Restoration detects major repair decades ago

[rockne10]

I bought my 53 Coupe thirty years ago to be a daily driver. It was a beautiful original car.

I'm about 3/4 way through a complete off-frame restoration and have detected that, at some point in it's early life, the entire driver's side was replaced: front fender, door, rocker panel, rear quarter window panel, inner and outer rear fender. I must say whoever did the repair was one hell of a body man. Maybe it was done before it left the factory. The only way I can tell is the inner and outer front fender are attached with brazing, as are all the rest of the panels and many seams were filled with dumm-dumm instead of seam sealer.

None of it needs undone.

Engine, frame and suspension are back together as are brakes with stainless lines and Turner dual cylinder.

Undercarriage has been stripped and painted, body shell and all panels are in primer with exception of doors and front fenders which have been stripped.

I received the new interior from Phantom (Rene had the gray airway cloth reproduced) and I've received all the chrome I sent out; still need to send out bumpers, headlight rims and tailight rims.

My goal was to have this done two years ago but, after thirty years, progress has been made. I expect it will make it to the 2008 International.

[hank63]

You are one lucky fellow. The rest of us usually find shonky repairs hidden under paint and bog.
/H

[wagone]

As Hank63 says,"you are one lucky fellow". Most of us find the opposite to be true. Oh well, somebody has to be the lucky one and hats off to the original bodyman.[^][^]
wagone and Avanti I

[studegary]

I do not believe that the repair was done at the factory. Remember that the front fender (nose) did not meet up with the body until the car was nearly complete. I think if the car was damaged that extensively, it would have been scrapped by the factory. It would have cost the factory less for an entire new body than to do that body work. Now, an almost new used car is another story. I have known of many one to two year old cars that had extensive body work because the damage did not total the car. I even remember one guy that I knew that took two one year old Cadillacs that were wiped out on opposite sides, cut them down the middle and made one excellent car. I am not saying that the factory did not make some body repairs. I have come across some, like a quarter panel with a large hole repaired. I bought that car when it was three years old. The factory sound deadening was uniformly applied to the inside of the quarter panel over the leaded in repair.

[studegary]

This also reminds me of a '53 Starliner that I knew since it was new and I bought it off the original owner. When I went to re-do that car, I discovered that the left front fender and door had been replaced. I asked the original owner about it. She said that she (the car) was hit by a truck when the car was less than a year old. I did not even know that it had been hit or repaired (until I took it apart). She gave me the original damaged door. Parts of that door went into the rebuild of Bob Bourke's '54 Starliner.

[hank63]

Studegary is probably correct, but I have seen the odd complicated repair done in the factory, when reporting the damage would compromise somebody.
I'd put my money on an insurance job, carried out by a smash-repair friend who made sure the repairs were "top drawer".
/H

[DEEPNHOCK]

Well, if you keep your Studebaker long enough...You'll start repairing things you repaired long ago...
I find stuff now that I repaired in 1970 that I wonder 'What were you thinking about?????'[:0]
Jeff[8D]

DEEPNHOCK at Cox.net
'37 Coupe Express
'37 Coupe Express Trailer
'61 Hawk

http://community.webshots.com/user/deepnhock