Technical Stude Pickup Warehouse Find

This is what came out of the oil drain hole. It's like little pieces of asphalt. Poor old thing....

I ordered up a pan gasket so I'll pull the pan soon.

 

Ugh. I can’t “like” that! Is that coked oil?

 

While waiting for the gaskets to arrive I ordered new front shocks and decided to pull the rear shocks to see if I could identify them. Then it occurred to me that I had a good set of air shocks somewhere around here from my '55 F100. I found them and ordered a new set of air lines. The old shocks ('56 Chevy) were mounted all kittywampus up top so they're gone....

I'm going to have to make a new upper mount, so I sawed off chunk of 1 5/8" x .134 wall tubing and cut it to length. I made a couple of through-tubes for 5/8" bolts and mocked it up.

I was trying to get all clever and make mounts that would work when I get the springs de-arched and lose the ugly blocks but screw it, get'r done and I'll cross the other bridges when I get to them. I won't be towing stuff with the old Stude like I did the F100, I have a big van for the heavy work. The Stude will have a pretty easy life with me.

 

Yeah, seems to be....

 

In a****st the shock work and oil stuff I have been ****in' with the center carburetor. The p***enger's side idle mixture needle didn't do anything, and it was idling rough again. I pulled the carb and went through all of the p***ages. Just visually at first, to see if there was anything obvious. Then the carb cleaner, air hose and fine copper wires, and more carb cleaner and air. Nothing. The transition slots are clear, idle bleeds and emulsion tubes are open. I carefully adjusted the floats and pump rod, etc. using the info from the old 1961 Motor's Manual this time. The only thing that I don't know how to test is the Power Valve and plunger. Anyway, I put it back on and adjusted everything. The mixture screws are working, and I got it to idle at a nice, acceptable speed and it now has a mild, consistent lope - like it has a small performance cam. BUT, it still has an off-idle miss that goes away when you continue to accelerate. More tweaking required, I guess. Patience gr***hopper....
No early single 4 bbl manifolds on there but I did buy another Tri-Power center carburetor off eBay (ouch ), so I'll have one to rebuild and do some A-B comparisons. I'm going to order new bases for the end carbs.
I have three different Pontiac factory 3x2 intake manifolds but only one set of carburetors, if anyone has spares, please PM me. '58-'65, I don't care. Also an early Edelbrock or Weiand single 4 bbl manifold - I like to have choices.

 

Those are '61 Corvair Monza seats for sure. The real early Corvairs had that wacky front seat track foot, just like a tri-5 Chevy bench seat, with little U shaped brackets that bolt to the floor and then the front slides in under those, and the backs bolt down. Pretty sure that design changed in '62 to the style that has bolt-down feet front and rear like an A body bucket does.

I LOVE those wheels with the knockoffs on it. ****s about the tower design but it seems like you've got it figured out now, well worth the effort for the look!

 

Hey thanks Squab. My wife’s Corvair is a ‘62 and the feet are different but ‘61 makes sense. The instrument cluster surround is painted steel and I understand that they were painted steel until mid-‘61- ‘62. Maybe the seats are from the same early Corvair. Interesting Chevy trivia.
Glad you like the wheel treatment, I’ve liked those since high school, I just never thought to act on it until they became extinct and expensive, lol. Truth is, after looking at those fragile brackets, it won’t be hard at all to recreate them in a more forgiving and durable material. I made one leg out of stainless and that lead to the idea of using the prototype leg as a splint for the damaged leg. With the other three brackets intact and working fine, it didn’t make sense to spend the time to do a full set of them now. I’ve got plenty of other fish to fry….

 

Last summer I crawled into a pretty gross '61 Corvair in a junkyard to buy the bucket seats out of it, and they had those goofy feet with the bolt-down brackets, I was surprised by that as well. They're really good looking seats though, pretty ideal for an early 60's style custom, they look right at home in that truck.

 

LARS is in 2 weeks (16th and 17th), that is going to be a good shot to find carbs or an intake. Post up the carb and intake numbers if you can't make it.

 

Got the rear shock deal done except for the air lines (in the mail). Looks much more conventional. Not braking any new ground, but it should work like shock absorbers are supposed to and help keep the fenders off of the tires when it's loaded. I need to get a couple of longer bolts but these will work to keep it drivable for now. Plenty of room over the 3rd member, the camera angle makes it look tight.
Sorry for the glare-y photos, the whole area is clean concrete and reflects the light.

 

It's been Christmas around here for the last few days. I got the new front shocks, oil pan gasket, an intake manifold and some paint to try on my Morris Minor woody.


The intake is a '62 Pontiac factory Tri-Power that will fit the '62 heads if I decide to rebuild them. The Pontiac Fuel Injection won't fit the '62 heads though. At least I will have the 3x2 set-up to run. The manifold popped up on eBay for a good old-fashioned price - $150 and the seller was over by the bay area, so I grabbed it.
The paint is an emerald green metallic and a base white. The white is to experiment with. I have a nice yellow that we want to tone down to try to get a pale-r yellow. The green is, well, gorgeous in the can, and the wife likes it! But it's a single stage metallic and with my luck spraying stuff lately - I don't know if I'm up to it. Time to man-up and shoot the ****er, I guess. I'll shoot some test panels and see what happens.
But of course, there's always Stude work to do; front shocks and pull the oil pan. Not much fun but it's gotta be done.

 

Looks like your shock bottom mount is way below the scrub radius. Might want to re think that mount.
From all the license BS in California that you talk about, I am glad I don't live there.

 

The oil pan procrastination is due to the fact that it's not just a simple R&R. The pan has been sectioned to clear the tie-rod and it leaks from some of the welds. Also, the tie-rod hits the pan at the end of the turn. It's better since I replaced the motor mounts but it's still in need of work. So, do I redo the pan or modify the tie-rod or both.
The picture was taken with the steering at a full right turn. It's never simple....

I'm leaning towards kicking the tie-rod forward a couple inches to get some oil pan capacity back. So, there's a little bit of work ahead.

 

Odd, only time I’ve dealt with coked oil was with an OT car with a turbo on it, and the coking was pretty much in the turbo. I guess from hard runs and quick shut downs.
My dad used to drag old tractors that sat in fields dead for years and years, oil looked clean, but pulling the pan the “gunk” just settled out of the oil and made a sludge in the bottom of the pan, but nothing chunky like you showed.
Looking forward to what you find in the pan.

 

Very true. The camera makes it look worse, but it's about 1/2" below the bottom of the wheel. Not optimum, but it'll do for now. I wouldn't accept that on the front at all, but the rear is more forgiving. It's evolving, that's why I didn't trim the excess from the U-bolts. I like the height and at***ude, but I don't like the rear springs and blocks. In the future I want new or de-arched springs and to lose the lowering blocks or at least use much smaller ones. Needs new bushings all around too. I just need to find a source for that stuff.

 

I'm not sure whether I am or not. lol. Right now, ignorance is bliss - it's running.
Would you believe that the rear end lube was fine and just slightly low? No big leaks or strange noises from there either. I was preparing myself to pull the axles and the 3rd member to clean the housing and of course replace the axle bearings and on and on.... Looks like it'll work for now.

 

Did you find the year for the rearend?. I have a 55/56 in my '41 and I found NOS bearings....so far so good. I was reading about the problems with all new bearings for those, not sure on the later years though.

 

More progress, one more thing I can erase from the white board. I got the new front shocks installed. These shocks are very short and I thought that they would be a great candidate for hot rod applications where an inexpensive short shock is required. $31.00 each from Summit. They sure firmed up the front end of the Stude. They are designed to control the front end of a ‘57-‘59 Dodge or Plymouth so they shouldn’t have any trouble with lighter hot rods.

I drove it around a little and it’s much more stable with new shocks.
I have also been playing with the throttle pressure linkage adjustment, trying to get the transmission to upshift and downshift properly with my homemade linkage. There’s a sweet spot in there somewhere. It’s shifting better and better as I put some miles on it, but every now and then it gets confused. I’m down to a half turn here and a half turn there. I really need to get it out onto normal, longer roads to really work it.
I gave it a much needed bath. The registration gal is supposed to be here tomorrow for a VIN verification and hopefully to get it registered. I’m looking forward to being able to drive it around more.

 

I’ve been dreading hearing a “rump, rump, rump” from the rear end but so far so good. I went through that with my ‘56 210. I have spare axles with good bearings lying around if I need them.
I need to put some bigger and longer lug studs in the axles, they are just adequate now but I’d like to add some 3/8” wheel spacers for a little more tire clearance with the bed sides.
What are people running for lube in these old Positraction rear ends these days?

 

I got up the gumption to tackle the oil pan removal yesterday. I was already covered in dirt from mowing the west field so I went at it. The tie-rod came off easily as did the starter but it was obvious that I would have to remove the motor mount bolts and jack up the front of the engine. I hate to remove those bolts because they were a ***** to get in.
First try, no luck. The front counterweight was in exactly the wrong position. I let it down, turned the crank 180, jacked it up and tried again. Out it came. The poor old oil pump and pickup are covered in sludge. There’s a 5/8 - 3/4” layer of coagulated oil in the bottom of the pan, just like the transmission pan.
I’m not looking forward to reinstalling this thing with new gaskets, there will be some cussing….

On the outside, on the front of the sump was a coating of what looked like Devcon or dental cement. Not sure why, I ***ume it leaked there. I had to literally chisel the stuff off.

I’ll take this pan, the ‘62 oil pan and the ‘62 3x2 intake manifold to the ‘blaster’s today and get them cleaned up. I might use this one as a guide and modify the ‘62 pan. I also need to look into modifying the tie-rod. Maybe I can gain back some of the sump if I can safely move the center of the tie-rod forward an inch or two.

 

Thanks for the updates.... I had the same build up in my 59 Plymouth Suburban Station wagon. 318 Poly ..engine ran great .. don't know how... had the intake off.. and was a mess... Im guessing the engine oils from then didn't have all the cleaning additives oils have now.

 

Bob do u use these
https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/felpro-engine-oil-pan-bolt-set-es-72863/19780526-P
I have them and they do help in or out of the engine bay

 

Well I’ll be. I’ve never seen those before. I’ll have to get me a set.
I usually just clean the block well with carb cleaner and glue the gasket to the block with Gasga-cinch or a similar gorilla snot. I add some silicone in the trouble spots. Those look like they’ll make the job a little easier.
I need to pull off the oil pump and the windage tray and give them a good cleaning. That’ll have to wait though, today I need to go drop those items off at the blasters and visit my Mom at her ***isted living facility. It’s all on the same route.

 

Again, another post I can’t “like” but like that you did drop the pan

 

I ***ume you screw them into the block, they hold hold the oil pan in place, then you start putting some bolts it, squeeze and unscrew those?
Pretty cool! (Or I’m wrong and will go sit in a corner somewhere)

 

I've got a set of those and didn't know what in the hell they were. Thanks

 

Yes, screw them in the rail, snap the pan on them, insert bolts, gently tighten uniformally, remove the studs and replace with bolts.
End of tutorial.

 

That's exactly what they do-- temporarily support the oil pan while you start all of the bolts. They are reusable, too, so you technically only need to buy them once.

Good decision to pull that oil pan. That is some nasty stuff in there, but good to know it will no longer be there. I think I would modify the center link, too, and see if you can run a non-modified oil pan.

 

I put it off as long as I could but after seeing the crud that came out at the oil change, my conscience got the better of me. It was every bit the mess I expected, with oil and undercar dirt all over the damn place. And I eventually resorted to gasoline to get the pan clean. Don’t tell the safety police.
The sandblast guy says I’ll get it all back Friday if all goes well.
Meanwhile, I’ve got to get the oil pump and stuff cleaned up. More fun. You know, I see guys using nitrile or other gloves when working on this stuff but honestly, they just don’t hold up when I try using them. Carb, cleaner, lacquer thinner, gas, anything that actually works to clean old car dirt just destroys gloves.
I beat a few dents and waves out of the ‘62 pan before going to the ‘blaster. It came out nice. I hate to do it, but I’m probably going to cut it up and re***emble it in the shape of the pan I took off the truck. On second thought, maybe I’ll order a pan off of eBay to cut up and leave the factory pan alone.

 

Thanks for the tutorial Walt. I had my fingers crossed that they came with instructions….lol.
I guess it’s better than holding the pan up with one hand and then realizing that the pile of bolts is just out of reach.