picked up a 1960 studebaker

[hd44blazer]

I plan to do a rt. 66 trip in an old car some day. If you make that trek, hit me up. Im near the wisconsin boarder, north of where rt 66 ends

Will do.

I was kind of excited to see the original engine it if.

Would a T5 or T56 fit?

Martin

I wanted to at first for sure but the power, reliability, and availability of parts drove me to the more modern drivetrain even though it'll probably end up costing a bit more and is definitely more involved.

I tossed around the idea of a manual like a T5 or T56, as they would probably fit pretty well under the car but t56's are kinda pricey and I didn't really want to mess with adding a third pedal. I'm probably sticking with an under floor master cylinder and may have to have non-power brakes due to space whether on the firewall or under the floor. There really isn't much room above the steering column for a MC or booster.

 

[82355]

I wanted to at first for sure but the power, reliability, and availability of parts drove me to the more modern drivetrain even though it'll probably end up costing a bit more and is definitely more involved.

Oh no, I get it. This makes way more sense. The original engine would just have been neat.

I tossed around the idea of a manual like a T5 or T56, as they would probably fit pretty well under the car but t56's are kinda pricey and I didn't really want to mess with adding a third pedal. I'm probably sticking with an under floor master cylinder and may have to have non-power brakes due to space whether on the firewall or under the floor. There really isn't much room above the steering column for a MC or booster.

Doesn't it already have three pedals?

Martin

 

[muddermilitia]

What about a 90 degree mounted Master/booster? Although filling it might be interesting

 

[hd44blazer]

Doesn't it already have three pedals?

Martin

It did but none would work with the new setup, at least not very easily and I want to go to a dual reservior MC and I'd probably go with a hydraulic clutch if I were using a manual so I'd be trying to design and fit 2 new pedals, the throttle I'm not too worried about because it's drive-by-wire so I can pretty much place it anywhere.

What about a 90 degree mounted Master/booster? Although filling it might be interesting

I looked at those but yeah filling it would be very interesting.

I did come across this though which gives me hope. That's a big pancake booster and if they can fit that then I should have no problem with one of those 7" diameter universal setups.

Here's the link http://www.hotrod.com/cars/featured/116-0503-1960-studebaker-lark-ls1/

 

[hd44blazer]

I picked up some bucket seats off craigslist for it today, they're out of an 02-05 mercedes c230 coupe so they allow easy access to the rear seat. All manual controls so no wiring harness to hookup, they were a steal at $210 for the pair and I'll be getting them reupholstered along with the rest of the interior, I'm leaning towards a dark grey vinyl.

 

[82355]

Why vynil?

Martin

 

[hd44blazer]

Why vynil?

Martin

Cost mostly

 

[82355]

What is wrong with the cloth that is on them?

Martin

 

[hd44blazer]

What is wrong with the cloth that is on them?

Martin

I don't care for the pattern much and getting it to match the rest of the car, might as well do it all the same as one.

 

[tRustyK5]

Was it originally a split bench? Was the original in horrible shape?

 

[hd44blazer]

Was it originally a split bench? Was the original in horrible shape?

Yeah it was a 50/50 split and the whole interior was in awful shape and smelled worse haha. No headliner or carpet and all the panel boards need to be remade.

When I drove it into my garage I was staring just over the top of the dash and I'm 6ft tall that's how bad the seat was. Really no saving it. I'm going to have the original rear bench refoamed and covered.

 

[Smokinthehippies]

For the record I think the seats are a good idea. With the engine trans combo, I would think you would want a little more support than you get sliding across a bench seat.

 

[tRustyK5]

Too bad...half the character is in the interior IMHO. I'd try for whatever the factory interior color was in vinyl, because vintage/funky/cool.

 

[hd44blazer]

For the record I think the seats are a good idea. With the engine trans combo, I would think you would want a little more support than you get sliding across a bench seat.

That was my thought too, if I was keeping the 6 or even the Studebaker v8 I probably would've kept the bench.

Too bad...half the character is in the interior IMHO. I'd try for whatever the factory interior color was in vinyl, because vintage/funky/cool.

The factory stuff was pretty cool on the seats it's a light blue vinyl with a fabric that almost looks like it had hints of metallic in it and on the door panels were a few different shades of blue vinyl.

The grey is what I'm thinking now but it may change when I'm actually choosing materials. The suspension has already taken a slight change from the coilover idea after I did some measuring and realized the original front coils have the same dimensions as 70-81 camaro coils.

 

[hd44blazer]

A much anticipated package arrived today, it actually only took a day to get here (gotta love summit) but it was a long day nonetheless. I'll rewind a bit first so over the weekend I worked on the car mostly wire wheeling the interior sheet metal but at some point in the process after thinking about the time frame and budget of this build I came to the decision to go a cheaper and less involved route for the suspension than the coilover idea.

Basically my impatience got the best of me but it doesn't mean I'm going to sacrifice on quality. I also didn't want to throw about $1200 in suspension at this thing and basically hope it would perform well, the leafs and coils will be about half that depending on what shocks I go with.

I started by taking every pertinent measurement possible of the original front coil springs and rear leaf springs and then got on the computer to find a car of similar weight that might share these dimensions or at least something similar thgat I could work with. To my surprise it didn't take all that long to find.

I came up with a pair of eibach 1" lowering 550lb coils for 70-81 camaro and a pair of hotchkis 1" lowering springs for the 67-76 dodge A-body cars. I went with a pretty hefty front spring rate because the unloaded height of them is already 3.5" shorter than the original coils. The important thing I found with the leaf springs was that the front bushing to center pin was the same as on the studebaker, the only difference was the overall length was about 3" longer so I'll have to just move the shackle hanger back.

 

[hd44blazer]

Started mocking up the new shackles and hangers last night, the assembly is from ruff stuff and is way overkill for a 3000lb car but overkill is good. Shackles are 3/8" thick. I still need to cut off the old spring perches and weld on new ones slightly wider, it's something like 5/8" per side iirc, so close yet so far from being a direct swap but I also want to roll the pinion angle down a few degrees as well since this was on an suv originally.

And here's how the camaro spring fits into the upper pocket and A-arm. I have a feeling these will be in and out of the car quite a few times until I get the height I want which I'm not really looking all that forward to but it's the way it goes sometimes.

 

[hd44blazer]

My high clearance oil pan arrived from summit today and I quickly set it in the car to get a better sense of size and scale of the new motor. They call it the GM performance musclecar swap kit but from what I understand it's just an H2 pan. The kit comes with a pickup tube, windage plate, and a dipstick and tube.

 

[hd44blazer]

I got the motor last monday and have been mocking things up. As it turns out the 4l60e is too big to fit under the original floor so I'm having to cut that section out and rebuild a tunnel but I'm also recessing the firewall a few inches to move the motor back where I want it and needs to be in my opinion for the best performance and fit.

Leaving Pacific Fabrication in Gilroy, Monday afternoon.

Used '03 4l60e with 106,000 miles on it, picked this up from Cordova Truck Dismantlers in Sacramento, very friendly and honest place.

First mockup with the motor, I had already swapped the oil pan, removed the power streering pump and bracket and installed the underdrive pulleys and Dirty Dingo alternator bracket, it was at this point I realized I was going to need to cut the firewall and floor.

First cut.

More mockup with intake and radiator.

Second cut with trans bolted up.

 

[tRustyK5]

That escalated quickly!!

 

[hd44blazer]

Some brake components arrived yesterday, matching Stoptech drilled and slotted rotors front and rear as well as rear calipers for the 8.8. The front calipers will be single piston aluminum Wilwood units. The front disc conversion, much like many other disc conversions, uses the common GM single piston calipers. I'm almost thinking I need a wheel change to show off the brakes a little more but it's hard to find a deep offset wheel that looks good and suits the car.

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