My Half A$$ Studebaker Rebuild

[Topper2011]

I called the guys that made the weatherstrip replacement parts and that they need to fix the front one. It's arced like it belongs in St. Louis. He told me on the 19th he was going to match the stock he has with his own Hawk and get back to him in 10 days. Well, I called and I think he forgot. He'll call me monday when the forming tech comes back to work. I wanted to order the fuel filler tunnel from him, but not until he solves the problem. So I'm going to make the panel for the left side.





Do yourself a favor when welding, don't have slag land on your lap without the leathers on.

[Topper2011]

I could feel it dropping down my leg. (I couldn't edit my post, so I had to add this)

[r1lark]

I could feel it dropping down my leg. (I couldn't edit my post, so I had to add this)

Ouch! Been there done that Topper, I feel your pain!

[Daan]

So dumb question (like I’m not full of them) How much of the back structure can you remove before you need to add a (temporary) brace to keep the car from deforming?

[skyway]

"It's arced like it belongs in St. Louis."

FYI, if you're speaking St. Louis-ease, that'd be "Arched".

...and NICE work you're doing there!

[Topper2011]

So dumb question (like I’m not full of them) How much of the back structure can you remove before you need to add a (temporary) brace to keep the car from deforming?

I left this piece in, the right side weatherstrip channel while I cut out the inner structure. Then I made this piece to tie the inner structure back in.






Once this was in, I could cut out the channel.



I thought about adding bracing, but cutting it in sections after adding supporting pieces seemed ok. I'll know when the trunk lid fits or not that I've messed up.

[Topper2011]

"It's arced like it belongs in St. Louis."

FYI, if you're speaking St. Louis-ease, that'd be "Arched".

...and NICE work you're doing there!

Yes, your right, I guess I could use either spelling. And thanks, I'm learning as I go.

[Daan]

Were all the weatherstripping channels you got, unusable? Or just the one by the back window?

[Topper2011]

Were all the weatherstripping channels you got, unusable? Or just the one by the back window?

I have to tweak every piece. Probably normal and I have talked to the vendor. We'll see what he comes up with on Monday. Fingers crossed.

[Topper2011]

I have decided to go a different way and not used the purchased weatherstrip channels. I do not believe I am talented enough to install them and make them look decent. I removed the old weatherstrip on the front channel and it is in very good shape compared to the side and back channels, so I'm going to keep it and POR-15 it. Nothing like redoing work, but par for the course. I've never done body work and it shows.



Since I've cut portions of the weatherstrip channel on the sides, I wanted to make sure the inner back panel is located correctly. I reinstalled the trunk lid to check the latch location. Originally, my car did not have hinges, the lid was just sitting in place with the latch holding it in place. Glad I bought all those parts way back when.



After cutting off my previous tack welds and repositioning the back panel a gazillion times, I think I finally have it kind of sorta right. It latches anyway.



Right side gap.




Left side gap. Looks close enough for this HA build. Watch the new trunk lid be completely different.

[Topper2011]

When working on your car, make sure you don't close the lid with a latch and without the lock and linkage in place. Especially when you have the trunk floor Cleco'd in place. You have to crawl through the trunk to open it again.

I wanted to see if the new vent door would work with the whiskey dent I have in the front fender, but didn't know where I was going to find the hinge to attach it. I didn't see it available in any of my parts books. Guess I should have looked closer as it's actually attached to the fender and was swung back out of sight.



The door bolts to the two studs.





It works! Maybe now there won't be any more mud dauber nests in there.

[bensherb]

Your, deck lid gaps look good Roland. Hard to tell how small they really are with the dark edge on the fender, but they look pretty small and consistent . You're right, you should check with your new lid before you get too far along to make more gap if needed. You can trim the deck lid if needed though. How much confidence would you have in welding the edge of a deck lid?

[Topper2011]

Your, deck lid gaps look good Roland. Hard to tell how small they really are with the dark edge on the fender, but they look pretty small and consistent . You're right, you should check with your new lid before you get too far along to make more gap if needed. You can trim the deck lid if needed though. How much confidence would you have in welding the edge of a deck lid?

Thanks, but I've little confidence in getting a good edge. Guess I'd better install the "new" deck lid.





The right side is a bit tighter, but I think this was before I readjusted it.

[sweetolbob]

Thanks, but I've little confidence in getting a good edge. Guess I'd better install the "new" deck lid.
The right side is a bit tighter, but I think this was before I readjusted it.

The gaps weren't all that good from the factory back then so just try to get them centered and it will look fine. If you try to cut to fine an edge on fit, you'll be adding weld and grinding edges until you're blue in the face.

I picked up some doors and changed the hood on my 54K. The doors were so bad that I needed to add welding rod to the front edges to fit well. The hood required all kinds of fender tweaking to get better than factory. Probably wasn't worth the effort in the final analysis.

Bob

[Topper2011]

No much getting done, but this just came in.



Left side is starting to shape up, the reinforcement is close to where it needs to be. The right side is manufactured at the wrong angle and I had to beat it to get close.



My elbow came in for the overflow bottle.



This aluminum overflow bottle does not have a vent, so I'm not sure how it's supposed to work. I drilled and tapped it for the elbow and here we are. Just need to add a hose so it doesn't make a mess if it does dump coolant.