Jump to content

Barn Find '62 Studebaker GT Hawk


Recommended Posts

Well, ok......it's a Basement Find :)

Got this GT that has been sitting covered up in a heated dry basement since the mid-'80s (that's the 1980s for you young'uns). Disassembly was begun for paint, then the project got put on the back burner because of newly acquired projects.

Car came from California to Greensboro NC in the late '70s or early '80s, still in the hands of the original owner. The Hydrovac went bad and it ingested brake fluid into the engine causing it to lock up. Car is extremely solid, been bumped in the rear and the front sometime in the past and repaired, mostly original paint, 289/2bbl, Flightomatic auto trans, 58K miles.

A good bit of work had been done already before the project languished - engine rebuild well along, front suspension apart for new bushings, NOS rear springs installed, NOS interior material (rolls) obtained from Newman & Altman (South Bend IN) in '88, new windshield on hand, etc.

I have struggled for several years as to what to do with the car, as it is taking up too much room just sitting like a lump. Finally have decided to get it back up on all fours and reassemble it, buff out the paint, and get it running. I'll post updates as the work progresses, which will hopefully help me stay focused on getting it done.

Back in the mid-'80s it was just another old broke down Studebaker, they were all over the place. Now it will be a Survivor. :o How times have changed!

Here are a few pictures of it being 'unearthed':

Rear_zps77c5d659.jpg

Front_zps9f6fc88d.jpg

Trunk_zps0c655524.jpg

Hood_zps44651779.jpg

TrunkLid_zpsb3bc76e1.jpg

Parts_zps3cb3374e.jpg

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Not a huge amount actually done on the car in the last week and a half. Had been cleaning up the floorpans (surface rust only) and will paint those areas. But, until then, here are some really neat things that were in the glovebox of this GT..................

The car was listed on the window sticker as being delivered to Studebaker-National City in California, and indicates that this was the San Diego Retail Store. The car was actually sold at Best Imports in La Mesa. The Sales Agreement is interesting in that the salesman used the wrong serial number (in the field that says 'Motor Number')........but note that the price on the Sales Agreement is exactly the same as the price on the window sticker. So I have no doubt that this Sales Agreement is for this car. Anyone familiar with Best Imports, Studebaker-National City, and JR Townsend dealerships??

The napkin from the JR Townsend dealership in San Diego/La Mesa/National City is really cool, probably not too many of them survive. I guess you used that to wipe off your steering wheel??

Speedometer (mileage is 58K and change):

Speedo_zpsa0d200c2.jpg

Window Sticker:

62HawkWindowStickerresized_zps2d00dd21.jpg

Sales Agreement:

SalesAgreementresized_zpseedd2d7a.jpg

Dash Plaque:

DSC02137_zps12a0924f.jpg

Napkin:

DealershipServiceNapkinresized_zpsd59ec1c4.jpg

Trash Bag from an Arizona dealer:

DealerTrashHolderresized_zpsb4c1206c.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement Chuck, Pat, and Chris. My Dad was a lot of the reason I became involved in Studebakers, since he (along with his father and brother) were Studebaker and Packard dealers. When I was small, I can vividly remember riding in Packards and Larks. Bought my first one in the early '80s (a '64 GT Hawk with R1 engine which I still have) and many more over the years. Even bought one for my Dad (a '64 Lark 2-door with V8/3 speed) that he really enjoyed for a number of years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 10 months later...

Happy New Years to everyone on the 'Our Cars and Restoration Projects' sub-forum!!

I haven't posted hardly at all in 6+ months, due to work demands plus helping my Mom do some cleaning up at her house. Moved to a new group (same company) in early March, and was immediately assigned to a number of projects that were.....putting it nicely......in the ditch.

Those projects are pretty much completed now, so I've got some time to breathe. Between trying to take care of a backlog of 'around the house' work, I've gotten started back on the GT Hawk. Will post a progress report with pictures in a few days.

It's been enjoyable catching up on everyone's progress. (Especially what Chris --SeventhSon -- has gotten accomplished on his Avanti!)

Edited by r1lark
lousy spellin' (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Progress report Jan 11, 2013.............

Got the surface rust cleaned off the floorboards, primed with Rustoleum rusty metal primer, then topcoated with some Wimbledon White paint from DupliColor. The Wimbledon White is a somewhat close match to the Ermine White, good enough match at least for the floorboards. Pics are below. It's amazing how much sealer was slathered on at the factory. As you can see, I did not want to scrape all the sealer off, nor was I wanting to paint every little spot where paint was off.

Had most of the brake parts on-hand, but had to order a master cylinder and a few other pieces. Got the small parts cleaned up, and the backing plates cleaned and blasted and will paint them today. No pics of those right now.......but will get those up in a few days.

Will bend up the new brake lines this week and get them on the car.

post-76020-143142345323_thumb.jpg

post-76020-143142345326_thumb.jpg

post-76020-143142345328_thumb.jpg

post-76020-14314234533_thumb.jpg

post-76020-143142345333_thumb.jpg

post-76020-143142345335_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The "sealer" is often used as a sound resonance reducer. Now that you have it nice and clean, I'd buy some fat mat or edead to cover it and make it solid and quiet. I did it on the Corvair and then ordered more for my other two projects.

If you shop around on line, it will cost about $1 per sq ft. I needed 54 sq ft on the Corvair. Some will say it adds too much weight, but it is something like 10 lbs.

post-56369-143142347312_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Richard, good suggestion. I used a similar material on my '54 Studebaker sedan. Besides sound reduction, the heat transmitted thru the floorboards (especially the transmission tunnel on a Stude) is reduced by using the overlay.

While waiting for some paint to dry on the suspension control arms and brake backing plates, I dug out the spare tire & jack, and put them in the car. Tire is a U.S. Royal wide white; don’t know if it could be one of the original tires from South Bend or not. Also reinstalled the cardboard divider between the trunk and passenger compartment.

Wiped off the original truck mat and spare tire mat and installed those also, more to get them into a place where they won’t get damaged. The mat is not vinyl like some of the Studebaker reproductions, but more of a woven material, so I'm hesitant to be too aggressive in cleaning it. Would rather have a slightly dirty original versus risking damaging it and having to buy a repro.

DSC02428resized_zpsbeaa27e9.jpg<O:p></O:p>

DSC02433resized_zpseb6840cd.jpg

Edited by r1lark
fixed font size (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’ve been slow in posting progress. Finished up blasting & painting a lot of smaller suspension and brake items this weekend – brake backing plates, front suspension control arms, control arm shafts, brake drums, etc. Will put the inner bushings on the control arms tonight.

With the snow we are getting here today (only inches here, not feet like some areas are getting), and the fact that I don’t have any projects in the middle of execution right now at work (currently in budget and planning mode), I may decide to work from home tomorrow. That’s always hard since I tend to gravitate down to the shop to work on the cars. :)

Here are a few pics of some of the painted parts:

DSC02435resized_zps540cb3bc.jpg<O:p></O:p>

DSC02436resized_zpsca6ac859.jpg

Edited by r1lark
fixed font size...... (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Got the bushings pressed into the upper and lower control arms, pictures are below. Finished up kingpin/spindle assembly (bushings, bearings, shim adjustment) today, and sprayed a light coating of primer on them; finish coating (and pictures :)) tomorrow.

post-76020-143142373729_thumb.jpg

post-76020-143142373671_thumb.jpg

post-76020-143142373674_thumb.jpg

post-76020-143142373686_thumb.jpg

post-76020-143142373696_thumb.jpg

post-76020-143142373705_thumb.jpg

post-76020-143142373715_thumb.jpg

post-76020-143142373719_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looking good Paul.

What prep & paint did you use on your backing plates?

As others have stated you have a nice solid car to work with and is going to be super when you are done plus the fact it is one of those timeless designs that just never look out of place.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for all the positive comments folks! This helps me keep pushing along with the car. As all of you know, it's hard after a long day at work to come home and jump right in on the car.

Doug, the prep and paint on the backing plates (and rest of the suspension components shown) is pretty minimal -- degrease, sandblast, and paint with Satin Black VHT Epoxy Chassis Paint. Here's a link, I've been getting it at Advance Auto: http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_epoxy-satin-black-11-oz-aerosol-vht-paint_7141585-p I started using this because I didn't want to wait for an order of the Eastwood chassis paint to arrive. The spray nozzle is really nice, gives a nice round pattern for good quick coverage.

The VHT specifically says it does not require the use of primer. On some items I've not used primer under the VHT and it covered and went on fine. On other parts, if I know they won't be coated for a few days after blasting, I'll use a primer (Plasticoat Super Primer) to keep the parts from flash rusting.

Not much progress yesterday, after church I had to work on the daily driver Jeep (water pump). Did get the spindle/kingpin assemblies done and will post pics of that tonight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Slowly making progress. Got the spindle/kingpin assemblies together. The spindles are amazingly nice, no scoring or wear. Installed new upper thrust bearings, new kingpin bushing/bearing, and set the end play correctly per the Shop Manual. Used a o-ring at the bottom in place of the orginal cork seal; the lower bearing must be set slightly deeper into the spindle to get the proper clearance for the o-ring. Below are a few pictures, not really much to see though.

Been cleaning up the rear axle to give it a coat of paint. A good example of 'scope creep' or 'while I'm at it' disease. Also pulled the axles out to clean and inspect the axle bearings/races, and to install new inner axle seals.

post-76020-143142381221_thumb.jpg

post-76020-143142381206_thumb.jpg

post-76020-143142381219_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not a huge amount to report. Been working on smaller items on the car that are not picture-worthy. Blasted one of the front drums in the big blast cabinet at work - my bead blaster does not work all that great on things like drums, plus all the fins are a bear to properly blast with a small gun. Got that drum painted Friday. Painted a few smaller items also.

Yesterday was mostly taken up doing a few things on the '99 Ford F-350 I'm trying to sell for my Mom. Tried to get the hitch ball mount out, since it's a special one for the sway bars that attach to the trailer and doesn't get sold with the truck. But the pin appears to be corroded/rusted inside the hitch ball mount. After about 30 minutes with a large diameter punch and big hammer (yes, I had my safety glasses on), I decided that the whole hitch assembly needs to come off so I can try to get it into the hydraulic press. Only six bolts, so not too bad. Always something.......and let's not even talk about locking the keys in the truck with it running. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Well, I can't believe it's been over a year since I last posted on this thread. Unfortunately, there has been pretty much zero work accomplished during this period. Between family, church, and work the old cars were not part of the picture during this time period. But work has eased off some as I wind down towards an eventual part-time consulting/contracting arrangement. (I don't like to use the 'retirement' term because that conjures up visions of sitting on the porch in a rocking chair drinking tea. I don't really like tea......:P )

In the last week or so the front a-arms, spindles, and springs have been assembled on the car, as well as the front steering pivot/bellcrank and tie rods. This weekend will be getting the brakes on the car and bending up the new brake lines.

Pictures to come this weekend. It's good to be back making some progress. As Martin said, just got to keep plugging away at it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey Paul, I feel your pain. I just got to order my lifters and push rods for my engine. I haven't really done much on my project lately either. Just don't give up, that's when people start second guessing what they got into and start to loose intrest in the project since it's not moving fast enough. Then it's goes up for sale. Just hang in there and do what you can when you can. Just working small parts here in there may not seem like a big milestone, but it's still progress in getting closer to finishing the car. Chin up. You will get there. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As promised, here are a few pictures. This weekend saw more progress - brakes assembled and on the car; set the rear axle end play; hooked up emergency brake cables; installed the front hub races, greased the wheel bearings, installed the inner seals, and installed the front brake drums. Didn't get started on bending the new brake lines, that will have to wait for evenings this coming week - but the cunifer brake line tubing and fittings arrived last week from Fedhill (http://store.fedhillusa.com/) so I've got the needed materials.

For some reason, I can't get the first picture rotated properly.............:confused:

post-76020-14314299258_thumb.jpg

post-76020-143142992559_thumb.jpg

post-76020-14314299257_thumb.jpg

post-76020-14314299259_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Once you click on the picture and it appears in a window, click on the picture again and it rotates to correct view. Not sure why it does this, I just found out by mistake one day with some of unimogjohn's pics. BTW, good to see you are once again moving forward with the car, Paul. More than what I am able to do with the Avanti, which is NOTHING! :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

OK, long overdue progress report. Since I have been on vacation since April 1, I have been able to make some progress.

The new brake lines are done and installed, except the lines from the master cylinder to the Hydrovac, and from the Hydrovac output to the forward tee. Used my new Rigid double flaring tool that I got a couple of years ago; boy what an improvement from the previous flaring tool. Perfect double flares every time. Thought I had some pics of the new brake lines installed, but can't find them. The new brake lines were bent using the originals as patterns. Here is the flaring tool:

post-76020-143143090512_thumb.jpg

The front wheel hub caps were dented up pretty bad (I guess due to reinstalling them with a hammer......), so I spent way too much time straightening/painting them. Also made a cap installation tool out of some PVC fittings:

post-76020-143143090651_thumb.jpg

New rear gas shocks were installed:

post-76020-143143090533_thumb.jpg

Pulled the gas tank sender and checked it with an ohm meter, and it worked well after some contact cleaner. The old cork float was replaced with a more modern float that came from the old fuel pump assembly out of my '93 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Really easy modification, and free. A buddy from church that runs a auto repair place brought me a few more of these style floats for future projects.

post-76020-143143090544_thumb.jpg

Brake pedal, linkage, bolts, and new master cylinder cleaned and painted, and ready for installation:

post-76020-143143090554_thumb.jpg

Ordered the exhaust system from Parks Pipes, here are a few pictures. I've gotten exhaust pipes from them in the past for other Studebakers, and they always fit perfect.

post-76020-143143090576_thumb.jpg

There were some places where the original tar-type undercoating had gotten oil on it and was soft, so these areas were scraped off and resprayed with 3M undercoating. No pics of resprayed areas, but wanted to show these pictures of the factory paint under the undercoating:

post-76020-143143090596_thumb.jpg

Gas tank cleaning is in progress, will get some pics of that posted. Also working on cleaning/detailing the engine compartment (firewall and inner fenders) so I can get the steering box reinstalled. Checked the wheels for runnout, and found one that needs to be straightened but have not taken to the wheel shop yet.

This week I'll get the automatic transmission cleaned up externally, and start disassembling it. With relatively low mileage, I hope all it will need is new seals/O-rings/gaskets.

Will try to provide updates a little more frequently from now on.

post-76020-14314309048_thumb.jpg

post-76020-143143090492_thumb.jpg

post-76020-143143090502_thumb.jpg

post-76020-143143090522_thumb.jpg

post-76020-143143090566_thumb.jpg

post-76020-143143090586_thumb.jpg

post-76020-143143090633_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Martin, just took one of the caps to the local Lowe's Home Improvement, and tried various PVC fittings until I found one that the cap fit into well, and got a plug fitting to screw into the other end to hit against. Cost was a couple of bucks.

Have used the same idea for odd grease seals that the store-bought seal installer kit wouldn't work with. I've had to start labeling them tho, to avoid ending up with a drawer full of PVC fittings that I have no idea what they were used for :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Way overdue for an update. Since retiring on June 1, it's been go go go. Have spent a lot of time at my Mom's cleaning up, having yard sales, etc. My Dad didn't like to get rid of anything, so after he passed away a couple of years ago Mom asked me and my brother to help her get things cleaned up. We had the second (and last!) yard sale this past weekend. The shed and basement are pretty much done, just a few large items still to sell. Next on the list is finishing the install of the combination washer/dryer upstairs so Mom doesn’t have to go up and down the basement stairs to wash clothes. She still gets around really well at 90 years old (still drives, and still bowls once a week in a league) but having everything on one level is better.

 

The steering box inspection and reseal is complete, and has been reinstalled. Box was in very good condition inside, so cleaning, new grease seal, detailing, and adjustments per the Shop Manual was all it needed. The power steering control valve was also disassembled and new seals installed. The power steering ram seems to have been replaced sometime in the past and showed no signs of leakage, so it was just cleaned up and painted, as was the power steering pump. Both these items are relatively easy to remove if they show up as leaking once the car is together, so thus the decision to take a chance on them.

post-118252-0-90063300-1438993126_thumb.post-118252-0-02186100-1438993188_thumb.post-118252-0-24542500-1438993258_thumb.

 

Of course, before putting in the steering box, the engine compartment needed to be detailed. The paint on the passenger side inner fender and the firewall was pretty nice and cleaned up really well using Acrysol from Kent Automotive (this is great stuff for cleaning stains and dirt from old paint). The driver’s side inner fender paint had suffered from battery acid, so the rust was cleaned off, a rust converter applied, then primed/touched up. Came out pretty decent, here are before and after pics.

Before:

post-118252-0-58916300-1438993317_thumb.

 

In Progress:

post-118252-0-48178500-1438993372_thumb.

 

After: 

post-118252-0-81755600-1438993425_thumb.post-118252-0-97994800-1438993766_thumb.

 

Steering box and power steering control valve are installed, see pic just above. Also got the brake pedal and new master cylinder installed. (The underneath of the car will be cleaned once it’s outside. By the way, that’s original paint on the frame…….)

post-118252-0-79249900-1438993828_thumb.

 

Gas tank is done, and came out pretty well. Inside is clean, and outside has been cleaned of surface rust and painted with cold galvanizing compound and then clear coated:

post-118252-0-27671800-1438993964_thumb.

 

Went thru the wiper motor and gearbox, was in good shape (maybe it never rains in California?) so it went back together with just a lubrication and outside detailing.

post-118252-0-36589600-1438994028_thumb.

 

Finally getting around to the transmission rebuild. Got the outside cleaned up a couple of months ago, and have researched parts sources and studied the Shop Manual. Today’s task was to scab up a copy of the factory Kent-Moore fixture for holding the tranny case upside down on the workbench:

post-118252-0-46635500-1438994151_thumb.

 

Still trying to decide whether to have the existing Hydrovac rebuilt (or rebuild it myself), or buy a new manufacture Hydrovac from Studebaker International. Decisions, decisions. J

 

Tomorrow the transmission disassembly begins.........

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...