1960 Studebaker Lark VI

[bread_and_water]

I'd like to start off by saying the work you guys do and the attention to detail is inspiring and it has helped me take a step back from my project and really think through and take my time on the small details.

I picked this car up around Oct 2015 and have been plugging away at it ever since. My original plan was to just clean it up and bring it back to mostly original but with airbags. Then I started thinking I wanted to go fast but also be able to control that speed in both the straights and some winding back roads. I've always liked PT style cars so that's what I set my sights on. ]

With the Studebaker I'm at the disadvantage of aftermarket support, it's not that there isn't any it's just very limited in comparison to the other big name brands.

The first thing I did was strip the car of everything, the interior was shot and I cleared out more abandoned spider nests than I could count (still finding them in fact).

Picture from the craigslist ad
128692

Loaded up an ready to bring her home, there was actually some rain that day in California.
128693

At this point I had removed the front springs and all but the main rear leaf so I could see how low it could sit without cutting anything yet(this was still the airbag planning stages)
128694

The car overall is very solid the only bad spots being in both front floor pans where your feet would sit, their condition was nearly identical on either side so that will be addressed.
I did clean up the trunk floor as well as the engine bay before deciding I wanted to do a modern V8 swap in it. These were the same blue just different lighting.
128695

128696

Pulling the old flathead 6, this thing ran extremely well I cleaned it up and painted it with the intention of dropping it back in at a later date.
128697

128698

128699

My first thoughts of a V8 swap involved an original Studebaker 259 but then when I started looking at the cost of the rebuild kit+machine work I realized I could drop an LS in this car for much less and have a bunch more consistent and reliable power.

128700

[bread_and_water]

In May I placed an order with Pacific Fabrication in Gilroy, CA for a turnkey 4.8l LS V8 and brought it home about 8 weeks later.
128701

Then shortly after that picked up a used 4l60e.
128702

Some initial test fitting and it was easy to see I'd need to do some cutting to place it where it needed to be.
128703

128704

128705

And the tunnel had to come out as well.
128706

To transfer all the new power I picked up a 31 spline Ford 8.8 with 3.73s and factory limited slip. I smoothed it all out and moved the spring perches 15/16" in on each side to match the Stude then laid down some primer and finally a satin black top coat. The original axle was a puny Dana 30.
128707

128708

I also replaced the outer bearings and seals.
128709

I'm running Stoptech rotors all around, OEM style rear calipers and wilwood front calipers.
128710

Got a Moser cover and lube locker gasket an bolted it up. I left the sway bar brackets because I'll be using them.
128711

The rear suspension is a Hotchkis leaf pack for mid 70s dodge dart. I settled on these because the front bushings to center pin distance is the same as the original Stude leafs so there was no wheelbase change and the weights of these cars are similar. The only difference was the overall main leaf length which was 4" longer so I welded up a new rear shackle hanger and it was good to go.
128712

Test fitting with the Hooker exhaust manifolds. At this point I realized I was going to have to pull the factory steering and replace the front crossmember in favor of a mustang II assembly in order to achieve the proper fit and performance I was after.
128713

That about brings me to where the car is at currently. I have 90% of the mustang II components and just placed the order for the crossmember after deciding on the width.

[bread_and_water]

For wheels and tires I'm going with 17x9 wrapped in 245/45r17 tires all around. I don't have the wheels yet but I picked up a pair of used 245s to check fit.
Here they are compared to the 215s I was originally planning on running.
128714

I'm running Speedhut gauges in the original location by using a 2 in 1 speedo/tach and a 4 in 1 volts/water/oil/fuel set. I also had them put "STUDEBAKER" on the speedo gauge.

Original set
128715

Speedhut set
128716

Mocking up a trim plate to cover the original high beam indicator.
128717
128719

And the final piece of engine turned aluminum plate.
128718

[andrewb70]

Very cool! Looking forward to more updates.

Andrew

[bread_and_water]

Not a huge update, still waiting for my front crossmember to arrive, but my legacy plates came in with the sort of unofficial title of this build.

129003

[Motown 454]

Nice project, the gauges look great.

[dodgedartgt]

Thnx Tyler,

Looking forward to following this. Subscribed!
When I get my workspace built, I start a thread with my own project. Not PT, but an in your face, obnoxious, loud short track throw back vibe!

Mike in FL

[Later-A-body]

Very cool. This is one of the more interesting builds. I'll be following along.

[69CougarXR7]

Back in high school my best friend's father had a 60 Lark that was an ex police car... Still had the holes welded up on the roof where the light was bolted on... That car had a 289 with 3 speed on the column and a 2 speed split rear end... It sat for years but we got it going one summer, was weird to drive and quite fast...

My buddy wound up in jail and I lost contact with him... Found out a while back that his dad passed and he left the area... Don't know what happened to the car but it probably got sold off..

Brian

[sodak65]

very cool build, something different and done with great taste! looking forward to following it.

[linkstar69]

Cool little car, definitely a refreshing change to the run of the mill.

[wfo guy]

Welcome to the forum. You are doing great stuff. Please reconsider something besides a Mustang II front end. You strike me as knowledgeable and capable of research. I do not believe you will be happy with the out come.

[bread_and_water]

Welcome to the forum. You are doing great stuff. Please reconsider something besides a Mustang II front end. You strike me as knowledgeable and capable of research. I do not believe you will be happy with the out come.

Thanks for all the comments and input from everybody, I know the mustang 2 design isn't at all race car geometry or performance, but it's what I can realistically afford for this project, I would love to run a roadster shop REVO system or something similar with C6 spindles but it just isn't in the cards.

I've done a MII kit on my '48 ford f1 and I can throw that thing into some turns pretty hard and it always feels planted. I used all tubular arms on the ford as well as a 2" dropped spindle and will do an identical setup on the Studebaker the only difference being I'll install threaded ride height adjusters into the coil pockets.

Ford for reference, you can probably guess I'm into the patina look.
129174

[bread_and_water]

Here's the crossmember in all it's flat glory. It's all 3/16 plate bend and weld style from Paul Horton's welder series. For the budget minded builder it's a nice piece and keyed together very tightly without any tweaking.
129187

I warmed up the tabs a little before bending as to prevent them from tearing.
129188

129189

Boxing plates.
129190

Bolts slid through to keep everything true. I still need to clean it up before welding but just wanted to get a little start on it.
129191

[bread_and_water]

I just realized I bent the piece with the rack mounts the wrong way you can see in the first photo it's labeled for passenger and driver but I have it so the slotted passenger hole is on the driver side, so I'll have to break that top plate off and flip it around. Dangit.:hammer:

[bread_and_water]

Welded up the crossmember last night and I'm very happy with the results, I alternated sections and let it cool awhile after each section as to not overheat the entire piece. I kept the two half inch bolts in the lower control arm holes throughout the process and they still slide freely in and out so I'm pretty confident it didn't warp.

129231

129232

129233

129234

[linkstar69]

Neat

[neongreen]

This thing is cool! I love an oddball build.

[protour70]

I really respect the amount of fabing you can accomplish with the limited amount of tools. One can get a lot of work done with a good vise, drill press, mig and 4" grinder. Mad skills Tyler, Props!!

[bread_and_water]

I really respect the amount of fabing you can accomplish with the limited amount of tools. One can get a lot of work done with a good vise, drill press, mig and 4" grinder. Mad skills Tyler, Props!!

Thanks for all the compliments I try to make do with what I have but am slowly building a small arsenal of tools but space is always the kicker it seems.

[bread_and_water]

Started mocking up the sump I'm going to add to the original tank. It's 3" deep but won't hang any lower than the center of the frame.
I'll probably end up moving it a little closer to the front of the tank to get the best departure angle.

129559

129560

129561

Also mocked up the potential ride height at about 6.5"

129565

129566

[813Demon340]

Very cool build! I'm looking forward to your front crossmember install. I'm looking at doing the same on my 68 AMX. Keep up the great progress!

[bread_and_water]

Got one wheel and tire mounted up over the weekend, I only bought one in case it wasn't going to fit well so I wouldn't have to deal with returning 3 of them but it looks like they'll work well.

129707

129708

129709

[bread_and_water]

Made the big cut last night and removed the factory crossmember after some careful final axle centerline measurements. I have to say I have some cool neighbors as I was laying into this thing for a good 10-15 minutes at about 9pm and nobody said a word about it. Before, when I was still doing most of my work at my parents house if I so simply as clanked a ratchet against metal she'd start bitching about noise.

I tacked that piece of square tubing on the frame just in case, the front is still held by the core support.

129756

129757

129758

[bread_and_water]

Started getting the frame cleaned up to weld in the crossmember

129956

129957

And drilled out the lower control arm hole for this bolt sleeve to be welded into along with the gusset.
The sleeve is 1.062" diameter with a .630" hole giving it a .216" wall thickness, should be plenty stout.

129958

And a bit of mockup.

129959

[bread_and_water]

Been working on a couple things. Started on the pieces that will create straight, flat frame sections for the crossmember and cut out the rest of the firewall because I finally decided what I'm going to do with it.

130589

I left a flange all the way around where the original sheet metal overlapped on the firewall and I'm going to fit and weld in a new flat piece with a recess for the motor.

130590

The new firewall will meet underneath where the wiper motor is mounted, it's straight all the way across that section.

130591

[linkstar69]

Neato

[bread_and_water]

Spent most of sunday on the car getting the frame plates ground and fit to the odd contour. Then I was able to lightly tack the crossmember in, I'll have to remove it to plate under the old spring pocket but I just wanted to see it in there real quick.

The factory suspension had the arms swept back from the springs which is why it appears they don't line up.


130838 130839

Also attached the lower control arm, spindle and hub to get an idea of how low it might be. I'm glad I'm putting in the ride height adjusters this time because I don't want it super slammed where it gets impractical to drive, but I'm liking it so far.


130840 130841

[Centerforce]

This has definitely piqued our interest. Dont think that we have seen one of these decked out pro touring style yet. Keep up the momentum!

[TerryD]

Very cool! Kudos for daring to build something different!
Great fab work oo!

[bread_and_water]

This has definitely piqued our interest. Dont think that we have seen one of these decked out pro touring style yet. Keep up the momentum!

Thank you! You guys don't happen to make a wicked torque converter do you?


Very cool! Kudos for daring to build something different!
Great fab work oo!

Thank you!

[Centerforce]

Thank you! You guys don't happen to make a wicked torque converter do you?


Unfortunately we don't do torque converters :crying:

[bread_and_water]

Been making progress on the car. Finished welding the crossmember.

131563

Then began work on the outside of the frame, first by making partial fill plates for the original spring pockets.

131564

Then after those were welded in I drew a line parallel with the edge of those plates along the top and bottom of the frame and cut out the rest of the spring pockets.

131565

131566

Also made a firewall template.

131567

And received my master cylinder/prop valve assembly from wilwood to go along with the pedal I purchased awhile ago.

131568

I also made a big decision to go with a completely different style wheel on the car. I just wasn't liking the one I had bought before and wanted something more aggressive looking so I picked up 4 17x9 matte black D-window steel wheels that are slightly too wide for the body so I'll be doing some fitting to make them work. The plan is to run a 245/40 or 245/45 all around.

131569

131570

131571

[bread_and_water]

I had hopes of making the car a roller by the end of last sunday but I was sick all weekend instead. I did manage to get the crossmember burned in for good last night though.

131772

[linkstar69]

Looks great

[Godbolt]

Sure does. Love this project. Also really like the new wheels you have gone with. Very, very cool.

[bread_and_water]

So I'm a bit dissatisfied with the geometry they have built into the welder series upper spring hats. When I positioned the a arm slots to the number they specify it makes it so the spring is at a severe angle and in my opinion would never work properly. I ended up purchasing a pair of different hats from ebay which I feel are made much better than the welder series pieces.

Here you can clearly see the difference between the two. The welder series (top) has the spring much closer to the a arm slots and there isn't any material to lengthen the slots. Also on the ebay hats, they have incorporated the 4 degree kick in the plate for the coil spring I believe this is for anti-dive in the suspension.

I still ended up slotting the ebay plates another inch to achieve 1 degree positive camber but they are still a much better piece and I'm not sure why the welder series hats are made the way they are.

132182

This was before I slotted them and the spindle had about 4 degrees positive camber.

132183

132184

And here's after I slotted the a arm slots another inch back and installed the ride height adjusters.

132185

1 degree positive camber.

132186

Also test fit the Wilwood calipers.

132187

[bread_and_water]

Got a little more done yesterday on the frame, finished up the recess for the coil spring, just have to mimic the same thing on the passenger side.

132247

132248

[Protour_Pinto]

Love the build. Nice to see some out of the box cars popping up.

As far as converters go, Check out Dice Performance Converters https://www.facebook.com/diceconverters/

[bread_and_water]

Love the build. Nice to see some out of the box cars popping up.

As far as converters go, Check out Dice Performance Converters https://www.facebook.com/diceconverters/

Thanks and also for the converter link, I'll have to check them out.

[bread_and_water]

I took a drive out to Stockton yesterday after work to grab my Thunderbird power steering rack and pinion from Autozone (ordered online and they had it in stock) and by the way that place is seriously such a dump for anybody familiar with the area.

And Friday I'm taking a drive to the Tire Rack distribution center near Reno, NV to pick up my tires 255/45R17 all around.

132356

[bread_and_water]

Cut out the other pocket on the passenger side last night, went much quicker and easier than the first side as these things typically do.

132392

Then I started brainstorming ideas to route the air intake through the fresh air vent and original heater core housing in the fender.
I'll be using an under dash heat/ac unit.

132393

132394

Something like this.

132395

[1965gp]

This thread on garage journal has a few pics of a cool old gasser Lark in post 1:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=340170

Thought you might like to see it.

[bread_and_water]

This thread on garage journal has a few pics of a cool old gasser Lark in post 1:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=340170

Thought you might like to see it.

Awesome! Thanks I've seen that one on Instagram too.

Made some more progress on the car tonight, boxed in the passenger side frame and tacked the spring hat in place.

132432

[bread_and_water]

Picked up my tires last friday and got them mounted saturday. 255/45r17 all around, they're a tight at first fit so I'll have to figure out a way to make them work.

132769

132770

132771

I put the rears on and lifted the suspension until it began lifting the car, there isn't much weight to compress the springs so it looks high in this picture. I'm going to add 3" blocks to lower the car then with all the weight i figure it should drop another inch. With that the tire will be well into the rear fenders.

132772

132773

[bread_and_water]

A big moment happened tonight, I set the car on the ground(well 3 tires at least) for the first time in awhile and I have to say I'm loving the way the car looks so far.

The rear fenders are sitting on the rear tires.

132808

I also came to the realization the alternator sits too high on the factory bracket so I need to order a different style that drops it down.

132809

[neongreen]

Love the look with the new wheels! What brand are they? I'm running the same style, in 16" but they are HEEEAVVY, I think the wheel alone is 26#.

[bread_and_water]

Love the look with the new wheels! What brand are they? I'm running the same style, in 16" but they are HEEEAVVY, I think the wheel alone is 26#.

They're Black Rock brand, basically off road wheels and they are heavy for sure but can't beat the price on steelies.

[KiwiStarChief]

Very interesting build. I love threads like this where talented people perform miracles. Well done.

[bread_and_water]

I took a break from the car this weekend to address some issues in my garage that I've been working around since about the time I moved in roughly 2 years ago and things that have accumulated as both direct and indirect results of that. The 3 big areas that I worked on were storage, cleanliness and workspace.

I spent about 12 hours Saturday cleaning, organizing and throwing out junk that's been floating around since before I moved in and I've been lugging around for years.

First I grabbed a couple storage bin holders from harbor freight.

132953

132954


Then on Sunday after everything was clean and somewhat organized I began thinking of where to put two bench grinders I haven't been able to setup because I didn't have any good suitable space for them.

After looking through a harbor freight catalog I saw their workbenches and thought if I leave the pegboard section off them and place two benches back to back I'll have a 4'x4' work station with 6 power outlets and 4 drawers to store drills, grinding wheels, sanding belts, chop saw blades, etc....

So that's exactly what I did and this was the end result.

132955

[bread_and_water]

Some parts came in today, I ordered a bunch of assorted gussets from ruffstuff specialties an offroad vendor, for various things I might need them for but the motor mounts were my main focus with these dimple died 4" ones. I'll have one on each side of the mount.

133022

[bread_and_water]

Some new progress on the car, I had to modify the caliper brackets to correctly offset the Wilwood calipers but no big deal.

133154

Got some Taylor 10.4mm spark plug wires in blue to match the car and as you can see cleaned up the valve covers to paint them.

133155

Got a few more brackets from Dirty Dingo to mount 98-02 F body accessories to the truck block.
That's a camaro power steering and water pump and I'll also have a low mount camaro alternator just below it.

133156

And after a lot of thought as to how I was going to fit the rear tires under the car I decided to narrow the ford 8.8 axle approximately 3" and run a short side shaft. This is pretty common with these axles and really isn't too difficult.

I plan on sleeving the outside with tube once I have it welded back together for added strength but doing this will allow me to fit the 255 tires on 17x9 wheels completely under the original sheet metal. I really should have done this sooner before I welded on the new perches but carrying on.

I stuffed a rag inside the axle tube where it meets the housing to keep debris from getting in there as well.

133157

133158

[neongreen]

They're Black Rock brand, basically off road wheels and they are heavy for sure but can't beat the price on steelies.

Yep, same as what I'm running on the Falcon. Some day I'll spend the coin to upgrade to a minilite or something.

[Michaels 69]

Love this build!!!!!

[bread_and_water]

Love this build!!!!!

Thanks!

Got more billet goodies for the motor, coil brackets and an oil pressure port to run the gauge sender.

133329

133330

Picked up a shaft on saturday from the pick n pull.

133331

And I have a cam package on the way so I decided to upgrade my rocker bearings with a summit trunion upgrade kit. Quality is nice and for $130 it's good piece of mind. I also bought their install tool, a HF arbor press and was able to get it all together without much trouble.

133332

And mocked up the rear with some blocks to get an idea how this thing will look.

133333

I spent today on the transmission, installed a corvette servo assembly and B&M shift kit. The servo is super easy and the only scary thing about the shift kit is the check balls but all were accounted for.

133334

133335

[Ricott]

Love your build - it should be a rocket. I like the coil brackets you bought - what brand are they?.

[bread_and_water]

Love your build - it should be a rocket. I like the coil brackets you bought - what brand are they?.

Thanks and they're made by LSX Innovations but I got them through Amazon.

[bread_and_water]

Started putting together the fuel rail kit last night and realized the truck injectors don't work for this manifold so I'm looking at LS1 injectors and the harness adapters.

133359

and just some teaser photos

133360 133361

[protouring70]

I've seen a few of these lately and the are sweet.

[bread_and_water]

I've seen a few of these lately and the are sweet.

That's awesome, I have yet to see another one driving or parked, just a few floating around craigslist.

[acegto]

glad I found this thread...keep up the good work

[bread_and_water]

A lot has happened since the last update, first when I was performing a cam swap on the 4.8 I discovered one of the bearings had spun in the block but I was able to exchange it for a 5.3 liter short block in much better shape so now I'm in the process of moving everything over to the 5.3. I also took the time to replace the timing set with a comp cams double roller and also purchased a high volume oil pump.

I finished up narrowing the rear axle and just need to relocate new spring perches and I bought a steering wheel.

134049 134050

134051 134052

[bread_and_water]

Started work on the airbox I like how it came out but I might do another variation with a radius on the side toward the motor that would follow the radius of the filter.

It won't be 100% sealed but it'll be close and the tube will be different.

134545 134547 134548

134550

After I finished narrowing the axle I tried bolting up the mounted steel wheels and they were still a good ways off from fitting without modifying the body.

I started looking around for another wheel that would fit and came across a different American racing torque thrust style that had various offset options, had the correct center bore clearance, and was actually a 1/2" wider. I looked on summit racing but they were backordered and $200 each which I didn't really want to fork out.

After taking some better measurements of the fender and seeing that these wheels would fit really well, I was set on finding some so I entered the part number into Google and found some places selling them cheaper but the one that really surprised me was Walmart, yes Walmart and they were $30 cheaper each than on summit with free shipping and no tax. I placed the order the week before Thanksgiving and they arrived last Wednesday.

They're a matte grey with a deeper machined lip than the other torque thrust wheel I tried and they're about half the weight of the steel ones and I like how they go with the stainless trim on the car as well.

134552

134553

134554

[CampbellshotrodsAZ]

Wow, that's sweet! You don't see many early Larks done up like that (actually any Larks at all really). The patina is nice, are you going to run that for a bit?

[bread_and_water]

Wow, that's sweet! You don't see many early Larks done up like that (actually any Larks at all really). The patina is nice, are you going to run that for a bit?

Yeah I had never seen or known of Larks or any Studebaker's really until I came across this one and I don't plan on repainting the car for awhile if at all, I really like the patina too, it's the easiest paint to maintain and not worry about.

[CampbellshotrodsAZ]

Yeah I had never seen or known of Larks or any Studebaker's really until I came across this one and I don't plan on repainting the car for awhile if at all, I really like the patina too, it's the easiest paint to maintain and not worry about.

They're pretty cool cars. A friend of mine has had many Studes, at one point I would guess he had 20+ Studes of various models, mostly Larks, a few Hawks, etc. I'm pretty familiar with them. Glad you're keeping the patina, it looks great and it's only that way once... no going back once it's shiny! Plus, I've had mostly nothing but perfect, and shiny cars... it kind of gets only trying to keep them perfect!

[bread_and_water]

Set her on the ground tonight to make sure the rear cleared fully, I can't wait to drive this car.

134616

134617

134618

[Centerforce]

Heck yeah! Those new shoes are looking sweet!

[OLDFLM]

New wheels look perfect on the car!

[Ripper]

I love it! Looks great!
I want one! :D


What does the inside look like? I hope you have large washers on the inside?
https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=132185&d=1474835317

[bread_and_water]

I love it! Looks great!
I want one! :D


What does the inside look like? I hope you have large washers on the inside?
https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=132185&d=1474835317

Thanks! And washers for where?

[Ripper]

Sorry, Between the bolt heads holding the arm in the chassis and the sheet metal. Looks like a rather thick plate, but long holes can be tricky once you putting some load on the components.

[MattA]

The new wheels look great, who makes those? I am planning to do the front suspension and possibly LS swap on mine eventually. Been driving it around with lowered stock suspension for about a year. Keep up the good work.

[bread_and_water]

Sorry, Between the bolt heads holding the arm in the chassis and the sheet metal. Looks like a rather thick plate, but long holes can be tricky once you putting some load on the components.

The bolts are a large upside down T-bolt so there's a lot of surface area and somebody can correct me but I don't think you'd really want a washer between there and the plate because it may allow the arm to slide under load.


The new wheels look great, who makes those? I am planning to do the front suspension and possibly LS swap on mine eventually. Been driving it around with lowered stock suspension for about a year. Keep up the good work.

Thanks, your car looks great and the wheels are American Racing.

[andrewb70]

I'd rock a lock washer there myself.

Andrew

[bread_and_water]

Exhaust mockup, all stainless 2.5" I'll probably run a couple turndowns after each muffler just passed the rear seat.
The X pipe and tubing is a universal Pypes kit and the manifold extensions with O2 ports are from Hooker to be used with these manifolds.

135031

After getting the new block back together with rebuilt heads, LS6 springs, rocker trunion bearing kit, new pushrods, oil pump, and timing chain I wanted to prime the oil system and also make sure everything seemed to be working correctly. I hooked up my speedhut oil pressure gauge and cranked the motor over and it showed a consistent 40psi. I also hooked up the backlight wiring to see how it looks and I must say speedhut makes a quality product.

135032

[dangina]

I've ran speedhut gauges in my truck conversion and the first set failed after 10k, they sent me a brand new set at no charge within days (I didn't even have to send the old one back), you'll love'm! I have never seen a studebaker lark before, I'm sure glad I read this build, great work!

[bread_and_water]

I've ran speedhut gauges in my truck conversion and the first set failed after 10k, they sent me a brand new set at no charge within days (I didn't even have to send the old one back), you'll love'm! I have never seen a studebaker lark before, I'm sure glad I read this build, great work!

Awesome, that's good to know.

Made some progress these passed couple days and finished the motor mounts. I had ground off a bit too much from the frame mounts and had to weld a plate on the crossmember to build it back up but I like how it all turned out.

135056

I used some large dimple die gussets from ruff stuff to add more support to the mounts.

135057

135058

The mounts are definitely stout and can support the entire motor, it only sagged about a degree with no support on the back.

135060

I also test fit the exhaust between the frame. I'll have to move the o2 bungs but other than that it's almost like it was made for this car.

135061

[454bug]

Great fab work! Building everything from scratch on a one-off build is a TON of work. Hat's off for a great job so far! :cheers:

[linkstar69]

Looks great

[wfo guy]

Looking good! Are you going to do any boxing on the chassis? That's nice how the exhaust fits. I have a Speedhut speedo in my 51. It kept failing so they replaced it with a gps unit at no extra charge. I only have 2500 miles on it so it maybe too soon to know everything but it does work properly.

[bread_and_water]

Great fab work! Building everything from scratch on a one-off build is a TON of work. Hat's off for a great job so far! :cheers:


Looks great

Thanks! I appreciate it.

[bread_and_water]

Looking good! Are you going to do any boxing on the chassis? That's nice how the exhaust fits. I have a Speedhut speedo in my 51. It kept failing so they replaced it with a gps unit at no extra charge. I only have 2500 miles on it so it maybe too soon to know everything but it does work properly.

Thanks! And the frame on these is boxed from the factory, if you can imagine an upside-down "U' shape with flanges that come out perpendicular from the straight sections then they cap it with a flat piece and it's riveted and welded together. What I didn't like about it is they used pretty thin metal compared to any other frame I've seen so I do plan on running some thicker 3x2 or 4x2 rectangle tube parallel with the section of the frame where it widens up back to the rear kick-ups to create a kind of backbone for the chassis.

[chuck_skywalker]

Sweet stude, i totally laughed when i read your comment about stockton, i grew up in manteca so deff know what your talking about haha.

[bread_and_water]

Small update, got some Truck Lite led headlights and used chrome trim rings for around the headlights.

135279

[Motown 454]

The Light look good in there.

[bread_and_water]

I got a sheet metal brake for Christmas so I got to work on the inner fenders. I also ordered a Be Cool universal LS swap radiator and it fits almost like the original one.

135450

135451

[bread_and_water]

I spent some time over the holidays working on more of the sheet metal pieces.

I also find out I need to move the air intake to the driver side because it'll interfere with the upper radiator hose on the passenger side.

135666

Then I removed the last parts of the bad floor sections and began laying out the new metal.

135667

135668

My plan is to fab the transmission and driveshaft tunnel over the large section then cut the bottom out afterwards.

135669

135670

Roughly test fit the carpet over the big 4l60e

135671

[bread_and_water]

Been plugging away on the car and got a couple things in. I got my flaming river column and ididit swivel firewall mount, both are well made and the column is all stainless.

I also got my fuel sump welded onto the tank then I realized I had to notch the tank as well to clear the rearend.

136685

136686

136687

136688

136689

136690

136691

[bread_and_water]

Another piece I've been waiting to pull the trigger on is the AC/heater from vintage air. I went with one of the heritage series units with an engine turned face to match the dash panels.

I'm getting a matching clock from Speedhut for the passenger panel, but with my own personal touch added.

136692

I also got new dash switches and an ignition switch from Ron Francis. I went with this switch rather than what came with the american auto wire harness because it has a cleaner look and an accent ring that goes well with the dash color.

136693

Speaking of accent colors for my heater hoses I'm using Russell fabric braided AN hose with the blue tracer woven in. I practiced drilling and tapping on the old truck water pump to confirm there's enough material for a 1/2" drill and 3/4" NPT tap.

136694

After I mocked up some of that stuff I turned my attention back to the floor. I really wanted to add some sort of sub structure to keep it from bowing and moving all over the place so I bought a bunch of 1"x.5" .062" wall rectangle tube to secure the floor to.

I had to replace this little corner section because the original metal was too far gone.

136695

Once the first piece was in place along the passenger rocker I fit the second piece under the rear seat platform.

When I get the general frame in place I will build out from there the rest of the structure.

136696

136697

[Pro-Buick]

Hi Tyler,

What a great build and very nice car...
You took a very good decision to change the wheels for the AR Torque Thrust ! These wheels look great on a patina car.

If you wanted to have a sinister look with using black wheels, you could have use some of these...

Some Cragar OEM stock look:
136698

More classic AR VN 501
136699

or for a more "racing" look these Enkei
136700

Just my idea,.... but I love the AR Torque, ....:twothumbs

Can't wait to see your car on the road !

regards

david

[bread_and_water]

Thanks for the kind words, and I like those AR 501, I think I looked at them when trying to decide on wheels but they were a little out of my price range and I don't think they had the offset or diameter I needed.

[bread_and_water]

Made some floor progress superbowl weekend, and won $1000 which was awesome, but anyway tacked most of the bracing in place and laid out and drilled my seat locations.

I also got my AC compressor bracket and compressor from dirty dingo but I need a shorter belt because of the underdrive crank pulley. I tried to use some cheaper bent fittings but will have to also go with the billet adapter from dirty dingo to route the lines properly.

136913

136914

136915

Tonight I started working on the firewall pocket and decided I'm going to build a frame using more of the rectangle tube I used for the floor. The 1/2x1" has proven to be a very versatile size without looking bulky or out of place like say a full 1x1" square might but still provides more than adequate strength.

I plan to frame in a structure for the firewall that will allow me to heavily insulate between the tube but still cover over it cleanly and the tube will also create mounting surfaces I can screw into without going through into the engine bay.

I've had 4" in mind as the amount I would need to pocket the firewall so I used 2x4s as a starting point to space out the mockup tube so I could see if it would give enough clearance around all the sensors, fittings, and fuel crossover at the rear of the motor.

136916

[OLDFLM]

Easily one of my favorite builds going on right now!! Keep up the great work and take/post more pictures! I get excited every time I see an update!

[bread_and_water]

Easily one of my favorite builds going on right now!! Keep up the great work and take/post more pictures! I get excited every time I see an update!

Thanks! I try to keep the updates to things of considerable substance but that keeps me motivated. I think once I get the sheet metal repairs finished up and the body back in one piece it'll move along pretty quick but I want to be sure I don't rush it for the sake of getting together.

The time between posts is usually time spent going over different designs and ideas in my head to determine what is going to work and I see as the best route forward within my abilities but there almost isn't a day where I don't take a look at something on the car.

[bread_and_water]

Updates!
I fit the passenger side firewall panel and the trans/driveshaft tunnel is beginning to take shape.

137456

The tunnel will run all the way back to the rear of the back seat and tie into the trunk bulkhead and will have at least 1 1/2" of clearance all around the transmission.

137457

137458

137459

Also you may have noticed a crossmember under the transmission. I mocked up a design with cardboard and had a local shop water jet the multiple pieces to form the I-beam shape.

137460

137461

I tried to keep it as light but strong as possible with the extra holes cutout, all the plates are 3/16"

137462

137463

It fit surprisingly well going from a cardboard template I just need to work out how to mount it now.

The bottom plates will have four bolts per side that go through the flange on the frame but it still needs something to secure the top plate to the frame.

137464

137465

I've also been trying to think of how to do the center console and I'm not really sure how I landed on mid 70s camaro consoles but I ended up buying a used one off ebay to see how it might fit because I figure they have similar sized transmissions and whatnot and they're readily available new from OER products. Also B&M makes a shifter made specifically to fit these consoles which is another plus.

137466

And last but definitely not least I got the dash clock for the passenger side panel to match the other gauges and engine turned plate.
The little beer mug is to remind me when it's beer thirty on those long drives.

137467

[Centerforce]

The floor and tunnel are shaping up well! We do have an alternate suggestion for the clock, though:

137489

[Motown 454]

The car is looking nice, Great fab work.

[OLDFLM]

Tyler it's been a couple of months... any updates?

[bread_and_water]

I've taken a short break from the car but there are a couple things that I'll post later today, upper radiator mounts, reworked rear shackle mount, and picked up a plastic intake manifold to save weight over the aluminum one. I'm also considering going to a wider 275 rear tire and a slightly narrower and maybe shorter front set because the 255s may be just a bit too large for the front.

[rohrt]

impressive metal work. Subscribing

[bread_and_water]

impressive metal work. Subscribing

Thank you!
I have a few updates. I wasn't happy with how I set the rear shackle at first basically it raised the rear too much and I would need a 3" block to lower it. I pulled the bumper and hole sawed through the ends of the frame rails to slide a poly bushing sleeve into. I ordered longer shackles than I knew I needed just in case so I still need to trim the ends.

140073

140074

I also decided to go with an OEM style dorman LS1 intake rather than the cast aluminum one to save about 20lbs.

140075

I've also been working on some radiator mounts and came up with these. They'll have a rubber pad on the bottom to protect the radiator.

140076

140077

140078

140079

I'm trying to make a strong push on the sheetmetal work so the other night I worked on the firewall.

140080

140081

140082

And one last thing I bought a staggered set of tires to help with fitting them more easily than the other set. I was planning on running 255s all around but when I got them and startedd looking at clearances I realized one the front was going to rub and two the rear still had a lot of fender to fill up. I ended up buying a pair of 235s for the front which are also about an inch shorter then the 255s and a pair of 275s for the rear that are about a half inch shorter.

140083

140084

The rear will be lower than this when it's done.

140087

[OLDFLM]

GREAT progress! And I think that staggered look on those grey centered CL205s will be PERFECT! This car is gonna be AWESOME!!

[Centerforce]

The dimples on the rad mounts look sweet!

[bread_and_water]

Spent a little time last night laying out a section of the passenger floor skin.

140324

140325

[Larry R]

Wow, another Studebaker build and a very nice build at that! I say that because I am in the process of building a 1951 bullet nose into a Pro-Touring car. It has a stock Stude frame with a first gen Camaro front clip that has GW upper and lower control arms, a Guldstrand sway bar and disc brakes. The rear suspension uses stock Stude springs, Cal-Tracs and a Studebaker sway bar, really! I got it at a junk yard and it bolted right on. Engine is a gen 1 350 with a Weiand 177 blower and a Holley HP throttle body EFI on top. Trans is a TH400 switch-pitch torque converter backed up with a Gear Vendors overdrive. The rear end is a narrowed 70 Camaro 12 bolt with Moser axles and no C clips. It has a high effort, quick ratio Trans Am steering box with an Ididit steering column. I am getting close to having it on the road and can't wait.

Again, it is really nice to see a Studebaker Pro-Touring especially done as nice as yours.

140353

[bread_and_water]

Thank you! That sounds like an awesome Stude you're building as well.

[bread_and_water]

Did a bunch of work on the floor over the weekend and hoping to continue the momentum over memorial weekend.
First I transferred the cardboard templates over to sheet metal and cut the pieces out.

140449

Then I added some bead roll features to one section and liked how it came out.

140450

Then ran the rest of the pieces.

140451

[68EFIvert]

You are doing a great job on the build. I am really liking it!

[bread_and_water]

You are doing a great job on the build. I am really liking it!

Thanks! I addressed a clearance issue the other night with the oil pan. Originally I had hoped on running the GM performance muscle car swap pan but didn't realize the sump hung down so low so I picked up the Holley 302-2 pan which brings it up higher than the front crossmember. And while I was under there I went ahead and bolted up a high capacity trick flow pan for the 4l60e.

140643

I also started working on placement of a transmission cooler and fan combo from Derale. There isn't enough room around the radiator for a cooler so I'm going to try and utilize the original air inlet for the heater core to direct cool air through the fluid cooler and into dual puller fans. I may try to recess the cooler and fans into the fender panal as well for a cleaner look.

140644

140645

140646

[Larry R]

FWIW, the transmission cooler in my Stude is mounted under the passenger side floor outside of the frame rail. I blocked the rear of the cooler to force the incoming air via the scoop to go through the cooler. It does stick down a bit but is still higher than the exhaust pipes.
140676

[bread_and_water]

I considered running tandem long but compact dual pass coolers mounted on a piece of angle along the frame but was concerned about adequate airflow to them.

[bread_and_water]

Finished up the transmission mount and tacked in the first floor panel.

140709

140710

[bread_and_water]

Dug in on Monday for about 10 hours and got most of the floor tacked in place. I had cut more of the driver's side toe boards and up into the firewall because with the larger front tires I was going to have to create more clearance but with the 235s it doesn't need it, but that's why there's an extra piece of metal on that side.

As I was creating the replacement pieces I also made sure to reuse the stock body to frame mounts and reattach the new sheetmetal to the original structure under the floor. That's what the four welds around the bolt holes are in the previous post.

140765

140766

[beater65]

Looks fantastic.

Nice work sir

[bread_and_water]

Looks fantastic.

Nice work sir

Thanks! Started working on the transmission tunnel and am pretty satisfied with the templates ​so far. I'm thinking about trying to make this out of one piece of sheet metal but we'll see how that goes.

140857

140858

[bread_and_water]

Started working on the tunnel today and got pretty far along. Took one swing at it and I think it came out alright for the first time making a more complex piece like this. I ended up having to make it in two pieces because when I laid out the templates the corners of the outer "wing" parts overlapped each other.

I'm hoping to have the rear section made and all of it tacked in place by the end of this weekend.

This was all done with an unmodified Eastwood manual bead roller.

140941

140942

140943

140944

This last photo was just for my own motivational purposes.

140945

[Larry R]

Nice work.

[wfo guy]

You're doing good. Having good ideas to start with is very good. Most of us that love good metal work hate to cover it up in the end. :)

[bread_and_water]

You're doing good. Having good ideas to start with is very good. Most of us that love good metal work hate to cover it up in the end. :)

Thank you, yeah it's too bad it all gets covered up in the end.

I continued work on the firewall and driveshaft tunnel over the weekend and made good progress on both.

140995

140996

140997

140998

140999

These were just to compare how bad the floor was when I started.

141000

141001

[linkstar69]

That floor looks great, it must be tempting to just spray it with bedliner and leave it for the world to see

[Centerforce]

You really killed with with that floor and trans tunnel! Will it be fully butt welded or does it seem strong enough as is?

[bread_and_water]

You really killed with with that floor and trans tunnel! Will it be fully butt welded or does it seem strong enough as is?

Thank you and it's surprisingly strong as it is but I'm going to end up fully welding the seams just to be sure and in hindsight I wish I had incorporated a flange at the base of each section so I might also add reinforcement where the tunnel meets the floor.

[OLDFLM]

It's been over a month... any updates?

[OLDFLM]

Bueller? Bueller?

[bread_and_water]

Bueller? Bueller?

Don't worry I haven't given up on this thing, still slowly plugging away but I took a break to work on a couple other things namely my jeep and built a large heavy duty welding table because didn't really have a good area in my garage to fabricate small projects. Also a complete suspension overhaul on my daily driver, lowered 2008 charger with 200k miles and every bushing was shot and had a broken coil in the rear so it was definitely time.

[LewdStude]

Any updates with FASTUDE ?

[LewdStude]

Is this project still alive?

[grendel]

Why do I feel like I am watching a Pirate4x4 build?

[OLDFLM]

Whatever happened to this build?

[OLDFLM]

U p d a t e s ? ? ? ? ?

[Zspoiler]

You are doing some very nice work .And you are going to surprise a lot people who don`t know what this car is. I grew up with these cars so I know.

[bread_and_water]

Looks like photobucket realized nobody was going to pay them their ransom and my pictures are back, I don't have any updates at the moment but will be getting back on this project soon.

[Peanut1959]

Good to know you're inspired to make some forward progress. Looking forward to more updates!

[bread_and_water]

Just a quick welfare check, I've been putting in some serious time on the Studebaker and will try to update later today with pictures.

[Peanut1959]

Great news! Glad you're still with us and making progress.

[bread_and_water]

So it's obviously been a while since I last updated this build but I've made some pretty drastic changes because I wasn't happy with how some things were turning out and I wanted and was fairly confident with some better tools and a little more thought I could do better. My focus became clean and detailed metal work so the plan is to have the car be a 2 seater with carpet under the driver and passenger but most of the interior other than that will be exposed but painted metal work.

One of the first things I did was cut out and scrap the firewall and tunnel as well as the inner fender panels I had made and found some better template making material to create curved surfaces rather than boxy ones. Another big change was to go with full QA1 coilovers front and rear with a single triangulated 4 link in the rear. I also went with a Speedway fabricated ford 9" assembly and an aluminum Strange 3rd member from Quick Performance stuffed with a Truetrac and 3.25 gears because I really want this car to be a very comfortable highway cruiser as well as be able to handle and with the relatively short tires and power from the 5.3 it should still be plenty fast.

Anyway on to the picture updates because it's easier to show than it is to tell.
This first picture is soon after I cut the tunnel back out and began setting up the rear suspension.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

[bread_and_water]

Here's the suspension basically finished except final welding. The picture uploading is being odd so bare with me until I figure it back out and can post more in between progress.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2019/01/IMG_20181012_180515_1-1.jpg (http://s725.photobucket.com/user/tpaniagua1/media/Studebaker/IMG_20181012_180515_1.jpg.html)

[Bob in St. Louis]

That's cool!

[OLDFLM]

YES!!! My favorite build is back! Finally the Christmas present I've been waiting for!

Seriously, my favorite build in a long time and so glad to see you're back!

[TimMC]

what rear suspension kit is that or did you do it your self. It looks clean and well done.

[bread_and_water]

what rear suspension kit is that or did you do it your self. It looks clean and well done.

The axle brackets and bars are WelderSeries(a small company up in Canada) and I fabbed all the tube structure myself pulling some inspiration from Art Morrison style setups.

[what huh]

I found this build in a google search and I couldnt stop reading, pulled me in as a Studebaker guy myself. Is this build still happening? I see that its been awhile. Hope everything is ok

[bread_and_water]

The build is progressing I've just stopped posting here because uploading photos has become a pain. I have many more updates on my Instagram if you're on there, if you search for #fastude it'll bring up everything I've posted. My Instagram profile is bread_and_water_

[what huh]

The build is progressing I've just stopped posting here because uploading photos has become a pain. I have many more updates on my Instagram if you're on there, if you search for #fastude it'll bring up everything I've posted. My Instagram profile is bread_and_water_


Good to hear. I just followed you ... chuckthefish_son

I am planning a Lark build myself. I was going to do it on the 61 Lark Vlll I have but I cant bring myself to cut her up cause its just to original and clean. I bought it from the original owner, southern California car and its been a great driven and reliable.

Im going to pick up another Lark, maybe with no drivetrain to save some cash cause I already have the engine and trans I want to use. Packard 352/T-85

But anyways, thanks for replying.

[OLDFLM]

WooHoo! One of my favorite builds is back! Thanks for the IG link! Still wish you'd update here though too...