Projects Studebaker Overdrive

Howdy everyone

So I just bought my first Studebaker, it's a 61 Lark with the Skybolt 6 and a 3 speed column shift. It's an almost running project, just a little love to get it going. I've read somewhere that some of these have overdrive on them, how do I tell?
Thanks!

 

Easy clue to look for is a T handle with pull cable under the dash to engage or lockout th OD. Looking under the car at the transmission, the tailhousing of the trans will have a 'lumpy' shape and a 4" long cylinder shaped solenoid hanging off one side.

Google " Studebaker Overdrive transmission images" and you'll see pics.

Ray

 

My Father had a Lark wagon in the 60's with O/D and it was neat . Not only would it go int O/D in high gear but it would go into O/D in first or second . ( six speed LOL ) All you had to do was let up on the gas and it would go into O/D. I know this sounds odd ball but that is the way it worked. Worked very good too ! Like Hnstray said it has a a t-handle at the bottom of the dash on the left side . The Lark was reliable also .

 

cool....good luck with it....

 

You can leave the overdrive handle in the "on" position all the time if you like, but if your battery craps out and you have to jump it - shut off the OD. The car will not jump start with the OD engaged. I didn't know that, and had to send my '49 Champion sedan home on a rollback....

 

Oh great! Mine has that. After inspecting it more, I noticed it doesn't have an oil filter, is this normal? I've seen pics where it's supposed to be near the front on top but there's nothing there. Any ideas?

 

Nice, thanks for the heads up. I always thought Studebakers were real neat cars. Also, I noticed that there isn't an oil filter on the engine. I thought it was supposed to be on top near the front, well there's nothing there. Is that normal?

 

Oil Filters were an option at some point with ALL makes of cars.....not hard to find an add on for the Stude...the V/8 Stude did not get a spin on until 1963.........

 

It's not a good idea to leave the OD cable pushed in ALL the time. When parking the car, it will roll when left in a forward gear, because the OD has an overrunning clutch inside. It will not roll if the transmission is in reverse, as I recall. If you have a good parking brake (highly recommended) it is a good habit to cultivate to always use that when parking the car. However, pulling the cable outward will disengage the OD unit and that is the safest mode for parking, especially in a hilly area.

Ray

 

I'll keep that in mind when I get it going.
Also, how likely does the head crack? The radiator is bone dry, the water pump is toast and doesn't have a belt on it. When I tried to start it yesterday the fan started turning..... But there isn't a belt attached to it. Any ideas?

 

Voodoo..............bad juju! ........

Ray


you don't want to start it, for more than a couple minutes, tops! without water in the block/head. Did you have a floor fan in front of the car, blowing towards the radiator? That could do it......otherwise I have no idea what would propel the fan with no belt attached...

 

I take it the head is either cracked or the head gasket is toast?

 

Not necessarily, the water could be gone for any of several reasons. It COULD be because of a cracked head or bad gasket, but I would not assume the worst without further examination. However, that being a flathead six, you could easily pull the head and examine the head, cylinder block, cylinder walls/piston tops and gasket condition with minimal labor and expense.

Ray

 

Actually it's the first year OHV Skybolt 6. I swore I heard somewhere that these can have the cracked head issue.
The only thing I can think that would have spun the fan was that oil was getting pumped through it. It stopped after turning it over for about 4 secs. It only spun about a second after cranking it. Or I may be crazy.
The oil pan had water in it and it almost turned to a muddy thing then turned to a jelly like stuff. The previous owner put Tranny fluid in the cylinders to unseize it. That may be something but I'm not sure.

Ryan

 

Oh, my mistake about being a flathead.....I have a hazy recollection about early OHV heads cracking, now that you mention it.

Were it my car, I think I would look for a good used replacement engine, or maybe better yet, swap in something else......the Studebaker engine compartments are fairly roomy.

Ray

 

How are you doing with your Lark?

 

One of the first things you should do is join the Studebaker Drivers Club, they are a great bunch of guys with a lot of info. And of course keep asking questions here on the HAMB...

 

Also look up information on the Borg warner r 10 trans. You should not engage reverse with the of enabled. If you can't find info under Studebaker, look up Mopar info as they used the same series on Plymouth, dodge and DeSoto. Good find, they really add flexibility to the vehicle.

 

A few random thoughts:
Yes, the OHV heads had some trouble cracking. Oddly, when a number of them were sectioned, the head gasket surface wasn't as thick as it was supposed to be. I say oddly, because Stude didn't design it that thin, the foundry wasn't sloppy, & Stude didn't try to cut corners or costs then. I'd guess that most of the cracked heads have been replaced, either under warranty, or by their owners. On this one, I'd pull the head & see what the cyl's look like, & have the head pressure checked. may as well look into the crank area too.
They aren't hard to work on, but you do have to be aware of some of the "idiosyncrasies". It's just that Stude designed & built the mill, so treating it as a ford or chevy doesn't work well. Get a good factory manual - not expensive, maybe $35. or so. Or less.
There are still some nos heads around, & lots of used ones. I've got an nos oem head gasket I'm not going to use. You'll find once you get used to the 3spOD, you'll like it. As mentioned, partial-flow filter assemblies are common, & easy to find. & they work well.
You probably have a Dana27 rear end now, but Dana 44's are fairly easy to find, not real expensive, & btw, hold out for Twin Traction. Although it can be aded easily to an 'Open" rear end. Lots of ratios available.
& if you find you want a bit more power for cheap, well that's available to. Stude mills do well w/boost. .
& finally, yes - you *do* want to join SDC. Maybe your local chapter also. You'll find almost every Stude-fiend is willing to be helpful. .
Marcus...

 

There's also an active Facebook Studebaker Group, Studebaker Addicts. Occasional help can be accessed there and they're always interested in looking at new cars/projects.

 

I agree with nrgwizard. The OHV Six heads could crack, and you need to examine yours, but there's no need to expect it to crack if it hasn't already.

 

Put a Chrysler in it...

 

so i have read that an overdrive was std starting in 1938, i cant find anything on my commander that ws it has it. however there is something missing on the firewall directly in the center above the engine, (a few holes and some clean paint) like something was unbolted, could it have been removed?

 

Thanks for asking man.
The Lark is well, it runs perty good. I need to get a water pump because the bearing is shot. So I run the engine for only about 10 secs or so but I've only run it a couple of times. It sounds nice, more powerful and deeper than my ford 200 in my Ranchero. I got it up on jack stands now and am getting ready to tear into the brakes. I got the rear drums off, a serious pain, and plan on rebuilding the wheel cylinders.
I did paint the valve cover though and adjusted the valves but I need to do that again since I did it without doing them at TDC of each cylinder. And I cleaned out the carb, which was full of permatex, yay.
This is the car as of now, getting ready for the brake and clutch overhaul.

 

You can buy reprints of various makes/models with OD transmissions on E-Bay. The overdrive will have, as already mentioned, a solenoid on the left side of the transmission, and a governor on the right side. The was a Studebaker Avanti overdrive transmission on E-Bay recently. Car had the Chevrolet 283 engine, so the overdrive transmission would bolt to any Chevrolet bellhousing, but it was't the weak Muncie 319 overdrive transmission the older Chevrolet's came with. I was tempted to buy it for I think $450.00 BIN, but shipping made it too much. Your truck in the photo looks almost like one of the Bremerton Raceway support vehicles. Good luck with the Lark, 4 doors and all.
I am Butch/56sedandelivery and former Handler-Bremerton Raceway.

 

Great looking car, wish it were mine!

 

Nice. You really need to get hooked up with the SDC. There are a lot of active, long time Studebaker owners in Washington State and there's a ton of local knowledge available to you if you reached out.

Studebakers West, down in the Bay Area, is a good parts source to tap. And yes, those drums are a PITA. I ended up cutting off the swedges on one drum so I didn't need to use a drum puller in the future and plan to do the same to the other rear drum. It's worth getting the hairiest looking drum puller for future interventions and keeping headaches to a minimum.

 

That sounds right. If someone doesn't post or confirm that today I can upload a photo of my firewall this evening.

 

Haha, I haven't been to the raceway yet but I have to go now. That truck is the greatest $950 my dad has ever spent. It just keeps running although just about everything is shot and has plenty of rust.

 

I actually signed up with the SDC not too long ago. It's pretty helpful. I found out how the hood torsion bar goes on and all. That is an ingenious idea how they did that! So simple and efficient.
That isn't a bad idea with the drums but I wanna keep this as original as possible, even if they suck. One of the studs started turning in the driver rear drum, that's fixable right? If so I'm gonna look at getting all the studs replaced. They all don't look to be in great shape.