Weird Studebaker Story with Pictures

[Carl Purdy]

Charlie D [from the forum] was over to the house the other day and we were talking about the little hood bumpers that go in to the fenders. We were trying to figure out how many he needed so I could order more. Well we counted mine on the wagon. There is 5 on the left and seven on the right. Either somebody drilled to many or didn't drill enough.

[41 Frank]

Suppose they were breaking in a new guy that day on that particular assembly line job? I would have thought those holes would have been punched by a machine all at once though.

[52-fan]

Now I guess we'll all have to go count our hood bumpers. I would have thought they would have been the same on both sides.

[Welcome]

>>>Well we counted mine on the wagon. There is 5 on the left and seven on the right.<<<

Was that Wagon a Left Hand Drive or a Right Hand Drive model????

[Carl Purdy]

Normal left hand drive.

[(S)]

You may want to peak at the back side, see if it got filled or leaded over. On these models where the hood meets the fender on that roll, you really want a bumper there and now is the time to do it.

[StudeDave57]

back from walk about...

I just took a trip out to the back '40' for a bit of research. The pair of '56 Champion fenders (thanks Biggs!) out there have seven holes on each side. While I was there I went ahead and checked out my '57 Packard Town Sedan parts car~ it also has seven holes on each side. While I have not checked the parts book, I do now know that SI's catalog is WRONG based on actual sheet metal in the yard. (the catalog says 10)

I do have a question for you though. Was your car all one color under the hood when you started? I ask because I don't know '56s as well as I do '57s. On my two-tone '57s the inner fenders do not match the firewall.
Can anyone expand on that?

[Carl Purdy]

Here you go Studedave57. I found a picture. Looks like the inter fenders are the same color as the fenders.

[railway]

need two more holes on the left side, and battery hold down.

[StudeDave57]

Here you go Studedave57. I found a picture. Looks like the inter fenders are the same color as the fenders.

And the firewall is a different color then the inner fenders?
(sorta hard to tell at this end, sorry...)



StudeDave '57

[Welcome]

And the firewall is a different color then the inner fenders?
(sorta hard to tell at this end, sorry...)StudeDave '57

Cah-lee-foh-nee-ah

"FIREWALL
The firewall should be painted the same color as the lower portion of the lower body (body color) on cars produced in South Bend. Cars assembled in Los Angeles seem to have the firewall painted to match the inner fender aprons (accent color). No one has offered a satisfactory explanation for the variation in firewall colors between the two production facilities. The anomaly seems to be consistent through the entire model run.

Source of reference:

Survey results.

Science and Mechanics dated April 1956, page 74."

http://www.1956goldenhawk.com/manuals/56ghauth.pdf

[jclary]

In the metal forming process, deep draw parts require "dowel pins" to hold the blank part in place. These holes are punched, not drilled, and when possible, are doubled as purposeful for the finished product. For example, when stamping the fenders, the holes for the bumpers double as dowel pin locators. It is not limited to deep draw applications. The rather flat floor pans used the holes for the bolts for body mounts, seat to frame mounts,etc, for dowel pin locators too.

Is it possible that two separate vendors were sourced for the stampings? Could an older mold have been re-worked and fewer pin locators used? Who knows?

[Welcome]

>>>Is it possible that two separate vendors were sourced for the stampings? Could an older mold have been re-worked and fewer pin locators used? Who knows?

Who knows?

Whoever looks up the Studebaker Engineering drawings for those fenders and inner splash aprons in the SNM Archives.

That's who knows!!!

[jclary]

Who knows?

Whoever looks up the Studebaker Engineering drawings for those fenders and inner splash aprons in the SNM Archives.

That's who knows!!!

Excellent point! (Now if I can only figure out what belongs in all these holes in my head???)

[acolds]

My 57 Clipper orignal fenders had seven holes and bumpers per side the NOS replacement fenders only had five holes in them I drilled the other two holes per fender to match the orignal fenders. I think the inner fender splash shield had cutouts for the rubber bumpers to clear the back side of the bumpers