Projects '48 Starlight Kustom thoughts/suggestions

so i'm pretty stoked that i got my '48 Starlight up and road worthy, now its time to kustomize her a bit …. i know this is NOT a common car to build a kustom out of, however; a few have been done back in the day and they do lend themselves nicely to tasteful mods. here is a rough sketch and a rough photo chop that i threw together last night of a few ideas i had. what do you think? i am totally open to any positive thoughts or any suggestions of mods that you think would work well with this body.


below are pics of how the car sits today to give you an idea of the color scheme and such ... it will be painted suede maroon (shown around windshield) and gold flake with wide white walls.

 

Go for it. HRP

 

Can I have your tail lights?
Nice to see you're keeping the back glass the way it is. How about skirts?

 

yeah man, i have 3 sets of stock taillights … pm me.

 

For some inspiration, go to Rik Hoving's Fotki site and check out the Studebaker customs built in the 40s and 50s. Here's a link:
http://public.fotki.com/Rikster/11_...e/studebaker_custom_cars/40s-50s_built_stude/

And since you asked, I would avoid the Buick portholes. They rarely work on anything but a Buick, and usually come off looking like an afterthought, IMHO.

 

The Starlight is such a rare and inherantly attractive car, why make all the changes and add all the goopy stuff as in your illustration. Why not just drop it 3" to 4" with just a touch of forward tilt (what Rikster calls a "Californian rake"), shave off all the gingerbread, paint it your dark maroon with OEM-style chrome reverse rims and narrow whitewalls as was done in the mid-'60s. Do a narrow pleat interior in bright white - or even better, in ivory - with a stock dash and steering wheel in white or ivory as well. While every body else's "custom" looks like a jukebox, yours would be smooth, subtle, tasteful and the ultimate in cool.

 

I had one of those in high school...ehrrr...uh...it was my first car...my Dad bought it for me, had a flathead six in it and he said I couldn't get killed in it..little did he know...!!! FWIW, it got traded in on a three-year old '57 Chevy 150 two door when I turned 17...!!! You can read about that in my first book: "Bangin' Gears."

I put whitewalls on mine, flipper hubcaps, a mild 'rake' and nosed and decked it before my Dad said "enuff of that." What he didn't know was a friend was already splitting a manifold for me and we put some loud glasspaks on it...I kept it at a friends' house for a while on the pre-text that we were sanding it for some new paint (it was green from the factory).

Anyway, those old Studes make cool tail draggers...the rear wheel body lines are ripe for hand built type bubble skirts...and I'd be looking for some '49/'51 Ford windsplits and the taillights to emulate the stockers you've got (they're big & ugly). Then I'd go ahead with the Lakers/shrouds and forget the portholes and dummy spots. I'd french the headlights a tad and build myself a straight bar grille...and try to find a front bumper that enhances the grille...since you're staying with a rear bumper... a rolled pan in the front and a rear bumper doesn't look right to me...front and rear need to be done the same way as far as I'm concerned... if nothing else and you want rolled pans, then find some nerf bars that match...

JMHO...I love Studes...it takes an individual that doesn't follow the crowd to own one...

R-

 

Super neat looking cars. I love the roofline and rear window, but what always bothered me is the door glass and windshield is a couple inches taller than the rear window glass. I wonder if it'd be possible to chop it without touching the rear glass at all, just so the windshield and door window height matched the rear window height. Lots of work I'm sure, but would look so "right" that way.

These are popular to swap the 50 bullet nose front end sheetmetal onto as well, and that looks nice.

 

quickie photoshop

 

If you're looking for ideas, check out some of the Studebakers on my Bullet Nose Paradise website .....

http://myplace.frontier.com/~bulletnose/

There is a really cool Starlight Coupe that a HAMBer is building on this page .....

 

For some reason this "New" software won't let me put another link so I'll try here .....

 

That didn't work either. Anyone know what I'm doing wrong?

http://myplace.frontier.com/~bulletnose/StarlightCoupes/S-48-09.htm

Maybe it did this time.

 

its hard to tell in my pics, but my car has 3" blocks now which puts be at scrub line with the 6.50-16s in rear. i thought about shoebox Ford windsplints too and now that i see it (in the link Bullet Stude posted) i like the look. also, you make a good point about running bumpers on both ends and i think i'd have to agree.

 

You've got a great car and some good ideas. I love Studebakers, I own one myself!

In the other thread you had on this car, you debated about grills, mentioning both DeSoto & Corvette grills as possible choices. Both of those choices have been used thousands of times on custom cars. These days, it seems like that is all we ever see, especially the various DeSoto models. If I were you, I wouldn't use either of those, likewise with the other commonly seen grills like the '54 Chevy, etc.

I believe it was 'Mo in your other thread who suggested a '50 Lincoln grill. Go with something like that. That will look neat, be unique, and have people scratching their heads as to what it came from. The 1948-49 Cadillac grill idea you had was ok, but the problem with that is you see it a lot on fat-fendered Fords & Mercs, as well as nearly all of the many "custom" 48-49 Cadillacs, most of which no one has bothered to come up with anything more imaginative than using the stock grill it came with!

I'm not saying any of the above grills look bad. They look fine and are definitely traditional. However, if you want to go with a truly "traditional" idea as the customizers in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s did, you will use your imagination to come up with something that is not only good looking, but also imaginative and unique. If you look through all of the old custom car-type magazines, not every single car had DeSoto or Corvette grills, '53 Buick sidetrim, '57 Cadillac wheel covers, etc, etc. Many of those people tried to come up with something unique and beautiful, and many of them succeeded. You've got a different car, do something different with it!

That's just my 2 cents. Good luck with whatever direction you choose to go with your project!

 

Justin pretty much summed up my thoughts on the subject!

 

what model Studebaker do you have? and thanks for the compliment on my car and ideas!

you make some really good points and i don't disagree at all. in fact i actually agree with what you said about being different and kinda blazing a new trail so to speak, which i am all for. hence the studebaker as the canvas. i have thought about grilles a lot since i first posted this thread and the initial reason, in the beginning that i first thought of going with the typical desoto/vette/etc grilles is really the availability of the more common grilles. my biggest issue with using lincoln or caddy or such is the price. they are commanding a pretty penny for ones in just 'ok' condition and i just can't afford (no matter how much i want one) to drop a that kind of money on one. I'm not to the point of doing the grille as of right now so hopefully as i scour the swaps and scrap yards in coming weeks i'll run across something way odd-ball that gets people scratching their heads, but is clean and tasteful as well.

if you happen to see or think of a one that you feel may work i am all ears to hearing available options. I'm not too worried what it comes from as long as it looks like it belongs.

 

What about something like a 52 plymouth grill? That's not too common and it'd look the part

 

But no portavents.

 

I have a ’55 Champion 4-dr. It’s one of the early models before they went to a wrap-around windshield.

I hear you on the expense, but I’ve also seen some of the commonly used grills (DeSoto, Corvette, ’54 Pontiac) go for LOTS of money precisely because everybody wants them, and sellers know that if one person isn’t willing to pay a high price for it there is probably someone else that will.

Have you ever looked at industrial supply places, hardware stores, or home improvement centers? You can find some really neat tubing, piping, bolts, handles, and odds and ends that can be fashioned into some really neat things. Some of the neatest custom car grills that I’ve seen were constructed out of things that never originated on a car to begin with. If you are fairly good at drawing, sketch out some designs. If not, there are lots of people on here who are!

Some of the most unique and creative grills were created by legendary customizer Joe Bailon. If you go to Rik Hoving’s Fotki site, there are tons of photos of his work. Not that what you do has to look like any of them, but that may give you some ideas as far as coming up with something unique. Good luck!

 

Also, I love the wheel cover you have on the car! I have one of those that I got at a garage sale years ago. I like that much better than the standard '57 Cadillac wheel covers that everyone else uses these days.

 

A 1952 Dodge grille would also look sharp.

 

Check out the Modern Grecian 48 Studebaker full custom. Whatever Barris did to that car, do the opposite and you will wind up ok.

 

Looks like your starting with a good one, how about a 56 Chrysler grille, cool to see another Studebaker being built.

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This is by far the coolest car ever!!!!!!



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i like how the bumper wraps around fenders, unlike my Stude's; which looks like a handlebar mustache hanging out in no man's land.

Rock - i really dig your car its one of the cars that i looked to when i was in the market for a kustom build .. are there any updates or even a build thread on the HAMB of your car that i could fumble through!? i dig the shoebox taillight treatment as well.

i have thought of the door-pull/knob grille a lot of guys are doing, but i feel its a little later in style and getting common than i was planning on doing with my car. i've thought of using early VW beetle bumper guards as a faux tooth grille since they are near perfect in size for my grille hole. i've been through Rik's site a bunch but i don't recall joe bailon's work off hand though i do recognize the name .. i'll have another look and see what he's done.

i couldn't agree more … i found 5 from 2 separate vendors at a swap meet last year … gonna run a pair on front and plain steel wheels in rear …. the caps will look even better when i get them wrapped with wide whites.

 

Back in the early 60's we called the front low, ass high style "California Rake"

 

North coast- I don't have a build thread but I should probably start one. I have a few pictures on instagram under jasonrock1, thanks for the compliments.

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Please do start a build thread. Hands down best custom!


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Any updates?

 

mostly just been working through some mechanical bugs as i drive it a bit. doing a little body work here and there. first pic is when i was waiting for my tow vehicle to arrive because it stalled out on me (not first time) as i was roaming around a neighboring town. found out the carb float was not attached inside the carb .. which was a quick and simple fix.

i installed my old Superior 500 steering wheel that i've used in many of my old cars (i know its not everybody's flavor but its a lot better gripping on the hands than the old dry-cracked factory wheel that pinched me every time i turned).

also put a pair of sanded white walls radials (radials ride so much nicer i found out) that i did on the front with the bullet spinner caps. sadly I'm having a pain finding tires that i can stuff up the wheel well in the rear .. i may have lowered it too far in the back.