Silver Hawk Major Modifications

[Treblig]

As promised here are the pics of the items that came in my kit (bag of powder not shown):




The small buffers are for getting into the corners on the windshield. I would say the bag of powder that came with this kit would do at least two windshields.

Treblig

[garrilla]

As promised here are the pics of the items that came in my kit (bag of powder not shown):

[ATTACH=CONFIG]60488[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]60489[/ATTACH]


The small buffers are for getting into the corners on the windshield. I would say the bag of powder that came with this kit would do at least two windshields.

Treblig

Thanks Gil,I ordered the same kit.

[Treblig]

Thanks Gil,I ordered the same kit.

Great !! Let me know how it works out for you.

PS - You don't have to rotate the drill/buffer motor that fast to get good results. The faster you spin it the more mess it makes and ends up wasting all the polishing compound.

Treblig

[Treblig]

Well it's been a while since I posted anything on the Silver Hawk. My daughter has been driving it to and from school but couldn't drive it on real cold days because I have the new heater out of the car. I have already fitted the new heater (previous posts) and all I need to do is install into the brackets that I already have under the dash. The problem is that I'm still fighting radio static with the engine running!!
If I install the heater it would be right in the way of the radio access (AC is also there), not to mention having to disconnect the water lines under the dash. Anyway, the reason for this post is that it finally got warm enough for me to go outside and troubleshoot the static problem. I had already tried an in line resistor (or whatever it's called) on the 12V power wire and an in line thingy on the antennae cable. I tried rerouting many of the power lines as well. I also tried an alternator resistor thingy (no help). I even ran a dedicated wire from the alternator to the battery (in the trunk) to avoid getting any RFI through the under hod wiring. I've done a lot of reading on the subject and one thing I hadn't tackled was the antennae cable where it runs along the passenger's threshold (under the carpet). I read that if you run an antennae next to and parallel to any power wires the antennae can pick up RFI/EMI. I had installed the antennae mast (an electronic box on the rear package tray) and ran the cable behind the passenger's rear door panel and under the passenger's threshold carpet. But I had also ran a couple of 12V wires in the same space to give 24/7 12V to the radio (memory) and the factory clock. So today I tore it all apart and ran the antennae cable under the rear seat (above the carpet) and along the trans hump just to see if it made any difference.

LOW AND BEHOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That damn thing worked perfectly with the engine "on" or "off". I've been fighting this problem for many, many months and had been avoiding removing the rear passenger's 1/4 glass, side panel and threshold stainless because it's a hassle since I'm so tall. It always kills my neck and back being cramped back there. The only complaint my daughter ever had about the car was that she couldn't listen to the radio on her way to school. Well now that problem is solved!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now you know..... non of this makes sense and that's why I never bothered to disassemble the rear panel and 1/4 glass. The reason I never took this action was that the radio sounded fine with the engine off even though the 24/7 12V wire was getting juice all the time and turning the engine "on" shouldn't have made any difference because the wires that run under the carpet don't feed anything under the hood. But Murphy's Law is more consistent than GRAVITY!!! Maybe that long length of wire (under the threshold) was acting like an antennae and transferring the energy to the radio antennae. I DON'T KNOW!!!

All I know is that the radio is fixed and I can now install the heater.....JUST IN TIME FOR SUMMER!!

treblig

[garrilla]

Glad you found it Gil. I was going to suggest that you read up on ground loops, that is generally the issue with engine/alternator noise.

[Treblig]

Glad you found it Gil. I was going to suggest that you read up on ground loops, that is generally the issue with engine/alternator noise.

Garrilla...do you ever get your glass polishing kit??

Treblig

[garrilla]

Garrilla...do you ever get your glass polishing kit??

Treblig

Yes I did,but I'm involved in making brackets for power steering, alternator and ac compressor for the Ford 223 inline 6.
Glass polishing is on the list.

[Treblig]

So the Silver Hawk has 1" holes in the frame just behind the front tires and just in front of the back tires.




This 1" hole happens to be at a frame brace which makes it perfect for the modern (easier to use ) jack that I'll store in the trunk. I bought an 86 Mote Carlo jack at a swap meet really, really cheap then I refurbished it. It looks pretty much brand new. I welded a 1" diameter extension (1/4" thick steel spacer) to the original Monte Carlo frame pad. Now when the Hawk gets a flat tire you can easily locate the jack into the 1" holes in the frame and safely raise the car. The jack can't slip out of the hole so I won't have to worry about any accidents:




My daughter has been driving the car every day to school and back and I've got all the major "bugs" out of it. Now that it's warmed up outside I had time to modify the jack. I'll be testing it real soon and will also show my daughter how to use the jack and change a tire. I also plan to tape off and spray paint (orange) the short section of the frame where the 1" holes are located that way neither my daughter or anyone else will accidentally try and put the jack into the wrong frame hole as the frame has numerous factory holes of different sizes in different locations.

Treblig

[ndynis]

Man, you don't miss a thing! Great idea but took some thinking to come up with it. I made each of my daughters change a tire in the driveway before they were allowed to take their first trip out of town solo.
Thanks for posting!!

[Treblig]

Man, you don't miss a thing! Great idea but took some thinking to come up with it. I made each of my daughters change a tire in the driveway before they were allowed to take their first trip out of town solo.
Thanks for posting!!

Well thanks for the kind words. I know I won't be on this earth forever so I have to try and think of everything. I had my daughter outside yesterday checking her tire pressure, checking her oil level and checking the trans fluid level (it was 1/2 quart low). I showed her how to add trans fluid and how "not" to overfill. We'll see how she can handle breaking the lug nuts loose and removing and reinstalling the hub caps. All this stuff is pretty mundane to us old guys but even my son who is 22 years old can mess up. My son's '46 Chevy (Post 961) has old school aluminum wheels on his car. They require those special long, "shouldered" lug nuts but the spare tire is a regular steel rim which requires the old type "factory" lug nuts (the ones with the taper on one end). Well....he had removed the aluminum wheels a few times over the years to re-polish them so he knew how to safely remove and replace the wheels/tires. I had told him about the spare in the trunk and that it required different lug nuts (which he keeps in his console).
Long story short, he had a flat while at college (50 miles away). He called and told me about it and he said that he and his friends had put the spare on the car. He drove the car home on the weekend so I could get the aluminum rim tire fixed. I casually checked the spare tire on the car and told him that he had done a good job fending for himself....but as I examined the spare tire mounted on the car I noticed that the factory lug nuts had been installed backwards!! He had put the flat side of the lug nut against the rims. He had driven 50 miles at 70 MPH. I had a shiver run down my spine just thinking about it!!! It was my fault because although he had removed and installed his aluminum rims many times I had never "actually" made him put the spare on his car. Because we never went through the motions I was never able to show him how the factory lug nuts go on the lugs.
After seeing the lug nuts installed backwards I removed one lug nut and showed him that there is a taper on one side and that the taper helps to center the wheel on the hub and that the taper also helps keep sufficient torque on the wheel. By putting the lugs on backwards there's a chance that they might come loose as he drives down the highway. I beat myself up pretty good for endangering his life. To be sure, my daughter will absolutely know about the proper lug nut installation!!



PS - The funny part about this story is that my son is graduating next week with a mechanical engineering degree and still has a lot to learn!!!!!

Treblig

[ndynis]

Many times brilliant people are a little short on common sense! Great story. I still plan to give you a PM when I'm heading to Corpus Christi one of these days and see if we can't get together for a cup of coffee.
Mighty lucky young lady with a Studebaker Hawk for daily transportation!
Nick

[Treblig]

Many times brilliant people are a little short on common sense! Great story. I still plan to give you a PM when I'm heading to Corpus Christi one of these days and see if we can't get together for a cup of coffee.
Mighty lucky young lady with a Studebaker Hawk for daily transportation!
Nick

Absolutely, all I need is a heads up!! My treat!!

treblig

[Treblig]

Well I was pleasantly surprised and amazed that the Monte Carlo jack fit really nice in the place where the original jack was installed. I had to do a little bending and adjusting of the hold down clamp but otherwise it was a piece of cake!!:




Now the only issue I have is "What to do with this all original really nice jack????" I have no use for it and hate to put it on the shelf forever. It looks brand new, either somebody refinished it or it's never been used??



Treblig

[tempestan]

Those who state that the Mustang II suspension is a mistake are sooo wrong. A bit of simple research proves such. I've got a Studebaker C body with professionally installed MII, that has 11 years, and 70,000 miles on it.....no problems. I did not use the Mustang brakes......it is adapted to Camaro disc, very happy with it.

Tempestan

[Treblig]

Those who state that the Mustang II suspension is a mistake are sooo wrong. A bit of simple research proves such. I've got a Studebaker C body with professionally installed MII, that has 11 years, and 70,000 miles on it.....no problems. I did not use the Mustang brakes......it is adapted to Camaro disc, very happy with it.

Tempestan

I'll have to agree with you. My daughter's Silver Hawk drives very much like a newer car. I drove it with the original manual steering and it was a dog. Unfortunately for me our driveway is very crowded. If the Silver Hawk didn't have the power steering and Must II front end we wouldn't be able to maneuver it into the tight spaces that we have for parking our cars.

Treblig