57 Golden Hawk questions

[Five O]

For the experts here I have some questions about my 57 Hawk. I have a in rough condition 57.... Its missing some or many parts, and some and many are still there luckily... The one item that most upsets me as being robbed is the tag on the pass side upper firewall.... the screws were at least put back in after they hijacked the tag... The vin is 6I00453. Is there anything that could be assessed by the vin. Ive been told, who knows if reliable, that it could have had the supercharger and may not have and no way of really telling. My hood is not cut, but I do have the fiberglass overlay.... both likely came from another car. The color in original areas is gold. I have not pulled the engine number off the block yet, but will get on it if it could help. Ill work on pics asap....

Thanks for adding me into the forum... already learned a lot from reading.

This is a car that was given to my wife 20 or so years ago and was rough then and we just let it sit.... I do autobody on the side, and finally getting around to giving this some much due attention. My goal is as original as possible.

Thanks in advance for any information you may have.....

[StudeRich]

Welcome to the SDC and to the SDC Forum Ror!

Yes this is definitely a '57 Golden Hawk built in South Bend, IN.
The Starting Serial Number was 6,100,001 and yours is before the 1958 Starting Number.

You can get the Body tag reproduced, AFTER you order the Production Order from the Studebaker National Museum to get it's number.
Here is their Webpage: https://www.studebakermuseum.org/sto...duction-orders

Also ALL '57 Golden Hawk Hardtops had the McCullough Supercharger when New.

Good find if it is savable.

< Clickable 3 Times.

[Five O]

Wow..... Lightning fast.... cant thank you enough.... or maybe I'm sorry I heard it..... much work ahead of me on this one.....lol.....

Any idea if I can replicate the firewall tag with the info I have? what does it contain that the vin doesn't...

Thanks again..

[StudeRich]

Absolutely not.

The Serial number is the sequential number off of the 1957 Golden Hawk Final Assembly Line... THAT'S IT! Nothing more.

The Body Tag only tells you that it is a 57H-K7 a 1957 President (because of the 289 President "PS" Numbered Engine) [President 289 Supercharged] and of course it's Sequential Number on the BODY LINE, NOT final assembly.
A "K" is a Hardtop, 7 = Top trim Level (there was only one).

[Five O]

Awesome.... Again, thanks for the info. Really looking forward to moving on this... a whole lot of work and a few years but my wife will be able to drive it in its original glory again..... And of course I will too.....lol..

Really appreciate the help and info.....

[Jeffry Cassel]

Mr. Beckman at the Studebaker National Museum can probably give you all the info you seek. I believe there is a $35 charge for the original invoice; that gives you the original colors and options. It is well worth it. The tag could have fallen off; they were very poorly attached. The one on my 64 was dangling by a thread so I simply picked it off with my fingers and reinstalled it with adhesive and rivits after painting the jamb. The Golden Hawk had a supercharger and was a hardtop. The Silver Hawk was a coupe and did not have a supercharger. I do not know how you can replace the VIN plate . It is possible that there could be blanks out there but then you get into all kinds of legal unpleasantness. Simplest thing is to by the proper sisze stainless steel piece and have the no. engraved onto it. Can't see a problem with that as long as youhave the title and the other nos. match up. Sounds like a challenging but rewarding project. Good Luck! I've restored many Hawks and they are neat cars . Fords and Chevvies are like noses; nearly everyone has one.

[riversidevw]

Mr. Beckman at the Studebaker National Museum can probably give you all the info you seek. I believe there is a $35 charge for the original invoice; that gives you the original colors and options. It is well worth it. The tag could have fallen off; they were very poorly attached. The one on my 64 was dangling by a thread so I simply picked it off with my fingers and reinstalled it with adhesive and rivits after painting the jamb. The Golden Hawk had a supercharger and was a hardtop. The Silver Hawk was a coupe and did not have a supercharger. I do not know how you can replace the VIN plate . It is possible that there could be blanks out there but then you get into all kinds of legal unpleasantness. Simplest thing is to by the proper sisze stainless steel piece and have the no. engraved onto it. Can't see a problem with that as long as youhave the title and the other nos. match up. Sounds like a challenging but rewarding project. Good Luck! I've restored many Hawks and they are neat cars . Fords and Chevvies are like noses; nearly everyone has one.

If I recall correctly, for pre-1960 cars the museum provides info from the original production order which is transcribed onto a new form... not a direct copy. Because of the extra time and labor, it's a little more costly than $35. But you indeed need it to determine the body number. Bodies were often not used in numerical sequence, so you can't second guess it.

[Five O]

Thanks again for the info....

I will definitely be reaching out to museum..

The vin plate is original and intact and never been off. Its only the firewall tag I'm missing. Sounds like that's an easy do as well....

You guys are great and I really appreciate the help....

Ror

[StudeRich]

Ahh, Jeffery, he is only missing the BODY Tag, we were given the Serial (VIN) Number from the Serial Number Plate.

[riversidevw]

And they indeed all had superchargers! But some blowers went by the wayside fairly soon. Around '67, the bearings in my '57 supercharger became noisy. One of the service advisors (Keith) at a dealership StudeRich recalls well strongly recommended that we trash the blower, "we do it all the time." After all, the parts were a staggering $44, as I recall. Well intended advice, but I kept the blower.

[riversidevw]

In fairness to that service advisor, I think his suggestion was to install a used 4-barrel intake and WCFB. Would have been an OK driver, though with the reduced compression heads that came with the blower. But not in the spirit of the machine, as I saw it.

[Corvanti]

welcome aboard Five 0!

body tag reproduction isn't (semi)illegal as a serial number may be. several here can reproduce one for you. Jerry Kurtz, Jerezstude on the forum made me a tag - looks great!

make sure you join the Studebaker Drivers Club - info is on this site, and a local Studebaker club. also pick up the '57 Shop Manual, Body Manual and Chassis Manual. available from our vendors: https://www.studebakervendors.com/

good luck with your Golden Hawk! one of my favorites.

[lelshaddai]

I had a new body tag for my 53 Commander made by jerezstude , Jerry Kurtz, here from the forum, I used the Production Order information to have it made correctly. Looks close enough to original.
Jim

[ddub]

No one has said it directly but you have one of the most desirable Studebakers out there so it is well worth restoring. When you are done you will have a valuable car and if you are able to a lot of the work yourself you may not even be upside down in it.

[bezhawk]

The original body tags were just screwed on with phillips head screws. Many times they go missing as souvenirs by previous owners. I just had two made that were missing on two different Avantis that I'm doing frame up restorations on. The must have really wanted them because on Avantis they are riveted on.