C/K Door Skins

[3x2stude]

I have seen NOS front fenders, quarters, rockers and more in the last two years but I have never seen an NOS door skin for a C or K body. I have been aquiring what NOS sheet metal I can and would love to score some door skins. This makes me wounder if there is enough demand to warrant someone making a quality skin? It would need to be all the way to the side glass. I am assuming that with the exception of the A & B pillar area that the C and K are the same. Anyone have comments or ideas?

Jon Kammer

[Pat Dilling]

They would be different between 53-56 and 57-61

[3x2stude]

I assumed everyone knows there is a differance, my bad. Most of the tooling could be used for both. The point is that there are companies repoping entire car bodies, from As & Ts to pony cars, the list is vast. The question still remains, "is there interest in either or both styles"? And which would be the better to make, the C or K?

Jon Kammer

[Nelsen Motorsports]

I assumed everyone knows there is a differance, my bad. Most of the tooling could be used for both. The point is that there are companies repoping entire car bodies, from As & Ts to pony cars, the list is vast. The question still remains, "is there interest in either or both styles"? And which would be the better to make, the C or K?

Jon Kammer

There have been fiberglass parts for years and they have been very successful from what I could tell. I wouldn't know about metal because of the fact that it is heavier and so the racing industry would be eliminated. What could be built is a car made to adapt to a modern lightweight truck frame, i.e. a new Dakota or a Ranger. If a company build a 53-61 C/K metal body with the option of body mounts for one of those truck frames it would be successful. Also maybe a sub-frame unit that is made to fit over a lengthened Corvette chassis. What has been extremely successful is the factory five space frames http://www.factoryfive.com/ . If I were to build a completely new Studebaker I would build a car that is lighter, quicker, rides better, and can out perform most modern sports cars. The new metal body and parts would need modern strength components and would need many improvements such as a stronger, rustproof hood, plastic, or stainless rocker panels, and a new fender design. Then again this would take millions of dollars and the project would likely never pay itself off. The point is that there are still plenty of C/Ks left and those who are comfortable with fiberglass can have a lot of fun.

[3x2stude]

Again the point is missed. I am only talking about DOOR SKINS! The point was if others are putting out entire cars why can someone make a nice full DOOR SKIN for a Stude?

JK

[PlainBrownR2]

I'd say mostly because nobody has become ambitious enough to do it yet, as well as the time and money. The process is much like the fenders. Make a mold, lay down your fiberglass, let dry, and file away whatever isn't door skin(yeah it's a fairly simplistic explanation, I know, lol). I'd like to do some of the body parts in carbon fiber, but that's going to be awhile yet before that comes to fruition, since the materials cost money .

[Nelsen Motorsports]

As far as I have seen door haven't been a bad point of rusting on C/Ks. That said, I do have a few sections on my doors that need help and the bottoms are swiss cheese, but they do not compare to my fenders. The way I see it the demand of door skins does not compete with that of front fenders or hoods or rockers. You can contact classic enterprises because they seem to be the only company stamping Studebaker parts out of steel.

[63t-cab]

Jon,if someone was to pop out steel skins I would think "K" would be the way to go? and then could be used on a "C" door by spliceing near that point.

I assumed everyone knows there is a differance, my bad. Most of the tooling could be used for both. The point is that there are companies repoping entire car bodies, from As & Ts to pony cars, the list is vast. The question still remains, "is there interest in either or both styles"? And which would be the better to make, the C or K?

Jon Kammer

[mbstude]

If we really want to get picky, let's not forget that '56 Golden Hawks have their own unique outer door skin.. Just another "56J Only" part!

For those that don't know, the "cove" stopped short on the '56J doors to allow for the metal trim band at the bottom.

[3x2stude]

Can anyone help out with production figures? 53 - 56 "C", 53 - 56 "K", 57 - 61 "C", 57 - 58 "K", I hope I got that right. And where does 62 - 64 GT fit in?

Jon Kammer

[3x2stude]

MB,

That is an interesting fact. Just out of curiosity how much shorter is the 56J?

Jon Kammer

[3x2stude]

MB,

Can You post a picture of the trim?

JK

[bezhawk]

It's similar to the grooved rocker moulding on GT hawks, only mounted up higher on the door instead of the rockers.
If that helps you visulize it.
I always wondered if a person could modify GT trim to replace that on the 56J?

[sweetolbob]

Again the point is missed. I am only talking about DOOR SKINS! The point was if others are putting out entire cars why can someone make a nice full DOOR SKIN for a Stude?

JK

It's like most low volume parts, just hard to justify the cost of the dies. Don't forget you need two sets, one for each side for each style. Then you would need to find some one with enough tonnage to form them.

Don't forget the decision to build complete Camaro's was based on the fact the company was already making almost every repo metal part needed to make a complete car. That's the beauty of high demand/volume vehicles.

Bob

[mbstude]

MB,

That is an interesting fact. Just out of curiosity how much shorter is the 56J?

Jon Kammer

Not sure how much shorter, but it's quite noticeable when next to any other 53-56 C/K.

Below is a '53 Starliner and a '56 Golden Hawk. The black lines represent the bottom of the door, and the starting point of the cove. As you can see, quite a bit of difference.