Eric W

Rims back from powder coater. Hard to tell how the color is more cream than white. There will be some contrast next to the whitewalls.

Parts car items #16 & 17 - front license plate bracket & wheel rims. Got the plate off the bracket, and soaked the plate bracket & bolts in Evap O Rust for a couple of days. Also straightened the bracket some, though it has an arch to it to match the center of the bumper. Painted & installed today. My wife got me a novelty plate for the front based on the "UFO" idea that my son came up with. Wheel rims - got the 5 that were on/in the parts car to the tire shop yesterday to have the tires removed, and then took the rims over to the powder coater. Took longer to settle on a color than I had waited at the tire shop, but working with the powder coat guy I think it will be a good choice... Anyway, a very close representation of the colors I'm going for is on the Dec. 2017 cover of Turning Wheels (Studebaker Driver's Club magazine). Also ordered the wide-white bias-look radials. I didn't think I would go for bias-look radials (I had done bias-plies on the '51 Buick), but the tire shop talked me into it. In driving the bias-plies on the Buick, they lighten up the steering a lot (to what was intended back when it was designed), but they are very squishy when cornering.

The hubcaps that came with the car are a mismatched and beat up group from quite a bit later Studebakers. The originals for this car appear to be essentially "baby moon" type. There wasn't lettering or a logo for '51 - '52 (for the "dog dish" or "poverty" caps - the full-wheel covers DO have logos). Given that, I found a set of new baby moons on eBay. Downside is they have enough dome to them that the rear fender skirts won't fit. I also ordered a set of trim rings, but the seller was down to their last ONE (which they sent). Three more on backorder. Also swapped out the front bumper end bolts from the galvanized/rust hardware-store ones that were on there to a pair that I cleaned up from the parts car.

Ignition switch bezel cleaned up & switch installed.

No, I didn't see the parts car (other than the online ad couple of low-res photos) until it showed up in front of my house. It's been a pretty good deal, so far. The guys who sold it to me sounded like they had bought a group of 3 or 4 cars, and this one was the one they didn't want/need. They were working on a '47 or '48 Starlight Coupe and a '50's Studebaker pickup, but there may have been more. The wiring in the trunk was under the radiator, a bunch of the front brake parts, and a new/rebuilt water pump.

Parts car items #14 & 15 - ignition switch & headlight switch. Since the original wires in the coupe were cut & spliced to change out these switches, I might not be able to get them back in without more extensive re-wiring. Another item from the parts car - replacement wire harnesses were in the trunk!

Parts car item #13 - radio. There's a threaded hook through the firewall at the back of the radio, and 2 special bolts near the front that engage plate nuts in the bottom edge of the dash. No power to it, but I don't expect it to work, just replace the blank-off plate and give the antenna on the RH fender at least a logical if not functional reason for being there.

Chris - I'm not sure when Studebaker changed from 1-piece to 2-piece glass. Google images of 1947-1948 Studebakers, and they're almost all (but not all) 2-piece glass. As an "independent" car maker (not Ford / not GM), Studebaker would use the same body stampings for more years than Ford or GM. They used this same basic body from 1947-1952. So when the one-piece glass came along in 1949 or so, it isn't fully curved, but rather 2 flats with a relatively sharp bend right in the center, so it would appear it could fit any model from 1947-1952. One piece glass may have been an extra-cost option at first, or only offered on certain higher-level models. I saw something in their marketing materials about eliminating the center trim strip as a visibility improvement, but I don't really notice it when driving. I don't know if I'll move that glass over from the other car, since the center strip on the coupe also now is an attach point for the visor support (but I'll probably hold onto the one-piece glass & trim). When this windshield change was made on my car, I don't know if they harvested a center strip from an older Studebaker or just made something up. I haven't looked that closely at it. I think they were wise enough to use automotive safety glass when this was done in the late 70's / early 80's. The pest control operation, even back then, had locations across the entire southern U.S., and they cycled hundreds of cars through the shop. The mechanic I spoke with said the company owned two auto transporters - one based in Tucson, and the other in Florida. When they wanted to rotate cars between cities, the Tuscon transporter would go as far as Dallas. The one from Florida would also go to Dallas, and the company's cars would be transferred all the way across the country. Some photos of hot-rodded / street rodded Studebakers of this vintage show 2-piece glass with just a thin seam of sealant at the center, but the angle must be enough that one piece of flat glass can't be used. Thanks Paul - that location is about 2 miles down from my house. Really feels like it's out in the country at that spot, though there's houses all around.

Some outdoor photos to show off the "new" front chrome.

This particular one has very little originality left to it. At the Studebaker club meeting, I met one man who owned the car in the early 1970's. He confirmed that it had always been in Tucson (based on paperwork he found in the car when he got it). Even back at that time, there was documentation that the engine is not original - it's at least a '53 engine, if not later. He attributed that to bad cams in the '51 - '52 engines that required many of them to be replaced. He sold the car to a local pest control company who used many old cars as marketing for their brand. Also at the club meeting, I met a man who worked for the pest control company as a mechanic. He told me he'd painted this car maybe 5 times. He said it was originally something near this light green color, but also in the layers of paint it was dark blue metallic, tan, red, and the present light green. Given that the pest control company's purpose was to locate the cars around town (they hardly need to start and move a little), when something broke, they "fixed" it with whatever was available, without worrying about whether it's original. The mechanic still has a key to my car's ignition on his key ring - because many of the company cars were changed to the same ignition switch / key! What I've found so far on the dash that isn't original is the ignition switch, headlight switch, horn switch, starter switch, and a manual switch was added to bypass the automatic overdrive. The turn signal lever also isn't original. The windshield glass was replaced by this same mechanic with 2-piece flat instead of the original 1-piece curved because when it got broken, it was quicker/cheaper to cut 2 pieces of flat glass rather than hunt down an original curved glass. I went through the brakes in earlier posts, but when I got the car, it had later ('54-up) rear drums with the '52 fronts. This would not be a safe combination to drive because the rears would have proportionally more stopping power. The fronts were missing a lot of the self-adjuster parts. So rather than hunt down the numerous (and expensive) missing parts in the '52 fronts, as well as down-grade the rears to '52, I found a pair of '57 front drums and loaded backing plates and got the brakes going that way. The engine doesn't have the original fuel pump because people have told me they were more difficult to get parts for, and possibly less reliable - anyway the engine is later, and it appears to have come with a fuel pump that mounts to a different boss. Not sure why there's no oil filter - maybe it was lost in the engine replacement. All Commanders were supposed to come standard with an oil filter. The exhaust manifolds have been cut up and re-welded to make the dual exhaust. The hill holder brake valve (also standard on Commander) is gone. When I replaced the brake line I could see a small splice where it would have been. It appears there never was a radio because there's a radio blank-off plate at the bottom of the dash. Though the car has a radio antenna, the wire is coiled up - not strung across the dash as though it ever connected to something. The mechanic also told me that all of the glass was broken out including the curved back windows. I believe this was a fairly common result for these marketing cars - they still use them around town to this day, and I've seen them with the windows broken out. The entire interior is replacement. Seat fabrics, headliner, side panels, door panels, kick panels - all replaced. The door handle rings are missing. Sun visors weren't reinstalled when the headliner was replaced. Headliner wasn't reinstalled per original. There's no windlace around the door openings. The door sills are bent up flat metal (not original). So what's original to this car? Not a whole lot. I'm just trying to make it look better, keep it running, and replace things with original parts where I can.

Yes, I'll get to that roof sometime. Today was the grille transplant. Many more fasteners than I could ever imagine, but it's done.

Parts car #8 - hood emblem. The "S" looked like NOS - never before installed. #9 - Rear valence panel - below the rear bumper & above the exhaust tips. Didn't even know that was missing from my car, but it does hide the gas tank (and rounds off the bottom of the body). Example photo shows a dual exhaust - not sure if this was ever factory, or if the panel is just modified. #10 - LH side air vent lever retention spring. I did know this was missing, because without the spring, the lever arm bounces out of the door, then the door won't open. I also found a little broken off piece of spring in there. It's kind of interesting to get the spring in or out of there because you can't grab the spring directly. Had to wrap a wire around the lever, grab the wire with pliers and lift the lever up, swing the door out of the way, then let the lever down. Then, there's no tension on the spring at all. Still had to hold the spring with pliers because the opening is too small to hold the spring by hand. #11 - oil filter, bracket & tubes. #12 - fuel pump. This will be for appearance - there's already a later fuel pump down the side of the engine, and several have recommended just going electric & not using the engine-driven pumps at all (but leave them in place for appearance).

Plate frame says C. A. Bowen & Sons, Oakdale. The plates are 1963. I don't know if that was a Studebaker dealer.

Similar views to when I first got the car, but to show the chrome on the headlight trim rings, the polished front bumper, and addition of the bumper over-rides. Maybe some of the paint polishing shows up too.

Parts car project #7 - "clam digger" grille and radiator lower air guide "pan". The pan in the coupe has a big hole cut in it. Not sure why. But to get that pan out, the bumper comes off and the grille comes out. Since the grille on the coupe is painted (flat green), I'll swap in the chromed parts when the pan is ready to go in. With the grille off the parts car, I see a whole lot of '51 fender under there...

Ash tray before / after - it will make more sense with a radio replacing that bottom center trim piece (radio blank-off plate).

So far this week, parts car items #5 and #6 - use one of the wheels/tires for a spare, and move the ash tray across from the parts car because the chrome is better.

Parts car project #4 - front bumper overrides. Polished the front bumper with Simichrome. I was surprised how nice that bumper really is! Harvested the bumper over-rides from the parts car. Sprayed them with Rust Kutter (from Tractor Supply). This really takes off the "bloom" of surface rust, as well as converts the metal at the areas where the chrome is rusted through. Not sure that this offers much long-term protection, but my 11% Relative Humidity indoor storage facility (my garage in the desert) will keep these looking as they do now pretty much indefinitely. Let the RK work for an hour or two, rinse off with water & dry. Also then polished these with Simichrome, though they're a little beat up from riding way out front for so many years. I really like the over-complexity of these mid-century chromed styling elements. First photo - trying to show the difference before/after polishing.

Made it to a local Studebaker club lunch get together on Saturday. The sandwich shop is in the building that was the Studebaker dealership in Tucson in the 20's. Photo below of the inside of the shop - they have Studebaker-based murals on the walls...

Missed posting the Halloween theme...

Parts car - 2nd & 3rd items - dashboard cigarette lighter & sun visors. Before, the lighter hole was covered with a sticker. Sun visors were missing from the coupe. These sun visors need some work, but the starting parts are there...

If you must have a parts car, don't you want the best one you can get? It's a 4-door sedan, body style "W". No title. The parts I'll pull for the coupe would have taken who knows how long to track down. Some of them are '52 Commander specific. Some of them are '51-'52 V8 only. Parts car project #1 - chrome headlight surrounds...

First photo - 3rd cruise night 10/26 - parked nose in to have the trunk open w/ candy for the kids. Next photos - parts car! '52 Commander w/ significant body rust, otherwise it was only slightly disassembled but seems to be pretty much all there. Last photo - another trunk-or-treat on Sunday, 10/29. When you think my coupe is running & driving - what does it need with a parts car - the more I look, the more it could use. It had been "restored" multiple times, and in some of that, quite a few original parts are gone.

First cruise night last night. And the faster backwards jokes begin... Still too hot around here. Reached 100F during the day. Car made it there & back no problems.

Battery hold down cleaned, painted, and going in.