A friend of mine graduated her triplet son's from HS this year and one of them bought a car off Hagerty's auction site. It was delivered out here and they have no knowledge of it and asked for my help. The battery was nearly flat when I got there so I couldn't do much today. It looks like it has a new carb rebuild (Carter), new hoses and belt, new 6V Battery, new solenoid, new plugs and wires and cap. Interior is fair, body is rust free from what I can see and pretty straight other than a few creases in the drivers door. Recognize it? Pictures next post.
Fairly good 'stones on it, curb feelers, cool sun visor, extremely original (for now...hey, they could have asked a restorer to help out but they asked me). No sags or altitude issues. I'll get it running once the battery is up. It sure looks like it ought to run and drive but I need to make sure it is safe first. Antifreeze is good to -40, someone did a lot of maintenance on it. I just thought if it was known to someone on here I could get some inside info on things like a bunch of wiring with terminals near the steering column that are not hooked up to anything. That sort of thing. Once it has power I can diagnose the wiring and whatnot. History of the car would be nice to have though.
Bullet nose Studebaker two door sedan with an ugly stuck on wrong for that car visor. If it is stock it should be pretty simple to figure out as far as getting it running or deciding that it won't run. If memory serves right they used that same basic engine (six) for years on end. http://rrvcsdc.org/Six-Cylinder-Engines.php I worked on a lot of flathead six Dodges in high school auto shop in the 60's Because my teacher worked summers for the local Dodge dealer in his shop and a lot of the local flathead stuff just got directed to the high school shop during the school year. I don't think I ever worked on a Studebaker of that era though. I'd charge the battery and assume you are already doing that. It just may be bad or may have been drained from being started and not run long enough for the generator to charge it back up.
One good thing to do is have your buddy join the Studebaker Drivers Club the monthly mag is worth the cost of admission...and don't forget that Stude is Positive ground ...with big fat cables that look like ones on your welder, not on your daily driver...
Billy, I would call Fozzie Bear, I hear he knows those Stude 2 drs pretty well. And you can always call Brizz !
Nice looking car. You aren't a newbie, so you should be able to figure this out for them. My first guess for a bunch of loose wires near the column is an aftermarket turn signal switch. I can't help with history, it might help to say where it was purchased from to narrow it down. Along with joining the club, a set of manuals will be a big help, and locking in the parts suppliers that deal with these. It's good to see 2K youth getting into these, but if this is the first vintage car for the family, you should explain the differences from the typical modern car. Carbs with chokes, warming properly, more frequent maintenance and servicing, more smells and what is good VS bad. Is it for all 3 or did the other 2 get something too? I can see drama over not doing Monday service and access for Friday date night!
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