Technical Stude Pickup Warehouse Find

Fairly certain your rear bumper is from a 1951-1952 Plymouth station wagon. Only the wagons got that wide step notch in the center, as shown below. Front bumper from the same car looks like it would match really well, would be a nice smooth look without the upright guards.

 

Thanks for the pics. That does indeed look like my rear bumper and the front one ain’t half bad!
I’ve received a generous offer of a Chevy bumper like I used on my yellow truck above so I’ll probably go that route rather than searching for a good early Plymouth bumper, but you never know what will pop up.
While I was under the truck draining the oil I started looking for the area where the front clip was spliced onto the Stude frame. It turned out to be just about under the seats. Quite a ways back from where clips are usually grafted on. But it’s logical in this case due to the location of the rear torsion bar anchor points. The splice is a few inches behind the anchor points and nicely done. I know clips are frowned upon around here but remember, this was done in 1962-63. Pretty advanced thinking for a shop truck.

 

Something I haven’t seen before is the “padded dash” on my truck. I wondered if anyone knows anything about it? Did Studebaker offer a padded dash option back then? I haven’t really inspected it closely but at first glance it doesn’t seem to be really padded, it’s just a rigid plastic-like cover. It looks good, except for the color, I thought I’d have it recovered if I have the interior redone.
The photo is before we cleaned everything. The windshield molding is chrome too.

 

Hey Bob,

I did a search for 1953 Studebaker pickup, came across this article in Hemmings, towards the end it list the interior options and "all metal dash", no mention of padded. Hopefully I have the correct era.

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/1949-53-studebaker-2r-trucks

 

Interesting article, thanks! Yeah, no mention of a padded dash option.
My yellow Stude came with a very smoky I6 with a 3 spd and OD. It was a slug. Now I know why, I guess they came with 80 hp and 4.86 gears. Me being me, I still have the steering column and steering box out of it. Had the front leaf springs and the gauge cluster until recently too.

 

The cluster and steering wheel look like they came from a Corvair, could that dash top be part of a Corvair van/truck dash? They have a similar shape (and use the same cluster) although I can't find reference to any kind of padded dash for those, either, I think they were all steel.

 

Yes, the gauge cluster, steering wheel and seats are from a Corvair but the entire metal dash including the top is still Studebaker. It might be a padded dash from a Corvair van or maybe a Dodge A100 or something. It sure fits well. The steering column is made from parts of several cars. It looks like Corvair, early Olds/Cad (shifter) and ‘57 Plymouth bottom. Crazy.

 

55 to 59 c cab upper dash cover--factory piece VERY,VERY cool truck you have!!!

 

The dash pad/cover looks very well done. Have you eyeballed it to see how it was installed and if it could be removed? I mention this because if you plan on recovering it, it may not go back in as it was once recovered. Maybe think about restaining to keep its integrity?

 

Thanks Egads. Surfing around the internet I found several examples. It looks like ‘55-57 is like mine, ‘58-59 have a recess in the center on the bottom as though for a light of some sort.
Budget, your right. I would examine it closely before trying to remove it or recover it. Old plastic stuff is notoriously fragile. Because this truck has been stored inside, lots of things that are usually destroyed by UV or ozone are in pretty good shape. Can’t say that about any of the hoses or belts though, they broke and crumbled when I tried to remove them.

 

Nice detective work! Makes sense, too.

 

Yes - the dash cover is a stock Stude item - it has screws on the bottom side into the dash the screws go - believe the top is held in by the inside window trim. Surprisingly that old plastic dash cover has held up on most of mine pretty well for 65 years. The was a little map light in the middle of the dash with a cover and it's own switch on some trucks - not sure if that was an option.
Bob - your dash looks like it has been smoothed pretty much from what I can see. Maybe I can get some pictures tomorrow of stuff.

 

I’m glad to have a nice dash cover, it really does kinda kick up the look of an otherwise utilitarian interior. I was trying to remember what the center of the dash of my yellow truck looked like before I filled and painted it. It had some random holes. I know that it had the map light in the center, I think it was hooded like the classic license plate lights. I made an aluminum gauge panel and filled it with Autometer race gauges. I built the truck primarily to drag race but it was a lot of fun on the street.
Several of the images I found on the internet showed a plain dash with just the gauge cluster and the glove box door, nothing in the middle. The radios mounted under the dash. I’m not sure if I have any pictures of the interior of my yellow truck.

 

Any new updates Bob?

 

I’m going to the March Meet in Bakersfield and then continuing down to LA to work on the truck and the house. I cleaned the radiator (inside) and I think it will be ok for now. I wasn’t able to find a ’55-‘56 distributor to solve the distributor to intake manifold clearance problem. I was going to use a Mallory but instead I’m taking a factory 3x2 setup that I pieced together and I’ll do another intake swap. That will allow me to use the stock distributor that I have and should look right and work well. With a little luck I should be able to start it up this trip. I have to fix the stuck gear shift mechanism, I left it with some penetrant on all of the moving parts. I need to be sure what gear it’s in before trying to start it.
There’s still the fuel tank and lines, and the brakes to address before I can drive it, but once I hear it run I’m sure that stuff will get done in short order. Nothing like the sound of an old Pontiac through old glass-packs to get the adrenaline flowing. Can’t wait to see what comes flying out of the exhaust pipes after 40+ years.
I said it before, it’s a little frustrating to have the truck 400 miles away but it’s making it just that much more of an adventure. Besides, it’s kept me focused on getting the body work done on my Morris woody so I can get some color on it.
1960 Super Duty manifold with ’65 carburetors:

 

Your post reminded me that I need to gather up some stuff to take with me. Radiator hoses came to mind along with a fan, valve cover gaskets and intake gaskets. I kinda liked how the engine looked with the wrinkle finish stock valve covers and I thought that they would go well with the factory 3x2 intake. So I put em in the solvent tank and cleaned them up. Ugh. The driver’s side cover was tweaked and showed signs of being crushed and straightened. Made me think that this engine might have come from a severely wrecked ’59 Pontiac. Also the paint didn’t survive the lacquer thinner bath. I assumed that it was baked on, as Tony’s business was baked finishes. So I’ll guess I’ll strip them, do some body work on them and apply some fresh wrinkle finish. I would still like to see how they look with the factory intake. I like the look of the Edelbrock finned aluminum but it’s always good to have options.

 

Getting there Bob..

 

Wow, that's a serious dent! Weird that the owner never replaced it long ago.

 

...Battlescar Galactica...

If the hoods closed does anyone know what lurking within...or it was a memorable day in shoehornville...grrr

...or what Bob said...

 

That’s what I thought. At the time the truck was built you could just go buy a new one at the Pontiac dealer. Or put on a set of finned aluminum ones that everyone was making back then.
That’s not the first - Huh? I’ve run across. The other was a heater hose fitting capped with a short piece of hose with a spark plug stuck in the end as a plug. It looked like an emergency roadside repair, but note that there’s no clamp.

 

...hope they gapped it before they stuck it in...

There was an Award that day given at the roadside...



I've sure as heck qualified this award on occasion and besides it worked to boot...

That's how vise grips change hands sometimes...

​

 

keep the updates coming.. congrats again on the sweet little truck !

 

Well, although I've been avoiding putting too much new paint on anything in the engine compartment, I broke down and re-wrinkle finished the stock valve covers. It was the perfect weather for it.
Oh yeah, they are two different styles of Pontiac valve cover. One has a wider sealing flange around it, slightly different shape. I didn't know that Pontiac changed them over the years until PCV systems had to be added.

 

I don't see the dent??

 

Wrinkle finish hides a multitude of sins…. I did “massage” both valve covers a little to straighten out the sealing surfaces and put more of the original shape back into the schmushed one. That’s when I noticed that the one with the narrower sealing flange also has small raised areas around the bolt holes to improve the overall crush of the gasket. The other is just flat. You can’t tell in the photos, the texture hides the details.

 

I want to go to the March meet! The stude is coming along great. ! Lippy

 

Well, the March Meet was cool, literally, 48 degrees in the grandstands Saturday for final nitro qualifying. Unfortunately no one got down the cold track. The swap meet was ok, I found the perfect fan for the Stude, a 1958 Pontiac repair manual and a nice pair of Corvette valve covers for my Model A. While sitting in the stands I looked at the tune up section and noticed that I had put the distributor in with the vacuum canister on the passenger side like a Chevy - wrong. It goes on the driver’s side. So I got all excited thinking maybe my distributor clearance problem will go away if I put the distributor in the right way.
Off to LA after Sunday eliminations. Love those Fuel Altereds!!
Monday was; deal with the new driveway guy, ordering some parts and try the distributor, the right way. Damn, it didn’t help. The same problem just different. So, remove the 2x4 setup, disassemble the 3x2 setup (‘cause it’s too heavy for this old guy to dangle over a fender) and start scraping gasket material off. Whoever put that intake on glued the hell out of it… oh wait.
It stuck so well, I did it again today. With the factory intake the stock distributor fits as advertised. Imagine that.
I did dig some sludge out of the valve cover area, poured fresh oil over everything and put the valve covers on. I put the aluminum ones back on because my new gaskets didn’t come in and I wanted to keep going. A simple little fuel fitting stopped the action though. I’ve got dozens of them at home but I didn’t think to bring one. I’ll spend this evening rearranging the pile of old car parts my buddy left in my garage so I can get the Stude in easier. Anyone need a ‘47 Packard straight 8??? Please?
So , out with the old…


On with the new…


This was the fan that was on the truck, 12” looks like it came off a tractor or a forklift. (?)

 

Tomorrow I’ll pick up the radiator hoses and change the (remote) oil filter. While I’m rolling around under the thing I need to figure out why the shifter is stuck and try to get the dipstick tube back in. The fun never ends.
Getting close to firing it up though. Heh, heh, heh.

 

Well it took me two hours to change the oil filter. It’s a canister type and while pulling on the wrench it really felt like I was going to break the aluminum bracket. I smacked the big bolt couple times with a hammer and crawled under so I could counter the force I was going to apply and it finally came loose. Things weren’t so bad inside the canister but it took forever to scrape out the old petrified o-ring.
I pulled out the old battery and installed the Odyssey from my Austin. It was then that I got an ugly feeling. With the battery so inaccessible, what if something goes wrong and the smoke starts getting out? I can’t get to the battery to pull a cable. After 40+ years, there’s a good chance that time and rodents have provided a short circuit or two. Damn. Then I remembered….
I had previously brought down some battery cables to start the ‘54 olds engine I bought. So I added them to the existing cables allowing me to put the battery on the ground next to the truck. Of course everything was old a corroded and required lots of cleaning while lying on the floor.
The young fellow at the local parts store got me the wrong lower radiator hose, so hopefully the right one will be in tomorrow. The radiator is cleaned, painted and installed with newly fabricated upper brackets. The original upper bracket was lost to time.
I crawled under and managed to unstick the shift linkage, anyone know the shift pattern for a ‘59 Pontiac offhand?
It’s taking me longer than I had hoped to get to starting this old beast but I’m having a new driveway done and I had a few other house projects and some errands to run while I’m down in LA, so….
Tomorrow is the big day. I’ll put power to the truck for the first time in 40+ years and hope for the best. If the starter works and the smoke stays in, I’ll fire it up.

The oil filter. Yep, right where everyone here told Mr Sweptside not to put his. Hey, I didn’t do it….
The torsion bar front suspension really uses up the real estate under the truck. Space is limited.

and the battery too! Love the old tar top battery. With my 6.70-15s on the front you have to remove the wheel and tire to install or remove the battery. It was probably better with the 8.00-14s on it.


So I extended the cables, trying not to burn it down before I get to drive it.


No, That’s not a rat duct taped to the positive cable, it’s a paint roller covering up the junction of the old battery terminal and the extender cable. That roller is non-conductive and tough. I told ya I was working 400 miles from my shop with limited tools and materials. Lol….
Once I’m confident in the wiring, I’ll put the battery where it goes and ditch the extender cables. But for now the battery gets to sit outside where I can yank off a cable quickly.

 

Oh yeah, this is how they did the power brakes, the old treadle vac. My Pontiac manual has a great section on how to service/repair it. Anyone have any experience with these that I should know? Rebuild parts sources?
I really don’t know how they added fluid to the M/C with it located where it is.