Painted Speedster Fender Wells?

[riversidevw]

There's a rather widely published factory photo of Bob Hope next to one of the very early Speedsters at the introduction of the '55 models to Studebaker employees in the Notre Dame stadium. The flash picture (black and white) shows the front fender well liner to be apparently painted in very light body color (presumably Sun Valley yellow). Was this perhaps just an idiosyncrasy of these initial few show cars? My early December '54 car seems to have pretty ordinary undercoating (probably a blessing for a car actually intended to be driven)!

Gil Zimmerman
Riverside, CA

1955 Speedster
1956 Golden Hawk
1958 Packard Hawk
1958 President

[JDP]

quote:Originally posted by riversidevw

There's a rather widely published factory photo of Bob Hope next to one of the very early Speedsters at the introduction of the '55 models to Studebaker employees in the Notre Dame stadium. The flash picture (black and white) shows the front fender well liner to be apparently painted in very light body color (presumably Sun Valley yellow). Was this perhaps just an idiosyncrasy of these initial few show cars? My early December '54 car seems to have pretty ordinary undercoating (probably a blessing for a car actually intended to be driven)!

Gil Zimmerman
Riverside, CA

1955 Speedster
1956 Golden Hawk
1958 Packard Hawk
1958 President

Maybe it was just not undercoated.

JDP/Maryland

[riversidevw]

You're doubtless right. While I've owned several mid 50's S-P cars, don't think I ever had one that wasn't undercoated. I knew they used body color under the hood, didn't stop to think the same might be true for the fender well areas.

My other vintage stuff has largely been Lincolns, by mid-50's they had gone to black painted metal in these areas.

2/21: Mea culpa, I went too far in my assertion that my "mid-50's S-P cars" have all been undercoated. I managed to forget that Maria and I had owned a very low-mileage, very original '56 Patrician for three decades. It was never undercoated. There were a few traces of Aegean Blue over spray in the wheel wells, but visible surfaces were mostly covered (rather crudely) by low gloss black paint. A '53 Caribbean we restored ages ago was undercoated, but I knew of others of that era that weren't, and yes, they indeed had shiny body color in the wells.

Gil

[studegary]

For most years, undercoating was a delete option. Your car received it unless you selected for it to not have it.

We were recently discussing another delete option, but I do not remember what it was.

People refer to radio delete plates. For almost all Studebakers, the radio was an option to select, not something to delete. In other words, the car did not come with one unless you specified for it. This means that there are plates to cover the area that a radio would be installed in, but it is not a delete plate. This is just one example.

Gary L.
Wappinger, NY

SDC member since 1968
Studebaker enthusiast much longer

[StudeRich]

Many of our cars were dealer undercoated, and a few were not. The funny thing is, the ones I have owned that were all shiny body color top coated and NOT undercoated [u]in the wheel wells</u> are the ones with the LEAST rear of front fender RUST/Rot! [:0]

It is understandable though, because mine are not rust belt, salt sprayed cars, so in ordinary occasional rain, and car washes the non-undercoated cars drain out better instead of having that water trapped in.

It is my understanding that depending on year, most if not all cars got floor pan undercoat at the factory, and prior to '56 got inside floor pan & trunk undercoated also. The Dealers merely just shot the fender wells when purchsed, if not ordered with full factory undercoating. [^]

StudeRich

[studegary]

quote:Originally posted by StudeRich

Many of our cars were dealer undercoated, and a few were not. The funny thing is, the ones I have owned that were all shiny body color top coated and NOT undercoated [u]in the wheel wells</u> are the ones with the LEAST rear of front fender RUST/Rot! [:0]

It is understandable though, because mine are not rust belt, salt sprayed cars, so in ordinary occasional rain, and car washes the non-undercoated cars drain out better instead of having that water trapped in.

It is my understanding that depending on year, most if not all cars got floor pan undercoat at the factory, and prior to '56 got inside floor pan & trunk undercoated also. The Dealers merely just shot the fender wells when purchsed, if not ordered with full factory undercoating. [^]

StudeRich

Also in the rust belt, non-undercoat cars stood up against rust better than undercoated cars (in general). The undercoating gets hard and separates from the panel creating a trap site for water, salt and dirt. Remember that undercoating is meant to be a sound deadener and it is not a rust proofing coating.

Gary L.
Wappinger, NY

SDC member since 1968
Studebaker enthusiast much longer

[lstude]

My friend, Joe with 53 Studebaker, and my Mother's 58 Hawk sprayed gold paint in the fender wells.







Leonard Shepherd

http://leonardshepherd.com/

[Tom Bredehoft]

When I restored my '53, a L. A. made coupe, the right front fender had been replaced with a junk yard fender. This fender was painted blue inside and out. I imagine original paint, the car had been garaged in '60, not worked on until I bought it in 2000. Yeah, it, too, had body work on it. the previous owner musta had lots of control problems.

[img=left]http://www.alink.com/personal/tbredehoft/Avatar1.jpg[/img=left]
Tom Bredehoft
'53 Commander Coupe (since 1959)
'55 President (6H Y6) State Sedan
....On the road, again....
'05 Legacy Ltd Wagon
All Indiana built cars

[barnlark]

Originally posted by studegary
Quote:
People refer to radio delete plates. For almost all Studebakers, the radio was an option to select, not something to delete. In other words, the car did not come with one unless you specified for it. This means that there are plates to cover the area that a radio would be installed in, but it is not a delete plate. This is just one example.
Gary, you made me look up that which Studebaker may have described this particular part in my previously proven inaccurate October 1959 body parts catalog. They simply call it an overlay as opposed to the radio's bezel. Hemmings Classic Car printed a recent issue with "radio delete plates" as one of the topics. I always called them that because most people do, as did Hemmings, but I see your point. We don't refer to all the other standard parts as "delete" parts!