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1962 7E5 Champ

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  • #16
    Who's 70 Chevelle in the background of the one chicken coop picture?

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    • #17
      Originally posted by Studelarkrod View Post
      Who's 70 Chevelle in the background of the one chicken coop picture?
      That is my stepbrother's. His mom bought it brand new - just a simple metallic blue with black vinyl top with the base V8 and automatic in it. When my stepbrother wanted to put it on the road back in the early 90s, he decided to go SS with it - hence the red paint job and stripes. He would never sell the thing, although I am not sure if his son is interested in keeping it on the road.
      Last edited by 62champ; 11-11-2017, 06:55 AM.

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      • #18
        That's a real shame. I would give my left arm up for a 70 Chevelle. I have tried to buy a few times and have never been able to get one.

        About about the other studes or cars in the background? We need more pictures!

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        • #19
          Originally posted by Studelarkrod View Post
          About about the other studes or cars in the background? We need more pictures!
          Other Studebakers are owned by family members - there is a '63 Avanti (with square headlight buckets - long story), '53 Commander coupe, '55 Champion hardtop, '62 Daytona hardtop, 51 Champion Starlight coupe, and a '62 GT - they are in various states of existence but they could probably be back on the road with the right resources...

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          • #20
            So the front axle is out without any problems. Have got a king pin rebuild kit on the way and will now talk to a local guy who has a reamer and press to be able to put said kit in... then will start getting the leaf springs off - local large city has a leaf spring business - hopefully they can help...

            Last edited by 62champ; 08-09-2018, 07:11 PM.

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            • #21
              So the front springs are free and clear. Contacted the local business that deals almost exclusively with leaf springs, and they said they work on just about any leaf spring that has been built. They also make their own U-bolts, so they can supply those as well. Was kind of amazed the rubber bushings were not in poorer shape than they were - many of these I have seem are pretty lop-sided with wear over the years - truck must not have had many miles on it when it was parked...



              The one leaf spring sits about a quarter inch higher than the other - might be the problem with the truck sitting lop-sided. If the business does not "re-arch" springs, I might have them simply break them both down and swap every other leaf to make them equal...



              Looks pretty weird without anything under the front end.

              Last edited by 62champ; 08-09-2018, 07:11 PM.

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              • #22
                Took advantage of yesterdays warm weather and got some POR15 on some of my parts. The can of paint was old enough that the lid was part of the rest of the can, so I had to punch holes in the bottom and drain it into a quart mason jar...

                Went on fairly well, even though it will probably never be noticed by anyone again after it is back on the truck. From everything I can tell, the wheel cylinders have never been off the truck and there were still lots of readable things on items:



                Because the king pin kit has not been installed yet, I only put on a coating for the middle of the front axle but the backing plates got a covering front and back.



                I also got a number of parts this past week. Brake hoses and shocks online and brake shoes, wheel cylinders and master cylinder locally.



                Feels good to doing the final part of the process on a couple things...
                Last edited by 62champ; 07-08-2019, 05:31 PM.

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                • #23
                  The quarter inch spacer under the leaf springs is to compensate for driver and battery weight on drivers side. Empty, mine sits a bit high on driver's side.
                  Kim

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                  • #24
                    Originally posted by kamzack View Post
                    The quarter inch spacer under the leaf springs is to compensate for driver and battery weight on drivers side. Empty, mine sits a bit high on driver's side.
                    Kim
                    That would only make a 1/4 inch difference in the height - this was about a two to three inch difference from side to side. With a tank full of fuel and 250 lbs behind the wheel, it might have sit level - maybe.

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                    • #25
                      Body mystery solved...

                      Since getting the truck home this summer, I noticed there as a pretty significant hole in the firewall that was not there on my 7E7. I looked a number of engine photos I have of other Champs and could not see another hole like mine - so it was puzzling as to why it was there. This is a bad cell phone photo of what I am talking about:



                      In looking though some of my literature, it may be there for a specific reason. In April of 1962, South Bend sent out service letter T-14. In this service letter, mechanics in the field reported that on 170 OHV equipped Champ pickups, it was impossible to remove the rear rocker arm shaft capscrew from its spot because the curve in the firewall was too close. The solution was to cut a 1 1/4 inch hole to fully allow the bolt to be removed. Only part I might be missing is there is not a cover plate over that said hole (pn 1338946) with two retaining screws. Wonder where that cover plate ended up - or maybe someone saved .75 by leaving it off...

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                      • #26
                        Considering it was -4 Tuesday morning, not a lot has gotten done in the garage on the truck. Took the day after New Years and made the trip to the local spring retailer to get some U-bolts for the front axle. They had 7/16 stock and made them up while I was waiting - $9 each. I checked with about 8 different Studebaker parts suppliers and only one had some of the U-bolts, and that was only the short one. The shop I went to could make the 3 3/4 inch tall U-bolts exactly, but the longer ones (4 1/4 inches) make a pair that were 1/2 inch longer.

                        Last edited by 62champ; 08-09-2018, 07:09 PM.

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                        • #27
                          So the wheels/tires I had picked up to simply hold the truck up off the garage floor have been retired... Gentleman in Virginia had five 16" truck wheels and tires that looked like they would work - so after a quick trip, they are now part of the collection of parts that will grace the truck. Got the rubber spring bushings for the front end the other week. Still waiting for the front axle with new king pin kits to get back, then everything from the frame down in the front can get painted and put back together...ahh, progress.



                          If anyone wants to buy some 16' beauty rings - let me know. Will be in South Bend in May.

                          The tires are quite a bit larger than should be on the truck, and put them on my other Champ to see how round they still were - round for now...


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                          • #28
                            Looking good!

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                            • #29
                              A Tale of One Seat...

                              As the weather warms, thoughts of getting more things done on the truck fill my head - if only the body would follow...

                              I have the original seat for the truck, and really wish it would have fared much better in its lifetime. I have a bottle of "purple power" that is running low and decided to use it up by cleaning on the old seat cover.

                              I suspect the truck did not have a huge number of miles on it (brake parts still had much of the original paint on them) but it is clear that Texas was not gentle with the interior - or at least some of it.

                              This is what the two halves of the seat look like.

                              Passenger, other than the obvious hole, it in pretty good shape:



                              Driver side - much different story. And I did use the purple power on it, but...



                              Anyway, the idea will be to eventually get NOS covers for a Lark and do what I did with my 7E7. More to hopefully come soon.
                              Last edited by 62champ; 08-09-2018, 07:08 PM.

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                              • #30
                                Been trying to get some cleaning and painting finished as I wait for the king pins to get installed...

                                More things cleaned up and painted:



                                Brakes return springs came in yesterday, so seemed everything was there to put them all together and get them ready to go on the axle spindles when they return.

                                Last edited by 62champ; 06-15-2018, 06:59 PM.

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