Projects Any Hamb Studebaker Forums?

Thanks man! It’s in paper weight mode at the moment but as much as it’s frustrating me momentarily I don’t think I could ever really get rid of it.

let me know if you need a hand with the video

 

@nosford you are right about the stock Studebaker wheels being more like modern FWD wheels. They are nearly all backspace.

The convertible has 15x7 rear wheels with 4.25" B.S. bolted to a narrowed Explorer 8.8" rear end which is at least a couple inches narrower than a stock Stude rear. To fit the 235's I had to roll the fenders pretty heavily.

Lots of wheel styles are not an option on these with a factory axle. Even the front with 205/75r15 tires on 15x6 3.75" B.S. wheels took some pretty heavy rolling and it still rubs on occasion.

 

Okay Tim, I am going to try to post a recording of the dual exhaust, this is a cold start so didn't try to rev it a whole lot but hopefully this works and you get the idea. WELL, FUBAR, it won't work through the HAMB. Either says file not supported or file too large. Pm me your email and I will send it that way.

 

Hey everybody with Studebaker wagons out there I have a wheel question. My 1960 Lark 4 door wagon (see previous post for pictures) is as stock as they come, has 55,000 original miles on it and pretty sure it has never been wrecked. I am trying to find a set of steel 15 inch wheels that will fit the rear AND front that are wider than the 4.5 inch stockers. I have the original 15 x 5 inch 55 Ford wheels from my avatar on the car now with 225 70R15 tires and they barely fit under the rear without rubbing on the wheel well lip. These tires are the same diameter as the stock 6.70-15 bias ply stockers that were on the car, that's why I bought them. The recommended wheel width for these tires is 5 - 7 inches wide. The 55 Ford wheels are NOT for tubeless tires as they don't have a safety bead on the wheels so if the tire goes low on pressure it will come off the bead. So I am going to reference everything here FROM the wheel mounting surface where the wheel contacts the brake drum. The stock Studebaker wheels are 1 3/8 inches from wheel mounting surface (WMS) to the outer tire bead surface and the 55 Ford wheels are 1 5/8 inches. I started looking for some front wheel drive wheels due to the offset needed to the inside of the wheel. Bought some Honda Accord 15 inch wheels that were 6.5 inches wide, 1.5 inches WMS to outer tire bead and they went on the rear perfectly! Hooray! Now to the front, NOPE, too far inset and rubbed on the front suspension before they were even close to the WMS. Tried some Toyota Camry wheels, same scenario, fit the rear but no way on the front. Tried the 15x6 Torque thrust from my 55 Ford, fit the front, no way in the rear. There are some Hyundai wheels that are 15 x 5.5 inches but it looks like the offset is too far inside to fit the front. Another issue I ran into the Honda wheels stuck out so far the stock hubcap wouldn't fit either. I keep seeing pictures of Studebaker wagons with aftermarket wheels on the rear, anyone have any suggestions? Sorry for writing a book about this but trying to explain the situation adequately. An ideal wheel would be 1.5 inches to the outside and 4.5 inches inside and 6 inches wide total. Thanks, Mark

 

Tire width is as important as wheel width and offset. Maybe the 225/70R15 are the same OD as the 6.70-15, but they're half-again wider.

Another factor to consider is the Studebaker body, frame and springs are sixty-three-years-old now. I've seldom found the body to still be centered over the rear axle; usually it's an inch or more to one side than the other. Got to get things back equidistant if one wants to fit wider tires on wider wheels.

Back when there were giant piles of steel wheels in wrecking yards, we'd find 5" Ford and Mopar wheels everywhere. The 6" wheels from wagons and cop cars were real prizes. An easy mistake for a kid to make was to find a 6" wheel with a Ford logo on it, take it home, sandblast, paint, mount tires and find they were Mercury/Lincoln 5" bolt pattern. Sixty years later, I'm still pissed at myself for not checking that bolt pattern.

jack vines

 

Have you checked with aftermarket wheel mfr like Wheelsmith? They can make offset what you want, within limits of the rim blanks. It is tougher to find wheels with more inside offset.

 

I have not called Wheelsmith directly yet but did order one of their catalogs. Did not find a listing in there that included the positive offset I needed, as you said most were offset in the other direction.

 

Wheelsmith made me some 55 ford centers on 7” Lincoln rims some years ago for my ‘bird. Custom backspace to put 10” cheaters on the back. Let me use stock dog dish caps. If they still do that sort of thing, they’re worth a phone call.

The comment on the body being centered is a possibility too. That’s how I realized my bird was 3/4” off center, for one side, rubbed the other. Luckily I’d measured the narrow side for fit (cut it too close) and centering got me by.

 

Look at my post for my girls wagon. The Ranger wheels are what most Stude people are using, they were on the '60 when we bought it. They rubbed with 215/70-15s and I tried all combos to get the same width wheel front and rear. I would recommend that you use the '55 Ford wheels you have and find a place to put new disc brake hoops on them (get more offset if you can).

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/another-one-yea-i-know-60-studebaker-lark-wagon.991847/

 

15" x 6" American, 5 spoke, both ends on my 59 Lark 2dr. wagon -
OEM style wheels, no idea.



Mike

 

One of my realtor referral partner's son (18) just bought a 1950 Studebaker. as his first car. Very original from what I have seen in pics. He thought it said Stud Baker and he thought that was kewl. He bought it long distance (Hagerty auction I think) and it was delivered a couple of weeks ago. I am going over there next Saturday to winterize it and see if I can get it running for him. He want to learn, his dad passed a few years back so I am going to help him out on the Stud Baker. I'm gonna have to teach him to drive a 3 on the tree.

 

That's exactly what I would like to do, the 15x6 Americans fit the front but don't even come close to fitting the rear. I wonder if the rear axle width is different on a two door wagon as opposed to my four door or if the rear quarter panels are shaped differently.

 

Are you certain that the rear end is original to the car?

 

My car has (was sold a couple of years ago, just as seen in the picture above) an OEM, Dana 44, with "positraction", in it. All the early Larks are the same in width. The different axles (23, 27, 44) are also the same in length.
But yes, the rear tires are tight (barely a finger clearance) at the outer fender, but no rubbing or scraping ever occurred.
Been a long time, but I may have taken a grinder to the pinch weld joint. I don't recall having to do any hammering for clearance.

When I got the car, the Americans were in the back, with steel wheels on the car. Don't know why, never asked.

What sized tire are you trying to use ?

Mike

 

How can I be absolutely certain unless I bought the car new. A good friend bought the car in 1992 in Bishop Calif with 32K miles on it and he hasn't changed it so that is as certain as I can be. It is definitely a stock Studebaker rear axle so there you go.

 

The tire I have on it right now (with the 5 inch wide 55 Ford wheels) is a 225/70R15. I tried the American Torque Thrust wheels from my avatar which are 15x6 with 205/75R15 tires and lack at least an inch from going on the rear. They fit on the front fine. The Americans are zero offset, (wheel mounting surface is centered) so would need to be + 1 inch offset to fit. There is not enough fender lip to remove that much material.

 

Although I prefer the straight spoke design, the American Racing Torq-Thrust 2, does have custom offset range I believe. It's a 2 piece wheel, so the center can be moved in/out to create custom offsets within the limit of the design. As an option vs steel wheels like Wheelsmith I suggested earlier.

 

The Studebaker Restoration place/parts shop… Westside of Long Beach...


Hello,

This whole neighborhood from 1948 to 1998 in the Westside of Long Beach was our so called playground. The Weber’s Bread Huge Bakery Warehouse was a center piece. The best white bread on the market and fresh baked if we got there on the day.

As hot rod/drag race teens, the place across the street was the Santa Fe Importers, our dad’s favorite Italian food place for ingredients and sandwiches. But, we also went to the last Mickey Thompson Shop right next door to the Santa Fe Importer’s store. Today, Mickey Thompson’s shop is gone in name and stuff. But, the Santa Fe Importer’s place is still going strong and is a class act, even today, 60 years later.

That neighborhood has had us going back for more almost every time we are/were in Long Beach.
(Santa Fe Importers) But, growing up in the Westside of Long Beach, it is/was pretty central to our house and walking distance to these places.

By the time we were driving, that part of the major Westside street, Santa Fe Ave. was a local thoroughfare. The restaurant and Italian Deli/Marketplace have been around for a while. Mickey Thompson’s last shop was the place to go for “stuff.”

But, the last time in 2019 that I drove by, I noticed a cool looking refurbished building across the street that said it was a Studebaker Restoration place. The Studebaker Restoration place has a restaurant next door has some authentic Mexican Food that is pretty fabulous. From the time it opened to the time we moved from Long Beach, it was always excellent and is still open, today. The Studebaker shop is fairly new.

It used to be a row of industrial buildings and now, it is a totally refurbished Studebaker Business when I last saw it.

Note:


History of the neighborhood lives on from the old days to the new... YRMV



Note 2:

The Studebaker Lark hardtop sedan has some nice lines. It was not a popular teenage hardtop sedan. It seemed to be a little stodgy and had the old school feeling. The hardtop was good and open when the windows were down. But, it was a Studebaker sedan.

So, when a Winter holiday season arrives, so does a red Christmas custom hot rod or two. I could not help it, to include an excerpt from a popular holiday song:


“Lark, the herald, angels sing…”

Jnaki

But, because of competition from the newly introduced Avanti Sedan, the Lark sales plummeted, despite offering a supercharged 289 motor. Mid size, supercharged motor, it just was not teenage cruising material. Hard to compete with Chevy sedans of the time period.

So, a modified, custom sedan and a topless pickup with room for storage of all kinds, fits the holiday spirit... YRMV

 

Thanks for the pics in history-info.
Marcus...

 

I'm not familiar with early Larks but my '64 Cruiser has Wheelsmith steel wheels : 15"x 6" all around on it without a problem. Tires are 205/75 Hancooks. I do also have a '62 Lark that had the same combo without a problem. RealRodders Wheels sells copies of the Halibrands that were an over the counter Dealer option in the 1963-64 timeframe.

 

I dont know how I missed this thread, sleeping I guess
Here's my Studebaker Champ that i rescued from under a huge camper (the camper had its own tag axle)
259ci (now 289ci) 5spd manual.

 

I promised a pic or two of the 1950 Stud Baker (as it has come to be known) that a friends son purchased. Here it is

nice old car. Battery is nearly flat. Going to have sad too charge up to get it running. Looks like a new Carter carb kit, new fuel pump, new belts and hoses. I think this will make a great first car.

 

Needs a fozy bear driving hat!

 

Google is your friend!

 

Still looking for wheels for my 60 Lark wagon! I found one Ford ranger wheel that is a 15 x 5 inch that is from a 1980's Ranger I believe that looks like it would work, also found one that is 5.5 inches wide from a Ranger. These seem to be very hard to find now. I am posting a picture of my last Studebaker with torq thrust wheels on it, it was a 63 Daytona, 289, 4 speed, dana 44 TT, disc brakes. Sold to a friend who still has it, not a wagon and has much larger wheel wells so no problem with the 15 x 6 wheels. Mark

 

Just put deposit on this beauty

 

Nice.
What engine is in it ? Can't make out the tailgate emblem.

In your list of pictures, you have a shot of my...white, 259 powered, 59 Lark wagon.

Have fun with it. I put over 93,000 on mine before selling it.

Mike

 

Lark wagons are cool.

 

350 Chev, power glide, booth of “unknown” woking order. It was cheep and about as rust free as they come.

 

posted by jeepsterhemi in the Vintage Shots... thread;