Porsche Lark - suspension pictures

[garyash]

I've been trying to guess how much this Porsche Lark weighs. As someone posted earlier, a stock '59 Lark 6 with Flight-o-matic weighed in at 2577 lbs. My quick guess is that pulling the engine, transmission, driveshaft, Dana 27 axle, and rear springs would have removed about 1100 lbs, but I don't know real weights on those pieces. Anyway, the body shell would have been about 1500-1600 lbs. Add back about 500 lbs for the Porsche engine and transmission and we're at 2100 lbs. Not too bad, as a Porsche 356B coupe of that era weighed about the same. However, Curtis-Wright may have added back 200-300 lb of steel to stiffen the frame and body, as there is a 1/2" thick plate behind the back seat. Maybe the museum can get the car weighed.

I wondered why the headliner was all stained dark brown. I touched it and found it was "crunchy" behind the cloth. I think there are many mouse nests and nut shells up there. Ugh! It's bad to let a car sit too long. Otherwise, the car has survived well for 47 years. Reading the early service history on the car, the speedometer cable had broken and been replaced by 1967 at an indicated 1710 miles. The replacement couldn't have lasted long.

Gary Ash

[garyash]

I've been trying to guess how much this Porsche Lark weighs. As someone posted earlier, a stock '59 Lark 6 with Flight-o-matic weighed in at 2577 lbs. My quick guess is that pulling the engine, transmission, driveshaft, Dana 27 axle, and rear springs would have removed about 1100 lbs, but I don't know real weights on those pieces. Anyway, the body shell would have been about 1500-1600 lbs. Add back about 500 lbs for the Porsche engine and transmission and we're at 2100 lbs. Not too bad, as a Porsche 356B coupe of that era weighed about the same. However, Curtis-Wright may have added back 200-300 lb of steel to stiffen the frame and body, as there is a 1/2" thick plate behind the back seat. Maybe the museum can get the car weighed.

I wondered why the headliner was all stained dark brown. I touched it and found it was "crunchy" behind the cloth. I think there are many mouse nests and nut shells up there. Ugh! It's bad to let a car sit too long. Otherwise, the car has survived well for 47 years. Reading the early service history on the car, the speedometer cable had broken and been replaced by 1967 at an indicated 1710 miles. The replacement couldn't have lasted long.

Gary Ash

[DEEPNHOCK]

Thanks for the pic's Gary.
I forwarded them on to Ralph Nader...
(so he could fund his retirement, and not have to keep running for President)
Jeff[8D]

quote:Originally posted by garyash

A couple of you asked for some detailed pictures of the suspension and driveline under the Porsche-powered '59 Lark which is headed for the Studebaker National Museum. The car will be picked up in the next few days, so I have been trying to get a complete set of photos.

DEEPNHOCK at Gmail.com
Brooklet, Georgia
'37 Coupe Express (never ending project)
'37 Coupe Express Trailer (project)
'61 Hawk (project)
http://community.webshots.com/user/deepnhock

[DEEPNHOCK]

Thanks for the pic's Gary.
I forwarded them on to Ralph Nader...
(so he could fund his retirement, and not have to keep running for President)
Jeff[8D]

quote:Originally posted by garyash

A couple of you asked for some detailed pictures of the suspension and driveline under the Porsche-powered '59 Lark which is headed for the Studebaker National Museum. The car will be picked up in the next few days, so I have been trying to get a complete set of photos.

DEEPNHOCK at Gmail.com
Brooklet, Georgia
'37 Coupe Express (never ending project)
'37 Coupe Express Trailer (project)
'61 Hawk (project)
http://community.webshots.com/user/deepnhock

[lstude]

quote: Thanks for the pic's Gary.
I forwarded them on to Ralph Nader...
(so he could fund his retirement, and not have to keep running for President)
Jeff

I read somewhere that Ralph Nader had owned only one car in his life and that was a Studebaker.

Leonard Shepherd, editor, The Commanding Leader, Central Virginia Chapter, http://centralvirginiachapter.org/

[lstude]

quote: Thanks for the pic's Gary.
I forwarded them on to Ralph Nader...
(so he could fund his retirement, and not have to keep running for President)
Jeff

I read somewhere that Ralph Nader had owned only one car in his life and that was a Studebaker.

Leonard Shepherd, editor, The Commanding Leader, Central Virginia Chapter, http://centralvirginiachapter.org/

[mbstude]

Just curious Mr. Ash; is all the documentation there proving that this is THE Curtis-Wright built car?

___________________________________________

Matthew Burnette
Hazlehurst, Georgia
'59 Scotsman PU
'63 Daytona HT

http://mbstudebaker.blogspot.com/

http://thestudillac.blogspot.com/

[mbstude]

Just curious Mr. Ash; is all the documentation there proving that this is THE Curtis-Wright built car?

___________________________________________

Matthew Burnette
Hazlehurst, Georgia
'59 Scotsman PU
'63 Daytona HT

http://mbstudebaker.blogspot.com/

http://thestudillac.blogspot.com/

[gordr]

Gary,

The component called out as the torsion bar in the second photo is actually the trailing arm. It's made of spring steel, and it actually flexes as the wheel goes through its vertical travel. The torsion bars live in that 4" transverse tube. There are two, meeting in the middle in a splined anchor point. Inboard end splines and outboard end splines are made in a different pitch, so that one can get "1/2-spline" increments when adjusting ride height.

Transaxle looks like a (then) standard VW split-case model, but it could be a Porsche part, too. There is no provision for a speedo cable take-off, hence the drive at the front wheel. VW cars and transporters had a bored spindle to provide for this, and the square end of the cable core was anchored in a square hole in the bearing dust cap. I'm guessing here, but I suspect the speedo drive on the Lark has a rubber roller rubbing against the bearing housing on the inside of the brake drum.

Gord Richmond, within Weasel range of the Alberta Badlands

[gordr]

Gary,

The component called out as the torsion bar in the second photo is actually the trailing arm. It's made of spring steel, and it actually flexes as the wheel goes through its vertical travel. The torsion bars live in that 4" transverse tube. There are two, meeting in the middle in a splined anchor point. Inboard end splines and outboard end splines are made in a different pitch, so that one can get "1/2-spline" increments when adjusting ride height.

Transaxle looks like a (then) standard VW split-case model, but it could be a Porsche part, too. There is no provision for a speedo cable take-off, hence the drive at the front wheel. VW cars and transporters had a bored spindle to provide for this, and the square end of the cable core was anchored in a square hole in the bearing dust cap. I'm guessing here, but I suspect the speedo drive on the Lark has a rubber roller rubbing against the bearing housing on the inside of the brake drum.

Gord Richmond, within Weasel range of the Alberta Badlands

[garyash]

Gord, thanks for the details of the trailing arm and torsion rods. I never had to take those apart on my old Porsche or '72 VW bus. Does the trailing arm twist as the swing axle goes up and down when the wheel hits a bump? Your guess about the speedo drive in the front wheel is probably correct, but I didn't pull the front drum since it's not my car. A tach would have been a very useful instrument in this car, but there isn't one.

Matthew: It would be interesting if there were more than one of these cars; but, in fact, the original registrations to Curtis-Wright for this car still exist and match the serial number on this car. (see below) The car was first registered Feb. 17, 1959, just 13 days after it was built in South Bend. C-W still had the car - and registered it - three years later. I'm hoping that someday the Stude Museum finds the C-W test reports in the archives from the evaluations of the car with its original Champ 6 and Flight-o-matic and from after the Porsche engine was put in.



These days, if you want an engine in the back, you could build a pretty hot Lark sleeper with some of the turnkey VW flat-4 engines up to 2275 cc that put out 150-200 hp.

Gary Ash

[garyash]

Gord, thanks for the details of the trailing arm and torsion rods. I never had to take those apart on my old Porsche or '72 VW bus. Does the trailing arm twist as the swing axle goes up and down when the wheel hits a bump? Your guess about the speedo drive in the front wheel is probably correct, but I didn't pull the front drum since it's not my car. A tach would have been a very useful instrument in this car, but there isn't one.

Matthew: It would be interesting if there were more than one of these cars; but, in fact, the original registrations to Curtis-Wright for this car still exist and match the serial number on this car. (see below) The car was first registered Feb. 17, 1959, just 13 days after it was built in South Bend. C-W still had the car - and registered it - three years later. I'm hoping that someday the Stude Museum finds the C-W test reports in the archives from the evaluations of the car with its original Champ 6 and Flight-o-matic and from after the Porsche engine was put in.



These days, if you want an engine in the back, you could build a pretty hot Lark sleeper with some of the turnkey VW flat-4 engines up to 2275 cc that put out 150-200 hp.

Gary Ash

[Roscomacaw]

Interesting serial number! It's not a Studebaker serial number. They started out 59S or 59V. It doesn't jibe with any engine serial number either! Maybe, Gary, you could have a look-see and discren if this thing has a unique serial# plate or is it maybe serialized by the engine's number?

OH! What (assuming there is one) does the body tag say?????[]

Miscreant adrift in
the BerStuda Triangle!!

1957 Transtar 1/2ton
1960 Larkvertible V8
1958 Provincial wagon
1953 Commander coupe

[Roscomacaw]

Interesting serial number! It's not a Studebaker serial number. They started out 59S or 59V. It doesn't jibe with any engine serial number either! Maybe, Gary, you could have a look-see and discren if this thing has a unique serial# plate or is it maybe serialized by the engine's number?

OH! What (assuming there is one) does the body tag say?????[]

Miscreant adrift in
the BerStuda Triangle!!

1957 Transtar 1/2ton
1960 Larkvertible V8
1958 Provincial wagon
1953 Commander coupe

[garyash]

StudeBob: It's just the normal DMV mentality. The serial number on the door tag is 59S-36429. The NJ DMV people just left off the 59S part on the paperwork, doesn't even look like there was space for more than about 5 digits on the registration, which was part of an old-style IBM punch card. When the car came off the line in South Bend, it was just a "plain vanilla" Lark. There doesn't seem to be anything special that was done at Studebaker to make the car different from normal production. All of the changes were done at C-W.

Gary Ash