My Half A$$ Studebaker Rebuild

[Daan]

Go man go! You’re making SO much progress on your Hawk, I wish I could get going on mine.

[bensherb]

The 1/4" studs at the top I added as they are supposed to be bolts, but the bolt holes are stripped out and the a couple of the bosses are actually cracked. So I leaded them in with mediocre results.

JB WELD my friend, it's made for stuff like this! I use it for everything and a hundred things it's not made for. Everything looks great though!

What's with the red instrument panel in the pic?

I'll probably be removing my instrument panel next week to install a new oil pressure gauge. Now I have you wondering right? Remove instrument panel? Well, in putting my car together I had the gauges in and out of the dashboard more times than I can remember; it got to be a real PITA! So I made this from a sheet of 1/8" aluminum, bonded the overlay to it, and mounted the gauges in it. While I was at it, I moved the turn indicators up where they are easier to see and replaced them with self contained LED lamps. The original turn indicators now show when the electric fans are running. The whole panel can be removed as one by removing eight screws in the face in just a few minutes; almost. Given the two wing angles and the fact that the large gauges on each end are deep you still need to remove the rightmost (easiest to get to) gauge to remove the panel. The gauges now have Molex type connectors so they easily plug into the main harness. FYI, the analog speedo in the center is GPS. Other gauges include, Digital Speedo, Fuel, Oil pressure, Water temp, Trans temp, Volt meter, Clock, Under hood temp, and Outside temp, I also have a Tach and AFR meter but they're not in the panel, they're on top of the dash. I wasn't sure I'd like them, but turns out the digital gauges are great, all the info in half a glance, even when you're far sighted.

[Topper2011]

Rick, the red panel is the one from the spare dash I got with the red car parts. It's also where the radio with the white buttons came from. I was hoping the red panel had a good woodgrain fascia under the paint, but it's just bare aluminum. Doesn't really matter as my car had neither a clock or tach. Your dash looks nice and I've been thinking of getting LED bulbs to replace all the dash lamps. I have to remove my dash sooner or later anyway to fix the melted blue wire from earlier in this thread, plus the red(?) wire that went to the lights(?) from the ignition switch seems to have a short anyway. I'll look into getting someone to maybe repaint the woodgrain in.

[Topper2011]

I hope on this is the last rotten bit on this side. Not sure why the factory put this big ol hole here. It doesn't attach to anything.



Painted the jambs. Nope, the paint didn't hide the seams.

[Topper2011]

I started working on the outer rocker and ran into the same issue another did.



Inside with weld through primer and painted to hold back the rust. Being open ended, not wonder they rot out, nothing stops leaves and debris from getting in there, only from getting back out.



Not enough curvature in the panel to meet both weld points. I had to force it by welding the top first and then clamping and welding the bottom



I was almost done and then ran out of mig wire, again. This time I'm getting a 10lb. spool.

[Topper2011]

Seeing as how welding has come to a stop, time for paint work.



Grille insert cleaned up ok.

[Topper2011]

Still need to paint the grille surround, but wanted to finish trying to fit it while it's not painted.



It was raining today, so I decided to strip out the replacement door to get it ready for paint and swap in the tinted glass.



Weird, the upper window guide from the 62 door has plastic sliders while the 63 door does not. Anyone know why? Should I put some in?

[Harryhawk]

Hi Topper, those plastic strips /sliders may have be added to compensate for worn window rollers, helping to stop rattles. Keep up the good work. Cheers Harryhawk

[Topper2011]

Thanks Harry. Not much progress today. The MIG wire I ordered came in though. Amazon is amazing with free shipping and 1 day delivery. I really haven't used them much, no account, but my daughter signed me up. I can't imagine how much time and effort I just saved having them deliver it so quickly.



I saw a good review of this brand and willing to try it. With 10lbs, I don't think I'll be running out soon. The Blue Demon from China wasn't bad either. Welded fine and fairly easy to grind.



Rocker is welded in place and seam sealed on the top joint. Waiting for a warmer day to paint it.



I did find out why I don't have reverse lights.



Broken tab. It's probably rattling around the inside of the steering column. I'll probably figure out where it is when it jams the shifter.

[Topper2011]

This week has been trying to avoid raindrops. Were getting a firehose effect here. I do have things to work on inside my cramp little garage.



Working on my wobbly driver's top hinge. Lower is good as are the passenger side. The pin came from my 98 Chevy pickup with, you guessed it, a wobbly hinge. Actually, on my truck, the pin and the hinges were good, just the bronze/brass(?) bushings wear out. Of course, I changed the pin anyway. Amazingly enough, this pin fits the GT. I did have to drill out about 3/4" of the top of the swing arm to 3/8" and the top bushing to the hinge anchor(?) I also had to Dremel out the newly drilled hole in the arm just a bit so the pin stays anchored to the hinge instead of the arm, opposite of the Chevy. If all my babbling makes any sense at all.



Slapped a bunch of copper grease on the pin and hole.





Worked beautifully! I just need to slip on one of those speed clips on the end and cut off the excess. Those hinge kits are cheap, about $5, but the old pin was cheaper and I repurposed it.

[Topper2011]

Went to a park that I've never been to and ran into a friend I haven't seen in years.






He's owned this since '59.

[NCDave51]

He's owned this since '59.[/QUOTE]

Austin Cambridge?

[Topper2011]

He's owned this since '59.

Austin Cambridge?[/QUOTE]

Yes. I think it was a demo when he bought it iirc, it was a long time ago when he told me. I met him at the Palo Alto British Car Show. I brought the Austin Somerset and he parked next to me. Next to him was an Austin 7 with a very large Swedish man and his young daughter. He barely fit in it. Always thought it would be great fun to get a Bantam.

[NCDave51]

Austin Cambridge?

Yes. I think it was a demo when he bought it iirc, it was a long time ago when he told me. I met him at the Palo Alto British Car Show. I brought the Austin Somerset and he parked next to me. Next to him was an Austin 7 with a very large Swedish man and his young daughter. He barely fit in it. Always thought it would be great fun to get a Bantam.[/QUOTE]

I do miss my 1960 “Hillman Minx Series IIIa”, which like all the British calls of that day clearly had more letters than horsepower...

For orphan British, folks like Kip Motor Co. and Moss Motors are like the terrific Studebaker parts vendors we have here.

[Topper2011]

Yes. I think it was a demo when he bought it iirc, it was a long time ago when he told me. I met him at the Palo Alto British Car Show. I brought the Austin Somerset and he parked next to me. Next to him was an Austin 7 with a very large Swedish man and his young daughter. He barely fit in it. Always thought it would be great fun to get a Bantam.

I do miss my 1960 “Hillman Minx Series IIIa”, which like all the British calls of that day clearly had more letters than horsepower...

For orphan British, folks like Kip Motor Co. and Moss Motors are like the terrific Studebaker parts vendors we have here.[/QUOTE]

Nice! Ours never got that close. Don't forget about British Victoria. I enjoyed going down to Buellton, CA when MOSS Motors hosted their annual show at "Flags Is Up Farm" The movie "The Horse Whisperer" was patterned after the owner.