Building Demolition

[COMMANDERPINK1]

Did anyone else get a chance to check out the remaining shells of the two Studebaker buildings while in South Bend last week? The first is the back side of the old SASCO and the remaing two are the old Foundry.

Tom

[White Hawk]

Thank you for the pix!

[Bordeaux Daytona]

We stopped by and took some pics, not a very nice sight to see though.

http://s288.photobucket.com/albums/ll176/64daytona/stude%20spring%20swap%202011/?start=0#!cpZZ2QQtppZZ16

They're on pages two and three.
John V.

[Milaca]

As sad as it is for me to look at these photos, it must be extremely sad for those that were around South Bend when these buildings were a part of a vibrant business center. I can only imagine the many employees that came to work there each day for all the many years that Studebaker occupied these structures. As poor of condition as the buildings were in, it was nice having them stand as a monument of all things related to Studebaker. It's kind of like seeing your childhood house being demolished and knowing that you can never visit where your earliest memories originated. The site where my childhood home was is now a lawn in front of a newer, bigger house. I didn't realize it until now, but I guess I am a lot like my Studebaker cars in that we both lost our birth places due to time and detioration.

[BobPalma]

As sad as it is for me to look at these photos, it must be extremely sad for those that were around South Bend when these buildings were a part of a vibrant business center. I can only imagine the many employees that came to work there each day for all the many years that Studebaker occupied these structures. As poor of condition as the buildings were in, it was nice having them stand as a monument of all things related to Studebaker. It's kind of like seeing your childhood house being demolished and knowing that you can never visit where your earliest memories originated. The site where my childhood home was is now a lawn in front of a newer, bigger house. I didn't realize it until now, but I guess I am a lot like my Studebaker cars in that we both lost our birth places due to time and detioration.

Well stated, Milaca. Jim Turner and I drove by the demolition sites while in South Bend for the May Meet last weekend. It is sad to see the last vestiges of Studebaker's vibrancy succumb to the wrecking ball.

Personally, seeing the Foundry come down is the hardest.

Close your eyes for a moment and imagine calendar year 1950: During calendar year 1950, that foundry had to produce about 1,000 six-cylinder engine blocks and 1,000 six-cylinder engine heads every working day. With two different sixes in production at the time, that meant four different castings.

Then, mid-year 1950, they had to tool up for an all-new V8 engine block and heads, bringing their total number of different castings to six being produced concurrently.

That's a lot of people working hard to earn a legitimate living, contributing to both the country's and the company's prosperity. 'Not sure how we expect to survive with such productive work being done in China and elsewhere. BP

[studeclunker]

Well stated, Milaca.<snip>... That's a lot of people working hard to earn a legitimate living, contributing to both the country's and the company's prosperity. 'Not sure how we expect to survive with such productive work being done in China and elsewhere. BP

Well said Bob! Please help me resist getting up on my soap box on this particular subject though. I will say this; it sickens me that our government makes manufacturing in this country jump through the environmental hoops that the foreign competition aren't even close to complying with or paying for. Yeah, we have clean(er) air and clean(er) water and rampant unemployment. Gee, isn't it nice how now we are heading down to the same level as all the third world nations? Just had to give them the hand up, right? Grrr... grrr... grrr! ... politicians and stupid people!

OOps... Wasn't going to do that...

[StudeRich]

S.I. South Bend?

Great pictures John V ! I must have spent an hour looking at all those great cars, trying to find the Factory destruction Pics and never did, when I got to Pg. 12 with the "Other" make cars I quit looking.

Is that big heavy stamping Die for making hubcaps? I assume it was at Studebaker International, right?

All those nice cars in the parking lot with the Power Plant smokestack in background, were at the former Studebaker Aviation Plant (S.I.) ?

[PlainBrownR2]

The cars in the parking lot with the smokestack in the back was at the Cruise In at the South Bend Meet last Friday. It was held in the parking lot of SI, which is in a section of the former Studebaker Aviation Plant, which the massive building is also shared by a few other companies as well.

As far as the die, that's for making '63 Lark tail lights. I can post a video in a bit of how the dies are used(for some stupid reason I did more video shooting this time around than the last time) from the tour of the place, but it's a 330 mb monster, so it's not short. It was an interesting segment on how those plastic parts are made though .

[COMMANDERPINK1]

There must of been a fortune made in selling off of all the old dies as scrap metal if that chunk of iron only made tail lights. It was quite heavy looking, imagine what it took to do large sheet metal panels.
Tom

[PlainBrownR2]

Fudge, Photobucket won't let me load the video that large, so I guess this will have to do, to help explain the die on the tour ....





Along those lines, SI has a room devoted to Studebaker's original blueprints. Those blueprints are key to not only reusing the dies to reproduce the old parts, they also retain the information on those old parts as well. During the tour it was explained that if those blueprints or whatever dies they picked up were sold off, it would be a money loss to them, so for the time being, they are keeping the dies that are readily usable.

Plus, I have another reason for those dies. I couldn't find any 55 hardtop tail lights anywhere at the fairgrounds!! The ones I have were busted in three pieces. Thankfully, SI had a pair(and many more) on the shelf for the price of 30 dollars a lens. It doesn't matter to me if they were original or not, as they are going on hotrod that may become a driver one of these days. As long as it glows red, and the driver behind me stops, I'm happy .

[JimC]

Hey, if it's made in the original die, and it's using modern plastics, than it's better than original in my book.

[jlmccuan]

We drove around the demo sites as well. My buddy's father had worked in the foundry and he wanted to see it one last time.

[PlainBrownR2]

Hey, if it's made in the original die, and it's using modern plastics, than it's better than original in my book.

That is true, yep .....

[Bordeaux Daytona]

Great pictures John V ! I must have spent an hour looking at all those great cars, trying to find the Factory destruction Pics and never did, when I got to Pg. 12 with the "Other" make cars I quit looking.

Is that big heavy stamping Die for making hubcaps? I assume it was at Studebaker International, right?

All those nice cars in the parking lot with the Power Plant smokestack in background, were at the former Studebaker Aviation Plant (S.I.) ?

Thanks! I tried to fix the link to go to page 2 and 3 but it wouldn't work.
Here's the pictures, I like the smokestack picture because it looks like smoke's coming out of it but it's just clouds.

John V.

[2R2]

Great Pictures John, thanks for sharing! Your pictures always tend to turn out better than mine!