47 - 49 Studes

[OnSafari]

I have become increasingly interested in the 47 - 49 period cars, and was wondering if anybody had any tips on ownership?

Being a fan of period mods, has anyone souped up a commander engine from this period?

Cheers

[Greenstude]

Do you have specific questions? I have owned and driven a 1947 Champion sedan for almost 38 years. It has been keep to original specifications during repair and restoration, and continues to be a reliable and very enjoyable car. It is driven 1,500 to 2,000 miles per year, mostly highway driving. The only modifications have been safety-related, such as installing seat belts and radial tires. The car has travelled about 150,000 miles since new.

[STEWDI]

Anyone know of a "mint" 47-49 Commander convertible for sale? I have contact with an interested buyer. Email studebakertracks@gmail.com

[rockne10]

Roger, I believe you are hijacking Lyndon's thread. This is his first post here. Let's try to help him out.

Lyndon, Welcome to the SDC Forum!

I believe there were period mods available "in the day". Not a whole lot of those Commander Sixes out there being tweaked today. You'll occasionally see heads and manifolds on auctions and a rare article or post in reference to something someone did then, or recently.
There are lots of current and popular mods for the smaller Champion Six.
Hopefully, someone here has experience or can recall reference to a modified Commander Six.

[OnSafari]

Do you have specific questions? I have owned and driven a 1947 Champion sedan for almost 38 years. It has been keep to original specifications during repair and restoration, and continues to be a reliable and very enjoyable car. It is driven 1,500 to 2,000 miles per year, mostly highway driving. The only modifications have been safety-related, such as installing seat belts and radial tires. The car has travelled about 150,000 miles since new.

Thanks, not being familiar with the planar front suspension, is their anything that needs to be known? I'd assume it's bullet proof like most other Stude engineering?

[OnSafari]

Roger, I believe you are hijacking Lyndon's thread. This is his first post here. Let's try to help him out.

Lyndon, Welcome to the SDC Forum!

I believe there were period mods available "in the day". Not a whole lot of those Commander Sixes out there being tweaked today. You'll occasionally see heads and manifolds on auctions and a rare article or post in reference to something someone did then, or recently.
There are lots of current and popular mods for the smaller Champion Six.
Hopefully, someone here has experience or can recall reference to a modified Commander Six.

Thanks for the welcome.

[Greenstude]

Planar suspension

The planar suspension is a good one, but does require maintenance.

First, look at your front tires. Are they worn evenly, or do they have more wear on the inside edges? If the latter, the front spring probably is long overdue to be lubricated. See your shop manual for details on the spring. There are also notes in the 1948 and 1949 supplements. In 1947 the lube interval was 10,000 miles, and this was reduced to 5,000 miles in 1948. For a hobby car, I suggest doing it annually.

If the spring is not lubed, the outer end of the leaves will rust, and no longer slide properly as the spring flexes. This leads to the wheels not being at the correct vertical angle.

While doing a restoration of the car, it is a good idea to remove the spring completely. Have a competent spring shop whose manager cares about their work quality and who likes old cars, disassemble the whole spring. They should check the condition of the inserts at the ends of the leaves, and replace if necessary. If they think the spring is weak (after all, it's over 60 years old), the main leaf could be re-arched. Any cracked or broken leaves must be replaced. A competent spring shop should be able to make these if needed. The cast plate which holds the centre of the spring to the frame cross-member should not have any cracks. Expert welding can fix this if necessary.

Once the front spring has been serviced and repaired properly, and re-installed, look at how your car sits. Is the rear end sitting a bit lower than the front? More importantly, take it for a test drive. How does the car handle on a road which is twisty, rough or crowned? If it wants to wander or rock'n'roll, then the rear springs probably have weakened. After all, they too are 60+ years old.

The rear springs should be taken apart, the leaves checked for cracks or breaks, the inserts checked and replaced if needed, and properly lubricated. One more thing that was done to my car's rear springs about 3 years ago was installing an additional leaf just below the main leaf on each side. The additional leaves made a huge improvement to the car's handling and comfort. It also raised the rear of the car (measured at the wheel opening) by about 3 cm., which improved its appearance. Studebaker made an optional heavy-duty spring for these cars by inserting an additional leaf on each side.

In addition to the springs, the whole suspension should be checked over carefully for worn parts. When the car is lubricated, check the chart on page 134 (Champion) or page 135 (Commander) of the shop manual to make sure you find all the many places that need to be lubricated. Also see page 198. Make sure that all the grease fitting will take grease. Use the correct lubricants on all the places that don't use grease.

While I am neither a mechanic nor an engineer, the above comments are based on the work my car has needed over the years, and on the advice I have received from people who know far more than I do.

Bill

[OnSafari]

The planar suspension is a good one, but does require maintenance.

First, look at your front tires. Are they worn evenly, or do they have more wear on the inside edges? If the latter, the front spring probably is long overdue to be lubricated. See your shop manual for details on the spring. There are also notes in the 1948 and 1949 supplements. In 1947 the lube interval was 10,000 miles, and this was reduced to 5,000 miles in 1948. For a hobby car, I suggest doing it annually.

If the spring is not lubed, the outer end of the leaves will rust, and no longer slide properly as the spring flexes. This leads to the wheels not being at the correct vertical angle.

While doing a restoration of the car, it is a good idea to remove the spring completely. Have a competent spring shop whose manager cares about their work quality and who likes old cars, disassemble the whole spring. They should check the condition of the inserts at the ends of the leaves, and replace if necessary. If they think the spring is weak (after all, it's over 60 years old), the main leaf could be re-arched. Any cracked or broken leaves must be replaced. A competent spring shop should be able to make these if needed. The cast plate which holds the centre of the spring to the frame cross-member should not have any cracks. Expert welding can fix this if necessary.

Once the front spring has been serviced and repaired properly, and re-installed, look at how your car sits. Is the rear end sitting a bit lower than the front? More importantly, take it for a test drive. How does the car handle on a road which is twisty, rough or crowned? If it wants to wander or rock'n'roll, then the rear springs probably have weakened. After all, they too are 60+ years old.

The rear springs should be taken apart, the leaves checked for cracks or breaks, the inserts checked and replaced if needed, and properly lubricated. One more thing that was done to my car's rear springs about 3 years ago was installing an additional leaf just below the main leaf on each side. The additional leaves made a huge improvement to the car's handling and comfort. It also raised the rear of the car (measured at the wheel opening) by about 3 cm., which improved its appearance. Studebaker made an optional heavy-duty spring for these cars by inserting an additional leaf on each side.

In addition to the springs, the whole suspension should be checked over carefully for worn parts. When the car is lubricated, check the chart on page 134 (Champion) or page 135 (Commander) of the shop manual to make sure you find all the many places that need to be lubricated. Also see page 198. Make sure that all the grease fitting will take grease. Use the correct lubricants on all the places that don't use grease.

While I am neither a mechanic nor an engineer, the above comments are based on the work my car has needed over the years, and on the advice I have received from people who know far more than I do.

Bill

Thanks Bill, this is very helpful information.