Rear quarter shake on Lark hardtop

[Bill Pressler]

Here's a post I made a couple years back. I'm thinking about it again.

Any ideas for stiffening up the rear quarters of a Lark Hardtop when the doors are shut?...short of major body work? I'm afraid I might know the answer already to that last question!

Here's my original post:

http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.c...aking,quarters

Thanks,
Bill Pressler
Kent, OH
'63 Lark Daytona Skytop R1
'64 Daytona Hardtop

[studegary]

Have modern door latches installed.

Gary L.
Wappinger, NY

SDC member since 1968
Studebaker enthusiast much longer

[StudeRich]

I think that if enough owners state here that they have no such problem with the many '59 to '64 Hardtop Larks and Lark Types out there, that you have only TWO possibilities Bill:

(1) the rusted outriggers contribute a lot to the problem.

(2) the Skytop or the combination of that AND the above, are the culprit! [}]


No problem with the four '64 Daytona Hardtops I have owned, parked or up to 95 MPH.

StudeRich

[Bill Pressler]

quote:Originally posted by studegary

Have modern door latches installed.

Gary L.
Wappinger, NY

SDC member since 1968
Studebaker enthusiast much longer

I think I didn't word what I actually meant, very well. When you push the door closed, when it latches, you see notable rear quarter shake at the front of the quarters.

Bill Pressler
Kent, OH
'63 Lark Daytona Skytop R1
'64 Daytona Hardtop

[Milaca]

My '64 Daytona hardtop has similar issues. I've even had the passenger door open on its own when taking a left turn to fast as I believe that the car twists/flexes and allowing it to open. I removed the rear fenders (which are in very good condition) and found that the inner body structure is very rusty making it very flexible. You say that your inner rear quarters were replaced so this shouldnt be the issue, unless some welds broke apart. Maybe you need to pull the carpet back and remove the rear seat and a rear interior panel to see whats flexing? As for my car, I havent repaired it yet (its still apart).


Brent's rootbeer racer.
MN iron ore...it does your body good.

[fred k.]

The only thing that comes to mind would be to weld the quarters on that would surly stiffen it by making it one unit,I hope I dont have the problem as discribed as I am just about ready for paint.

fred

[Jeff_H]

I don't know how similar to a K body hardtop this is but the rear qtrs bolt on in a similar fashion so I'd say the design of the structure is close.

I found when I pulled off the rear fender on my K the bottom of the inner qtr was pretty much gone. I have a better photo than this one but its not readily available for post so it will have to do:



You can see the rust out on the bottom of the inner qtr at the far right edge of this picture taken from a low angle. This picture was when I was in the middle of fixing the floor and body mounts so those are gone too along with frame patching

Any rate, when I got the new floor in and the inner qtr replaced I found that the top of the B pillar was quite flexible UNTIL I welded the bottom of the inner qtr patch to the edge of the new floor at the bottom. It stiffened up considerably when secured to the floor at the bottom.

You say the inner qtrs have been replaced, so I'd look to see if they were welded to the floor at the bottom or maybe the edge of the floor has issues down under the window regulator. Maybe hard to get a good look at this w/o pulling off the fender?

Jeff in ND

'53 Champion Hardtop

[bams50]

Bill, I've got a 62 Daytona in the garage right now. It's solid and has never been apart. I opened and slammed both doors and nothing moves; it's rock-solid.

I have another 62 Daytona shell that was for my r2 project that is quite solid; only rust is a little where the B-pillar meets the floor. It's enough to make it really flexible, yet would be an easy fix.

Based on what I've seen I'd say to pull back the carpet there and look for looseness or flex. Shouldn't be too big a deal to fix. Let us know what you find!

Robert (Bob) Andrews- on the IoMT (Island of Misfit Toys)
Parish, central NY 13131

GOD BLESS AMERICA

[Milaca]

The following photos show why my '64 Daytona hardtop has too much body flex. Before I tore into the car, it looked very good until I took off the fenders and found that a very heavy layer of undercoating was hiding patch panels that were pop-riveted in place. It was not a pleasant surprise! [B)]


Brent's rootbeer racer.
MN iron ore...it does your body good.

[Jeff_H]

Is there a frame to body support right under the floor that supports the B pillar? I'd be looking at the tip/end of that to where 3 layers of sheet metal are spot welded together. The body support, the floor, and the bottom end of the vertical part of the B pillar.

The K body has 2 inner qtrs instead of 1 from what I can tell from Brent's pix. Is there are brace channel from B to B pillar under the front edge of the rear seat?

Another thought is I have seen rust on late larks where the bottom of the roof attaches to the rear inner panel. Could issues there affect the B pillar stiffness?

Jeff in ND

'53 Champion Hardtop

[Milaca]

There is a body support under the B pillar (rear of door pillar). The support stubs off the side of the frame, and a formed piece of sheet metal (about 2 inches tall) acts as a spacer between the support and the floor. This spacer is spot welded to the bottom side of the floor and also acts as a floor stiffener (from what I can acknowledge). Personally, I think Bill should give up on the '63 Skytop and trade it to me even up for my rust free '82 El Camino Conquista.


Brent's rootbeer racer.
MN iron ore...it does your body good.

[Bill Pressler]

quote:Originally posted by Milaca

There is a body support under the B pillar (rear of door pillar). The support stubs off the side of the frame, and a formed piece of sheet metal (about 2 inches tall) acts as a spacer between the support and the floor. This spacer is spot welded to the bottom side of the floor and also acts as a floor stiffener (from what I can acknowledge). Personally, I think Bill should give up on the '63 Skytop and trade it to me even up for my rust free '82 El Camino Conquista.


Brent's rootbeer racer.
MN iron ore...it does your body good.

Thanks to everybody who has posted here or sent me a personal email. All have been very helpful...particularly the pictures of the '64 here.

The car is in storage 75 miles away now, but I will print out all suggestions to check out next spring. It's a really nice car, but this aspect of the car bugs me. For some reason, I think I remember seeing pieces like Brent has mentioned above, but remember noticing that they didn't actually contact the floor...there was a slight gap above them. Hmmmmm. I remember the restorer telling me back then that '...there are a lot of spacers in that body'.

My '63 has 'lumps' in the floor at the bottom of the B pillar, attached to the inner quarter, that can best be described as looking like where the fuel filler comes into the trunk of a Hawk, or comes into the interior of an Avanti. I assume it's a stiffener. Seems to me my '64 doesn't have an area like that in the floor. Could that be limited to '63's, or to Skytops? I'm too lazy at 4:54 a.m. right now to go out and look again at that area on my '64.

EDIT: The '64 has this stiffener section in the floor too. My goof.

Bill Pressler
Kent, OH
'63 Lark Daytona Skytop R1
'64 Daytona Hardtop

[barnlark]

Bill, my neighbor has all the welding equipment you will need. You should drive it over some time and we'll show you the '65, too.

[G T Joe]

Bill I know your car like it was mine, as far as the 63 goes I would concentrate on adjusting the driver's door to close better it drops about a 1/16 of a inch maybe less, and as you know you have to lift up on it to close it , if you don't it will close hard and the rear quater will shake , I know that it "bugs you" but I think if you have the door readjusted to close more evenly it might eliminate the problem. and everyone here are always trying to "work the bugs out" of their cars! and lot of Stuebakers out there do the old dance from the 60's called "the shimmy- shimmy shake-shake ! mine included!!

Joseph Kastellec

[studegary]

quote:Originally posted by G T Joe

Bill I know your car like it was mine, as far as the 63 goes I would concentrate on adjusting the driver's door to close better it drops about a 1/16 of a inch maybe less, and as you know you have to lift up on it to close it , if you don't it will close hard and the rear quater will shake , I know that it "bugs you" but I think if you have the door readjusted to close more evenly it might eliminate the problem. and everyone here are always trying to "work the bugs out" of their cars! and lot of Stuebakers out there do the old dance from the 60's called "the shimmy- shimmy shake-shake ! mine included!!

Joseph Kastellec

A good point that I was not aware of on your car. The door should close properly and in correct alignment without a striker/latch in place. There should be no lifting, pushing, etc. required. The striker/latch should just hold the door closed. It is not an alignment aid.

Gary L.
Wappinger, NY

SDC member since 1968
Studebaker enthusiast much longer