1953 2R11-22 project and questions

[532R11]

Hi all,

Greetings from DC. I hope you're having a great evening.

Over the years I've done a bunch of '40s Chevy and Ford projects, but I'm now looking into my first Studebaker.

The truck is at my inlaws' place in SoCal and is in overall decent and complete shape. It has some minor dents and rust, but nothing too terrible and as far as I can tell all the parts are there. (The trim, seats and other items missing in the photos are in storage.)

Here are some general shots:











Regarding the rusted areas, I see patch panels are available for the front fenders. Is anyone making them for the rear fenders? I might fabricate my own when the time comes, but I figured I'd see if I have any options.




Since the vehicle has been in California all its life, it never had a need for a heater. If I bring it back East, I'm thinking that might be an upgrade I'd put in. I've been trying to determine what type of heater would have been used in this year and wanted to see what you all think. The variations I've found so far are:

Heater box on the cowl with a blower on the fender:




Heater box on the cowl, no blower on the fender:



For the latter type, were there small variations in those as well? From the photos I've been spotting online, it seems the water pipes on some point directly forward, while others bend toward the passenger side to route the hoses away from the engine.

Also, in terms of availability of heaters, ideally I'm hoping I can find someone who is parting out a truck so I can get all the various components (heater box, knobs/controls, piping from the water pump, on/off valve in the head) as opposed to hunting down each piece individually. Is that realistic thinking or should I prepare myself for the bit-by-bit approach? And what should I expect to pay for a system that's in good restorable shape?

Looking forward to meeting new folks through the forum and my thanks in advance for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

John

[truckguy]

Hello John, There are no patch panels for rear fenders. It appears that the hole you have is not large and should be an easy fix. Classic Enterprises in Wisconsin makes a nice variety of panels and repair panels. As for the heater, I prefer the one in the last picture. With that system, the heater motor is inside the heater core box and it makes a nice neat arrangement. In my opinion, it is best to try for the entire assembly all at once. In doing that, you are pretty much assured that all of the parts will be compatible. If you can't find the entire assembly you should be able to get the parts you need from a knowledgeable salvage yard operator. I don't know what it would cost.
You seem to have a nice solid truck to restore. Since you have most of the parts, the job will go much easier. The rear bumper is not stock and you may want to find a Studebaker bumper. They are hard to come by so some people have used VW van bumpers which look much the same. I hope all this helps.
Bill

[Mrs K Corbin]

I started with a truck in very similar shape. it's complete now and actually have a few trophies.... Good luck.

[Skip Lackie]

Welcome to the SDC Forum. Your truck has the much-loved Commander 6 engine, which is a step up from the smaller Champion 6. If it doesn't have overdrive, you might want to add finding an OD trans to your shopping list. It makes the truck much more drive-able in modern traffic. Your rear axle ratio is probably around 4.89:1, which will only give you a top speed of about 50 mph without OD. The axle ratio may be on a tag under one of the bolts on the axle itself.

There were actually three different heater systems used on the 49-53 2R-series trucks. The last one, type C, was used all the way through mid-59 (with a 12v motor after 55), and is the easiest to find. As truckguy said above, try to find a complete matching set, as some of the individual parts are not interchangeable. The differences are completely explained in the 49-56 truck parts book, which ought to be near the top of your must-have list of purchases. The parts book is actually more useful than the shop manual, as every part is illustrated -- and Stude parts vendors sell by original part number. This is very different from Chevy parts vendors. Original copies come up on ebay all the time, and both digital and reprinted paper copies are available from many vendors.

http://www.studebakervendors.com/

The weak part of the truck heaters is the trap door that is used to close off the heat from the cabin -- the hinges break off. So make sure that the one you buy has a good box, as well as a good heater core. I think I have an extra good type C heater box and fender-mounted fan assembly, right here in DC. Stude Intl has repro valves and hoses.

It's probably worth it to check ebay once a week for used Stude truck parts -- sometimes decent used rear fenders will come up that would be cheaper than trying to fix the ones on your truck. The front fenders and doors usually need to be patched, as rust-free ones can go for $500+ apiece.

Here's more info on Stude trucks:

http://www.studebakerdriversclub.com/StudebakerTruckHistory.asp

[truckguy]

I just noticed that you asked which Climatizer would have come with your 53. My 53 2R5 came with the Type B heater core box. It has the motor inside he box. The type B is a square box. As Skip Lackie said, the R models came with all 3 different types.

[TWChamp]

As Skip said, you're lucky to have the Commander engine. I'm not sure where the horn relay is located on your truck, but that does appear to be an overdrive relay beside the voltage regulator, so you got lucky there also. None of my Studebaker trucks has overdrive, so they don't get driven.

[jackb]

Ditto on buying a complete set up from a parts' truck...any of those years/models....Your challenge will be finding a rust free set up usually from cold, snow country... With that in mind, expect to replace the core, and motor (better if you convert to 12 volts-I don't know availability of 6v motors). I just chased this system 2 years ago and can help.

[Skip Lackie]

As Skip said, you're lucky to have the Commander engine. I'm not sure where the horn relay is located on your truck, but that does appear to be an overdrive relay beside the voltage regulator, so you got lucky there also. None of my Studebaker trucks has overdrive, so they don't get driven.

Good catch on noticing the OD relay. I missed that.

[PackardV8]

With the number of those converting to the Vintage Air system, there should be Climatizers thick on the ground. I've got most of one, but shipping cross-country doesn't makes sense.

jack vines

[532R11]

Thanks all for your responses. Great info. Some quick follow ups:

OD: The truck came from the factory with this option, which I'm a big fan of even though I'm not a particularly fast driver, nor do I intend to be running this on the highway that much.

Rust on fender: I agree, it's not that bad and the compound curve in that section of the fender shouldn't be too difficult to fabricate and weld in.

Parts book: That's a good tip. With the Chevies, I always tried to get the repair manual for each year I worked on and then I had a master parts book that spanned a couple decades.

Heater: I concur about trying to get the type with the motor in the box on the cowl. The blower on the fender seems like just one more thing to get in the way during maintenance, though I will say the engine compartment on this truck is pretty spacious.

I've been keeping an eye on eBay for heater parts, just to get a sense for availability and cost. As was the case with my other projects, trying to get items bit by bit is a fun challenge, but costly. Since I'm not in a rush, my plan is to keep an eye out for a truck that's being parted out or check with some of the parts lots that specialize in Studebakers. Jackb, Jack and Skip, I'll shoot you a PM to follow up on your mention about possible heaters.

As an aside, I do have a Quad Duty heater in fair shape. It was in a bunch of parts that came with my '42 Chevy G506, but I don't have any plans to use it. From what I understand, this was used in the M series. If anyone is looking for one, I'd be happy to trade or sell it.







Sincerely,

John

[Skip Lackie]

The Stude parts books usually specify exactly at which serial number various changes occurred, but the truck book is rather vague on the truck heater changeovers. The heater assemblies were purchased from outside suppliers, and I suppose the production line just used up the supply of the earlier models without worrying about when it happened. And dealers would have had supplies of older kits still on hand that could have been installed on any 2R truck.

The transition between the type B and C heaters occurred in 1953, so either would be correct. That said, the type A heaters are the most popular, because the front cover of the box is cast aluminum with a lazy S cast into it. They polish up very nicely (though they came painted brown from the factory).

You might have better luck selling that M series heater by posting something here:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/23885

[532R11]

Hi all,

I happened to come across this image during lunch today on the site banner and was wondering if anyone has additional info on the owner of the truck? (After work, I'll try to go through the photo database and see if I can track it down.) The reason I ask, other than to compliment the owner on a very nice looking vehicle, is I think the color is pretty close to what my project truck was when it came from the factory. I need to check to see if the paint and trim code tag is still on the interior of the driver's side door well the next time I go to SoCal, but I figured I'd reach out to the owner of this vehicle to see if the color is original and if so what paint code is on his tag.




Shot of the dash on the my project truck, depicting the original color.



Sincerely,

John

[jackb]

.... those under the dash heaters were very popular in the 50's for vehicles without factory/dealer heaters. In the small cab of a truck, you don't really need a much more... as long as you've got good rubber around the doors...