Well, a lot of Studebakers got moved today, some of them even driven. I had this '55 Transtar "abandoned streetrod project" hanging around for several years. Somebody did a frame clip on it, and welded in the front section of a '70-something Chevy half-ton frame. The weld job actually looks pretty good, but of course the Chevy front suspension is way too wide for the body. When I got it, the Pitman arm was not attached to the Saginaw power steering box. In fact, it could not be, because the spline was too small to fit the sector shaft. And the left inner tie rod end had separated.
First, I pulled the left-hand tie rod off, and popped the ball stud back in the socket for the inner tie rod end. Did that yesterday, in fact. Today, I found another Saginaw box in my parts stash, and pulled the Pitman arm off it. That Pitman arm fits the steering box in the truck, but what's this? The end that connects to the center link is supposed to have a tapered male stud on it, but it has a tapered hole instead. I wound up putting a 1/2" bolt through both sockets, and doing a nut up most of the way, leaving a little slack Obviously, the truck's not going on the road like that! I just wanted it to have enough steering to be able to load it on the trailer, and push it around the yard.
There was no steering column in place when I got it, either. I had a lower steering shaft with the Saginaw box from which I robbed the Pitman arm, so I bolted that to the rag joint that was still there. I found a steering wheel from an '84 GMC pickup in my parts stash, but I had no upper column section. I found a piece of 1/2" conduit, and welded it into the hub of the steering wheel. I slotted the parking brake cable hole in the firewall down about three inches, and fed the end of the conduit through that, and located it in the pot-type U-joint on the end of the lower steering shaft, and welded that in place. Hey! It's all junk parts, why not? A U-bolt to the bottom of the dash keeps the wheel end of the conduit from flopping around too much.
It actually steers not too badly, other than it toes out a bit, probably because of the mis-matched Pitman arm. This kludge enabled me to load it on the trailer, which was the object of the exercise. I also fastened the hood to it hinges, so it wouldn't blow off on the road. I found the rear axle was all set to fall off the left rear spring. At some point in this trucks sad life, the studs had broken on the left rear wheel, and it shed a wheel, and then got dragged some distance on the backing plate, grinding it partially off, plus grinding through the outboard U-bolt and most of the bottom plate. The ground-off U-bolt was still in the pickup bed. I was able to get the axle plunked back down on the spring center bolt, and forced the bottom plate back into alignment. I put the remains of the U-bolt through the hole in the plate, and welded it there with the stick welder, and then welded a piece of angle iron across the stubs of the two rear legs of the U-bolts. So the axle cannot fall of the spring, now. Again, solely in the interest of making the beast manageable to move around the lot and onto the trailer.
When I head north to my next wellsite job in a few days, I will haul this truck with me to friend Jerry Hoines' place in Gainford. He asked me to haul it up there, as he has a customer who wants a Stude pickup streetrod. I'm sure Jerry will scrap this frame, and set the whole shebang on an S-10 or Dakota frame. That's the best solution for a streetrod.
Here's the jewel beyond price, loaded on the trailer:
But wait, there's more! Got a phone call this morning from one of the prior owners of my gold GT Hawk. He's expressed interest in buying it back, and as I haven't driven it for a full 3 years, I'm amenable to selling if he meets my price. So he came down today from Edmonton to see the car. That meant I had to get it out of the back corner of the shop. That meant moving two other cars, the '60 Lark I got from Dick Steinkamp, and the '40 Champion. The Lark started right up, and the brake pedal is still good, so I was simply able to drive it out of the shop. It's a tight corner near the door, but I managed it OK. The '40, I pushed by hand backwards and turned it into a space I cleared for it.
I'd had a battery charger on the GT for several hours, and with a shot of prime to the carb, it started right up, and ran well. Maneuvering it out of the shop was very tricky (hoist is in the way), but we managed it without damaging anything. We drove the car about a mile up the road and back, and it behaved very well, other than touchy brakes, probably due to light rust on the drums. It never stalled once. I cleaned a mouse nest and a lot of droppings out of the trunk, and I'll give the interior a cleaning tomorrow,and wash the outside, which is covered in dust. If I can get it insured for a day or two, I'll drive it to our chapter meeting on Tuesday, provided I'm not called out early to the wellsite, which isn't too likely this go-round.
So the GT is outside for the night, and the Lark is back in the corner where the GT used to reside. So it has been a very busy day here.
First, I pulled the left-hand tie rod off, and popped the ball stud back in the socket for the inner tie rod end. Did that yesterday, in fact. Today, I found another Saginaw box in my parts stash, and pulled the Pitman arm off it. That Pitman arm fits the steering box in the truck, but what's this? The end that connects to the center link is supposed to have a tapered male stud on it, but it has a tapered hole instead. I wound up putting a 1/2" bolt through both sockets, and doing a nut up most of the way, leaving a little slack Obviously, the truck's not going on the road like that! I just wanted it to have enough steering to be able to load it on the trailer, and push it around the yard.
There was no steering column in place when I got it, either. I had a lower steering shaft with the Saginaw box from which I robbed the Pitman arm, so I bolted that to the rag joint that was still there. I found a steering wheel from an '84 GMC pickup in my parts stash, but I had no upper column section. I found a piece of 1/2" conduit, and welded it into the hub of the steering wheel. I slotted the parking brake cable hole in the firewall down about three inches, and fed the end of the conduit through that, and located it in the pot-type U-joint on the end of the lower steering shaft, and welded that in place. Hey! It's all junk parts, why not? A U-bolt to the bottom of the dash keeps the wheel end of the conduit from flopping around too much.
It actually steers not too badly, other than it toes out a bit, probably because of the mis-matched Pitman arm. This kludge enabled me to load it on the trailer, which was the object of the exercise. I also fastened the hood to it hinges, so it wouldn't blow off on the road. I found the rear axle was all set to fall off the left rear spring. At some point in this trucks sad life, the studs had broken on the left rear wheel, and it shed a wheel, and then got dragged some distance on the backing plate, grinding it partially off, plus grinding through the outboard U-bolt and most of the bottom plate. The ground-off U-bolt was still in the pickup bed. I was able to get the axle plunked back down on the spring center bolt, and forced the bottom plate back into alignment. I put the remains of the U-bolt through the hole in the plate, and welded it there with the stick welder, and then welded a piece of angle iron across the stubs of the two rear legs of the U-bolts. So the axle cannot fall of the spring, now. Again, solely in the interest of making the beast manageable to move around the lot and onto the trailer.
When I head north to my next wellsite job in a few days, I will haul this truck with me to friend Jerry Hoines' place in Gainford. He asked me to haul it up there, as he has a customer who wants a Stude pickup streetrod. I'm sure Jerry will scrap this frame, and set the whole shebang on an S-10 or Dakota frame. That's the best solution for a streetrod.
Here's the jewel beyond price, loaded on the trailer:
But wait, there's more! Got a phone call this morning from one of the prior owners of my gold GT Hawk. He's expressed interest in buying it back, and as I haven't driven it for a full 3 years, I'm amenable to selling if he meets my price. So he came down today from Edmonton to see the car. That meant I had to get it out of the back corner of the shop. That meant moving two other cars, the '60 Lark I got from Dick Steinkamp, and the '40 Champion. The Lark started right up, and the brake pedal is still good, so I was simply able to drive it out of the shop. It's a tight corner near the door, but I managed it OK. The '40, I pushed by hand backwards and turned it into a space I cleared for it.
I'd had a battery charger on the GT for several hours, and with a shot of prime to the carb, it started right up, and ran well. Maneuvering it out of the shop was very tricky (hoist is in the way), but we managed it without damaging anything. We drove the car about a mile up the road and back, and it behaved very well, other than touchy brakes, probably due to light rust on the drums. It never stalled once. I cleaned a mouse nest and a lot of droppings out of the trunk, and I'll give the interior a cleaning tomorrow,and wash the outside, which is covered in dust. If I can get it insured for a day or two, I'll drive it to our chapter meeting on Tuesday, provided I'm not called out early to the wellsite, which isn't too likely this go-round.
So the GT is outside for the night, and the Lark is back in the corner where the GT used to reside. So it has been a very busy day here.