Cleaning Up The President

[jnfweber]

No, this is not political. Just wanted to show what I did in these past few days, in preparation of the engine compartment so It can be cleaned, sanded, blasted, and painted. The car needs a total restoration, though it runs pretty good. It is my 1957 President Classic, not Eisenhower! I had written a long and rambling account, but closed the window accidentally, sparing readers a lot of unnecessary verbiage. I will include a "before" photo to see what I have done in the last few days in California.

The rocker arm covers are rusty and probably need to be sand blasted or ground down to thin metal. The carb, a Stromberg 4 Jet, needs an accelerator rod and boot, but otherwise runs the car nicely. The air conditioning compressor and condenser will be replaced with modern units. The entire compartment needs to be sanded, primed, and painted. Exterior scheduled for the paint shop in June, and I have all the side windows and vents removed. Does anyone have a better (no cracks, few pits) windshield for a 55-58 President?

[bezhawk]

Interesting that it has a Rochester 4GC instead of the Carter WCFB. Looking good.

[SN-60]

Interesting that it has a Rochester 4GC instead of the Carter WCFB. Looking good.

Rochester '4 jet' carbs were the 'bolt on' replacement for a balky WCFB back in the day.....VERY common mod.

[jnfweber]

Rochester '4 jet' carbs were the 'bolt on' replacement for a balky WCFB back in the day.....VERY common mod.

There' more. Not being as familiar with the 4-Jet as with the WCFB and the AFB, both of which I have rebuilt (many times), because of some hesitation when starting from cold, and stopping as if not getting enough gas, I decided to take the air horn (bowl cover) off the 4-Jet, but neglected to remove the one bolt inside the air horn. Thinking someone had previously sealed the gasket with Permatex, I spent a long time prying the cover off, only to break one of the tabs extending into the bowl. Oh shuck, I thought, actually something more odiferous! Went down to O'Reilly's and bought some "JB Weld", strongest strength, and repaired my error. I will let it "cure" for several days, and hopefully seal (no supercharger here) and hopefully, the "weld" will not be dissolved by gas or ethanol after I re-assemble it with a new accelerator pump, gasket, and pump boot. I thought there was no reason to mess with the float settings or jets, since it ran fine otherwise---except as mentioned. It would even stall after warmed up if I used a heavy foot on the accelerator, thinking that this was not a choke problem, but one of a worn accelerator pump. I have attached a photo of the repair so far.



Maybe someone can tell me why the photo I uploaded from my wife's Mini IPad is always uploaded inverted. I tried reverting in using her IPad, downloaded it to my laptop, rotated it 180 degrees in the laptop, saved it, and uploaded the image again, but it was always inverted when it appeared in the forum download manager and as above. Suggestion: Turn your laptop upside down to see image 2, or stand on your head on your chair if you are looking at a desktop monitor.

[57pack]

Shame I'm so far away but, if you want a free windshield, I have one for you.
It came out of a 1957 President that was going to China a few years back. Has some sand pits but, no cracks or Bullseyes.
If you you have any shipping connections or can do a relay, it's yours.
I can bring to the York Pa. Meet if you know of anyone from your area going this Far East.

[SN-60]

J-B Weld, when fully cured, is impervious to gasoline. The Rochester '4 Jet' is an excellent carburetor when in good shape. Somewhat superior in operation and performance to the more common Carter WCFB.

[jnfweber]

Shame I'm so far away but, if you want a free windshield, I have one for you.
It came out of a 1957 President that was going to China a few years back. Has some sand pits but, no cracks or Bullseyes.
If you you have any shipping connections or can do a relay, it's yours.
I can bring to the York Pa. Meet if you know of anyone from your area going this Far East.

That might be great, depending on the pitting. I might be able to talk to some one going to York who could ship it to me in CA. Would you send a photo? See PM. Thanks

[PlainBrownR2]

We have one on another '55 Commander, which is actually our show vehicle, but the thing to remember with a Rochester 4 Jet, is not to go flying around a corner with it at high speed. The design in the siamese bowls causes the fuel to slosh to the opposite bowl in a turn and then the car tries to flood itself!

[jnfweber]

We have one on another '55 Commander, which is actually our show vehicle, but the thing to remember with a Rochester 4 Jet, is not to go flying around a corner with it at high speed. The design in the siamese bowls causes the fuel to slosh to the opposite bowl in a turn and then the car tries to flood itself!

Flying around a corner at high speed might also be a traction problem, unless you have equipped your car with a modern traction control. Consider sectioning your Studebaker and putting on it on a 2012 Audi A 6 frame and drive train.

[57pack]

Hello Jack,
The windshield I have is clear although it was removed from a President.
May have been replaced by a previous owner wanting
to save some money. If still interested let me know.
I will get a photo for you tomorrow, not feeling
to well today.

[PlainBrownR2]

Flying around a corner at high speed might also be a traction problem, unless you have equipped your car with a modern traction control. Consider sectioning your Studebaker and putting on it on a 2012 Audi A 6 frame and drive train.

Do what? With a perfectly GOOD '55 Commander C/K? This is not the car I'm working on, it's the first running Studebaker, in my own existence, that we bought in 1992. The one I'm working on now is the parts car. Nothing on this car is getting sectioned, it's not needed. The car has a transplanted 289 truck engine with a 3 speed and a 4.56 gear. The 3 speed needs to be serviced, as it's got a chipped first gear, because we were racing a FedEx guy out of an interstate tollbooth. We beat him though, so there is NO operating or traction problems with this car.

The problem with the Rochester 4GC is a well known one, as we have one on this car. The float bowls are not separate like on an AFB, they are joined in the middle. At high speed through a turn, like if you're racing around.....that's RACING around, a corner, the design of the float bowls causes the fuel to slosh in the direction opposite the turn, in the same way that you swing a can full of liquid on a rope around your head. What then happens, the fuel mixture gets upset in the carburetor, and then subsequently tries to flood the engine out when it settles back out. This is a known issue with the design of the Rochester 4 Jets, as they weren't designed for that kind of use(or abuse whichever you wanna call it). This had to be about 5th or 6th grade when it happened, so it's been a lonnnnggg time, but when we asked Dan Booth about, he knew exactly what it was, after we described the symptoms.

[packardHawk58]

I can relate to this posting, new exhaust, welsh plugs, tailamps, new badges, cut & polish and still a lot more to go.

[sals54]

Hey Jack, Wheresabouts in California are you hangin out?? I'm in Sacramento. I come across parts often, and have many contacts in this area.