Another great barn find-- Rare! Opinions please?

[cdn56J]

drrotor, unless the engine shown has adjustable pushrods on the valves, it must have hydraulic lifters.

[fargoguy]

The car has cleaned up very well! My opinion is that they are only original once- even if it's a bit shabby, sort all the systems out and enjoy driving the wheels off it for a while. Trust me, it will garner as much or more attention at a car show than if you did a concours restoration on it! What a great find- should be lots of fun to step down the loud pedal on that baby on the open road!

[packard352]

Not sure what happened to my earlier contribution to the thread...

Firstly, congratulations on a truly superb 'find' and in what incredible condition after such a long period of hibernation.

If you haven't already been in contact with Frank Ambrogio, you should make contact with him. Frank set-up the 56J Register and you can find his contact information here

http://www.1956goldenhawk.com/

Frank might be able to help with a copy of the build sheet, though he would probably appreciate you joining the Register too. There's no joining fee, other than supplying him VIN Tag and body numbers. I'm pretty sure Frank and many other members of the Register would be delighted to read of how you found the car / owner, bought the car and your plans for such a lovely vehicle. Franks publishes a Newsletter 3 to 4 times each year, so fingers crossed you might consider this.

Some have suggested enjoying the car 'as is' now to help formulate your future plans, which does make sense. Others have suggested swapping out the oil pump and contacting Jack Vines - he is the go to guy on Packard engine matters. Jack should be able to supply you with the correct oil pump and guidance. Jack would also be able to provide you with some great insights to turning the engine into a 374" - you'd be sure to enjoy the extra horses!

Frank had a car with dual quads, which he sold a few years ago. As with all unique vehicles, if you have some time... please take as many photographs as possible and if you're minded to, perhaps consider sharing with Frank Ambrogio.

When Frank set-up the 56J Register, his ethos was to help share and disseminate knowledge, experience... and fun between 56J Owners. The ethos remains and we're exceedingly lucky to have such a stalwart still running the Register.

BTW, you'll find the Register a vast resource as well as some highly knowledgeable folk, who will be more than happy to provide any help and assistance with your questions and queries.

Please keep posting updates and photos as you work thru your ideas... and here's hoping you become a long-term owner of such a great car. If you've not guessed, I admit to being biased.

Good luck, Richard



PS: It's a mammoth task if you go the whole restoration hog, but you'll know all about that anyway

[Hallabutt]

Kenny,

I know that you know your way around cars, so I don't have to tell you what's involved in a body off. Please take some time to let this all settle down before you jump in with both feet. The way to maximize value is to not restore, but preserve it as original as you can live with. I know you well enough to know that perfection is what you demand, but you also drive your cars. A twelve hundred hour> restoration on a car that you will want to drive, and "make the best out of your investment," are sadly incompatible. You are going to drive it so prepare it as a driver. By taking the body off you can easily add 50% to the restoration time required with very little real cosmetic payback, while putting yourself behind the eight ball time and dollar wise. There are scant few post war Studebakers that can even come close to recouping the cost of restoration and this is not one of them. Soft prices, limited high end market and extremely high restoration costs and you have a recipe for financial suicide! Hope to see you this weekend at Mary's. You'll see some of our junk and maybe see the depth to which this suicidal tendency can lead!-Bill

[rockne10]

IMHO, Original production order would be a good start.

[SN-60]

I think everyone has fallen in love with this Golden Hawk !!!!!!!!

[drrotor]

You guys are great. "Wisdom comes from the council of many". That's why I've been soliciting opinions. Thanks to all of you.
Yes, I've already registered the car on 56J register, spent an hour on the phone with Frank, and I was already in posession of The original buid sheet.
Don't worry-- I'm not the kind of guy who charges into a project with tools and parts flying every which way, and with no plan. Collecting all your opinions is in fact, part of the plan. As far as the way to build this car, I'll be doing a very nice quality restoration to it with these critera:
1. It must be beautiful to the eye, done in a period-correct way, but not slavishly correct to the last detail.
2. It will be upgraded only slightly with a nod towards safety and reliability-- i.e. Disc Brakes, Radial Tires, Electronic Ignition, Seat Belts.
3. It will be upgraded in the spirit of it's performance personality: A fresh or NOS 374, with all Jet Streak components if possible.
4. It will NEVER have any SBC, LS1, Mustang suspended, Rack and Pinion foolishness anywhere near it.
Does this all meet with the approval of the Studebaker Community? I hope so, because it certainly meets with mine!
Oh-- and it won't be done soon...

[BRUCESTUDE]

Beautiful car! At least have it running and driving in time for the National Meet in Tacoma, 2018!!

[drrotor]

Maybe this will help. As a way of illustrating our intentions for this '56, I offer up a few pictures of our '57 Silver Hawk we finished restoring last year. I built this car especially for my wife, and let her choose the color, the upholstery color and material, etc. I optioned it up by adding power steering, and Golden Hawk gauges, upholstery in the style of Golden Hawks, Golden Hawk trim (as well as some from other years), Speedster wheel covers, etc.
Maybe 1 person in a thousand at local car shows knows that it isn't exactly correct, but everyone seems to approve. I was amused, however, at a Studebaker car show last year, a fellow was walking by with his wife. We overheard her say "Wow! That thing is Gorgeous!" To which I heard her husband (or whatever) sniff: "It's just a Silver Hawk". We thought, Oh, Brother.

[SN-60]

Nicest looking '57 Silver Hawk I ever saw!

[t walgamuth]

I would not choose green for any car ever unless it was the original color. That said, that hawk looks stunning with that dark green and the brown interior!

[StudebakerGene]

[QUOTE=drrotor;1048400]You guys are great. "Wisdom comes from the council of many". That's why I've been soliciting opinions. Thanks to all of you.
Yes, I've already registered the car on 56J register, spent an hour on the phone with Frank, and I was already in posession of The original buid sheet.
Don't worry-- I'm not the kind of guy who charges into a project with tools and parts flying every which way, and with no plan. Collecting all your opinions is in fact, part of the plan. As far as the way to build this car, I'll be doing a very nice quality restoration to it with these critera:
1. It must be beautiful to the eye, done in a period-correct way, but not slavishly correct to the last detail.
2. It will be upgraded only slightly with a nod towards safety and reliability-- i.e. Disc Brakes, Radial Tires, Electronic Ignition, Seat Belts.
3. It will be upgraded in the spirit of it's performance personality: A fresh or NOS 374, with all Jet Streak components if possible.
4. It will NEVER have any SBC, LS1, Mustang suspended, Rack and Pinion foolishness anywhere near it.

I guess I want be parking anywhere near it with my foolish cars,wouldn't want any of that better drivability, superior horsepower, better braking, better steering to rub off on that "one off"--- really?

[drrotor]

Gene-- There are many reasons for my comments on modern powertrain conversions. This may take awhile, so hopefully I don't bore you. Where do I even start?

OK, first of all, there are many qualified rod builders out there that build cars better than the factory ever could have. I recognize that. HOWEVER... There are far more knuckleheads who have no idea what they're doing, have no budget, not many tools, and even less experience. Many whole, good, complete cars have been destroyed by underfunded, inexperienced car-guys with no engineering training who are not qualified to build a dependable, safe car. I am not lumping you or any other particular person into that category.
Stock, original, restored cars were designed by teams of highly trained and educated people, and often were designed with multi-million dollar budgets to drive safely and dependably. How many home builders do? Same with professional designers and stylists.

Secondly, have you ever bought someone else's built car that came with an owner's manual? A service manual? How about even a concise list of parts used to build the car so that replacements are not a challenge? A wiring diagram? If you need parts, how do you know what specifically, to buy, if you weren't the builder? Need to diagnose an electrical malfunction? Sure, a really good mechanic can figure it out. But what shop will you take it to that's willing to do it? I was in the Auto Repair Business for 30 years. We, like most other shops, would turn down that kind of work-- there's just no money in it. Give me a standard production car to work on-- that's where the money is. Big chain auto shops like Les Schwab, Firestone, Midas, Goodyear, I could go on and on-- simply won't work on modified cars because they want to make a profit, not spin their wheels trying to figure out what in the world they're working on.

Thirdly, Stock, Original cars have a verifiable track record of resale value. Look one up on many various online sources (Hagerty, etc, etc,) and easily determine the approx. market value of a classic. A modified car or street rod? It could be worth three times as much as much-- I admit-- or 1/4 as much because it's so poorly engineered. There's always a buyer for an original or restored car.

And Lastly, Original and restored cars will always be appreciated by a wide general audience. Many street rods look cool and flashy for a time, and then they go completely out of style. Sometimes older builds would come into my shop with a new owner wanting to tear out the custom interior that was spiffy 20 years ago but now looks hoplessly out of date. That Metalflake brown that was so cool then? Ummm-- not so much now...
Of course, these are GENERALIZATIONS, that don't apply in many cases. It's like my Dad would say: "Nothing good happens after midnight!" Well, working Graveyard happens after midnight, and working is good. Hopefully you can "get my drift" and not be offended. These are just General Rules I believe are good. You keep buildin' 'em the way you like, and I will too. It's all good.--Kenny

[tim333]

Well spoken Kenny, I totally agree.

[8E45E]

Was this built by Studebaker? Yes. Were the dual quads factory installed? I don't think so, although they are exactly like the factory photo. Were they Dealer-installed? It appears they were because of how correct and complete it is. I see this car as rather like a "Yenko" Camaro-- they weren't built by Chevrolet, but by a Dealer. In any case, intake system aside, the car is equipped just as it was when it left the factory.

At MCACN, and other muscle car events, it would be called a 'Day 2' car.

An example of a 'Day 2" car.-----------------> https://www.hemmings.com/magazine/mu...e/3697001.html

Craig