OUCH! $$$$$$$$

[Bunzard]

Gordo,
You must have done a little mental currency conversion to come up with 3 grand. My expense was $2185 USD which would be about three g's CD. I also spent on a balance job, an admitted luxury, and with time tight had all the assembly done ready to install. With only the machine shop work/parts carried home to assemble the figure would have been about $1600 USD. With a rebore and new pistons and renewed heads, I don't think you are going to save much on that price for quality work anywhere unless your cousin runs the machine shop.
I remember a little sign in a shop that has stuck with me for a long time. It said,"The pain of poor quality remains long after the thrill of a cheap price is gone". I didn't wait until I'm old to get a fun car by choice--I've never had the money. One of the reasons is I made some bad choices to spend half the money and got halfassed jobs when a little patience and self control would have allowed me to have the job done right.

We are not talking 3 grand if you do your own labor, in fact just about half that, to get a quality rebuild, good as NEW engine. One more curse of being old, wise, and having a few dollars is that I don't risk all the investment in the engine/labor by putting on the old belts, hoses, water pump and thermostat. The failure of any of those can jepordize my safety, fun and investment. Yeah, its another hundred dollars, USD, but my mental image is me and my honey cruising down the road with the windows down on the hardtop (no ac)listening to some old time Rock and Roll smiling at each other as we live out our adolescent dreams as Old Farts. Slapping mosquitos while waiting for a towtruck can quickly squelch the fire of adventure in middle aged wives, a blaze it has take long careful work to start.

[Bandit]

When I got the 232 rebuilt for the '54 Coupe I had it was no more expensive then the 305 that I got done for the old Chev truck custom ? In fact the 170 flat head six was about the same price too.

[studegary]

[quote]Originally posted by Bunzard

Studegary, You are right, I could have ordered a NOS crank but by the time it was delivered it might have saved me twenty bucks...and stopped activity for a week at least...and the condition would be unknown until unwrapped. I opted to keep things moving with known quality. Brngs were the same price either way.



The reason I could afford this car is that the previous owner did a real nice job of restoring EVERYTHING but the engine. It looked great but ran like ___t. When he had to reduce the price to where the engine could be rebuilt and keep the total investment below street value I brought it home. Used a quart of oil in the first 100 miles and then got worse as it warmed up. I plan to keep the car as long as I have a drivers license. When it is finished I will be confident to drive it anywhere and let my non-mechanic wife do the same.



Bunzard - Thanks for your explanation. The two quotes that I included above explain a lot. I wish you many years of enjoying the car. My father still has his driving license, but he hasn't driven since he was 101.

[Bunzard]

Sorry Gordr, I didn't intentionally mispell your name.

[bonehead007]

When it comes to restoring a car, don't go cheapo..Is it expensive, sure it is, depending on how much work you do or don't do yourself. I'm learning on my 63 Avanti. Always wanted one, always wanted to try to restore one. I gave myself a high/low price area on cost to do. Some things like the body & engine, I can't do & will have to look for a pro thats knows Avantis but, no matter what the cost, I'll have something that lots of folks in my area don't. An original Studebaker Avanti And, when its done & I add up the time, cost, labor, etc., I'll have the biggest smile on my face..

Take your time Dan, research and keep it as original as possible. After all, they don't make em like that anymore. Matter of fact, they don't make em. Good Luck....

[gordr]

No offense taken, Bunzard

My handle here is just my first name merged with my surname initial. I'm Gordon Richmond to the tax department

I agree with you that one should replace such things as belts, hoses, thermostats etc. on doing a rebuild, since they can come back and bite you later.

I'll still say that one has to look at their intended use for the car the car and their overall budget, and then decide just how extensive he wants your engine work to be. For many of us, our cars just plain wouldn't get done if we had to rebuild every single part of the engine, and if we carried this philosophy through the rest of the car, we could be $20,000 into a $5000 Lark.

I'm not afraid of reboring a Stude block, but if it will give satisfactory service with a simple ring and bearing job, I'll do that. I usually will have the rods resized, as that is cheap insurance against having a rod bearing fail. So maybe 3 years down the road, the engine begins to burn oil once more. I've still had 3 years of enjoyment out of that car, and I didn't mortgage the farm to pay for it.

Lots of us Stude guys are getting older. If we want to get the younger generation into Studes, we are going to have to let them know it can be affordable. You can in fact drive and enjoy a Studebaker without totally restoring it. Fix the obviously broken stuff, and make sure your safety-related components are up to snuff, and then go for it!

I began driving Studes about the same time the last one rolled off the line. Back then, they were just "old cars", and not really thought of as collector's items at all. I came to appreciate their styling, but even more so, came to appreciate their durability and the general ease of repairing them.

So if it gives you peace of mind to have dotted every "i" and crossed every "t" when it came to rebuilding your engine, that's fine by me. I just wanted to counter the idea that one HAS to do all that work in order make a moribund Stude V8 into a runner again, when, in most cases, you don't.

And I get to drive my Stude this weekend. Yee-Haw!

Gord Richmond, within Weasel range of the Alberta Badlands

[Transtar56]

Im with Gord on this one.
My 62 Daytona hardtop had 27,000 miles on it when I bought it five years ago.As far as the engine goes,its had eletrical stuff replaced and regular oil changes.
Still running strong at 68k miles.Burns and leaks a little oil, so what.Its a great car.
My 60 Hawk was tuned to the teeth with electronic ignition and a new carb,it runs like a bear.
My 56 Transtars never been apart and it dosen't smoke or use hardly any oil,never had it apart other than to paint the valve covers.
I drive them all, and drive them hard.
Id like to do a complete rebuild on a Stude V-8 and plan to do one,but for the fun of driving them,its not needed.
Diane and I are talking the Hawk on vacation to Newfoundland in a couple of weeks.