My Half A$$ Studebaker Rebuild

[Topper2011]

Found a nice crease in the right rear passenger footwell.



Tried my hand at bodywork.



I think just a little more massaging and some undercoat and it will look ok.

[Topper2011]

Used my cheap Harbor Freight heat gun on the new pinion bearing, worked perfectly. Heated to 150deg+ and the bearing dropped right on.



Best $10 I've spent there, along with their $11 laser temp gauge. That heat gun put out 300 degrees!



Still need to get a couple of bolts to secure the proportioning valve, but it pretty much is where it's staying. I hope the car isn't too low where it's a pain to adjust it.

[Topper2011]

The day was sunny and nice. Finally felt like working on the car.



Tried my hand at double flaring. My flaring tool is rated only for soft metals, so I gave it a try.



At first the tube slipped down. I had to use a vise to crimp it down harder. That worked.



This allowed me to finish off the lines from the master to the front brakes which I needed to do before reinstalling the bell housing.



The residual valve weighs a bit and I was worried vibration would stress the lines, so I made a bracket to bolt it in place to the crossmember for the bell housing. It's secured fairly well now. Now I could move onto the clutch.









I'm happy with my progress today, time for an early dinner and work tomorrow.

[Topper2011]

I got ambitious after work and wanted to put the transmission in.



I used my motorcycle jack to lever it in place.





Well after 2 hours of wrestling with this hunk of iron, I was exhausted and realized it just wasn't going in. Now I know why. The throwout bearing was wrong. The inside diameter was too small.

[Topper2011]

I did some work on the weekend. I wanted to insulate the residual valves from corrosion of dissimilar metals.



I used these insulated brackets.





The valves are now pretty secure.



The clutch pedal needed to reconfigure the spring location. Old location used the master cylinder stay and since the new Turner one had a bit jutting out of the top if the main MC brace, I went ahead and used it as an anchor.



I moved the spring to the other hole giving it the right tension and works pretty well.

[Topper2011]

Today the clutch release bearing came in and while it took a couple of hours of maneuvering, but it's finally in.



Yea, yea. I know I need to finish painting the trans. Now that it's suspended, I can paint the underside. I'm done for the day.

[tsenecal]

Nice work. Keep it up, and you’ll be driving her down the road before you know it.

[Topper2011]

Nice work. Keep it up, and you’ll be driving her down the road before you know it.

Thanks, I appreciate the support.

[Topper2011]

It's amazing how little work one can accomplish in two to three hours.



I installed the clutch pedal bracket, crossbar and speedo gear on the transmission. As you can see, I painted the underside of the transmission.

[Topper2011]

Too much work and not enough time to work on the car.



Anyone that has taken one of these out, knows how much fun this was. I had to remove a mud dauber nest out of it and to check to see if it works. I also wanted to lube the bearings and paint it. It is a squeaky wheel and it will get the grease!



This has taken me weeks to get to this.....



Using these.....



I still have the other one to do and these were holding me up from rebuilding the differential.

[Topper2011]

Last Sunday I went to a Lincoln Highway meeting. My friend, who is an active member and director picked me up and drove the 100+ miles to the meet. He also brought me to some of the remaining sections of this overlooked road.



The Lincoln Highway was the first cross country road in the US. Starting in Times Square and ending in San Francisco. It's why Lincoln Park in SF is named, it's the terminus. At one of the entrances, you can see a concrete pillar with the "L" on it and red, white and blue.

https://www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org/ca/traveler/2019-01/traveler-2019-01.pdf

Lunch was also provided, at a very nice location.





Yes, Studebaker content!





We walked the LH just below this property, about 2 miles remain and it goes through Clarksville, a ghost town.

[Topper2011]

Overtime for the week has been cancelled, so I could do some work on the Hawk.



I had the drums machined, no small feat as it seems not too many people were willing or able to do it. $20 for the pair, a deal.



Removed the shroud and radiator. Nothing is light on this car and will be happy to install the aluminum one.



Time for the pump and thermostat.



New, heavy duty pump.



Thanks Steve!

[52hawk]

Hi Topper. Just looking through this thread, looking at the pic of your water pump removed. I'm wondering if you've read about the process of removing the freeze plugs and physically cleaning out the cooling system of the cylinder block?
And,maybe too late for your project,but the door removal pictures reminds me of this: The owner of a local wrecking yard was removing a door from a car. He unbolted the lower hinge first,the top hinge was still attached,the door dropped,and he lost 2 fingers.Note for all of us: be careful with heavy parts.

[52hawk]

A small factoid on your Lincoln Highway post: The Lincoln Highway goes through here,about 25 miles north of where I sit. Quite a bit of it is still in every day use.

[Topper2011]

Hi Topper. Just looking through this thread, looking at the pic of your water pump removed. I'm wondering if you've read about the process of removing the freeze plugs and physically cleaning out the cooling system of the cylinder block?
And,maybe too late for your project,but the door removal pictures reminds me of this: The owner of a local wrecking yard was removing a door from a car. He unbolted the lower hinge first,the top hinge was still attached,the door dropped,and he lost 2 fingers.Note for all of us: be careful with heavy parts.

Yep, replaced the freeze plugs a few pages back and cleaned out the passages. I ended up pouring water through the water pump housing until clean water came out.