richard m

Thanks Gary. Good suggestions. Particularly re. using a lower temp one.

My 1930 Dictator had no thermostat when I bought it. The parts book shows that it should have one. Haven't found any vendors listing thermostats for this car. I did see an Ebay listing for Dictator 8 but don't know if it is the same as the 6 thermostat. Has anyone found a modern replacement that fits the 6? What temperature do you recommend? 160, 180, or ? Thx, Richard

Thanks. Good suggestion. I'll have to see how it runs with the old original plugs and then decide.

I have had some success using a fine pointed soldering iron and carefully "welding" cracks in the plastic. If you have some extra plastic of the same type you can use it to add filler to the crack. Do the welding on the back, unseen side of the crack if possible. The wiring for the tail lights, trunk light, gas tank sender, and rear courtesy lights runs along the left side of the car under the carpet into the trunk area as best I can recall.

Good news. Found my answer in the parts book of all places (lol). Champion 4 is recommended. These plugs are also used in Model A Fords, so my Champion C-16c plugs should work fine. Another suitable plug is Champion 561w16y.

My 1930 Dictator 6 has Champion C-16c plugs which I believe are commonly used in Model A Fords. Are these ok to use or is there a better plug for this engine? Thanks for any suggestions.

For your window channel, you might search online Restoration Specialties in Pennsylvania (https://www.restorationspecialties.com/) . I recently got window channel and other window glass materials from them for my '30 Dictator that fit perfectly.

I restored my '36 Coupe a few years back and may have used or NOS parts that may fit your truck. You can PM me at demarkley49@gmail.com

Thanks! A big help!

I have seen various older posts that give a wide range of torque specs and torque sequences for 1930's Studebakers and wonder if anyone has anything more definitive now? I understand they didn't have torque specs in 1930, so any specs are modern approximations at best. My cylinder head has 25 bolts that are 1/2"-13 tpi . The re-posts of the Antique Auto Cellar chart produced years ago which might be helpful are too blurred for me to read. Some sources give specs for studs, some for bolts. Even generic specs for 1/2"-13 bolts seem to vary from source to source. I'd appreciate it if anyone has had success sorting this all out and can offer advice.

Here is a pic1 of the grease gun connector for the Alemite type fittings shown in pic 2. You can usually find these grease guns at swap meets if you want an authentic one for your tool kit.

You might also check out Williamson's Instruments (www.williamsons.com). They advertise in Skinned Knuckles. They are in Chester, Arkansas.

Thanks, will give it a try.

Thanks Trini. Yes, my next step is to mount the plate and disk and get the fingers even

Thanks Karl, its a big help. I will make a similar tool on my lathe. However I suspect the 1 1/8" measurement for your two disk clutch will not be correct for my single disk . I think I mostly need to make sure the three fingers are within .002 of each other at approximately the same depth as when I removed the plate. -Richard

Thanks - Here are a couple of pics of the pressure plate. Hope these help! This is for a Long 8AB clutch used on various Studebakers, Auburn, Erskine, and Graham Paige from 1929-1932 according to Hollander Interchange Manual.

Yes, this is a Long clutch and pressure plate, but single disk type. I had the disk re-faced by Ft. Wayne Clutch and Driveline (they did a great job!), and my pressure plate is a rebuilt unit. However, I had to switch out the fingers from my old pressure plate so now need to adjust them back to correct height. Normally this adjustment is made at the factory or rebuilder, so its not a common task for the home mechanic. But that's where I am at. I understand the fingers are adjusted with the plate and clutch disk mounted on the flywheel.

Does anyone have a manual that gives the correct specs for clutch finger height on the pressure plate for a 1930 Studebaker Dictator Six? The fingers are normally set by the manufacturer or rebuilder, but if they need adjustment, there is a spec for this adjustment. Thanks for any help you may have. Richard

One correction....I should have said it screws onto the "door" opener mechanism, not the window crank. Sorry.

Looking for an inside door handle as shown in the attached photos. The handle screws onto the window crank mechanism so it is threaded and has a recessed splined hole that the crank spindle seats in. The threaded portion is 3/4" 16 pitch. The handle is 5 inches long. Just need one if anyone has one to sell. Thx, Richard

Thanks. That's encouraging. I should hopefully hear from them this week. Richard

Thanks. I contacted him earlier this year and he was going to check his inventory. Never heard back from him so assume he had nothing. I sent my disk to Ft. Wayne so will wait and see if they can do anything with it.

Thanks. Yes I spoke with them yesterday and sent them some photos. They said to send it in. So thats my plan now. Richard

Still looking for a clutch disk for my 1930 Studebaker Dictator 6. My old Hollander interchange book shows my clutch disk interchanges with 29-31 Dictator 6&8, Std 6, FC, GL, 53, 54, 61, GNP, S1; 31-32 Dictator 6 & 8 41; 30 Erskine Dynamic; Auburn 30-32 6-90, 895 5th Series; 29-30 Graham Paige 612 Last Series Std 6. My disk is 9 1/4" diameter, 1 1/8" 10 spline hub. Found one on ebay but when it arrived it was junk. I need a good one with good springs, etc. Worn facings is ok. Thx, Richard

Well, no replies to my question about aligning timing marks. Good news is I think I have answered my own question. For the benefit of others who might need to make sure their timing is correct, I offer the following free advice. When there are two marks on the crank gear and one on the cam gear, the standard convention holds that you align the cam mark between the two crank marks. Any other marks on the gears have no meaning with respect to timing. To confirm that I had the correct crankshaft/camshaft alignment I referred to my Dyke's manual (1922 edition) which covers this in detail. It seems pretty straight forward. You bring #1 piston to TDC on the stroke where the intake valve is just about to open. You can verify TDC by checking that the "TDC I-6" mark on the flywheel lines up with the pointer that is seen thru the small inspection plate Studebaker provided on the right side of the flywheel housing. To make sure that the intake valve on #1 is about to open, remove the valve cover on the side of the engine and you can watch the cam lobe come around to raise the tappet on #1 intake valve as you approach TDC. You should be able to feel free play or valve lash between the valve stem and the tappet. As you reach TDC there will be virtually no valve lash as the valve is about to open. The intake valve actually starts to open about 10 degrees after TDC and Studebaker engineers fortunately put a second mark "INT OP I-6" on the flywheel so you know precisely when the valve is supposed to open. According to Dyke's, if your #1 intake valve opens within 1/2" of the "INT OP I-6" mark on the flywheel when the piston is just past TDC, your crank/cam gear marks should be in alignment. If they are not, you will have to loosen the timing chain tensioner (the gear that also drives the accessory shaft) to provide slack in the chain so you can move the cam gear to bring it into alignment with the crank gear. When all is correct, the two marks will align when timing chain is properly tensioned and the flywheel marks show that you are at TDC on the intake stroke. If I have any of this wrong, I hope the experts will chime in. It will be a while before I complete my engine assembly and put this timing setting work to the test.