I bought a 1962 Studebaker Lark 4 door (113" WB) a couple of weeks ago and; come to find out, parts are rather tough to find for the thing. Already split the front and rear brake hydraulic system using a 1968 Mustang disc brake master cylinder. Long story short: is there a frame out there that is somewhere close to plug 'n' play? I would prefer to stay with a GM G body El Camino or similar; they can be shortened as needed, but will consider a Toyota pickup frame....... I can overhaul the front end on the Stude frame but; after factoring in what needs to be done plus the above parts issue........I would rather go with something that a NAPA in, say, Bisbee, Az. would likely have on hand.
Chances are the only thing that fits a Lark is a Lark frame. I suspect adapting a different front suspension (Mustang II for instance) wouldn't be any more difficult. For reference here are a couple photos of Lark frames I found online: http://www.ritzsite.demon.nl/Lark/Lark10.htm http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?33800-1961-Lark-frame-and-motor-for-sale
you must be looking in the wrong places, stude parts are some of the easiest things to find. what parts specifically are you looking for? http://www.studebakervendors.com/index.htm#ANCHORTOP edit: your in arizona and you cant find stude parts,, geez,, http://www.studebakerparts.com/ < they are in arizona and are some of the best people to deal with. if you have a good solid ch***is I strongly recommend keeping it as it the only thing that will fit and work well with the body. If your overwhelmed by not being able to find parts a frame swap will drive you to the point of insanity. Join the sdc board!
I was planning to use the Turner disc brake kit hence the Mustang disc MC. Note I did all this prior to running into other problems i.e. bad starter Bendix, dead fuel pump, leaking radiator, loose A frame bushings, etc. Weighing my options here: whether it would be cheaper to go the late frame route or rebuild what I already have..............
you can rebuild what you have in a day or 2, how long is a frame swap gonna take? and your "new" frame may very have the exact same issues as what you have now, so you'll still be rebuilding it as well. Sorry Dude but it sounds like your looking for a hard and expensive way to be cheap and easy. http://www.studebakerparts.com/ call em, Chuck and Chris can and will take care of you and you'll have your parts in a day. The parts you are looking for are on the shelf and waiting for you to call.
I have a 63 lark daytona 2dr hdtp sitting on a 79 cutl*** frame ! Ive been running this setup for past 15 years & dang easier to find parts for with the GM G-Body Ch***is ! Hope this helps !
you can still find Stude parts in the original packaging. There is no shortage of Stude parts or vendors out there. Try the Studebaker drivers club for starters, they even have an active online forum. Start here http://www.studebaker-info.org/rjtechx3.html#sixv here's another http://www.studebakerparts.com/ These guys have been keeping their Studes going, stock and modified, for years There is some good stuff here. My 55 coupe is running a 327 chev and a 4 speed, all stock ch***is, with the soon to be added 66 Stude cruiser flanged axle dana 44 posi(twin trac) My buddy has my old 59 lark 2 dr wagon, he added a 400 pontiac to it, and it has a tapered shaft dana 44 posi in it. keeping em going has never been a problem. If you want to do the frame swap, check the available resources before you jump in too deep. As for what works, i saw a 56 wagon once, sitting on a 2wd chevy van frame. It looked ok, but for the ride height, and the truck frame rails, not the route I would choose. the Cutl*** frame mentioned sounds a bit nicer to me
Old thread, but for anyone who needs the information. Here is who to go to for parts, the largest supplier of NOS and reproduction Studebaker parts, Studebaker International Inc.: . http://www.studebaker-intl.com/ . And for information, this site can't be beat, Bob Johstone's Studebaker Resource Website: . http://www.studebaker-info.org/rjtechx3.html .
Post is close to 18 months old, guys, somebody who's done different had to come late to the party and chime in. For the next guy who asks, I ran into another frame-swapped Stude locally on Craigslist a while back, with a '66 Chevelle frame done back in the day. No idea how they fit; the Stude frame is somewhat like a 54-back Chevy frame, the top hat design, as I recall from a Lark a buddy had. In fact, at one time he also had a back-in-the-day hot rod '37 Chevy that they updated - by putting it on a V8 Lark frame. What that tells me is maybe the easiest option is to use a 49-54 Chevy frame and use any of the umpteen kits or relatively simple upgrades to one of those cars, to update your Stude - ***uming the front end doesn't unbolt off the ch***is the same as a Chevy does. Stude used more or less the same frame from '47 through the end, which is good and bad - it's a dated design by any standard, but parts should be relatively easy to come by even now. And they're not going to be that bad unless they've become hard to find - every experience I've had with the Stude resto crowd tells me they're all cheap SOBs. Plus other than certain models there's not a lot of demand.
a 62studebaker lark as were allthelarks are uniframe so aframe swap would make them look kind of bulky tom
We have 3 Stude's with modified front suspensions and stock frames. 1. 63 Lark - slammed with Mustang II offset up 2 3/8" to get lower and not have a bad roll center. Carrier eliminated and trans tunnel raised. Front crossmember swapped. Pinto rack. We have equal legth in ch***is headers and the shaft had to be routed thru the header tubes. Side and tail mounts. 2. 60 Lark - old race car (last inspected in 71). Econoline straight axle with 65 corvette steering box with cross steer. No carrier. Side and tail mounts. We have 7 straight axle vehicles and love them. Took the Henry out for a 30 mile ride yesterday. 3. 54 Starlight Regal (C) - original lower a-arm modified to accept Crown Vic ball joints and a lower spring pocket. Also used the CVic spindles and uppers. In ch***es equal length 2' primary headers. Must disconnect steering shaft to pull left header. Front and mid mounts with manual. No carrier/raise tunnel. All these Stude's had horrible bump steer, camber gain and no caster adjustment. Probably not a big issue if you are not driving well over 100 and/or running equal length headers. Each car is purpose built and had issues to be hurdled. The narrowness of the frame is a huge challenge with performance headers. The bell crank steering takes up a ton of room. What is your end goal for the car? The Stude stuff can be replaced and modified to cruise very well. For racing...your call.
Larks are body on frame. At least all the Larks I have owned were. The "uniframe" term - does that mean it uses the body to help stiffen the package? the frames are very flimsy when not bolted to the body. Just have not heard the term
I used to live within a few minutes of Roscoe Stelford. Don't tell ME that Studebaker parts are hard to find...I'll ***ure you differently. And uni-body Studebakers are as easy to find as a pushrod for a Ducati M/C. Cosmo
Studes are frame cars. I went thru a lot of expense keeping the original frame under mine. A friend of mine has a 59 Lark 2 door wagon on an S-10 ch***is.
I would be willing to bet that 99% of the posters who come here asking about frame swaps does not have the ability to do one.
Make that 99 POINT 9% and I'll agree. I've done successful subframes and wouldn't touch a frame swap, yet. Cosmo
Fix what you have. I build cars for a living, and have for decades. You won't find me doing a frame swap, ever. I might build a complete new ch***is from scratch, long before I'd consider trying to wedge another one in. It is just too much work.
I agree. Anyone who thinks swapping in a different frame is easier than fixing the old one, is either very green or very experienced. And the experienced ones don't have to ask. Like saying, "Lifting 10 pounds 50 times is too hard, I'll just lift 500 pounds once".
I also bet they won't get the ability to do one either unless they actually try to or do one. I'm not going to get into the is a frame swap right or wrong question but I'm tired of people telling someone they can't do something. If everyone believed that where would our hobby be?
I would have saved a lot of money, time and grief if I had known not to overmatch myself. Also would not have messed up a few neat old vehicles. Learning the hard way ****s. Fortunately today there is the internet for those who want to learn from others' mistakes.
There are a lot of half finished frame swap cars sitting around that will never be finished just because the person who started the swap got in too far over his head. They aren't usually anywhere as inexpensive as the proponents claim as quite often the replacement ch***is needs a complete suspension rebuild and then you start running into the "this won't fit now" issues. There are two legitimate reasons for a frame swap in most cases. 1. the body you have didn't come with a frame. 2. The frame that came with the body you have is either damaged or butchered beyond repair. Years ago I p***ed on buying a couple different really interesting cars because previous owners had hacked the frames up so badly doing engine swaps that there was no hope for the frame under the car. Now I would look at either with the idea of swapping frames but at that time (early 70's) they were considered beyond repair.
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