Autofil

I think you did right in waiting with the numbers until inspection was done, but the car look great with them in a retro racing autentity aspect. Very nice. And a bargin vs hand paint cost. Whats next with the Indy? Are you planning a longer trip with the gem soon perhaps? It has been a very interesting jurney to follow, on several levels. This one is a keeper Gary 🏆😊

Thanks Gary for the insight. Ross boxes are solid products especially when looking back on the long life these units have had. Some wear are expected and some can be addressed with simple measures, others will be more demanding for sure. I have sourced what I can of NOS parts for my M15A truck Ross box for a later rebuild, and for my 35’ ACE truck it improved much with some adjustment(pin was not to badly worn either). Just keep them well lubricated with correct grease yes.

Glad the brake pull had a solution. Sometimes addressing the brake lining ends can save the day when everything else has been tried. I have tried the TightSteer arrangement my self, but I did not see an improvement over the Ross adjustment screw tuning. I guess as long as I am able to adjust at center top to a fine clearance, I can live with the fact that the off center steering are a bit more loose. I assume that by the design this is more common if one have the single pin version vs the later dual pin box. Do you have the dual pin steering on the Indy?

A milestone achived, very good news Gary 🏆😊

I think the looks are definitely worth your effort. It is often such details that are often left uncorrected, but are noted as non-time correct items. Now it is hard for any tire kickers to know "better" 😉 The Stude stands out as my favourite replica ever. Thank you for bringing us along on this adventure Gary 😀💪

That was a proper reinforcement you came up with. These blocks will never ever come loose by braking any longer. And the smoother backing plate suits the new drums perfectly. Safe braking! 😊

The press fit basically kept the anchor in place hiding the proper installation benefit. Over time, the anchor has as you have seen the loose fit and one day ripping the tap off with a potential for the brake effect being completely gone or at best partly. Glad you discovered this early. Looking forward to see the new drums installed.

Hi, I actually have a full set now. But thank you very much for the notification Robert 👍

Excellent analysis of the transformation of rolling energy to friction effect required to haul from high speed to cornering speed in given rate. Only one thing about air, beyond air speed cooling the brakes, is the standing air resistance working against the lovely body and chassis, the same the engine are pushing the car up against at 90mph looking away internal friction of rotating parts; the same air resistance will slightly reduce your brake required energy consumption, especially at the upper end. This is true even if you tell me that the beatiful Stude is tunnel tuned and optimized with air drag reducing countermeasures, as it will have an natural impact (if not inspace). How much; probably negliable in the overall aspect of brake temperature. Rotational mass speed reduction at given rate may be an even larger contributor, if not counterbalanced by the engine trottle vaccum effect. And tire rubber deflection and internal resistance losses, how will this affect the calculation. Please bear with me, I am just impressed over your insight and skills, and just want to point out that you have already had these elements in mind. We all need to do assumptions at one point. Even me. Again, thank you for the accomplishment with the Stude build Gary 👍

Well, when I first noted the purpose of you posting I thought; safety first, looks second. But the non-cross fin version looks cleaner/nicer and would be a better fit for a 30s racer. The cooling effect award goes to the Buick version, even with the fins oriented as-is. Not sure how hard you will be pushing the silver gem requiring the outmost on the cooling side, after all the car is not that heavy! If the Bank of America grant you the dollars, I would say try out a set. Couldn’t harm the looks, and safety would still be good 😉

Fantastic job, from start to final panel assembly (you have some experience with that now) and the color suits the race car very well. A real eye catcher! Drive carefully to the meeting and harvest some nice feedback. Faboulus!

This looks very promising. Curved panels will certainly give more flavor to the metallic when sun are present. I assume you will have the clear coat wet sanded and buffed smooth to minimize typical dust or imperfections. Anyway, a perfect color selection for a perfect build and a truely great acheivement Gary!! Wish I had one in my garage too!

And this particular one was really seized on the flywheel 😆

I agree with Bloo and yourself. It all comes down to clearances on how you orient, in or out, the clutch plate assy. It is very likely that the protruding splined boss interfered the release collar enough to limit thrust bearing travel and subsequently disc slippage needed. Even this is a different Studebaker engine and clutch assy used on a 35’ Studebaker 1T241 truck, you can see the short boss side and spring assy being installed away from engine equally as your illustration.

By the way, the picture of the clutch housing with shaft installed show the thrust bearing retainer/slider with the small spring turned backwards, if it was installed this way, the thrust bearing may not see the correct load applied. The spring on the picture shall be behind the retainer/slider, not visually as shown. See the Studebaker manual cut-thru.

Gary, It might be bonded, but if the storage has not been to humid, this is not very likely. I assume you have a change in resistance once thrust bearing is loaded by clutch linkage, and that the clutch interaction push force increase for the given travel. If no sense of the typical spring resistance, then you may have either a range issue as David pointed out, or some internal mechanics fault. Last is that the clutch pressure plate assy can be adjusted on each coil spring vs lever vs pin screw. I assume the clutch has the same features as my 35’ truck with the Champion truck engine. It looks very similar. If so, there might be a need to adjust this to get the optimal thrust bearing contact and position to release the clutch. Especially if your range in the linkage and actual shaft movement or mis aligned/not optimal. just my input.

Quite a bit of work to access the pin hole. For the invert socket pipe plug and installation, just ensure sufficient time to allow the sealant cement to dry up prior filling with coolant. And not to over tightening the plug causing a abnormal local stress hotspot. And I am sure you will top up the engine collant system before re-assembly. Just to be on the good side.

Sorry to read this Gary. This kind of show stoppers are not easy to accept when your are at the very end of a great build. Kind of weird that a third dowelpin has been specified by Studebaker beyond the two common pins on each side of the bellhousing. Any attempt to remove pin without removing bellhousing/transmission are probably not optimal, especially if a threaded plug are to be installed. Pin is hardened and from the pictures not really accessible without removal as described. I would go for a NPT or any similar coned plug prepared with liquid sealant. Use a brass version based on the remaining non-cast iron accessories on your engine to avoid the post-issues having something acting up materialvice on the corrosion side. At least you got this alert early, not later when engine was hot any you had enjoyed the thrill of speeding about the track somewhere. And you are getting really good tinkering the cars mechanics. Even if this is one bad feeling now, it builds character. We all know from experiences. To well Gary. You will fix this👍

Oboy, I thought you guys lived in the U.S.A where everything are allowed in the entusiast automotive world. Sounds more like Norway all over; rules and regulations.... Best advice; get all required b&w correctly done accoding to regulations, after approval; remove the unwanted elements and enjoy the wind in the hair down the road hauling ass in a 1932 Studebaker. No one will have second thoughts, by the looks it is original built by Studebaker.....by spec it is 😊👌

With the foot force vs finger force action, this will work very well Gary. It is much better to have sufficient spring force connected to ensure easy throttle return. Looks very nice!

That was a sad ending. I hope #46 will re-surface and are taken care of in the same spirit as Mr.Kunz. Some times we connect with particular interesting individuals over our belowed Studebakers. Same did I as my 1935 ACE truck journey stumbled into a to come dear friend of mine, Jim Proffit. I am very glad I was able to visit him and his wife in Poland (ex-american) before he unfortunately passed away in 2018. An very special mechanic (by his own terms), his legacy surpass the term in many many ways. He had several driving and mechanic experience for Brooks Stevens 33 Studebaker Indy car #34 when Brooks owned the car. Not too far from your 32. Prowd to have gotten to know and meet the gentleman. Too bad these relations never last. Hope it is ok to share a picture of Jim in his favourite element; speeding!

You guys are really getting hard worked progress in the shortest time; what a marvel this is coming to be!! 👏 Wish I had that progress!

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Studebaker friends in Norway!

Very good Gary, this is one favorite built. Only thing is the vertical mounted front braking cylinders; you will get some challenges getting the air frome these. You may even need to remove them from the car to fill em and vent em before returning them back leaving the brake hose attached and blocked. I tried vacuum venting and it is not very optimal on classic rubber cup based brake cylinders since the seal technology allows air to re-enter if vaccum gets prominent on the hydraulic side. Robert

Just fabulous work Gary👌 I enjoy every single update you post as this is an inspiration for most of us car/truck nuts. Keep up the quality work and pace. Thank you, Robert, Norway