The way of my President

[willys54]

We used dry ice bead blasting in the tooling department at a major aircraft manufacturer I worked for. The unit we bought 8 years ago cost $40K but it was a diesel powered beast. The wand accepts different configurations of nozzles known as Venturi's each for different purposes. The process operates best at a minimum sustained pressure of 120 PSI which exceeds that of most low budget compressors. The process combines cryo & pressure to first freeze the material thus making it brittle and then blasting it off with dry ice pellets traveling at speeds of up to MACH 4 (4 times the speed of sound). The process is commonly used in the printing & rubber industries to clean drum rollers & molds since it removes debris without damaging the underlying material.

There was an OSHA recorded incident at another company where the operator bypassed the trigger mechanism by tapping it open. When he dropped the wand during operation the high velocity discharge made contact with his forearm nearly severing it but it was later amputated anyway due to frostbite. This process should only be used by well trained individuals who value their own safety as well as those around them.

[gsx_martin]

Ok, long time no update.
I have finished the work at the suspension.
After that, I have removed the transmission. It do not shift, a oil change haven't fixed the problem

I found a "new" DG250 in NY. At the moment, it is on the way to Germany.
I hope, I get it mid of November. If it is not to cold when I have it here, I will install and test it.
After that, I can bring the President to the German TÜV (the Authority which decide the car is street legal or not).
In the best case, I can drive the car in December

[TWChamp]

I was wondering why your headlights would need to be changed to meet German standards?
All my 6 volt Studebaker headlights give very good lighting.

[GrumpyOne]

Hello!
In this post, I'd like to share with you the progress made by my 1955 Studebaker President.
I bought it from near San Francisco and imported it to Germany.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]73854[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]73855[/ATTACH]

To make him streetlegal in Germany, a few more works are necessary.
I have to change the headlights, hazard warning lights are also mandatory.
In addition, a few other parts have to be replaced.

I started with the hazard warning lights and the headlights. Fortunately, one of the previous owners had already modernized the electrical system, so I did not have to install a new wiring harness.

Next, I blasted the underside with dry ice. I found an absolutely rustfree underbody.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]73857[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]73858[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]73859[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]73860[/ATTACH]

Next I changed the rear shocks, the rear stabilizer rubber mounts and the leaf springs.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]73861[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]73863[/ATTACH]

The only thing that I noticed is that the rear springs appear to have little or no arch which is typical of a 60+ year old car. You might want to consider either replacing the mainspring of install shocks with a built-in coil spring. Re-arching the leaves seldom work well and only new leaves will solve that issue...

[gsx_martin]

I was wondering why your headlights would need to be changed to meet German standards?
All my 6 volt Studebaker headlights give very good lighting.

Yes, the headlights are very good.
But the bulbs do not have an european homoligation. And if parts, installed at a vehicle in europe, do not have a Homologation, they are not street legal

[gsx_martin]

The only thing that I noticed is that the rear springs appear to have little or no arch which is typical of a 60+ year old car. You might want to consider either replacing the mainspring of install shocks with a built-in coil spring. Re-arching the leaves seldom work well and only new leaves will solve that issue...

The rear springs are new. They were described as HD Leaf Springs by the seller.

[christophe]

Yes, the headlights are very good.
But the bulbs do not have an european homoligation. And if parts, installed at a vehicle in europe, do not have a Homologation, they are not street legal

Well, I don't know for Germany, of course; but when I got my Hawk, she came from Belgium with standard GE headlights. I replaced them with brand new ones of the same type. Nobody has noticed so far. This has always seemed incoherent to me as you can get CE homologated headlights, but what about the other lights?
Nice day to all.

[gsx_martin]

Well, I don't know for Germany, of course; but when I got my Hawk, she came from Belgium with standard GE headlights. I replaced them with brand new ones of the same type. Nobody has noticed so far. This has always seemed incoherent to me as you can get CE homologated headlights, but what about the other lights?
Nice day to all.

Christophe, that's our Problem here in Germany. The TÜV is very strict with the regulations. :-(

[gsx_martin]

Hello,
due to other projects it takes more time than expected to get the President road legal.
But now she is on the road again

I have had some trouble with the transmission. I changed the transmission and recognized that the main problem wasn't the tranny. It was the torque converter. I replaced it also, but the tranny still do not shift as it should. After deper invetigation I found out that the Transmission Specialist who overhauled my tranny reassembled the tranny in the wrong way .
I replaced the tranny by another one and now it shifts as aspected.

Yesterday I drove her and found a nice place for a foto session. Here you can see the results

[Commander Eddie]

Martin, she came out beautifully. You should have some real fun driving this on those great German roads. B-T-W, I just got mine back from having the transmission rebuilt (again). This time by the premier transmission re-builder here in America, Chuck Tubens. She now shifts great. You will find your car is a very nice road car. Enjoy. Oh, and thanks for sharing all the photos and information.

[studegary]

Very nice car!
Do you make up your own plate numbers? "STD" for Studebaker, "55" for 1955 model year and "H" & "Y" for President sedan.

[Buzzard]

Martin,
Great work on a great car. You should be very proud to drive something which is certainly different from the rest of the crowd. And thanks for introducing us to ice blasting. You did a great job.
Have a great summer enjoying driving your Studebaker!
Cheers,
Bill

[JoeHall]

Beautiful Studebaker! Congrats on a job well done. Sounds like you face even more challenges thee in Germany, than we do here, in keeping them on the road.

[gsx_martin]

Very nice car!
Do you make up your own plate numbers? "STD" for Studebaker, "55" for 1955 model year and "H" & "Y" for President sedan.

Yes, I do make up my own plate numbers. But only partially.
STD stands for Stade, the county seat where the President is registered. But yes, for me it stands also for Studebaker
W stands for the Sedan, even when the President officially is a Y ;-)
Y for the Sedan long wheel base
55 is the year
H stands for historic cars

Martin

[gsx_martin]

Beautiful Studebaker! Congrats on a job well done. Sounds like you face even more challenges thee in Germany, than we do here, in keeping them on the road.

Thanks!
Yes, it is not easy to get these old cars street legal.
We have very restrictive laws, the authorities are also very strict when they inspect the cars. If i want to register a car as historic, nearly all parts have to be original or contemporary. No modern engines, frames or suspension parts.
And I have to order nearly all parts in the USA or Australia, some parts are available in UK.
Here in Germany the only parts I can buy for the President is an oil filter and igniter plugs

Martin