A couple of you asked for some detailed pictures of the suspension and driveline under the Porsche-powered '59 Lark which is headed for the Studebaker National Museum. The car will be picked up in the next few days, so I have been trying to get a complete set of photos.
Here's the car from the side showing how the previous owner raised the trunk lid for better cooling.
Right rear wheel removed to show ~3/4" thick plate to adapt Stude wheels to Porsche/VW bus drums. The flat bar locates the rear wheel for the swing axle system, just like the old VW bugs, and links to the torsion bar suspension. There are a couple of stops to limit travel.
Looking down on right rear axle and drum. The half-shaft comes from the transaxle, links to the gear reduction box. I think the "underdrive" ratio is 1.39, so top speed is only 55-60 mph.
Just in front of the engine/transaxle assembly, a tube about 4" diameter was welded between the frame rails. I think this houses the torsion bars, but you old VW/Porsche people will have to fill in the blanks here. A steel tube assembly serves as the mount for the engine and transaxle.
A speedometer gear drive was added to the right front wheel, though the cable must have broken off long ago. The speedometer only shows 2375 miles, though this can't be correct. I think the bends were too tight and there was too much wheel travel to let this set-up survive too long.
I did find that there is a parking brake set-up on the rear wheels and it does work. On the other hand, the exhaust-heated boxes for heat in the car aren't connected to anything, so this would not be a car for winter.
[img=left]http://www.studegarage.com/images/gary_ash_m5_sm.jpg[/img=left] Gary Ash
Dartmouth, Mass.
'48 M5
'65 Wagonaire Commander
'63 Wagonaire Standard
web site at http://www.studegarage.com
Here's the car from the side showing how the previous owner raised the trunk lid for better cooling.
Right rear wheel removed to show ~3/4" thick plate to adapt Stude wheels to Porsche/VW bus drums. The flat bar locates the rear wheel for the swing axle system, just like the old VW bugs, and links to the torsion bar suspension. There are a couple of stops to limit travel.
Looking down on right rear axle and drum. The half-shaft comes from the transaxle, links to the gear reduction box. I think the "underdrive" ratio is 1.39, so top speed is only 55-60 mph.
Just in front of the engine/transaxle assembly, a tube about 4" diameter was welded between the frame rails. I think this houses the torsion bars, but you old VW/Porsche people will have to fill in the blanks here. A steel tube assembly serves as the mount for the engine and transaxle.
A speedometer gear drive was added to the right front wheel, though the cable must have broken off long ago. The speedometer only shows 2375 miles, though this can't be correct. I think the bends were too tight and there was too much wheel travel to let this set-up survive too long.
I did find that there is a parking brake set-up on the rear wheels and it does work. On the other hand, the exhaust-heated boxes for heat in the car aren't connected to anything, so this would not be a car for winter.
[img=left]http://www.studegarage.com/images/gary_ash_m5_sm.jpg[/img=left] Gary Ash
Dartmouth, Mass.
'48 M5
'65 Wagonaire Commander
'63 Wagonaire Standard
web site at http://www.studegarage.com
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