Trying to figure out exactly what I'm gonna do with the new Stude project. I love the look of Bonneville cars in race trim, but know a long wheelbase that low would get damaged on the street. Does your car sit level, nose down, or nose up? Please post of pictures of studebakers you've had or seen and post up wheel and tire sizes (if known) ride height......and if it was your car, a brief comment on how it was to drive/what you would do differently next time.
Street driving low depens a lot on your streets,here in Miami Fla. 4in min. center of car is about it on 1953/4/5 Study an still need too look carefully> driveways,speedbumps etc.. Best part is the car looks great even at 5in. low off ground. As for wheels=15in. stock Study hight with Stock caps**** are the best ever design on the plant,so other then a nice new Rtire with thin or twin thin WW an wider tread on a little wider rim. On a custom wires are OK,but even there I'd like stock caps better,someone did do a nice job on the red one.
My 55 Junkyard stance. It had not moved in 40 years. I hope to get started on it in 2017, i bought it to make a gasser, but I'm thinking she's gonna be more of a touring car.
Always liked this one.....not mine, but I have a wagon to build and will keep this in mind for sure..... Ray
I found this site years ago, there's an index page filled with make / model / year, so you can search through just about any car or truck you'd ever want to see...Hope it helps http://www.carnut.com/photo/list/stude/stude53.html http://www.carnut.com/photo/list/stude/stude54.html
15X6 all the way around, 205/60/15 front 225/70/15 rear. It had GM A arm front and 9in parallel leaf rear. Rode and handled great. -Abone.
The front air dam would drag a tiny bit on a real steep speed bump, but for the most part, it was just like driving a regular car. But, the stock front lower grille hangs WAY down so keep that in mind of you are lowering the front end a bunch. -Abone.
Abone, cool car! I like the LSR look. When you say GM a arm, are you talking about camaro/nova or something narrower? I would have thought that would be too wide ...or is that the reason for 15x6?
Thanks, that's my son's in New Mexico on one of our several trips between Nevada and Texas when he was in college. It has bags but not to get it low they are to raise it to clear the boulders on our 2 mile rocky road. Super charged 289 Stude, T5, 9". Fun Ride.
This guy in my car club has a '53 with a '54 grille... Always loved the stance on this one - just right. http://s588.photobucket.com/user/st...r Day/Studebaker Day 006.jpg.html?sort=3&o=37
Here's my `55 right after I brought it home. It has78 series tires on it for the picture. Stock springs. I personally thinks it sits perfect the way it is. The only change to the stance I would make is possibly lowering the front an inch or so.
"red yellow purple blue Girls don't like my fifty sixty-two" That's just got the "I'm tuff enuff" look to it.
OK I realize this is a later model GT Hawk, but same basic platform. Maybe you can say pretty please to one of the HAMB photoshop gods and they could turn it into a 53-54 coupe for you. Most on here might say that it needs lowered, but I think it looks great this height, ready to pounce. Plus it's classy as can be. (EDIT: not mine, sorry have no details)
You should decode your vin tag so you know what you have. 6cyl cars had very thin frames and a dana 20 rear. The track width is under 55 inches so the only rear you will find that might fit would be out of a mail jeep. Anything you replace it with will need to be narrowed if you want to run a rim wider than 7 inches without the nasty reverse offset look. V8 cars had a tapered axle dana 44 (like mine) and I wouldn't try to push 400+ hp through it and expect it to live. Just something to think about.
I'm not sure if the 6 frames are thinner. They made some changes in those years but even the V8 frame in my son's wagon is pretty wimpy. Sort of an early unibody situation. The more you bolt on the stiffer it gets. When we had it down to a striped frame it was quite flexible. We had a mail Jeep dana 44 and it was too narrow. We ran the original 44 with a GM limited slip center and he blew a few T86s but not a rear end. Now it has a WC T5 and a narrowed 9" Ford.
Six - The station wagon frames ARE the thickest of the lot. And yes, in the non-wagon bunch, the 6 cylinder frames are the thinnest. That said, ALL Studebaker frames are pretty wimpy compared to the others. Here's one of my two 54 wagons - Quick Change rear end, 29" tall tires in the back. The body is about 1" lower than stock, but much lower over the axle to get it back down from using the taller tire. More here - https://public.fotki.com/-Mike-/my_studebakers/ Mike
I'd like to see a '54 wagon on a coupe frame with the longer lower coupe front clip. Maybe chopped and ready for Bonneville. I bet a Conestoga could be more aero than a coupe. They look so little from the back.
You can take about two inches out of the top by using a later Lark top. It's much shorter from the drip rail up. Just kinda difficult to come by..! I know, I've been looking... And by the time you modify a coupe front sheet metal to fit the wagon body, it doesn't look much different than...the stock wagon front end..! And it's a LOT of work. An accomplished body guy tried this very thing a coupla years back, he gave up...too much trimming and welding small pieces of metal to make the fenders fit the cowl. The easiest thing to do is flatten the "birds beak" nose in the hood. Lay it down to match the C/K hood. Too much for my skills, but should be doable by someone with customizing and good welding skills. Mike
My son and I have been talking about this since we built his 16 years ago. The coupe is 4 1/2" longer from the firewall to the radiator and the hood slopes lower. Getting the McCulloch setup under his hood was a challenge. Even the hawks had a hump. The front wheels are farther forward and the body lines might have to change. The side "scoop" line in the wagon is behind the door. It would need a Dodge Magnum type chop with all the pillars left in place. No Nomadning. We blew a chance to get another one and his is too nice to cut up. There were fewer than 2,000 V8 '54 Conestogas built and only about 6,000 in all. They ruined the body in mid '55 with a wraparound wind shield. Sorry this has nothing to do with stance and wheels. 5 spoke American Mags and black walls look great.
Here is my long suffering project of 20+yrs. All homemade,2x3 chassis,narrowed 9in. rear , coilover front, homemade independent. Please excuse the crappy pics, but its stance is what we're after, isn't it?
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