Thrashed on the car all week and finally finished it up this morning, ROAD TRIP!!! We loaded the trunk with tools and took off for Dewit to meet up with Lee/Deadbird to help a buddy of his work on his ha/gr. Along the way we stopped at Teds Garage, its a classic style grill inside an old chevy dealership, cool place, good food, sorry no pics of the inside. No we havent cleaned the blue off the whitwalls yet, figured that was just another 1/2 hour of time wasted and I'd rather be driving it than cleaning it! We'll do it sometime this week. When we got to Dewitt we were supposed to go north and call, well I looked left at the turn and noticed a certain light blue pickup, and figured we must be close, turns out the crew we were to meet up with took a break for lunch at the bar. Pops and I had not met any of these folks, and didnt take long to fit right in. Good bunch, Plowboy even spoke to me,, I think I'm in love!! With the truck,, yeah the truck. After a quick once over of the cars we headed out in the sticks to meet Bill and thrash on the car. We got a bunch done and be the time we left it was on its own wheels and actually roll! We had a blast, its always more relaxing to thrash on someone elses wheels. The car behaved flawlesly all day and most of the evening. Being my first time in a Studebaker, I was fairly impressed, 70 on the freeway with both hands off the wheel, no problem. Oh yeah, then there's the motor, let me tell ya, that little sumbitch will MOVE!! Not the fastest thing I've ever driven but more than enough power to get sideways from a dead stop! I said it behaved most of the evening, evidently it makes enough power to break not one but both of the 45 year old motor mounts, no problem! Notice the oil in the second pic?? Just outside of town it blew the front seal out and began to empty is lifeblood all over the place, got back to the shop befor it hurt itself but not exactly the way to end a very cool day. I have already found all the parts needed to cure it so hopefully it wont take long to get it back on the road! Lee, Thanks Dude it was a cool trip for sure!
Nice jay! Carefull about our pal Plowboy, you may find yerself sitting in a parking lot at 3am with a few empty cases nearby...............oh wait, thats all of us!
I drove a '63 Lark 2-door sedan as every day transportation back in the early 90s. 289 with a 4-speed. Once you get the nit-picky stuff sorted out, this one will be a very reliable daily driver. You might want to consider a neoprene lip seal on the snout when you take the timing gear cover off. No more leaks, ever . . . http://www.ncsdc.com/TechnicalPages/TimingSealConversion/TimingSeal.html
Sorry I couldn't hang out the rest of the day. I had russco and Jimmy coming over to the ranch. Of course, when I got home the ol lady tells me that the belt slipped off the mower. It probably had something to do with the fact that the deck was half ripped off of it and I had to weld it all back together.
It was good to meet ya anyway! Pops and I are planning to make the trip up for breakfast sometime soon, theres always next time! Broken mower? Sounds like a reasonable excuse to not mow!!
Can't believe it's on the road - good job! Looks like you guys had a blast. Is it going to the HAMB drags? Hope so...if not I maybe I'll get to see it at breakfast next Sunday morning (you'll find out soon enough). They don't come any nicer than Aaron, quality people!
Hey glad to see more Studes on the road. Good job! Those 289s (or even 259s) are pretty stout if you give them a chance. Just ask the guys in the other lane at the Pure Stock Muscle Car drags. Pat
The Jalopy Journal
