New to this site
I'm new to this site but certainly not new to Studebakers, being a 3rd generation Stude driver. My doctor once told me I have obsessive-compulsive tendencies, which certainly pays off when it comes to restoring old cars as well as other things. I spent a LOT of time (24 months) resurrecting my old '77 Dodge pickup, turning a crusher ready 2 wheel drive into a solid 4-wheel drive Power Wagon (using stock parts, no cobbling up). Literally the only thing that wasn't repaired, rebuilt or replaced was the title. Really. The only thing I didn't do myself was replace the windshield, which the shop manual says is a 2 person job and I didn't want to bust it.
This past winter I have been working on family genealogy, which can be really frustrating at times, requiring breaks now and then. I decided it was time to get my '60 Hawk completed. 28 years ago I rolled it, well actually flipped it end over end. Coming home from a funeral with the wife and kids, had a guy fail to stop and pull in front of us, I swerved to miss him, met another car coming head on and then oheaded for the ditch. And it was technically my fault because I managed to not hit the guy that pulled out in front of us. Everyone ended up banged up except me...apparently bending the top of the steering wheel forward at a 90 degree angle with my chest and busting the windshield out with my head prevented any body parts from being damaged or hurting. The ex always told me I was a hard headed German and I guess that's one time she was right because I never even had a headache, although the heartache I felt for my Stude was certainly intense. Needless to say, when the car ends up on its roof, there's a lot less headroom on the inside than before. And take my word for it, when the kids are eating Blizzards and you flip a car, ice cream goes EVERYWHERE! You'd be amazed at the obscure places I found ice cream when I stripped it that winter. After a lot of body work and painting, upon reassembly I found the left front frame was bent. Our financial situation also got bent after a bunch of bad luck with hospitals, insurance (pre-existing conditions) and family (not Stude injury related) left us owing 22 different doctors and hospitals. Of course the Stude project came to a screeching halt as eventually did my motorcycling, photography and just about everything else that I derived any enjoyment from. Phone got turned off, had to borrow money from mom after we ran out of LP one cold winter night. Just keeping the family together was a job. Before it was all over, I had to swallow a whole lot of pride and get on food stamps for 3 months because I literally couldn't feed my family.
Fast forward 15 years to a divorce due to the ex's case of amnesia. She got into horses and found herself a cowboy boyfriend but forgot that she was still married to me all the while. Horse lovers are like alcoholics; they can't stop with just one. And that applies to both horses and boyfriends in case anyone's wife starts showing undue interest in horses.
But anyway, a few years later I got the new interior installed in the Hawk but then came other bills and kid expenses, so the Stude set another 10 years. It's funny how the ex hated being married to a tightwad but she loved being divorced from one because when kid expenses came up, I was the only one that had anything. This spring I decided that my latest obsession was going to be getting the Hawk fixed. I had an extra frame behind the sheep barn and now have it in the shop. It has rust problems and I figured I'd rebuild-modify it to remove that limp noodle feeling Hawk frames are known for. After that I'll lift the body, swap out and repair any suspension issues (like new front springs) and go through all of the brake lines and such, then set the body on the "new" frame. I'd always planned on finding someone who could still straighten frames, but the idea of hoping that a previously bent limber noodle frame would stay straight was eating on me, hence the other frame.
I got back into motorcycle travel touring 10 years ago after no annual bike trips for 19 years. My main ride is an '84 Kawasaki Voyager (the 960 lb, 6 cylinder version). Like a Stude, most parts are unobtainable so I carry spare parts with me on a long trip. Over the years been to 47 of the lower 48 states, Juarez Mexico and 4 Canadian provinces (last there in 2015.)
I'm new to this site but certainly not new to Studebakers, being a 3rd generation Stude driver. My doctor once told me I have obsessive-compulsive tendencies, which certainly pays off when it comes to restoring old cars as well as other things. I spent a LOT of time (24 months) resurrecting my old '77 Dodge pickup, turning a crusher ready 2 wheel drive into a solid 4-wheel drive Power Wagon (using stock parts, no cobbling up). Literally the only thing that wasn't repaired, rebuilt or replaced was the title. Really. The only thing I didn't do myself was replace the windshield, which the shop manual says is a 2 person job and I didn't want to bust it.
This past winter I have been working on family genealogy, which can be really frustrating at times, requiring breaks now and then. I decided it was time to get my '60 Hawk completed. 28 years ago I rolled it, well actually flipped it end over end. Coming home from a funeral with the wife and kids, had a guy fail to stop and pull in front of us, I swerved to miss him, met another car coming head on and then oheaded for the ditch. And it was technically my fault because I managed to not hit the guy that pulled out in front of us. Everyone ended up banged up except me...apparently bending the top of the steering wheel forward at a 90 degree angle with my chest and busting the windshield out with my head prevented any body parts from being damaged or hurting. The ex always told me I was a hard headed German and I guess that's one time she was right because I never even had a headache, although the heartache I felt for my Stude was certainly intense. Needless to say, when the car ends up on its roof, there's a lot less headroom on the inside than before. And take my word for it, when the kids are eating Blizzards and you flip a car, ice cream goes EVERYWHERE! You'd be amazed at the obscure places I found ice cream when I stripped it that winter. After a lot of body work and painting, upon reassembly I found the left front frame was bent. Our financial situation also got bent after a bunch of bad luck with hospitals, insurance (pre-existing conditions) and family (not Stude injury related) left us owing 22 different doctors and hospitals. Of course the Stude project came to a screeching halt as eventually did my motorcycling, photography and just about everything else that I derived any enjoyment from. Phone got turned off, had to borrow money from mom after we ran out of LP one cold winter night. Just keeping the family together was a job. Before it was all over, I had to swallow a whole lot of pride and get on food stamps for 3 months because I literally couldn't feed my family.
Fast forward 15 years to a divorce due to the ex's case of amnesia. She got into horses and found herself a cowboy boyfriend but forgot that she was still married to me all the while. Horse lovers are like alcoholics; they can't stop with just one. And that applies to both horses and boyfriends in case anyone's wife starts showing undue interest in horses.
But anyway, a few years later I got the new interior installed in the Hawk but then came other bills and kid expenses, so the Stude set another 10 years. It's funny how the ex hated being married to a tightwad but she loved being divorced from one because when kid expenses came up, I was the only one that had anything. This spring I decided that my latest obsession was going to be getting the Hawk fixed. I had an extra frame behind the sheep barn and now have it in the shop. It has rust problems and I figured I'd rebuild-modify it to remove that limp noodle feeling Hawk frames are known for. After that I'll lift the body, swap out and repair any suspension issues (like new front springs) and go through all of the brake lines and such, then set the body on the "new" frame. I'd always planned on finding someone who could still straighten frames, but the idea of hoping that a previously bent limber noodle frame would stay straight was eating on me, hence the other frame.
I got back into motorcycle travel touring 10 years ago after no annual bike trips for 19 years. My main ride is an '84 Kawasaki Voyager (the 960 lb, 6 cylinder version). Like a Stude, most parts are unobtainable so I carry spare parts with me on a long trip. Over the years been to 47 of the lower 48 states, Juarez Mexico and 4 Canadian provinces (last there in 2015.)
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