'56 Studebaker President Classic

[RDrancher]

Ever since I finished high school back in '74, I've been into all-things four wheel drive. I always loved old cars too, but I guess that I just didn't have time for them. Fast forward a few dozen years and my interest in wrenching on rigs in the middle of a rocky trail have faded. Sold the last rock crawler I owned a few years ago.

My new wife told me that I needed a hobby...something to get my mind off of work. She noticed my interest in all things "patina" and suggested that I look for an old car to tinker on. I started looking for a '50s station wagon, but never really found one local that interested me. Then something weird and kinda cool happened.

I got a call from a customer to give him a price on sprucing up an old gravel driveway and doing some drainage grading. While I was measuring the driveway I saw a tail light poking out from under an old tarp. I didn't recognize the tail light at all so I asked the homeowner. His reply,"It's a 1956 Studebaker President...you want to buy it?"

Here's what I found when I pulled back the cover.



More to come...

[flashed]

Im in and want to see more .

[RDrancher]

I made a deal with the customer...I would provide the equipment for a day and he would pay for the materials. He accepted, and the deal was done. I guess it was meant to be. The car is a '56, I was born in '56 and I was 56 years old when I got the car.


Here's the background on the Stude. It's a one owner car purchased new by his father in law. Twenty some years ago, the car was involved in an accident. The FIL never liked the color, so he had it repainted the tan/cream color it is now. That same year the FIL died. One of the relatives ended up with the car and had it reupholstered to match the exterior but never drove it or had the title changed. Somehow the car ended up at my customers house about twenty years ago. He doesn't recall why it ended up at his place but does remember that it was driven there. At some point in time he had tried to move the car into the garage but couldn't get it to roll in neutral so he pulled the driveshaft and threw it in the trunk. It still wouldn't roll, so he covered it up. He figured that the trans was toast.

Looking it over after we got it home, I noticed that the parking brake handle wasn't working right. After checking it out I noticed that the parking brake pads and drum had become one. No wonder it wouldn't roll! Removing the rear drums requires a puller since the axle is keyed. While I waited for the puller to arrive in the mail, we started cleaning her up a bit. A squirrel had gotten into the trunk through the spare tire well drain hole and made a mess. The varmint also chewed a small hole in the corner of the back seat to get into the interior.


There were also dirt dauber and hornet nests everywhere.


While I was at work my wife got to work cleaning out the interior.


Our youngest approves of our families new ride.

[RDrancher]

I had some cheap new whitewall tires mounted so I could roll the old girl into the garage. Only one of the wheels held air. Looking at them a bit closer, I found that the one holding air was the only original Stude wheel. The other three were a mix of Ford and Mopar...and all with different backspacing.


We rubbed the whole car down with TR3 and scotchbrite pads. Nice original mauve patina coming through. I also put a '56 Cali plate on that I'd been hauling around through a few moves. I probably had that plate for over thirty years.

[RDrancher]

When I got the car, the oil filler cap was broken, leaving a hole for things to get in there. Draining the oil revealed a beetle bug haven. I refilled a few times with used oil until it came out clean. Someone had obviously done more tinkering on the car than the PO remembered. When I opened up the dizzy to replace the innards, there wasn't a rotor in there at all!

After replacing the plugs, points, condenser, cap and adding fresh oil and a filter, I stuck the fuel line into a gas can and she fired right up! Dead dirt daubers, hornet nests and spider remains shot out of the tailpipes and everywhere else. I wasn't expecting her to fire up that easy and it scared the crap outta me! I have a video of the first start and restart after I regained my composure. If I can figure out how to do the youtube thing I'll load them up.

The original fuel pump leaked fuel into the oil pan. I called my local parts store and to my surprise...they had a pump listed. If I would have done some investigating I would have found that the Air Tex replacement pump is actually made for a Mopar and doesn't always work on a Stude. After installing the replacement pump I proceeded to fill up my pan with gas again.

While I waited for a proper pump (which I never got around to ordering) I decided to move onto other priorities. I lowered the car by cutting two coils and used 4" blocks in the rear. I had to cut off the tailpipes since the routing wasn't done very well over the rear axle, and after lowering the car they didn't fit right at all. When I have the exhaust done I'll extend the swaybar mounts as well.

Found a set of Texas plates too.

I got tired of airing the tires up to move the car around. I purchased a 15"x6" set of Cragar 69's along with new lugnuts and bullet centers. I also found some used trim rings to try since Cragar couldn't tell me if there were any available that would work with the wheels. They fit just fine.

In retrospect I screwed up on the wheels. I kinda like the look, but the stance looks pretty wide for the body of the car to me. The original 15"x5" Stude wheels have a backspace of 4.5". The tires are the same (metric equivalent) size as the originals. The Cragars only have 3.5" backspacing and I had to pull on the rear fenders to get the trim clips to clear the tires when I checked suspension travel. I'm not sure what I'll end up with as far as wheels go. I also have the original full hubcaps. You can see one on the wall in the photo above.

I replaced the original oil bath air cleaner, but wanted something different. I modified a baby moon for the cover.


Before I get back to work on the car, I need to purchase a modified pump from Fairborn Studebaker or mount a inline electrical pump. If anyone knows of a good lightweight inline pump that won't break the bank, I'm open to suggestions.

[NONHOG]

Love it!

[flashed]

Those old cars were so far ahead of their times in my opinion ,love the lines on the studes .

[RDrancher]

I removed the old dash pad, but I'm having trouble getting the remainder of the glue/foam (lighter stuff in the pics) off so I can sand it down. Any tips on any products I can use to make this easier?

I'll be resetting the crooked "cyclops" speedo and painting the dash instead of re-padding.

[flashed]

I would try some GoofOff and see if that would help .

[NONHOG]

Wd40?