Projects 51 studebaker/hemi

I then blasted the dash primed and painted it... I took the cluster apart and hand painted all the numbers and all the little hands on gauges, and fixed the gas gauge and temp gauge and of course the speedo... As for the wiring I used most all the stuff behind the dash... they were 6 volt cars so the wiring is exactly twice as big as it needs to be for 12 volt system... cleaned the switches and taped up what was frayed

 

Aint that dash pretty... sorry I'm bragging, it's really neat at night with the lights on
The 2nd pic is a shot of a trial of the seats with all the engine bay wiring in thru the fire wall, you can see the fire wall insulation I used also... got it at Lowe's for $15 for 2 rolls(plenty)… you can also see the windlass is in... you cant get in in around the dash, so it goes in first... And if you look in #2 and #3 pic you see my Walmart black vinyl.... I put that in from up under the dash to down below the carpet so it would look finished and on purpose...
How do you like that wood steering wheel?? buddy gave it to me... it's off a 63 vette (15 1/2 inch)

 

Moving on to the door panels, kick panels, and rear panels... They are just Lowe's Masonite 1/8 inch with pleated and smooth vinyl, and carpet on bottom of door panels... I sewed a long 3 inch wide strip of black vinyl around the carpet, then when I glued it on I pulled the vinyl around the sides and bottom to hold and hide the edge of the carpet, kinda gives it a professional look,

 

In the 2nd pic you can see the old original arm rest with the stash box under the cushion lid... I just glued pleated vinyl around it and dyed the cushion to match... the divider strips on the door panels are 1/16 x 1/2 aluminum I got at Lowe's to divide and hold the edges of the vinyl... I did buy the seats from Speedway ( I aint that good)… You can also see the headliner is in... that was a neck ache... and no I never put in a headliner like this before... and I left a couple wrinkles in( for the effect) View attachment 4123074

 

Hey I need to know where that auto parts store is to kidcampbell71...haha

 

..got any pics of the whole car,...looks cool as heck.

 

Looking good Sir.Please keep the updates coming as you are able.And yeah,those Stude frames are a bit on the"Flexie Flyer"side.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

I guess I should give a pic of the finished car

 

WOW.

 

Here is a picture of the door pulls/ armrests... I hated the dinky, weird original ones... I found these from a 85 mustang... so of course I had to fab up something to mount them that wouldn't yank off... so I welded a couple plates of sheet metal on the doors... I welded a couple 1/4 x 20 nuts at the right location and angle.... then on went the door panels, then the door pulls

 

Oh yeah... I mounted the door panels with those little plastic push in studs... had to put them in before I glued on the vinyl and carpet....( no screws showing) big yay

 

I replaced all the window runs and the fuzzy's and all the rubber... oiled up the window regulators...And now they close with one finger and sounds like a new car door (FOOP )haha

 

I really like what you've done. I have to ask one thing; does it seem "nose-heavy"? A hemi is a lot heavier than a Stude six. Should make for some awesome burn-outs, though.

 

You know I worried that it might be nose heavy... I didn't really care, but I thought about it.... But no I dont think it is nose heavy... the 56 354 hemi supposed to weigh in @ about 725 lbs. But I lost The cast iron dual 4 setup and that big water pump/crossover rig.... and those 2 things weigh about 200 lbs... So that brings in in @ about 500 lbs.... And at rest the coil springs are compressed to just level the upper support arms... which is where the geometry is correct @ ride height... But you also have to think where the weight is at in the car... The Chrysler motor mounts in the front.. the trans mount @ rear... so 550lbs plus 150lbs trans equals 700lbs divided by 2 equals 350 on the nose and 350 on the trans mount and its in the middle of the car.... Does that make sense to you??? Just my way of thinking

 

Hey tubman is that your hemi in the picture.... what is it

 

Dang...makin' a bunch of us look bad. Great car with a great build thread!

 

I guess I should put a picture of the trunk... this area ate up hours and hours of work... their wasn't anything left and what was left was ate up...haha I had to make about half of the little channels the rubber fits into... and course the floor just didn't exist.... a grinder and a lot of welding... got carpet at Lowe's 42 cents a foot... a lot of work but cost about 20 bucks ( carpet and splatter paint)

 

That's the engine in my dirt modified in my avatar. It is a 331 out of a '54 New Yorker. It has .060 over 12.5 pistons, an Engle roller tappet cam, two large base 2GC's adapted to a Weiand dual quad manifold (gotta look old timey, ya know), and the rest of the regular "Go Fast goodies". If you're interested, there are pictures of the whole car in one of my albums. I used to get a lot of shit from the guys running 350 SBC's and 351 Fords because I'd beat 'em with "that big hemi".

 

Hey guys I really do wanna thank you for the compliments.... I hope nobody thinks I'm trying to make me look good or you not.... I just hope maybe somebody can get ideas and also see it dont take too much money to make a neat rod.... Just takes a lotta time and be dirty a LOT...haha
I know while I was building I got online a lot for how too's and what if's... Like the brakes... everybody talks disc brakes... their kinda costly but drum brakes work too... I finally got some parts and worked it out.... Maybe this post can help somebody

 

Hey Tubman I bet it does run very good... If you believe all the crap about 8 to 1 and 9 to 1 compression and hemi's you wont make much HP.... I put bout 11.5 to 1 in mine and done a good pocket/ street port and advanced the cam and it is super throttle responsive... it will about jerk the front off the ground just slapping the pedal

 

The only downside is the cost of the 112 octane race gas it needs, Luckily, I live about 20 miles from B.I.R and there's a Sunoco station across the street that has "real" race gas (not the alcohol-laced stuff most stations sell). I thing it was $8 a gallon the last time I bought some. It smells great when it's burned, though.

 

The rear seats are just plywood with 4 inch foam and I just stapled it on... under the back seat is where I put the battery

 

Putting the motor in was kinda anticlimactic... I mean I knew it and the trans were going to fit... The only thing was it was so big that I had to get the fuel pump then the alternator then the fan and all buttoned up then the radiator... I actually had to take the radiator back out to put the bottom hose on the water pump...

 

You can see in the first picture the chain is still on the motor... I had just put it in... so I celebrated with a cig and a mountain dew...haha … The alternator mount is just 1/4 plate metal cut out and bolted FLAT against the 2 stand off pad on the water pump... had to make a lazy z shaped stiffener for the pivot on the alternator to one of the motor mount bolts... no wiggle and runs true... The fuel pump is a stock hi volume unit for a 340 mopar… It needs a spacer to get the actuator arm correct on the cam eccentric... I used 3/8 plate aluminum, used a gasket as a pattern and made one... they are $40 from hot heads...

 

Oh I just remembered... The Studebaker had a key ignition switch and a foot starter switch... I changed to a key crank ignition switch... Well when I shut it off it didn't (shut off that is)… That's because it back fed from the field connection in the alternator thru the ignition switch to (you guessed it) the Coil... all you gotta do is put a $1.00 diode at the alternator field connector... the little white band towards the alternator... Solved

 

And because I have no water pump by-pass I drilled a couple 3/16 inch holes in the thermostat(no hot spots)…
I came back and added this photo, it's looking at the radiator and fan, You can see how good the 55 chevy radiator fits... no cutting, just a couple pieces of sheet metal and some 1/4 x 20's.. The radiator is about 2 inches from the front of the water pump.... I used this style fan because it was flat and missed everything... I think it was an 18 inch one.... It hit the top radiator hose so I just cut 1/2 inch all the blades

 

I really dont have many pictures of the engine build... It was weird but basically a small block Chrysler with crazy heads... Hemi Haines has the best stuff online building one of these.... You can see I have the guides out and I have done a bowl blend, street port job.... No need trying for a race port job... short headers and mufflers would cancel out any of that... A good bowl job like this will add about 25 or so horsepower to this motor... I decked the block 0.020 inch and took 0.010 inch off the heads... calculates out about 11.5 to 1 compression ratio... decking the block will build some squish into the heads... LESS detonation not more... I'm running 32 degrees total and no detonation with 93 gas...
also advanced the cam 4 degrees because it's on a 108 LCA... Idles @ about850 RPM with a 3200 stall.. and do hook up your vacuum advance (you'll be happy)

 

Here's the block.. the first picture is the way it looked when I got it home

 

No this is not a marine motor...the guy I got it from took the adjustable rockers and valve covers off a marine motor... And I'm very glad he did...haha... In the 2nd picture if you know these motors you see it's a truck or industrial block... the give away is the key hole shaped push rod holes... If you got one of these bad boys and are building it, do yourself a favor and run a tap thru every single hole in it
Oh something else on the crankshaft... Chrysler had nuts and bolts (stupid) tap them out 1/2 x 20... dont drill it, just run the tap in... and be sure to use a jig on that tap!!!
I put the last picture up to show the radiator.. It for a 55 chevy… cost $120 on Ebay and cools perfect.....
thank you all...
I'd be glad to try and help anybody.... I work in a engine machine shop so I've seen a few things

 

Have you driven it with the hood on? I'd like to know how it does in the heat with the hood on and in traffic. My 51 has a serious overheating issue in the 120 degree Arizona summers.