'56 President two door

[mbstude]

Pulled the steering wheel off and replaced the crumbling original shift indicator dial; my friend George gave me a new one so I had no excuses..

[mbstude]

Another small issue that I took care of today..

The instrument lights operate through a rheostat that's in the main light switch, instead of a separate switch like on Hawks. My inst. lights weren't working, but would come on momentarily when hitting a bump. I pulled the switch and when checking all of the connections, I found that the rheostat assembly in the switch is loose and not making a good connection anymore. Rather than buy a new switch so I can have an operable rheostat that I'll never use (the gauge lights aren't very bright to begin with), I wired them directly into the light switch so that they come on with the parking and headlights. Even got the silly green shifter indicator light to work too.

I'm having a lot of fun working the bugs out of this thing.

[studegary]

When I was about your age, I used to roll the speedometer around to the end in my 1957 President Classic. When it gets above 125 (indicated), it does not look like you think that it would when it is observed sitting at 0.

[8E45E]

The designers thought that they looked good/streamlined in 1956 - which they did.

Indeed they did!

Too bad the Studebaker line got downgraded in some ways to make the Packard appear more upscale for 1957.

Craig

[mbstude]

When I was about your age, I used to roll the speedometer around to the end in my 1957 President Classic. When it gets above 125 (indicated), it does not look like you think that it would when it is observed sitting at 0.

Maybe when I get the new tires put on.

[mbstude]

I finally went through the box of paperwork that the previous owner sent. Lots of receipts for parts and repairs over the years.. And a picture of the car from an SDC meet in the '70's.



Found this in the ashtray. 1975 Indiana State Fair ticket stub from the Drews family.

[ndynis]

You are going to have one great driver when you get finished finding and fixing the bugs. Great looking car. I would love to have a '56 Wagon. The '56 line just had a lot of class if you ask me.

[RadioRoy]

(Do you look as good as you did 60 years ago <G>?).

I never looked better, never loved better, never lied better.

[mbstude]

You are going to have one great driver when you get finished finding and fixing the bugs. Great looking car. I would love to have a '56 Wagon. The '56 line just had a lot of class if you ask me.

Thanks, Nick, and I agree. In '57, Studebaker downgraded their models in order to make the Packards appear more upscale. The Studebakers never did go back to being as nice and elegant as they were in '56, in my opinion.

[mbstude]

I like for everything to be operable.. And since the left side of the dash is working as it should, yesterday I tackled the right side.. Which is only a clock (well, and the radio/speaker.. But since it's AM only, that project isn't on the priority list).

I took a peek underneath and found that there had never been any wiring run to power/light it. I removed the clock, took the guts out of the housing and it looked brand new.. I think it may have been NOS at some point, and installed simply for looks. I cleaned the points and put a tiny drop of oil (with a toothpick) on all of the pivots, wound it by hand, and it slowly started running. After a while it got up to speed and seemed to be working just fine, so I put everything together and bolted it back in the dash. Ran a wire to power it and tied the bulb into the other gauge lights. This is the first Stude I've had with a working clock, and it's a lot louder than I expected. It's pretty neat to hear it tick and wind itself every few minutes. It's not accurate, but hey, it works.

I also dug through George's pile of used horns this evening and found a working Hi and Low.. Took the hood latch panel off, removed the dead original horns, and put the new/used ones in.. No idea what they originally came off of, and for all I know they could be 6 volt.. But it sounds like a freight train.

[ndynis]

Great stuff! Keep posting updates. Fun to follow along as you return it to "As Delivered" condition.
I don't have any challenges with the Lark I purchased from George . . . everything already works just like it should! Haven't gotten time to spend with it after it made the 960 mile trip from Florida to Texas running just like it should. At night it had lights, in the rain the wipers worked, the radio works, and it was a ball driving it home!

[mbstude]

Great stuff! Keep posting updates. Fun to follow along as you return it to "As Delivered" condition.
I don't have any challenges with the Lark I purchased from George . . . everything already works just like it should! Haven't gotten time to spend with it after it made the 960 mile trip from Florida to Texas running just like it should. At night it had lights, in the rain the wipers worked, the radio works, and it was a ball driving it home!

You got a fantastic car.. I put a couple hundred miles on it in October '15 for an SDC meet, and it was by far one of the nicest highway cruising Studebakers I've ever driven. Given the low mileage and George's conscientious mechanical skills, I'd have been surprised if it performed otherwise.

[ddub]

Re: the loud clock, I remember the saying about Rolls Royce that at 60 miles per hour the loudest sound was the ticking of the clock.

[studegary]

I hope that you put a very low amperage fuse in the power line to the clock.

[mbstude]

I hope that you put a very low amperage fuse in the power line to the clock.

Yes I did.