"The Bruise" (65 Commander) is a runner!

[Steve T]

Hi all--

Thanks to co-owner Steve (stephenj) Porter and Russell the mechanic who makes house calls, a week ago Thursday my 1965 Commander six, currently known as "The Bruise" because it is both black and blue, was successfully fired up and run at its storage site in Glanbrook. I managed to make it up there yesterday to start and run it myself during a second round of remedial work on the car by Russell and Steve before I had to head off to work. Steve P later drove the car a little to test the brakes (which to my relief seem to be OK); two plug wires still need replacement but the old McKinnon 194, which we once thought was toast, runs quite well. I'll post some pix soon. There's a bunch of paperwork, et cetera, to follow, but there's now a chance the Commander will be on the go for Canadian Thanksgiving in early October!

Anybody wanna buy a '62 Lark for twice its actual value? ;-)

Steve T

[Steve T]

Here's the car as it looked last winter...




And here's mechanic Russell checking the timing yesterday morning; the McKinnon 194 six is running at a fast idle in this shot.




And for nostalgia's sake...here's the same car at at cruise in July 2010...at which time it was already for sale, for some six times the eventual price after the car conked out! Good things come to him who waits...



S.

[Bullet]

Nice car! I know people are not as fond of 6 cyl cars, but I have had a 63 4 dr and a 64 convertible both with 6 cyl and thought they were quite good cars and very economical.

Mark

[Steve T]

A quick update...several weeks back Steve P and I made an abortive attempt to take the '65 to Hamilton for its cert, but repeated stalling and an almighty clanking from somewhere up front caused me to chicken out and turn around. Russell the traveling mechanic returned and this time we removed the valve cover...to find one of the rockers was, well, off its rocker, being canted about twenty degrees from the others! The SDCer whose farm this is took the offending lifter and rod and straightened them out with a vise. The result was revelatory: the Commander now ran as well as the Lark does, and truth told it rides rather better than the Lark. This time, a week ago today, Steve followed me in a Brand X as I delightedly drove the '65 from Glanbrook to Hamilton, leaving it in the care of Neal Scobie at Paton Motors just down the street from me for its certification. It will likely be on the go for real next week sometime. (Would've loved to take it to the SDC Hamilton Christmas dinner this Saturday, especially since November 30 is the sixth anniversary to the day of my getting the Lark on the road, but it doesn't look like I'll quite make that.)

Many thanks to Steve Porter, Wayne Hamilton and Russell Newhook, for their enormous contributions to getting this old Commander back on the go. Here are a couple recent pix. Next spring I expect any number of SDC Hamilton folks will get wheel time in this and/or my '62; one of the reasons for going after this car was so there'd be a "spare" Chapter car for currently-Studeless members to show the flag with at shows. Next project will be to see if we can't get the old gal all one colour again...!









S.

[2R5]

Way to go Steve , looks ok to me !

[rusty65]

Way to go Steve , looks ok to me !

.......me too!

[Mark57]

Great story - thanks for sharing. I like hearing about these sorts of events. Reminds me of several similar situations I have worked through.

[EssexExport]

Its always something, isn't it?

[2moredoors]

Good work Steve and Steve. Looks even better than I thought, "you done good".

[57pack]

Great Studebaker!!
Just paint the doors and roof white, get a
roof light red or blue, LAPD! Just joking, your car is
on its way to be a very nice Studebaker. Keep up
The good work!
Is certification in Canada like a motor vehicle
inspection here in NJ?

[warrlaw1]

Yup 57. Every time the title changes it needs a Certificate of Mechanical Fitness. Great story, Steve. Bring it to Badenoch in April? I'll do your whitewalls

[Steve T]

Thanks all! Re the squad-car-like looks of the current bodywork, actually I once had in mind doing a quasi-replica of one of the Israeli police cars. That or a taxi (I found an old taxi roof light in an antique market near here). But the intention sooner or later is overall Laguna Blue, or a modern facsimile (there's a Chev shade now that's very close). In the interim she may go overall black primer for a while.

Re the cert, actually the ownership is already in my name but without certification, so I couldn't have got the car plated. I got a call from Neal yesterday afternoon (while I was at work, unfortunately), saying the cert is done, and the insurance is already in place (and preposterously cheap!), so I missed by a hair's breadth having the '65 on the road for tonight's SDC dinner. Next week, though, she'll be an Ontario Historic-plated operational Studebaker again, and I intend to drive the car for at least a day or two before storing her for the winter...

Next spring at Badenoch I'm hopeful of having both the '62 and the '65 on site, with another SDCer driving whichever one I'm not! I really like that event, a grand way to open the season. I may even try to do York in March too, since there are some bits the '65 does still need. That'll depend on my work circumstances.

Stay tuned for a doctored pic of the '65 in overall black primer. Looks kinda sinister...

S.

[Steve T]

Here as promised is a look at the '65 as she might look in overall satin black...



If those kids down at Neal's thought the '62 was "gangsta", I wonder what their opinion of this would be!

S.

[Steve T]

Just for fun...here's how the '65 might look masquerading as one of the Israeli squad cars from the 1960s...actually the real ones seem to have been blue and white something like an 80s NYPD car, but this black-and-light-blue combo does rather look the part. The car's call number 101 is in tribute to 101 Squadron, Israel's original fighter unit, which flew Avia-Messerschmitts in the late 40s.

I probably could get a jam jar for the roof, but Hamilton's own police department has its own re-created Studebaker squad car, and I think they might object more than a trifle to this Mideast interloper...so this doctored photo is as close as the idea will get to reality!



S.

[Steve T]

Quick update...the '65 is now legally back on the road, but only briefly so! Got the cert and plates yesterday afternoon, drove the car a bit last evening and today, but she's now back at Neal's shop. Took the car for a wash among a few other errands, and I think a previously-undiscovered leak under the left side of the cowl may have done an injustice to some ignition wiring nearby. Or not. Either way, about forty minutes after I'd had the car at the rustproofers' to book it in for oiling, I was at my workplace in Burlington checking on whether a certain meeting was today (nope), and on my departure from there the '65 stalled and would not restart. Had to holler for a hauler. I expect I won't be driving the '65 again for at least a few days...bummer, as she really is a treat to drive, with even a heater that actually more or less works (unlike the Lark's). Did get pix, of course, including this one of both Studes together over at my parents' place earlier today...



...She'll be sorted and reliable soon enough, just like the Lark. And of course I've got all the way till Spring now, really.

S.