This is my current build, a '48 Starlight Coupe the day i drove her home across state lines. needless to say everything seems possible on 'Purchase day' as it overheated, ran out of gas, brake lights shorted-out and the battery died..but thats all part of the adventure, right. These were taken after i overheated sitting on the side of a busy interstate. Neighbors didn't like the rusty looking car, so i quickly sanded and shot some primer to appease the city-folk.
couple months later, i was able to get it up to the shop and really start working on it. i wanted to drive her the couple hours north to the shop, but with the overheating issue and the tie-rod ends that got sloppy on my first drive across state line, i didn't wanna risk it. so i borrowed a truck and trailer and sent her north.
along with the purchase of the daily-driver car, i also received a second complete (mostly) parts car; which had a super solid body and frame. so i pulled the old non running drivetrain from the parts car and swapped in my good solid running flathead, drive gear and brakes. cleaned the frame/firewall down and painted it all before the motor went in. Pulled the motor from driver and cleaned and painted it. yes, its Ford Grey. This car is being built as a daily driver, so i wanted something that would clean well and not show age as easily as a lighter color/factory green. i also, POR-15 the floors to preserve the rust free sheet metal
motor in frame. i got bored so i decided to 'pay' with some color for the body. i don't have any pics of the process, but the body was also spray an Almond primer. i like things to be a solid color and the mismatched panels and faded original paint were bugging' me. haha. these pics will give you a good idea of the direction i am going with the Kustom Studebaker
the plan right now is to get her on the road as a reliable daily … which i only have a couple minor things to button up so it will be….i think! haha. other than that, she's gonna be shaved, nosed, decked, lowered some more, wide whites, 3-bar bullet caps, custom grille (possibly a corvette tooth grille or desoto), front roll pan under grille, frenched head and taillights, louvered hood, hoping to find some plymouth ribbed bumpers possibly?….. maybe take a couple inches out of roof eventually??
keep up the progress. i have a 62 lark i hope to make a gasser someday. If i ever get it from behind the barn.
One of my favorites...off beat, with styling miles ahead of anything of the 40's era. The Starlight back window makes it more of a fuscillage than a top, and is one of the car's most distinguishing features (besides the "Envelope" style body). I would never cut it. Have you checked out the Studebaker sub-group? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/social-forums/studebakers.157/ Lots of members cars in the thread title "Studebakers". My favorite of all might be justanotherguy's Starlight coupe. (Still with the flathead 6!) (PS. The '49 Bullet nose really complements the styling. JMO.)
May I suggest a '49 or '50 Lincoln grille? The bottom of a' 48 Lincoln grille looks good too, but has been done on one of these Studies already (and I like it!).
The bullet didn't come along until the '50 and '51 model years. Regardless, that swap is overdone, imho.
George Jules' Studebaker (shown below) from Oct. '51 HOP UP has a nice grille treatment as well. the short write-up however gives no details of what the grille is from…..any ideas? the bullet nose looks nice, but its pretty common to do. i actually like the flatter snout on the 47-49 better….but I'm kind of a black sheep too.
and these pics are how she sits as of today. going to go with suede maroon for body with some heavy gold flake on top. considering some lace work but not sure yet. the dash gives a good idea of final product.
The Jalopy Journal
