1960 Studebaker Lark VI

[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!

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.

[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.

[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.



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





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





Roughly test fit the carpet over the big 4l60e

[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.

[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.



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.



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.



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.



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.

[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:


More classic AR VN 501


or for a more "racing" look these Enkei


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

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.







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.

[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.



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.







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.





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





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.





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.



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.

[Centerforce]

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

[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.