New Guy from Texas - Studebaker Post

[thecarphotoguy1]

A friend sent me a link to a discussion here about Rodding Studebaker Wagons so I registered and tried to post a reply...didn't work. So maybe I can post what we're doing to my wife's 64 Studebaker Wagonaire on the New Guy Forum & someone who knows computers can move it over to the Stude' Post? We removed it's anemic 259 V-8 & balky 3-on-the-tree, got rid of the "Armstrong" steering & dangerously weak drum brakes. We did a 5th Ave Front Clip with torson bar suspension, 5.7 Hemi, 5-Sp Automatic from 05 Dodge Truck & 9" Ford Rear with 3.73 gear and Detroit Locker. We dualed it with Stainless Magnaflows and it now has 4-wheel power disc brakes, power rack & pinion steering (it is for my wife after all)! Still have to install the new wiring harness, stainless gas tank & Classic Instrument Gauges (all on hand) and we've ordered the new custom size aluminum radiator to fit O.E. radiator supports. We've already painted it close to one of the original colors & redone the interior with better colors. I'll try to post a few pics of the work on the Stude'.

[58yeoman]

Welcome. That is just flat out AWSOME! I love that interior! That's a clean install too.

[Bare Bones]

Welcome from Austin! Sweet ride!

[Rudy J]

Welcome from DFW

[Lucky667]

Welcome to the HAMB from Canyon Lake.

Lucky667

[66Newport]

Welcome from Denton, damn that is a SWEET wagon.

[thecarphotoguy1]

Thanks guys, looks like there are some Texans on here! We're trying to get the Stude' back on the road before the Summer Car Show Season is over but since this seems to be a "one-off" project, and maybe a little ground breaking (for sure wallet breaking) we may run into something that stops the presses for awhile! Thought you might like to see my Dart Iron-Eagle 363 ci (4-bolt Siamese Bore) 66 GT 'Vert and ProCharger D S/C Livernois 5.0 3V Stroker w/ TR-6060 (6-Speed) 05 Roush. My son has an 02 Mustang we got a 5.4 DOHC Lincoln with T-56 (6-Speed) and Vortech S/C shoehorned into.

[Grandadeo]

Welcome from Florida. Nice work on the Stude, nice to see something different now and then.

Lee

[racinman]

Welcome to the HAMB from SC
racinman

[Midwest Rodder]

Nice! Welcome

[NotStockPhoto]

Welcome from Houston great project

[apound]

Welcome to the HAMB

[attastude]

welcome from oregon. check out the hamb studebaker club

[thecarphotoguy1]

Just an update, we didn't make the Summer Show Season, too many irons in the fire! But Winter provided the time to work on her! Wiring harness, Fuel lines with ($1,200) custom gas-tank are in as is the engine & trans computer. Fired it up yesterday, but injectors are bad...new ones only from Dealers $68 ea (ouch). Torson bar suspension limits steering & angle of column (others may want Mustang II Suspension)! We'll try it the way it is, new steering wheel needed for the new GM steering column. We tried cable control for tranny in the steering column but wouldn't work so had to go with a floor shift (wife not happy with that)! Will try to add more pics once it is off the rack & more lessons learned!

[rustyhood]

Welcome from Louisville KY. Lookin Good!

[wino01]

Welcome from New Waverly, nice wagon.

[jason65]

Welcome from Ok!

[Bassfire]

Like the Stude...welcome to the forum

[Old Bowtie]

Welcome to the board from south TEXAS!
Nice ride man. She will be proud at the Wal-mart parking lot.

[robleticia]

Welcome from Angleton, I am diggin the wagon!!!

[thecarphotoguy1]

Thanks to all for the kind words and encouragement! Here is another update! We finally got it out on the road (after replacing clogged injectors). It wouldn't steer worth a damn, the 5th Avenue Clip has to come out as the steering doesn't allow for sharp cornering & feels like it is about to bind up (more $$ down the drain)! I've got to find the original Hub-to-Hub measurements of a 63-66 Stude' Wagonair and wheelbase measurement as we no longer have the stock setup available, then we'll get a Mustang II Style front clip custom made to those demensions. Other than that the thing ran great so it looks like if we can get the front clip in soon my wife will be able to drive it this Summer!

[PegLegStrick]

Welcome from south Georgia......:D

[thecarphotoguy1]

Well we are still shooting for Summer (only now it is 2010!) to get it finished! I've turned the project over to Murry Custom Rods in Fort Worth to install the Mustang II front suspension, then it goes back to Marc's Garage just down the street from them to do the A/C! I've had to move out to Abilene so will go and get the Stude' once she is finished and post some final pics then!

[stretch 1320]

Welcome from west Ga.

[firstnomad]

Welcome to the H.A.M.B. from Arkansas City, KS.
firstnomad

[gearhead49]

Join the Studebaker Drivers Club forum.
These guys are a wealth of knowledge

[JohnieB]

Welcome from MN. Sweet Ride!!

[tromper]

Welcome from Irving, TX!

[Strange Agent]

Welcome from Cleburne, cool ride.

[thecarphotoguy1]

FINALLY got the Studebaker back from the shop! Rember, I'd said we were shooting to have it out in time for the Summer Car Shows? Well that was in 2009, we finally made it but in 2011! Got some more "small things" to do to it before it is completely finished, like construct a console around the automatic floor shifter, thanks to some yahoo at a shop who dropped something on the fender chipping the paint & backing it into something else making a pincle point dent in the back gate and bending the rear bumper into the quarter panel (just enough to gouge out the paint). But the 5.7 Dodge Truck Hemi pulls like crazy spinning the tires if you even breath on the foot feed but it got almost 20 mpg on the way home with a 30 mph quartering head wind.

[Traditions Racing]

Welcome from Florida, TR

[thecarphotoguy1]

Update: The 05 Dodge Truck Hemi & 4-speed Auto with Overdrive (5-speed total) ran good for about a week then the computer developed "an intermittent ground fault", so that computer had to go back to "Street Peformance" in Arkansas, this was the third computer from them (they remove computer anti-theft/air bag/other programs that would prevent the new engine & tranny from working in an old car). They sent the wrong year computer to the wrong address = two week delay & an 03 computer won't run an 05 engine & tranny other than "limp home mode"). We are supposed to get the "new" 05 Computer today...any bets on it working?!

[thecarphotoguy1]

Got the 5th computer from Street Performance, seems to run okay but does buck (engine surging) sometimes. May have to call Diablo about one of their hand-held Tuners to see if that might help. I think I said the car had a 3.73 rear gear in the 9" Ford Rear, but it's actually a 4.11 with Detroit Locker in the 9" Ford. The 05 Dodge truck the engine & tranny came out of had only 17K miles when the fellow rolled it (I was told the truck weighed a little over 6,000 pounds) and in the 3,600 lb Stude' it pulls strong with hardly any throatle applied. I've taken it to a few Car Club Meetings but no shows yet. Front carpet is folded over until I can get a "console" built around the Trans. Selector on the floor.

[thecarphotoguy1]

Solved the "surging" problem with a stiff shot of injector cleaner run through the engine on a trip to Fort Worth, Texas and back to Abilene (300 mile round trip) and it idles fine now as well. May still need to get a "tuner" to try and get it to not be as "touchy" on the foot feed...it will snap your neck if you push down more than a half inch and when it shifts it does so with a bit too much force for my wife's liking! I got a console built for it with a couple of motorcycle size amps to run two sets of speakers (two x Four Inch three-way, one on each side of my console and two x Three Inch in the center of the dash vs. the worn out single OEM 4'x10"). This allows me to run my I-Pod Nano with all my books on tape while driving. It is going into the body shop later this month for some of the minor issues mentioned previously as well as getting some custom weather stripping to hopefully make it water-tight. I've had it to a couple of small shows, but is hasn't won anything...they don't really have a class for something like this around here. But it is sure fun to drive, at least I think so (the wife, not so much)!