58 transtar new owner on a restore , question about books/manuals

[djtisme77]

Hello there, I'm a new owner, doing my first restore and am very excited about getting started. My question is: there does seem to be some literature about the late 50's trucks out there but which few are must haves? Is there a specific few that would be absolutely necessary for a new owner/new restorer to own?
Thanks in advance,
Daniel

[Mark57]

Must haves would be the 2E-8E series Shop Manual ~ 1050 pages and the 3E-6E series Chassis and Body Parts Catalogue~ 550 pages. These 2 are absolute must haves if you are doing a restoration on a 3E series Studebaker truck. They are available from a number of Studebaker vendors as reprints (or they come up on eBay from time to time as well).

http://www.studebakervendors.com/

The purpose of the Shop Manual is obvious, but the Parts catalogue is as important as it will show you the Studebaker part number for every part of your truck and Studebaker parts vendors use Studebaker parts numbers. It also has some great illustrations of various parts and pieces and how they fit together.

Good Luck!

[StudeRich]

Hi Daniel, welcome to the studebaker Drivers Club, the SDC Forum and to Studebakers!

Forget 50's Truck Books, all you need is the CD ROM Disc. containing the Studebaker Truck Parts Catalog and the Shop Manual for your '58 Transtar to get you started Driving, Maintaining, Repairing, Restoring and enjoying your Truck.

All things "Studebaker" that are available including Parts, can be found here: http://studebakervendors.com

Also feel free to browse the Main Page and many of it's Links to other parts of our Website.

There are many interesting Studebaker related items and Books available at the wonderful Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Indiana:

http://www.studebakermuseum.org/

[63t-cab]

Welcome Daniel, must haves are exactly what Mark57 states in post #2

[Warren Webb]

I have the books covering all my vehicles but the CD's are what I use working on the cars, or in your case, trucks and keep the books in my library. I open the CD, print out the section I'm working on. That way you don't get the books greasy or dirty in a workshop environment.

[djtisme77]

Excellent. I will get on ordering these today. Warren, I'll likely do the same thing you've done and put the books in the collection but use the comp print outs in the garage.
Thank you gentlemen, looking forward.

[Skip Lackie]

Some background history in chapter 12 of the Studebaker truck history:

http://www.studebakerdriversclub.com/StudebakerTruckHistory.asp

[djtisme77]

Thank you Skip, great read. Excellent info.

[kamzack]

You're not too far from a Studebaker truck Wizard. Vern Ediger in Halstead, Ks. Great source of information, parts and instruction. Fun guy to be around. Studebaker junk yard.
Kim

[8E45E]

Since no one has mentioned it yet, you might want to purchase the Production Order for your truck from the Studebaker National Museum. Its a very important document to have as it states how your truck left the factory.

Craig

[Sdude]

And don't forget to join the Studebaker Drivers Club. You can find information on this website. It's worth the cost of membership for the monthly magazine Turning Wheels. This publication will dazzle you with it's beautiful photography, stories and technical help. It also contains a wealth of vendor ads and parts and cars for sale.

Find your local club and join that too. You will meet up with some amazing people that eat sleep and drink "studebaker". You'll meet people like Vern who know stuff you just don't find in books.

Welcome to our world. In this world you will find purist that can help you restore your truck to original but mostly we like to see studebakers being driven so you won't be hated if you want to upgrade your truck with modern ammenities. You will be amazed at the knowledge you will find on this forum as I see you have already noticed in the first few responses.

We will, however, pester you for pictures. Lots of pictures, we love to see what you are working on. Welcome aboard....

[StudeRich]

Some background history in chapter 12 of the Studebaker truck history:

http://www.studebakerdriversclub.com...uckHistory.asp

That is a totally Fantastic and complete Studebaker Truck History Story Skip, thank you very much for reminding us of one of the forgotten and little known optional viewing/reading choices we have available here.

I was amazed at all of the little known "Options" for specially equipped Trucks that Studebaker built that I have not heard of and the interesting/Sad Truck Production Numbers.
A must read for Truck owners.

[Skip Lackie]

That is a totally Fantastic and complete Studebaker Truck History Story Skip, thank you very much for reminding us of one of the forgotten and little known optional viewing/reading choices we have available here.

I was amazed at all of the little known "Options" for specially equipped Trucks that Studebaker built that I have not heard of and the interesting/Sad Truck Production Numbers.
A must read for Truck owners.

Thanks Rich -- it was sorta a labor of love and required a fair amount of research. It is sometime dangerous to base a history on written records (like sales literature) that were often written "before the fact". The company was in business to make money, and if a paid order came in for something that wasn't in the catalog, Studebaker would probably build it.

The history still has a few errors and omissions, and I need to revise the text again to include them. Dick Quinn, in particular, was very helpful in providing some corrections on the early models. I'd appreciate hearing from you or anyone else noticing a mistake in any part of it.

[djtisme77]

Kim, I've spoken to Vern already about some parts, etc and will be visiting him very soon. I am going to need to pick his brain on several things, I believe. He seemed very helpful.

Craig, absolutely that is on order as well as the manuals mentioned. Thank you.

Jon, thank you. I will definitely do those things and will be certain to post pictures along the way. I always said I would be driving a Studebaker at 40... I have a 7 year head start. Lol. So I hope to keep my word and be on the road before too long. I recently asked about an IFS upgrade after reading around but I decided to take the purist route and go back as close to original as I can muster.

Thank you you all for the help. This has already turned out to be an excellent resource!