'66 Studebaker parts car to track car

[GibsonMotorsports]

Hi everyone,

With this site being a great source of information for our project, we figured it was time for us to start a build thread. In this case, "we" is entirely my father. With the exception of the final coat of paint, everything was designed, fabricated or modified by him. My role was limited to occasionally lending a helping hand and now, posting to the forum. We're 4 years into the project and the car now has a little more than 50 miles on the odometer. But before showing the car in its current state, I'd like to roll back the clock to share the progress with everyone as the car came together.

The '66 build actually started out as a much smaller project for a '65 Daytona Coupe.





Originally, the plan was to update the front suspension on a 1965 Daytona by building a new front clip. The 65 had already been transformed into a mild custom by building a larger 383 cubic inch engine, swapping in a 9" Ford rear end, converting to 4-wheel disk brakes and lowering the car several inches. Although the car looked the part, accelerated and stopped quickly, it still handled like an old car through the corners.

[GibsonMotorsports]

The basic layout of the new front clip was based on the geometry from our Pro Late Model race car but it was optimized for turning both left and right. The final design incorporated coil-overs for adjustable ride height, C4 Corvette hubs and spindles, a 3-piece splined sway bar, Appleton rack and pinion and enough room for a large 31" aluminum radiator.





Anti-dive was incorporated into the upper-a-arm mounts to prevent severe nose-dive under heavy braking. Adjustable slugs allow for adjustments for roll centre and caster. Camber is adjusted by changing the length of the upper a-arm or adding or removing shims.

[GibsonMotorsports]

The original 283 cubic inch engine was used during mock-up and offset several inches rearward to improve weight distribution by taking some of the weight off of the front tires.



Before reaching the point of no return, it was decided that despite the shortcomings of its handling during spirited driving, the 65 Daytona was too nice of a car to cut up. On to Plan B.

A very rusty 1966 Studebaker was resting peacefully behind the shop and was actually destined for scrap. It wasn’t until the shell of the car was loaded onto a trailer and half way down the driveway that we had second thoughts.



After pulling the engine in the driveway, the 66 soon found a home in the shop. After a few sketches and some further brainstorming, a plan started to take shape.....



that's it for now .... stay tuned for more updates later in the week

[andrewb70]

Nice. Looking forward to more updates.

Andrew

[CampbellshotrodsAZ]

Very cool, looking forward to it. 66 Larks aren't very common at all, glad to see it being saved.

[Justin@EntropyRad]

Sweet...a friend's family is big on Stude's..they have like 40 of them

[PhillipM]

Keep the updates coming!

[GibsonMotorsports]

We wanted to honour Studebaker's racing heritage by creating a car that would turn as well as it could accelerate and stop. A 4-year build was about to begin that would transform the rusted-out parts car to a Pro-Touring inspired hot rod with modern suspension, big brakes and plenty of power. Before long, new frame rails were grafted to the front clip and a 4-link was built to locate the rear axle.

[GibsonMotorsports]

With the rolling chassis now complete, attention turned to rejoining the remains of the body back to the new chassis. Most of the floor that hadn’t already rusted away had to be cut out to make room for the 4-link and transmission.



A new transmission tunnel and floors were fabricated and temporarily fitted to the body. The floor had to remain removable to make it easier to locate the body and roll cage. The stock fender wells remain untouched. With the correct backspacing, a 10” wide rim should clear without any interference. However, mini-tubs may be a future consideration.

[GibsonMotorsports]

Reuniting the body and the chassis allowed measurements to be taken for the bolt-in roll cage. Given that the Studebaker was destined for multiple disciplines, a specific rule book was not followed when designing the cage. It should pass NHRA certification and provide an added level of protection during lapping days. With no plans for wheel-to-wheel racing, full door bars were deemed unnecessary and the final design was a compromise between safety and comfort.



At this point, the floor had not been permanently attached yet, making test fitting the body much easier. Unbolting the cage and moving it rearward provided sufficient clearance for lowering the body onto the chassis. Once the body was resting on the chassis, the cage was returned to its proper location.

Note the recessed firewall, which was necessary due to the engine set-back incorporated into the design. Without the proper tools or experience to bend sheet metal into compound curves, an old hot-rodder shortcut was employed. A quick trip to the local hardware store to purchase the cheapest wheel barrel that was found on sale proved to be the perfect shape and size to fill in the gap. Even if you have the tools and skills to start from scratch, this short cut will save considerable fabrication time.

[GibsonMotorsports]

With the body and cage sitting in their final positions, the removable braces were added and the floor panels reinstalled. Making the rear braces removable allows the rear seat to actually be functional. But without any padding due to the raised floor pan to provide clearance for the 4-link, it may not be the most comfortable seat for a long cruise. With the rear seat installed, the rear bars will disappear where the bottom and the back of the seat meet.



That's it for tonight .... more updates to follow shortly.

[GibsonMotorsports]

Front brakes are 13” X 1.25" drilled & slotted Baer rotors and Wilwood 4X 1.75" calipers. Rear brakes are 12" X 0.810" rotors with 4 X 1.375" Wilwood calipers. For initial mock-up, coil-overs and sway bars were e-Bay finds and may be upgraded once the car is complete and the tuning process begins. The front bar is 1.25" hollow with 8, 9, or 10" arm length.



With the rolling chassis and cage now complete, the body received some much needed attention. NOS Studebaker panels are readily available and surprisingly inexpensive compared to GM muscle cars. Eventually, only the main tub remained as NOS quarter panels, doors, fenders found their way onto the car. Replacement hood, trunk lid and trim was also purchased at the National Studebaker show in South Bend, Indiana.

[GibsonMotorsports]

After fitment of the new panels, the entire car was disassembled and the chassis and cage sent for powdercoating prior to starting the re-assembly process. The chassis is rolling on 275/40-17 Nitton NT 05 on 9.5" rims on the rear and and 245/40-17 NT 05 in the front on an 8" rim.

[GibsonMotorsports]

With the body back in position and some massaging of the N.O.S. panels, the project was starting to look like a car again. Three rows of louvers were punched into each side of the stock hood and the cowl induction from a 79 Z28 was grafted into the centre. It was also raised 1.5” and opened at the rear to become functional. High pressure air at the base of the windshield will be pulled into the engine more efficiently.

[GibsonMotorsports]

Around this time of the build, I registered for the Ontario 1500 Motorsport Adventure, which will be held in Sept 2015. The 1500 is a 7-day tour of South/Central Ontario consisting of 1500 km of transit stages and 23 timed competitions held across Ontario's top facilities. The tour will start and end at Mosport and have stops at Calabogie, Picton airport, Shanonville, Cayuga and Grand Bend. Points will be awarded based on the results of 11 time attacks, 9 auto slaloms, 3 drag races and a concourse d’elegance. Basically, it's a shorter version of One Lap and right in our own back yard! I couldn't think of a better way to spend a week's vacation than by cramming an entire year of track days into a single week.

If anyone is interested in joining us for a great week this September, I encourage you to watch the video below and to check out their site at www.ontario1500.ca. With registration confirmed, the rush was on to complete the car by the Fall of '14 so that we could spend the summer '15 debugging and tuning the car leading up to the event.

[GibsonMotorsports]

After many hours of fitting, blocking and sanding, the body was sent out Five Star Collision and Restoration for the final coat of paint; 2006 Mustang Tungsten Grey



By now, the powerplant had already been built; a 400 cubic inch small block chevy that had been bored and stroked to achieve 421 cubic inches. It features AFR alumunum heads, a full roller cam and breathes through a 770 CFM Holley. Power is transmitted through a 6 speed Richmond. The engine did not make any test pulls on a dyno, but it is estimated to be north of 500 horsepower and torque.



Inside, the stock appearance of the factory interior was maintained, but with a few upgrades. An ididit tilt steering column and custom wheel connects the driver to the Appleton steering rack. Front seats are from a GT Hawk and door panels are N.O.S. pieces from a '64. Classic instruments help to monitor the engine and are housed in an engine turned panel that reinforces the perfomrance theme.

[GibsonMotorsports]

Before its first test drive, the 4:10 gears on a full spool were swapped out for a 3:50 posi unit from the '65 Daytona.



With the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Studebaker Drivers Club International Meet at Dover Downs, the crunch was on to complete the car. Driving lights from a '69 Camaro was incorporated into the bumper, which made it easy to bolt on the Camaro's spoiler. The grill was fabricated by polishing and fitting aluminum angle iron found in the project section of the local hardware store.

[Peter Mc Mahon]

Nice! I love it

[Centerforce]

This looks tremendous. I love the red interior. The Ontario 1500 looks great, too. CTMP is on my bucket list to race. That's an old-school racetrack.

We're naturally a bit curious: What clutch/flywheel setup are you running?

[GibsonMotorsports]

We're really looking forward to the 1500. We just need to make sure that car is debugged and tuned by September. Although the event was originally limited to street-legal vehicles, it was recently announced that non-street legal cars can be trailered to each venue, although they will not be eligible for the overall win.

Initially, we cobbled together a 10.5” clutch from miscellaneous spare parts we had lying around the shop. Even though we only put a few miles on the car before winter, we weren’t entirely happy with the Richmond 6 speed and decided to swap for a TKO 600 close ratio. When the new transmission was installed, the clutch was improved to a RAM Powergrip HD (#98761HD) and HD long stroke hydraulic throwout bearing. The clutch should be good for 600+ ft-lbs of torque.

The flywheel is a GM 153 tooth nodular iron from an old Corvette that weighs about 15 lbs. It is used with a 400 balance weight and a stagger mount gear reduction starter. This required machining the back of the flywheel and adding bell housing spacers to offset the space taken by the balancer weight to get the starter and hydraulic clutch to work. The only starter we could find to work with this combo is made by CSR, part # CSI-100SBP. It has a gear reduction of 3.73:1 and should be good for 12.5:1 compression. Given how rare this starter is, we should order another to carry as a spare for the 1500.