Hello SDC,
My name is Charles Martin. I was bit by the Studebaker Bug sometime ago and its been 1 month since my last confession. I bought another Studebaker, 2 actually. I will be tempted again and I will do it again.
Anyways. I got a project that I want to start a build thread on and I figured this was a good spot because I plan to post a fair amount of pictures. I even bought one of the those digital cameras because uploading off a iphone sucks. I have done a lot of in depth automotive work in the past but never started a FULL blown restoration. The car I have picked up is pretty special. And the "Parts car" (which its not, ill explain later) is pretty cool to.
A lot has happened in the past couple of months in my Studebaker world. A lot of you know that I had a perfect survivor 1961 Studebaker Lark and I will kick myself one day for ever letting it go. Scratch that, I am kicking myself now. The reason for selling it is because I was having bad thoughts on modifying it. At one time I did pick up the tools and start taking the front sheet metal off. My plan was to make it handle very well while leaving the drivetrain alone. I was cringing the whole time cause at some point I knew that I was going to be meet with the point of no return. I reinstalled the sheet metal that day and put the tools away. Now I have c4 parts staring at me. Oh well put them in inventory.
I had a problem. I needed something to keep my hands busy and the Lark was perfect as she sat. I came to the sad realization that I needed to sell her and move on. My plan was to build a Packard powered Studebaker to challenge myself and have some fun. I sold the Lark and I probably let her go to cheap but I now had money to burn and burn it did. I put up a feeler ad and you guys sent me pictures of your cars and trucks. Some past the point of no return all the way to final assembly projects, Thank you. There was one that stood out from the rest however.
The car I picked up from a SDC member is a 1954 Studebaker Commander Hardtop. The special part is that at some point in its life the Hardtop was made removable. The gentleman that I bought this off of also had a 1963 Hawk Gt frame that he planned on using to help stiffen things up for the now "compromised" body strength. Being that the car was a pretty good trip away from my house I could only bring back what I could fit on my 18' trailer and the bed of the truck. I left on a friday and got there Saturday. Next we swapped the body over to the stronger frame and then drove home Sunday. A Nice weekend.
While driving home from picking up the car I kept having a nagging feeling that I shouldn't install the packard engine and t85 in this car, why, cause Convertibles are cruisers. You want to relax, sit back and enjoy the company of your passengers. But I had already started traveling down that road so I was committed and lets be honest that would be a cool car.
Now we are up to 2 weeks ago. A friend of mine found a 1961 Hawk in Dover, Delaware, right next door to me. He purchased it and I got it from him because he said he needs another project like he needs a another hole in the head
. This was my missing piece and my plan is now solid as I will explain next.
I now have 2 restoration projects. One for SLOW and one for GO. The 61 Hawk is powered by a 289 full flow and automatic. The frame and bits attached to it are also in decent shape just have to replace some bushings. I am going to install a K member and put that frame under the convertible. This will give me a BIG jump start on the project. I will then have bodywork and interior to do. That leaves me with the following parts. 1961 Hawk Body, 63 Hawk Gt frame, packard engine, t85od trans, Twin Traction rear and a ton of boxes full of parts. This is the car that I am going to get creative with. Did I mention its Pink, blue, yellow, and black.
The blue and yellow will be making an exit.
Now we are up to present day. I am blowing off work for a hour to write this and I will post some pictures later this evening.
My name is Charles Martin. I was bit by the Studebaker Bug sometime ago and its been 1 month since my last confession. I bought another Studebaker, 2 actually. I will be tempted again and I will do it again.
Anyways. I got a project that I want to start a build thread on and I figured this was a good spot because I plan to post a fair amount of pictures. I even bought one of the those digital cameras because uploading off a iphone sucks. I have done a lot of in depth automotive work in the past but never started a FULL blown restoration. The car I have picked up is pretty special. And the "Parts car" (which its not, ill explain later) is pretty cool to.
A lot has happened in the past couple of months in my Studebaker world. A lot of you know that I had a perfect survivor 1961 Studebaker Lark and I will kick myself one day for ever letting it go. Scratch that, I am kicking myself now. The reason for selling it is because I was having bad thoughts on modifying it. At one time I did pick up the tools and start taking the front sheet metal off. My plan was to make it handle very well while leaving the drivetrain alone. I was cringing the whole time cause at some point I knew that I was going to be meet with the point of no return. I reinstalled the sheet metal that day and put the tools away. Now I have c4 parts staring at me. Oh well put them in inventory.
I had a problem. I needed something to keep my hands busy and the Lark was perfect as she sat. I came to the sad realization that I needed to sell her and move on. My plan was to build a Packard powered Studebaker to challenge myself and have some fun. I sold the Lark and I probably let her go to cheap but I now had money to burn and burn it did. I put up a feeler ad and you guys sent me pictures of your cars and trucks. Some past the point of no return all the way to final assembly projects, Thank you. There was one that stood out from the rest however.
The car I picked up from a SDC member is a 1954 Studebaker Commander Hardtop. The special part is that at some point in its life the Hardtop was made removable. The gentleman that I bought this off of also had a 1963 Hawk Gt frame that he planned on using to help stiffen things up for the now "compromised" body strength. Being that the car was a pretty good trip away from my house I could only bring back what I could fit on my 18' trailer and the bed of the truck. I left on a friday and got there Saturday. Next we swapped the body over to the stronger frame and then drove home Sunday. A Nice weekend.
While driving home from picking up the car I kept having a nagging feeling that I shouldn't install the packard engine and t85 in this car, why, cause Convertibles are cruisers. You want to relax, sit back and enjoy the company of your passengers. But I had already started traveling down that road so I was committed and lets be honest that would be a cool car.
Now we are up to 2 weeks ago. A friend of mine found a 1961 Hawk in Dover, Delaware, right next door to me. He purchased it and I got it from him because he said he needs another project like he needs a another hole in the head
. This was my missing piece and my plan is now solid as I will explain next.I now have 2 restoration projects. One for SLOW and one for GO. The 61 Hawk is powered by a 289 full flow and automatic. The frame and bits attached to it are also in decent shape just have to replace some bushings. I am going to install a K member and put that frame under the convertible. This will give me a BIG jump start on the project. I will then have bodywork and interior to do. That leaves me with the following parts. 1961 Hawk Body, 63 Hawk Gt frame, packard engine, t85od trans, Twin Traction rear and a ton of boxes full of parts. This is the car that I am going to get creative with. Did I mention its Pink, blue, yellow, and black.
The blue and yellow will be making an exit.Now we are up to present day. I am blowing off work for a hour to write this and I will post some pictures later this evening.
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