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




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


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)


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.




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.






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.

[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.


Then shortly after that picked up a used 4l60e.


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.






And the tunnel had to come out as well.


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.




I also replaced the outer bearings and seals.


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


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


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.


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.


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.


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


Speedhut set


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



And the final piece of engine turned aluminum plate.

[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.

[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.

[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.


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




Boxing plates.


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.

[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.

[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.

[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.