Technical Stude Pickup Warehouse Find

Here is the first one.

Ha, Ha, Ha.... It ran better before I "tuned" it. Less smoke in the second one though, I guess that's progress.
Wow, the old fart is a YouTube creator! No telling where this will go! Subscribe now!! (but don't hold your breath) Lol.

 

I guess I should just bite the bullet and bring it up here to NorCal to my real shop. With a freeze plug behind the starter leaking profusely, I'm not going to make much progress on it down there. I'm itchin' to get behind the wheel, put it in gear, and see what happens.
There's just something about getting away and tinkering in the old shop that I worked in for so many years though. Feels good (except the laying on the floor part).

 

If you use the aluminum check ball it allows for a quicker pump shot. The steel check ball seals better.

 

I used the steel one in the passage under the booster venturi/cluster and the aluminum one under the plunger return spring in the bottom of the accelerator pump well.

 

That's the ticket Bob...Grammys next year eh!!...

 

Well, you’ve exceeded my YouTube postings by 3

 

It’s been one helluva week. I figured out how to put circles and arrows on a digital picture, how to post videos on YouTube and then on the HAMB and I found out that I was missing one of my balls and that’s why my carburetor didn’t work right. Whew.

 

And you have one of those "new" shaker hoods that others have paid a lot to have

 

More than interesting thread that I totally enjoyed......
My question is when do you eat and sleep? I admire your tenacity.

 

That ‘ll teach you not to loose track of your balls! My ex-wife and ex-girlfriend made me leave mine on the dresser before I left the house.

 

Well, I wasn't sure how many balls I was supposed to have. Some come from the factory with two and some come with only one. In my case, I lost one ball and my squirt was significantly diminished, but now that I've got both balls my squirt is back to normal. Glad to be able to clear that up....

 

*snort*

 

Well, a little update. I came down to LA to meet with a registration guy that Frankie P recommended and with a To-Do list for the Stude and the house. I worked on the house in the morning. He showed up as scheduled, did the VIN verification and got copies of what little paperwork I had so I’m hoping for the best.
I put a vacuum fitting in the carburetor base for the power brakes (funny that Pontiac didn’t provide a power brake vacuum port anywhere in the intake manifold). Got my repaired, two-ball, center carburetor back on. Then I set about trying to find out why it wouldn’t turn over using the ignition key. The ignition switch was dirty inside, a shot of contact cleaner and exercising it some made it work again. One of the wires on the neutral safety switch was loose and corroded. So I cleaned them. I traced a bunch of wires and it looks like it should start with the key now. I need to do something with the battery cables and a cut-off switch. Not sure what to do yet.
I jacked it up and crawled under to remove the Treadle-Vac canister and M/C. After finally getting the brake line loose I noticed that there is no path to remove that big ol’ can. I have to remove the exhaust manifold and the starter to get it out through the top or remove the torsion bar and muffler/pipe to get it out through the bottom. Ahrrgh. No way I’m going to wrestle with that lying on my back and with limited tools. THAT’S a job for the hoist and my real shop. So I’ll pull out the gas tank and maybe start it up to see if my carburetor job worked, but mostly I guess I’ll just look into having it transported to NorCal where I can seriously get after it. I did sketch up some throttle pressure linkage to work with the TriPower.
It’s been that kind of trip. I went to the paint store to get some PreCleano, Acryliclean or other wax and grease remover,…nope. He told me that they aren’t allowed to sell that kind of stuff in gallon cans anymore only in small spray cans and they haven’t been able to get them for months. (?) So somebody tell me what to use to wipe surfaces that you can’t use lacquer thinner or acetone on? I guess just plain old water will work on sanded primer but how long would you need to let it dry before painting.
So I stopped in to see my wheel guy to have him make a pair of custom offset steel wheels for the back of my Morris woody. He said that I need to bring him wheels or centers, he has no stock Chevy centers. He’s been running down his stock and is concentrating mostly on 16” on up stuff, mostly polishing and repairs. Damn, it’s getting harder and harder to get sh!t done. I think I’ll go to Collins Wheel tomorrow and see if they can do ‘em. They built the custom offset Cragars for my other Stude pickup.
Anybody have a favorite car transporter here in California….

 

LARS is next month, gotta be someone heading north empty?

 

You’d think, huh.
I just talked it over with the wife and I think I’ll just hook up the trailer and drive down and get it. At my age I don’t like to hit the road alone with the trailer. She can get a Friday or Monday off if she asks ahead of time.
The quotes I’ve found have been in the $1100-1300 range. At the current gas prices it will probably cost around $400-500 in gas plus food. Not to mention the priceless aggravation of driving in LA traffic with the big van and trailer. That $700 will buy a lot of brake and fuel system parts if it doesn’t get ate up with registration!

 

I feel ya. But dang, prices have to be high. I got 5 gallons of deisel for my tractor last week, 6 bucks and change a gallon. Circle K wouldn’t take my off road card. Oh well.
Heck , post a thread and ask, bump it up and maybe get someone who has space , empty, etc that doesn’t mind pocketing some cash on the way home?
Heck, even if you had to meet them on 99 or 5, be a shorter haul for you.

 

Times like this I think I shoulda joined Facebook or something, huh?

 

I think this is period correct...some have experienced it back in the day...Energy Crisis, Hotrod/Custom, life...all connected...trying times...may the Bad Moon stop arise'n...

 

Well, last weekend we took a run down to LA as a little anniversary getaway. Last trip, I had reached a point with the Stude that I felt that I couldn’t make much more progress until I took it up north, put it on the hoist and did whatever it takes to pull out the M/C and booster. Although the wife would have been fine with it, I decided not to take the big van and trailer and transport it this trip. I also resolved to do my best to have a pleasant little vacation with her away from car stuff. Yeah, right. I opened the garage door and there it was, calling me….
While waiting for the AT&T service guy to come and upgrade our internet to fiber optic, I just had to “upgrade”the Stude battery cables. I picked up a battery cut off switch and a couple cables for a few bucks at Eagle Field last month and it didn’t take long to figure a good place for it. For now I’m going to leave the battery in the fender where they mounted it when the truck was built. I cleaned and tightened the ground connection, put a new end on the starter cable and added a new positive cable. I will have to make a battery hold down bracket but the J-Bolts are there.
Where the switch handle is located, with a flick of my left foot, I can disconnect the power but it’s high enough that I won’t hit it unintentionally.

 

And, of course, I have the truck jacked up and the wheel off sooo……
I tried to loosen the head pipe bolts thinking that they would be rusted and I’d just call it a day, but they came loose easily. So I unbolted the exhaust manifold. Of course, the “fold-over” factory Pontiac lock washers were in place making it a little more work but they too cooperated and I soon had the manifold out. I removed and tagged the starter wires and removed the starter bolts. With a little maneuvering, I snaked it out also. That exposed the freeze plug with a 1/2” rust hole in it. No wonder the water ran out as fast as I put it in.
So I’m on a roll. Let’s get what I really came under here for; the Treadle-Vac unit. The mounting bolts came out easily but the actuating rod was struck pretty securely in the backside of the pedal. With some WD-40, a brick and a claw hammer (I did mention that I’m working with limited tools, right) the pedal let go of the rod and the unit was free. Almost. I forgot about the vacuum hose. Of course it has a spring clamp and access for pliers is non existent. It took longer to get that damned hose off than it took to get all of the other stuff out. It took a long 3/8 extension with a hole for the retaining ball and needle nose pliers (don’t ask), I finally got the hose off. I figured that there was room to weasel the unit out where the starter was, I didn’t figure on all of the stuff “sticking out”on three sides: the actuating rod, the dipstick tube and the hose fitting. After quite a few tries I finally found the correct orientation and I got it out. I was hot, tired and filthy but very happy.
I’m gettin’ too old for this sh!t….nah.

The wife said that I look like I’m holding a baby. With all the stuff in the way, it was the automotive equivalent of a difficult childbirth. Lol.

Even the dipstick is stuck. By the time I got it maneuvered into a position where I could maybe remove the reservoir cover screws and the dipstick tube, it was ready to pull out.

 

Believe it or not, I got it apart, pushed back into the garage and everything cleaned up by 2 pm, plenty of time to wash up and go down to the beach for a while. We went for a walk then had cocktails and dinner at our favorite restaurant down by the beach. A pretty good day in my book.
Unfortunately, I seem to be having a little trouble getting the registration sorted out for this truck. It seems that the brothers had several trucks and paperwork but so far none of the papers apply to this truck. Dang. I have that nagging feeling that I’m going to end up having to make appointments, put it on the trailer and lug it all over California jumping through DMV hoops. Ugh.

 

Bob...you totally look like you're holding a baby. Its that proud look of accomplishment in getting that sucker out. Sounds like a great day all around. Keep the updates coming..

 

I’m going to contact Harmon about rebuilding the Treadle-Vac unless someone here has a better source. I’m sorta breaking my cardinal rule, “Always get the vehicle in your name before spending any significant money on it.” But I don’t have to worry about it being a stolen vehicle so I’ll just continue to work on the truck and the paperwork in parallel.
I purposely left it in LA so it wouldn’t distract me from painting our Morris woody and putting my roadster back together. Of course, now it’s 100+ up here and working in the shop is difficult, especially sanding and primering. Slow and steady I guess.

 

Hey Bob, I had Bush power brake in National City rebuild one for me a few years back. Worked perfectly, great service too.

 

Thanks, I’ll check them out. My first inclination is to buy a kit and just do it myself but that would distract me from other stuff I need to do. Sometimes it’s nice to just open the box and install it.

 

I hear ya on the heat. We’ll have triple digits for a bit. Only good thing about working nights, I can do (quiet) stuff when I get home at 4 am. Weird, but it’s all I can do to stay in the shop.

 

Harmon does nice work.

 

My shop seems to heat soak during hot days and maintains that heat through the night. The only time it’s ok is in the early morning until 11 or 12. Sure does slow the progress. I really should put A/C in the shop.

I heard that from several people and I looked them up. I’ll have to make some calls.

 

Ask them what it costs to rebuild, $$$$. You may find out you would be better off rebuilding it yourself. If you can get the parts that is.

 

Oh yeah. I watched a video, it’s all pretty simple and straight forward and I believe that the parts are available. So if they are too expensive I’ll probably end up doing it myself. When you factor in shipping back and forth it could get real pricey, real quick.