Needs a Lark Shine?

[gordr]

Thursday I hitched up the trailer and drove to Edmonton to recover this gem, a '61 Lark VIII two-door post. It's crusher bait for sure, no floors, and aside from the hood and trunk lid, which will be saved, no good exterior body panels. All the beltline trim is there though, with some damaged pieces, so I will save that.

The car had a manual transmission, but it's gone. Has a 259 that's stuck. I plan to pull the body off this one, and use the frame as an engine test stand.

The other two pictures are of structures damaged by "plow winds" that came in advance of a severe thunderstorm a week ago tonight. These are on the hilltop just a mile south of my place. Two people were killed in this storm, a woman in her 30s when the outdoor stage blew down at the Big Valley Jamboree near Camrose, and a 3 year old girl in Calgary who was hit by a large sheet of metal blown off the top of a construction site.

I was driving home in this big old moving van when the wind hit me, and for 5 or 10 seconds, it was swaying and swerving all over the road, with me rowing on the steering wheel for all I was worth trying to keep it between the ditches. I thought for sure I'd be rolled over in the ditch, but managed somehow to keep the shiny side (for lack of a better term) up.

Here are the pics:









Gord Richmond, within Weasel range of the Alberta Badlands

[Mark57]

Glad you survived Gord (at least in better shape than that Lark![}]).

<h5>Mark
'57 Transtar Deluxe
Vancouver Island Chapter
http://visdc.shawwebspace.ca/ </h5>

[Roscomacaw]

Gord, I guarantee you that someone will be happy if you save that mangled example of a rear valence panel. They're NLA and tough to find even in mangled condition.

1957 Transtar 1/2ton
1963 Cruiser
1960 Larkvertible V8
1958 Provincial wagon
1953 Commander coupe
1957 President two door

[barnlark]

Looks like one nasty storm, Gord. Had luck on your side that day, good driving work. [^] Save that front bumper, too. Did you find that 2 door wagon yet?

[gordr]

OK, I will save the valance, It's horribly mangled, but being as it's a real narrow strip of metal, it should be possible to make it right again. And I do plan to save both bumpers. Might save the grille panel too, although it's mangled on the RH side. Fenders, doors, quarters, roof, cowl are toast. The dash pad has only one crack, so I may save it.

I plan to check on that wagon this week.

Gord Richmond, within Weasel range of the Alberta Badlands

[BobGlasscock]

Looks like a really good project for Matthew!

'50 Champion, 1 family owner

[mbstude]

If it were a wagon (of any year), I'd be tempted...

[jnormanh]

Crikey! Your part of the earth looks like North Dakota...only colder, if that's possible.

[gordr]

Well those weather pics were taken in the evening, on a cloudy day at that. It was a beautiful sunny warm day today, and I made good progress dismembering the Lark. Hood and trunk lid are off; the trunk lid has some rust in the inner panel, but it doesn't seem to have gotten through the outer skin yet.

Got all the the beltline stainless moldings off, and all the glass and window regulators out. Back window's out. Got the front clip off; the radiator's toast. Both bumpers are off. And I cut all the bolts holding the body to the frame. At least I think I got 'em all. Next step is to remove the steering wheel and the column tube, and take the instruments and radio out. The dash pad is cracked bad enough that there's no point keeping it.

Once the column tube is cut, I should be able to hook onto the body with my loader and lift it clear of the frame.

Gord Richmond, within Weasel range of the Alberta Badlands

[4961Studebaker]

Poor 61

Gord you may want to check on the Truck Forum, there was a guy looking a while back for the complete 61/62 wiper arm assembly, not sure if he needed the motor,

Are the passenger window interior trim pieces on this car?

Found his email Steve Milligan I'll email you his E-addy

ChopStu

[gordr]

quote:Originally posted by 4961Studebaker

Poor 61

Gord you may want to check on the Truck Forum, there was a guy looking a while back for the complete 61/62 wiper arm assembly, not sure if he needed the motor,

Are the passenger window interior trim pieces on this car?

Found his email Steve Milligan I'll email you his E-addy

ChopStu

You mean the stamped steel window reveal moldings for the rear side windows? No moldings of any kind on the inside of the door glass. The rear interior reveals are both there. I was thinking of crushing them with the car, because it never occurred to me that there might be a call for them, but I will save them for now. I have the exterior wiper arms off, and plan to remove the motor, switch, and linkage as well.

Gord Richmond, within Weasel range of the Alberta Badlands

[gordr]

Update, Sunday, Aug. 9: Got the remainder of the good parts stripped out of this rusty old Lark, and got the body lifted off it, and plopped down on the trailer.

When I was stripping out the wiring harness, I found a nifty surprise: a lump of tape on the wiring harness proved to be a key tag from a Lethbridge dealership, with a little picture of a Studebaker Lark. There was an ignition key and a trunk key on the chain, both like new. And neither fit the locks on the car! I wonder if some owner lost the keys, never knew about the hidden ones, and had all the locks changed? I guess we'll never know.





Gord Richmond, within Weasel range of the Alberta Badlands