Body / Glass: Lark Convertible hog trough replacement

[packardHawk58]

A few Forum members in the past have asked about what's involved in replacing Lark Convertible hog troughs. Since I am in the middle of restoring a 64 R1 convertible I thought I might post some shots of my progress at this stage.
Up to this stage I have built a cradle for the body shell and tack welded it to the frame to keep it true and aligned. In these photos I have tipped the shell upside down just to make it easier to weld in the new troughs, it's still a lot of work!


The old rusted hog troughs cut out of the car.



Had to rebuild the front section of the trough because it incorporated three differant shaped sections, quicker to do this than try to remake the whole item.


The front section screwed into place for now onto the replacement floor pan.



The rear box section which I had made in a break press, there is another sectiion that fits on top of this one but I haven't progressed to fitting it at this stage of the photos.
More photos to come later!

[Aussie Hawk]

Nice work Brian. Amazing progress from when I saw it last.

[LarkTruck]

Looking good Brian, I admire people who take the time to do a job the right way! KUDOS!
Jim

[bosshoss61]

Thanks for the post. I do not attempt a lot of frame and body work, but always willing to learn and try. Would you explain a little about the trough? Is the car considered uni-body? Does the trough hold brake lines, wiring front to rear, gas line etc. etc. Is it just for stability?--- Thanks---is it original to the car?
Rick

[thunderations]

I like it. I have this to look forward to when I start on my 1950 Champion convertible. Great work.

[jimmijim8]

Thanks for doing a fine job and working towards/ making sure that another finely restored specimine will hit the road. I really appreciate good work. cheers jimmijim

[stude1964]

Brian
Thanks for the pics. I guess I have some of that to do once I get started on my '64 conv. project. Keep up the great work!
Rob in PA.

[bezhawk]

I have to do the same thing on Lew's car....yours is less rusty.

[Warren Webb]

Is the car considered uni-body? Does the trough hold brake lines, wiring front to rear, gas line etc. etc. Is it just for stability?--- Thanks---is it original to the car?
Rick

First, the car is not a unibody. Unibody means the former body/frame construction is combined into one "unit". Studebaker did not use this method (exception was the Zip Van whose body was produced by another company).

Brake & fuel lines are carried alongside the frame itself. Wiring to the rear of the car is inside, underneath the carpeting, alongside the sill plate on the drivers (left) side.


Being the car is made without a steel roof every convertible must be reinforced underneath to compensate for the strength given up by the roof structure. This is why the rocker reinforcement (hog troughs) are required.

[bosshoss61]

Thank you Warren.

[hawk58man]

Hoss, Sweet fabrication and amazing metal work. Nice job !

[packardHawk58]

Thanks for the comments guys, I will post some more pics as I progress a bit further. Next is to fit the additional hog trough stiffener and the inner and outer rockers, then I can flip it over and mount it back on the frame.

[Michidan]

Wow, I salute you. I ended up just patching the troughs on my car, and some of the sections I choose to keep were not great. But you have to weld to something. It was still a ton of work. I think what you are doing will take no more time that all the patching I did, plus you'll have a better finished result.

[thunderations]

Brian, I'm assuming that you checked the doors for fit before you braced the body prior to removing the body from frame and made the proper ajustments. What gauge sheet metal was used to make the stiffener? Do you think going a litte thicker gauge would be a good idea? My Champion convertible is 10 years older then yours and in worse shape. I have no front floors to speak of. My thoughts were to go thicker gauge to offset any other structural problems the car might have....or is that just overkill? I've driven a lot of older convertibles and with the top down riding along with what hair I have left blowing in the breeze and my arm on top of the door, a bump in the road causes the body to flex just enough to pinch my arm at the top of the door. I'm not sure if I can get my arm back to the rear edge of the door on the Stude, but that painful thought keeps coming to mind.

[bezhawk]

Did you protect all that bare metal? 3M makes a great zinc rich weld through primer. I spray epoxy on everything, then grind the weld flanges, and spray the weld through primer on that. Sand the burn off area after welding and re-apply epoxy, then a good urethane seam sealer.