Projects 51 Studebaker business coupe to South East Gasser rules.

Really NICE work......thank you so much for posting build photos.

Ray

 

This is going to be a fun build to watch and adds to the variety of cars in the group. That's one thing that's great for the fans, there is a lot of choices of who to root for.

 

Thanks Quain, I'd like to contact Terry at some point and see what a set of front fenders and hood would cost for my '55 Pontiac.

 

I'll find out what Terry charges for one off stuff.

 

Damn u make it look so easy. I am still scratching my head on getting mine back on the fram and what I am going to do with my firewall.

 

Wait

Wait until you see what has to be done with the dash. it has to be moved back 3"to get the fire wall where it needs to be. I'll try to post pics of that sometime tomorrow.

 

The next few pics will be the new roll cage it's 4130 chrome moly. I don't like the front bars in an old school gasser but they have to be there now days. I try to build them as close to the body as possible so they won't be noticed. Sorry about the off topic car in the background.

 

Some more roll cage pics. Notice the 3/4 tube gussets in the corners they are not required by NHRA but I think they help tie the car together and make it safer.

 

The dash in this car is rounded like everything else in this thing. It curved so far forward in the middle that it was in the way of where the firewall needed to go, plus there would be no room behind it for anything. I made panel's for the top and sides to move it back 3". I don't think anyone will ever notice once it painted.

 

The panel in the middle is where the gauges will go. David is 72 years old and will do most of the maintenance himself so I made the dash removable so he don't have to try and lay under it. The gauge panel will stay and the dash will slip out around them.

 

The dash in the car. You can now see how the gauge panel works. the clecos in the side is where the bolts will go when it's finished. 2 bolts on each side it will come out in about 1 minute.

 

I have a '51 4dr parts car if your needing parts. Great looking Stude!!!

 

Small Block Chevy Power ?

 

Thanks, David has a lot of studebaker parts but you never know what we might need. David is digging for trunk hinges right now, thinks he has them somewhere.

 

Yea, believe it or not I think I heard the owner say that Studebaker used chevy engines in the later years.

 

'65 & '66. Canadian-built. 'McKinnon" engine. A hd version of the 283 & six (196, I think - not up on those years chev 6).
Very minor mods done to the engine mounts.
BTW: Nice Commander, & nice build. Would you be interested in doing a how-to on those rockers?
Hope this thing shows up @ the Stude Nats when they're in South Bend, in a couple of years.
TIA.
Marcus.

 

Nice job brother!.., as usual!

 

They were really simple to make, getting the body back in line so the doors would fit right was a little bit of trouble. It had been hit in the front passenger door jam so it was all warped up. Anyway I should have taken pics when I was making them but I wasn't planning to do a build thread on it. I can take some more detailed pics if you would like.

 

Good stuff Quain, always enjoy your posts. Makes me want to get back in the shop myself (instead of supposedly working to pay the bills). Jim

 

Nice work as always! Always like seeing the signature manual clutch linkage. You need to patent that.

 

Subscribed

 

I guess we can do a little tin work today. This is the rear of the drive shaft tunnel, it's going to be a slip joint. I have found that the chassis flexes a very small amount in this area and in time it starts cracking the thin aluminum. So I have started making the tunnel with a slip joint. The piece that will go forward will just lay on this part and not be bolted so it can move around a little with out cracking. It will make more since later on in the build.

 

The slip joint bolted in it's home. Anyone that has followed my builds in the past will know I don't use rivets except where I have no choice. Everything is bolted together.

 

The bottom side, I like the car to look good underneath also.

 

I had to build a package tray for the top of the trunk bulkhead too attach to. It's made from sheet metal so it could be welded to the body. Sorry about the mig welder tacks, it's just the only way to deal with the old dirty sheet metal where it attaches to the body. Everything else is tig welded just like Don Long would have did it in 1965, only Don was a better welder.

 

The little side filler panel. Note on all of the aluminum there are offsets where there is an overlap so it's all flat with no steps when finished.

 

These are the kind of builds I come to the h.a.m.b. for. Dare to be different!!! Love it! Will keep checking in on it! Larry

 

The side panel had to have a curve and also needed a little bit of a brake to fit on the upper side. Can't tell much about it in the pics.

 

The side panel installed. It hard to notice the curve in the pic.

 

A close up of some of the detail in the upper back corner of the side panel. The corner rolls around to the outside.