I should probably start with some explanation of how I came to this project. I have tinkered with cars, rebuilt wrecks since I was in college, done engine swaps, custom body work, even built a vehicle from scratch to my own design. But except for my Ford truck, I have never done an American car. After driving my Skyline powered RX-7 for a while, I decided this was the best engine on the planet, and I should do a more comprehensive swap using the Skyline suspension and brakes. I wanted something fairly small so it does not take up my whole garage. I wanted something fairly light weight, which eliminates a lot of American cars. I wanted something unique and stylish, which really eliminates a lot of American cars in my view. And I wanted something that is not highly sought after, so I could buy a fairly nice car for a starting point, and not spend my life restoring an old junker. This brought me inevitably to the 47-49 Studebaker, possibly a 52. The bullet nose is the obvious choice for an exotic looking custom car, but I just dont care for the look personally for a daily driver, and I am building a car to drive.
I went back to Foreign Engines Inc, north of Seattle, Where I bought the front clip for my RX-7 and they had another Skyline front clip with the RB20DET motor (Translation: RB series straight six, 2.0 liter, Dual overhead cams, Electronic fuel injection, Turbocharged) , and only 57,000 km on the clock(35,000 miles). Most of the guys doing the swaps want the RB25 which is 280 hp stock, and easily can make 400-500 hp, or the RB26, 320 hp stock, can be built to make over 1,000 hp. But these cost two or three times what the RB20 costs. The RB motors were only used in the Skyline, basically sold in Japan and Australia, right hand drive only.
Those of you familiar with the JDM (Japan Domestic Market) imported motors will know there are the 1JZ (2.5 liter) and 2JZ (3.0 liter) straight six motors from Toyota which are also very popular. Both the Nissan and Toyota motors are made in normally aspirated and turbo versions. The 2JZ is used in the Supra and the SC300 Lexus coupe. I knew almost nothing about this stuff two years ago, but now I have learned to speak the language, and I can see that there are many specialized "tuner shops" doing these JDM swaps, and about a half dozen companies importing these JDM engines and trannies just in the Seattle area. This is really a big business in California, Florida and some other places. A lot of these swaps are very high dollar projects, but I have shown that it can be done for a reasonable price. The big thing is I am staying with the stock 215 hp rated power in both my cars, and I am getting 27-28 mpg with the RX-7 in all-around driving, 30 something on the highway. The Studebaker will weigh about 200-300 pounds more.
We have spent several weeks tinkering with various parts in between working on other projects, such as fabricating an intake plenum that has an old school look to it. My fabricator/welder friend Sean O'Brien came up with the idea of using an old style cast aluminum valve cover, the kind with the ribs cast in, as it is just about the right size and shape for a plenum for this motor. I modified the cam covers to relocate some plumbing that gave the engine a cluttered look, made a ventilated cover for the coil packs, and have been cleaning up and painting the suspension and brake parts. Not going for show quality, but I want it to look presentable - this car will attract a lot of attention from the tuner car crowd, not so sure what the V8 hot rod crowd will think.
When my friend put his 240SX up on my lift, and I had a good look at the rear suspension, I did some research and found that the Skyline and the Infiniti J30 have the same basic suspension, but with a bigger viscous limited slip and much bigger brakes. I never even looked at anything else - why bother? We also were looking at a J30 and noticed that the fuel tank is in the trunk, and even on 20 year old cars, it looks like new, and has the high pressure immersed pump for the fuel injection. A quick measurement showed it would fit nicely in the forward part of the Studebaker trunk. Mine is a Starlight coupe, not sure what the trunk is like on other models. When I suggested grafting the Skyline front clip to the Studebaker firewall, Sean said that would be hell of a lot of work, better to find some modern front suspension that would be easily adapted. But then I pointed out that once the front clip is installed, you don't have to worry about cross members, engine mounts, suspension mounting, springs, shocks, sway bar, basically just mounting a left hand drive rack. It turns out the J30 rack is almost a bolt in. And so, on Monday, 16 Sept, 2013, we began the big adventure. I built some steel panels for a bulkhead to separate the trunk from the passengers (thought it would be more fire resistant than the cardboard). Sean mounted the fuel tank and after some discussion , we decide to have the filler in the trunk for now. The attached photos will be self explanatory. More to come.
I went back to Foreign Engines Inc, north of Seattle, Where I bought the front clip for my RX-7 and they had another Skyline front clip with the RB20DET motor (Translation: RB series straight six, 2.0 liter, Dual overhead cams, Electronic fuel injection, Turbocharged) , and only 57,000 km on the clock(35,000 miles). Most of the guys doing the swaps want the RB25 which is 280 hp stock, and easily can make 400-500 hp, or the RB26, 320 hp stock, can be built to make over 1,000 hp. But these cost two or three times what the RB20 costs. The RB motors were only used in the Skyline, basically sold in Japan and Australia, right hand drive only.
Those of you familiar with the JDM (Japan Domestic Market) imported motors will know there are the 1JZ (2.5 liter) and 2JZ (3.0 liter) straight six motors from Toyota which are also very popular. Both the Nissan and Toyota motors are made in normally aspirated and turbo versions. The 2JZ is used in the Supra and the SC300 Lexus coupe. I knew almost nothing about this stuff two years ago, but now I have learned to speak the language, and I can see that there are many specialized "tuner shops" doing these JDM swaps, and about a half dozen companies importing these JDM engines and trannies just in the Seattle area. This is really a big business in California, Florida and some other places. A lot of these swaps are very high dollar projects, but I have shown that it can be done for a reasonable price. The big thing is I am staying with the stock 215 hp rated power in both my cars, and I am getting 27-28 mpg with the RX-7 in all-around driving, 30 something on the highway. The Studebaker will weigh about 200-300 pounds more.
We have spent several weeks tinkering with various parts in between working on other projects, such as fabricating an intake plenum that has an old school look to it. My fabricator/welder friend Sean O'Brien came up with the idea of using an old style cast aluminum valve cover, the kind with the ribs cast in, as it is just about the right size and shape for a plenum for this motor. I modified the cam covers to relocate some plumbing that gave the engine a cluttered look, made a ventilated cover for the coil packs, and have been cleaning up and painting the suspension and brake parts. Not going for show quality, but I want it to look presentable - this car will attract a lot of attention from the tuner car crowd, not so sure what the V8 hot rod crowd will think.
When my friend put his 240SX up on my lift, and I had a good look at the rear suspension, I did some research and found that the Skyline and the Infiniti J30 have the same basic suspension, but with a bigger viscous limited slip and much bigger brakes. I never even looked at anything else - why bother? We also were looking at a J30 and noticed that the fuel tank is in the trunk, and even on 20 year old cars, it looks like new, and has the high pressure immersed pump for the fuel injection. A quick measurement showed it would fit nicely in the forward part of the Studebaker trunk. Mine is a Starlight coupe, not sure what the trunk is like on other models. When I suggested grafting the Skyline front clip to the Studebaker firewall, Sean said that would be hell of a lot of work, better to find some modern front suspension that would be easily adapted. But then I pointed out that once the front clip is installed, you don't have to worry about cross members, engine mounts, suspension mounting, springs, shocks, sway bar, basically just mounting a left hand drive rack. It turns out the J30 rack is almost a bolt in. And so, on Monday, 16 Sept, 2013, we began the big adventure. I built some steel panels for a bulkhead to separate the trunk from the passengers (thought it would be more fire resistant than the cardboard). Sean mounted the fuel tank and after some discussion , we decide to have the filler in the trunk for now. The attached photos will be self explanatory. More to come.
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