Six segment series. My brother and I got the Lark going and I took a short ride on drive a Studebaker day. Enjoy!
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Start and Stage Your Studebakers -
Well!! I must say it's not exactly "Gone With The Wind" but the Artsy Fartsy disorientation shots in Part 4 are a bit special.
In any case I enjoyed the videos and thanks for posting.
BobLast edited by sweetolbob; 09-06-2010, 06:53 PM. -
Looks like an interesting project! Keep us posted!Comment
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I can't believe you had it running and moving around with no radiator or coolant in it :O I'd have been scared spitless to do that! Bet it felt good, though
Comment
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Nice looking Lark you found. Wish I could find them that nice. Thanks for the video's too. Looks like you had fun making them!
GordonComment
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Easy 19's Tom....
HTIH (Hope The Info Helps)
Jeff
Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please. Mark Twain
Note: SDC# 070190 (and earlier...)Comment
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Yep...next urban legend to deal with..."The air cooled Lark!"Originally posted by showbizkid View PostI can't believe you had it running and moving around with no radiator or coolant in it :O I'd have been scared spitless to do that! Bet it felt good, though
(I know about the one in the museum...but not the one in the barn)
Last edited by jclary; 09-07-2010, 04:42 AM.John Clary
Greer, SC
SDC member since 1975Comment
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You would be surprised, you really would. When I first started the '55 to see if the engine would fire, I didn't put any coolant in the radiator. It had fuel and oil and it wasn't going to be subjected to anything beyond an idle or be driven onto the street, so I turned it over and let it run for a few minutes before shutting it off.I can't believe you had it running and moving around with no radiator or coolant in it :O I'd have been scared spitless to do that! Bet it felt good, though
Even better was when I was still in community college in 2001-2002 and I had a thermostat go bad in the closed position. I knew something was wrong from the temp gauge, but had forgotten how the old thermostats fail, so for 10-15 miles I drove with no coolant going to the engine, and stopping every couple of miles or when the temp gauge was pegged to let the engine cool off. After 30-45 minutes I would drive until the engine got hot again before stopping the car again, so what is ordinarily a 30 minute trip turned into a two hour drive. Even though there was no water, the engine still had its oil, which was the last line of defense before an engine seizes. After discovering the thermostat went south it was replaced once I got home, but to this day I haven't had to pull the engine out to rebuild it
. This also worked a couple years later on a buddy's truck that lost its serpentine belt, and the truck had to be driven across town .
1964 Studebaker Commander R2 clone
1963 Studebaker Daytona Hardtop with no engine or transmission
1950 Studebaker 2R5 w/170 six cylinder and 3spd OD
1955 Studebaker Commander Hardtop w/289 and 3spd OD and Megasquirt port fuel injection(among other things)Comment
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I seem to remember that Cadillac stated when its northstar engine had the cylinder de-activate system (that was also used on some Chrysler hemi's) that it could be run for 50 miles in the event that coolant was lost. Also, in air cooled aircraft engines about 30 percent of the cooling is done by the oil, so in an emergency your way may not be recommended, but nessisary.59 Lark wagon, now V-8, H.D. auto!
60 Lark convertible V-8 auto
61 Champ 1/2 ton 4 speed
62 Champ 3/4 ton 5 speed o/drive
62 Champ 3/4 ton auto
62 Daytona convertible V-8 4 speed & 62 Cruiser, auto.
63 G.T. Hawk R-2,4 speed
63 Avanti (2) R-1 auto
64 Zip Van
66 Daytona Sport Sedan(327)V-8 4 speed
66 Cruiser V-8 autoComment
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No it wasn't an ideal solution, workable, but not ideal. The thermostat going bad was like my alternator going bad about a year earlier, in that if I knew that, that was the problem, it would have been fixed or temporarily repaired in rather short order. I wouldn't recommend it as the first solution to a problem like that, nor would I recommend it for getting to a garage that is 150 miles, rather than 15 miles, as the short trip turned into a series of very short hops with a long duration of waiting in between. It's also doesn't work as well when an individual needed to do like I did and get through your hometown at 5 pm on a weekday(rush hour), that will turn a bad situation like that one was into a rather mind bending, torturous one.1964 Studebaker Commander R2 clone
1963 Studebaker Daytona Hardtop with no engine or transmission
1950 Studebaker 2R5 w/170 six cylinder and 3spd OD
1955 Studebaker Commander Hardtop w/289 and 3spd OD and Megasquirt port fuel injection(among other things)Comment
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Lucky guys,with that weird behaviour.This is not the way to handle such a find,with a 289 in it,what a car dummies,sorry.Comment
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Have made some progress on the Lark. Put some temporary roll around tires and wheels on it. Had to raise the front to keep the tires from the fender. Changed the oil and filter along with a tuneup. Put a radiator in it and added antifreeze. Fixed the brakes. Nice solid pedal now. Trans needed some fluid. Evicted all the mice. Wash, waxed, buffed. Rear section has rain rust from the roofing tin. Missing a few things like windshield wiper, outside mirror, etc. Will park it until warm weather. Engine runs fine. Full flow 289.
Start and Stage Your StudebakersComment
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Thanks for the update. That's a nice looking car and sounds great. Is this Lark a winter project until the race season starts up again?
GordonComment
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'Looking good, Tom; thanks for the update. BP
We've got to quit saying, "How stupid can you be?" Too many people are taking it as a challenge. 
G. K. Chesterton: This triangle of truisms, of father, mother, and child, cannot be destroyed; it can only destroy those civilizations which disregard it.Comment
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Wow, that sure has come a long way! Nice!Comment
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