Curious if a 53-54 Studebaker coupe front clip will bolt on to a 55 president speedster without any modifications.
If you get the whole clip yes it will work. If piecing together there are a lot of differences. We just modified 1 55 fender and 1 61 fender to our 54 Commander. You are lucky to find the 53/54 clip.
Short answer: Yes, it will fit. I'm talking C/K here, the coupe(C) or hardtop(K). Shouldn't be any sheetmetal mods required, unless one or both were damaged in the past. 56-64 will also fit like that, but fenders need some mods President was a trim designation, as was commander, both being v8s. Champ was the 6. Wheelbase was same. Speedster was also a trim designation. Lots of interchangeability 'twixt the Studes, but it has to stay w/in the "family" of body styles. Marcus...
Thanks for the replies. Looking at a 55 speedster but i like the 53/54 front best. If I get it, this will be a very backburner project. I have lots of time to wait for the right front clip
One possible problem... A complete, 53 and or 54 front end for sale...has been VERY hard to come by for a long time now. You would most probably be much better off finding a 53 or 54 in the first place. I can see this being a "still born" project because you can't find all of the parts required. You can buy 1953 fiberglass copies though. Mike
Sedan; 2dr or 4dr, & wagen; '53->'55 interchange. Virtually nothing sheetmetal-wise interchanges w/'53->'55 C/K. I have a '53 Commander front clip available. To do a "pieces" swap onto a '55 K, you need the '53/54 C/K hood, latchplate(front of rad piece), grille pieces incl the sheetmetal part that holds them. The chin piece is same from '53->'55, difference is 2 ittty-bitty brackets spot-welded near the outer corners on the '55. I do know where to find out if needed. Also should use the '53/'54 front bumper since it's thinner. Haven't tried to see if '55 would be a proper fit on a '53/'54. & use the rear bumper to match the front, as I think it'd look "off" if you didn't. Since the '55 hood is a '53/'54 hood w/the front cut off, the '55 Speedster stuff will transfer. May need to fill or add some holes. Side trim will fit, but haven't looked closely enough to see iffen trim holes are identical. Don't know if the fog lights would properly bolt up from a '55 to the '53/54, but they used them in those years as accessories, so just match them to the bumper you use. This could be a very neat look, esp done in oem colors. Nothing like screwing w/peoples' heads. . & it'll all bolt up. . Claim it's *possibly* a concept car to demonstrate the viability of the idea? . Marcus...
I put a 53 front clip on my 55 Commander Coupe after an "Incident" at the roundup one year. I think Chubbie is referring to the inner fenders being attached to the fenders, not welded to the body.