Dumb Stude Questions

[62champ]

And are you guys sick of all the questions yet? The closer to delivery day it gets, the more excited I am!

Keep em coming - a great deal of satisfaction in sharing information that will help others.

Ok so if my car still has (some) “wrong way” wheel studs, and if I’m taking the brake system apart, can I change the studs to “right way around” ones at that time? Are the studs attached to the brake drums, or ... I guess the axles?

If it still has the left-handed studs still installed - just stick with them - just remember which way they spin to get them off. More importantly - make sure if you ever take it anywhere, someone does not ruin them trying to get them off... If you change them, they have to be pressed out and new ones pressed in - they hold the hub and the brake drum together.

[jclary]

And are you guys sick of all the questions yet? The closer to delivery day it gets, the more excited I am!

I'll respond to you the same way I did when a 5-year-old kid showed up at my workshop one morning. He had wandered away from his less than attentive parents. His dad was one of those people you just know probably couldn't operate toilet paper properly without an instruction sheet. So...as I was working away with my tools on my project, the little kid was bombarding me with question after question. Finally...the little boy fell silent for a minute and then asked..."Am I bothering you with so many questions?" I looked down at him with a grin and replied..."No son, but more importantly, are you learning anything from my answers?"

Personally, I always enjoy fellow forum members who are enthusiastic and excited about their projects.

Back to your list of tools...I'm gonna post a pic I found on the net of one handy dandy cheap item for your toolbox. It is simple and cheap. You might even already have one. It is an "in-line spark tester." A very quick way to determine if you are getting power to your spark plugs when you encounter an engine skipping or not starting. Works for lawnmowers, outboard motors, weed whackers, and Studebakers!

[Harryhawk]

I have a 62 Lark and a 62 GT and both have the seat belt anchors/captive nuts. Cheers Harryhawk

[Skip Lackie]

The wheel studs are "swaged" to the drum and must be driven out carefully to not damage the drum. Given the (limited) number of times you will be removing the lug nuts, suggest just doing something to remind you that they are left hand thread. Paint the LH lug nuts red and put a dab of red paint on the end of the LH studs.

[Daan]

I just thought of another thing... I want to put Radial tires on this, and I have a line on a set of Ford Ranger wheels to do so. Do I have to get different/special Lug Nuts to put newer wheels on, or will whatever I already have work? Assuming they’re in decent shape...

[Daan]

I'll respond to you the same way I did when a 5-year-old kid showed up at my workshop one morning. He had wandered away from his less than attentive parents. His dad was one of those people you just know probably couldn't operate toilet paper properly without an instruction sheet. So...as I was working away with my tools on my project, the little kid was bombarding me with question after question. Finally...the little boy fell silent for a minute and then asked..."Am I bothering you with so many questions?" I looked down at him with a grin and replied..."No son, but more importantly, are you learning anything from my answers?"

Personally, I always enjoy fellow forum members who are enthusiastic and excited about their projects.

Back to your list of tools...I'm gonna post a pic I found on the net of one handy dandy cheap item for your toolbox. It is simple and cheap. You might even already have one. It is an "in-line spark tester." A very quick way to determine if you are getting power to your spark plugs when you encounter an engine skipping or not starting. Works for lawnmowers, outboard motors, weed whackers, and Studebakers!

So... you would plug the black end into the distributor cap and hold the other end near metal to see if you’re getting spark, right?

And I’m doing my best to learn from everyone here! This is a fantastic source of knowledge about our beloved Studes that I plan on learning as much as I can!

[Dwight FitzSimons]

Don't you shove the male end into the ground and listen at the female end to hear if there are vibrations from the spark miss?
-Dwight

[jclary]

Actually, you can merely plug the bare electrode into your plug wire, then place the other end on a spark plug & run the engine with this thing connected. For us tinkerers, its as much fun as a kid watching a blinking light on a Christmas tree. You can also use it to watch your coil fire to the distributor cap. Once you get familiar with it, you will develop a sense of how good the firing charge is by the intensity of the light. My neighbor keeps a couple of horses in the pasture with an electric fence. Occasionally, I will take my spark tester and check the fence charge with it. I like to keep a check on that fence because on the few occasions where the horses have begun wandering through the neighborhood...I get calls that MY horses are loose because folks think they're mine.

These little testers can be found at Harbor Freight, and those "cheap" tool bins at auto parts stores, and some hardware stores. They are worth every penny...especially for those folks who tend to start cranking around on carburetor screws first time an engine falters thinking it is a fuel delivery/carburetor adjustment problem.

Sorry that the pic posted so large. I'm not up to how to size them yet.

[jclary]

Don't you shove the male end into the ground and listen at the female end to hear if there are vibrations from the spark miss?
-Dwight

Sure, Dwight! That's the "ONE TIME ONLY" method! How 'bout you do us all a favor and create a YOUTUBE video. I'll watch.

[Skip Lackie]

If you want to use the Ranger wheels, then you should use the larger Ford lug nuts to fit them. They have the same thread size as the Stude lugs, but take a 13/16" socket instead of 3/4". If you don't want to change the LH studs, Dorman still makes LH lug nuts in the larger Ford size.

[S2Deluxe]

Wow, you don't see THAT often; 10,000 EVEN.

It's no more unique than any other engine number, but it's definitely much more easily remembered!

I was wondering about that, if this was a replacement engine, and whoever put it in stamped it themselves.

It certainly looks like an Original factory stamped engine number to me!

Mark

[Daan]

So my father in law gave me this grease gun to do the wheel bearings on a camper we used to have. His camper had a grease fitting on the wheel hubs, and mine didn’t, so this thing has been hanging in my garage for... a long time. Is this the proper grease gun for doing the suspension on my Hawk, or do I need something else? Or are there not grease fittings and I’m thinking of something else?

[Dwight FitzSimons]

That looks like a normal grease gun that would be useful on a Studebaker. The fitting on the end isn't the type needed for Studebaker's grease fittings, however. Also, most Studebaker people recommend a flexible hose, rather than the steel one you have. The good news is that steel tube should unscrew. Then you can replace it with a flexible (rubber) hose with the correct fitting on the end for Zerk grease fittings. Those should be available, at a reasonable cost, at your local FLAPS (NAPA, AutoZone, etc.).
-Dwight

[Daan]

I got my Production Order from the Museum! According to this I still have my original engine. (Not that I’m too hung up on that, the car’s 64 years old)
I do see that I have “Hi Pow Kit”, that’s the 4-barrel and dual exhaust, right? Would that have included the 44 rear end, or could I still have a 27?
I still don’t have the car itself, oddly enough with everything going on the shipping guy isn’t in CA quite yet... it’s all good.

[Daan]

So I just got a message that my car is getting picked up today. I’m getting super excited to finally have a Stude of my own later this week. I will add a bunch of pics (or start a new thread) when I have it!