Studillac continued...

gordon,

I didn't put many miles on the black car but it rode and drove great! The xmbr I designed for the rear was easy and I installed it on a car port with the body mounted. Any 3 or 4 link would allow for really nice wheels in the stock wheel wells. Doing away with the leaf springs allowed room for 9.5 wide wheels with 295 rubber on the black car with no rubs ever. I spent a lot of time trying to decide myself and designed the wishbone 3 link so I didn't need a panhard or watts linkage. There's a hundred ways to tackle it and most will work great.

I may have made a mistake on the front suspension. We modified the lower control arms to lower the car an inch. And also have 1" taller ball joints to give a drop of 2 more inches. I hope to put it together and see how it sits soon. I will have to learn front end alignment and see if it will work without inducing too much bumpsteer. If it doesnt work out I may design some custom spindles to drop it that way to get the lower control arm back to normal.
 
. I want to drive this before they plant my carcass.

Boy, can I relate to That!!

bro. “Still looking forward”, d
 
I am leaning strongly toward using a similar upper wishbone on the rear suspension to negate the need for watts link. Probably use large heim joint on top of third member with bushings on front for sound and vibration isolation.. Just a little concerned about effect of the high roll center this creates. I am adamant about using the C 4 front suspension. It works really well. A friend of mine did this back in the early 90's , turned out excellent on his 53 Stude. Really like the Cross member you fabbed up.
 
You might look into a torque arm? I have almost swapped over to that a couple times, but trying to not change more than needed at this point. I found the swivel joint at Suicide Doors, not sure they are still around? They actually built the wishbone for me. We used poly bushings on the chassis side like you propose. I also have adjustment built into the lower control arm mounts on each end to adjust instant center if needed. Those lower arms are adjustable and for a 4th gen Camaro. The top mount on the diff just poked into the trunk space at full compression. Surprisingly there isn't enough change in pinion angle during suspension travel for concern.
rear susp 17.webprear susp 45.webpwishbone.webp
 
Ok I see on the wish bone the one swivel joint . I used to make those years ago for the fourwheel drive guys. It still leaves no adjustment for roll center . That single joint on top of the diff housing locates the rear suspension laterally (roll center) as would a watts link at the point of pivot. Most watts links have the pivot mounted near to actual axle height or allow adjustment of this point to change handling when loaded into a corner. I used to work with this years ago on an IMSA team running Bigblock Camaros. The up and down angle of the lower bars would change the instant center longitudinally affecting forward bite, front end lift , and anti-squat under acceleration or braking. Kool stuff to be able to tune.
 
gordon,

I was thinking today about my front suspension and you wanting to use a C4 based one on your car. Heck I would love to do that myself! When I originally purchased the black 53 it had a MII front xmbr that I think came from Heidt's. The car drove wonderfully, but the big Cadillac engine had some fitment issues that I have addressed. One issue was vertical room under the sleek hood of the Studebaker. The firewall was not recessed and there were issues with the steering clearance. The oil pan was all but toughing the power rack and the HEI distributor was slightly against the inside of the hood! The steering column had been moved over a couple inches to the driver side to allow exhaust clearance! Sanderson block hugger headers were also installed but a couple tubes had to be dented in to provide clearance for the upper control arms. I ordered a Fatman front stub with changes to better fit the Caddy. They told me their stub didn't require 2" dropped spindles for a low stance. So, I asked them to position the xmbr 2" lower than standard to give me more engine room and I would run drop spindles to get the ride height back down. I went further and asked them to move the control arm mounts out 5/8" per side, again for more engine/exhaust clearance. Heidt's makes 5/8" narrow control arms that I am using so tire is in same location. My lower control arms are 12-5/8" from pivot to ball joint center on the lower arms and 7-3/8" on the upper arms. From what I have found on the internet the C4 control arms are 15-1/2" lower and 9-1/2" upper. I'm not sure there would be room between the upper control arms on the Studebaker to get a tire of any size within the stock fenders with enough room between the for the big Cadillac. Moving the engine back a little allows it to be mounted higher and makes the exhaust easier. I may have been too conservative on my packaging but wanted to point out these things for you to consider. I've modified that stub I purchase from Fatman at least 3 times to keep making it what I wanted. Now I am trying to get it a little lower in the front and making changes one more time! It would be great if I could move the engine back enough to allow the rack to be higher in front of the crank pulley like in the C4!

Dwayne
 
Quite a bit for me to chew on there. Back in the early 90's a custom car builder here in the Sacramento area built a 53/54 stude for a customer It had a C 4 front suspension grafted on to the stock stude frame rails. almost a perfect slip fit after complete removal of the stude crossmember and bellcrank steering. The engine that was fitted to the car was hemi head conversion for a SBC . It was shorter front to back than the original stude V8 (and Cad) but with the heads being wide as hemi heads tend to be It did fit and the rack steering seemed to clear. It has been a lot of years and Wally Larson is long gone now and his knowledge of swaps like this is gone with him . I am sure I am going to bump my head on many issues doing this. Right off the bat I plan to use a fabricated cross member instead of the bulky corvette unit. Also I am thinking of moving the front suspension maybe an inch to inch and one half forward then massage the wheel opening a tad for tire clearance. As far as the firewall, I already have plans for pushing it back to gain room in the engine compartment. Maybe 6"-8" . Since I have the separate chassis to work with while the body still is on the original I will be able to make many comparison measurements as I fit the engine and trans . Which t56 magnum trans did you end up using? I am leaning toward the the wide ratio version (2.96 first and .50 final OD ratio) with a 3.50:1 in the 9" with the Detroit Locker diff set up with very light weight springs. (used this same diff set up years ago for road racing in BBC IMSA car) . I appreciate and welcome your opinions and input on this. Wish I had enough coin to make you a reasonable offer on your car. Would love to have two of them.
 
At work and nothing much to do on my off time other than plan an draw parts. I saw an original Frick Studillac for sale a while back and noticed the emblems used on the front fenders. There are only 3-4 original Frick cars left so these are unobtainable. I found a couple pictures and read where the emblems could be on the fender or used to replace the paint divider emblem on two tone cars at the back of the roof. A friend traced the picture to a file I could use on my drawing program. After a few hours of cleaning it up, I now have a model of the script! I am considering a two tone roof so I could use these there... and maybe use the script to make a custom horn button, or as the font for the valve covers? A friend offered to 3D print one for for so hopefully will see one in person soon. IMG_0123.webpStudillac 01.webpDraft01.webpDraft03.webpfl16_r0194_10_0.webp
 
When you make some of these I would sure like to buy several to put on mine. I am planning on going two tone paint scheme also.
 
Gentleman,
I’m sure you would like to keep the exclusivity of that script but there is another old boy out in Utah who would love to buy into that club.

bro. “Lusting,” d
 
Since ya'll want some of these...what is your opinions on material/process? I could probably 3d print in plastic pretty cheap. And it could possibly be chromed but I'm not sure about it. I found a place that 3D prints with aluminum or stainless. And of course there is the cast/plate option. I found one place that makes custom emblems that look CNC machined as well. I like the idea of 3D printing from Stainless and then polishing but I'm almost afraid to get a quote! That would probably blend in well with the other stainless on the car. If anyone has connections or ideas let me know. Seems that an order for about 10 pieces would be gone in a snap! My friend's 3D printer cost about $300 and he isn't sure that he surface finish will be what we need to get them plated. Will see how it turns out.
 
Darius said:
Dwayne,

I chuckled when I saw these pictures of your new Studebaker. They made me speculate at how many thousands of gallons of that blue paint Studebaker must have bought! That is the same color on my 1950 and I have seen it on so many other Studes that it seems to have been the staple, or 'go to,' for thousands of cars.

The floor undercoat/bed liner in the back seat area and that used in the trunk is also very familiar.

If that building is your new pole barn, you have done very well! Kudos on that lift - and on the Stude truck. What's up with it?

Best,

d
Click to expand...
Darius,

I thought of you when I removed the hood hinges from the black car's carcass! It looks like that car was originally blue too!! Funny they didn't remove the hood hinges when they painted the rest. That's the only place I recall seeing blue paint.
IMG_0477.webp
 
I swear they must have bought that blue paint by the train tanker load.

I have nothing to add in terms of the new script material or manufacture.
 
First choice would be stainless but aluminum is ok. Lets see What the quote comes in at. I want at least two maybe three depending on price. As far as color , my car is original yellow now but will be 63' Avanti metallic turquoise with Lexus Ice white upper. It should look nice cruising around central Florida when I retire in two years.
 
Dwayne,
I Love that your painstaking efforts are being seen by a wider audience! Dang, but you do beautiful work!

Congratulations, Brother.

bro. “Proud to know ya,” d
 
Well guys , it truly is a sickness . I once again I have multiple Studes. I reluctantly sold my 61 hawk and 51 truck which left me with the 53 coupe I have now. Yesterday I was given a 55' President speedster . It is a fairly solid roller minus the engine and trans. Plus a load of trim stuff , extra front and rear glass etc. I need to go pick it up in the next week or so. I tried to buy it from him several years ago but was beat to the punch . The car sat for several years and was never paid for. My Studebaker buddy repossessed it and offered it to me No Charge. The guy has an extra front clip for my 53' but not sure I need that , and that one is not free. All the rest he gave me no charge. I hope I live long enough after next years retirement date to do these justice. It is a sickness I tell you , a Sickness. Can you say "Two Cad powered Studes"?
 
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