that the primer, paint and other rust inhibiting products that you use remain intack between the pieces of metal. How much all this will cost depends on how far gone the car is and the level to which you wish to restore it. In other words, it will cost lots more to make a show winner out of it than a daily driver. You can get a lot of good advice from fellow enthusiasts (and many varied opinions), but it will be closer to the mark if you give them more info to work with. Good luck in finding the right Studebaker for you. You would be the odd man out if you didn't like a Hawk after putting it back in decent driving condition. They are great cars. Dale

[jhawk11]

Thank you all for your replies. As I suspected, this Hawk is a parts car and not really a candidate for restoration (unless I suddenly come into a lot of money and time!). I may scavange some parts off it to get them back into circulation, but the junkyard owner believes that all of his "inventory" is high quality super rare stuff that demands top prices. I'm working on a '65 Corvair right now, and can get cheaper parts from a junkyard in Arizona (shipping included) than I can from this yard here in town.

Eventually I'll get a Hawk, but my wife would like me to finish the Corvair before starting another project. Again, thank you for all your replies.