Mark Huston

The only thing I wanted to mention, as a point of possible explanation, is regarding the ASCs web site. The webmaster is now wearing two hats. He is not only the webmaster also the editor of the ASC Review. With the publication deadlines of the Review magazine it is apparent that keeping the website up to date has become a challenge. I do not know if another webmaster is in the works to help with the editor’s workload. <O:p</O:p My history with the SDC and ASC goes back 35 years. I am not going to debate the virtues or failings of the SDC. You have had your experiences, and I have had mine. Though they are polar opposites, they are what they are.

I have attached a picture of my instrument panel before I took it apart (am rewiring the car). In this picture you can see the contrast between the pale yellow of the instrument panel and the bright white of the individual instruments.

The outer bezel round the instrument cluster was plated either nickel/chrome (not sure which) and etched design around the outer bezel was highlighted with black paint in the etched design. The bezels around the individual instruments was also plated either nickel/chrome. The area between the outer bezel and the individual instruments was painted a very pale yellow. I have a friend who has a restored late 28 Dictator and I can attach a picture of his instrument cluster when I get over to his house later on Friday. In the mean time, I have attached a picture of the unrestored instrument panel for my 29 President. This is the same basic cluster with the exception of an extra opening for the clock. Note: The pale yellow in my picture looks white on the instrument cluster.

Remember what is a hot collectable today may become undesirable 10 years from now. An example is the 1959 Cadillac convertible. A dozen years ago they were bringing unheard of amounts of money and there were INVESTORS who lost their shirt on them when the prices toped out and then fell back to a realistic level. Unless you have one heck of good crystal ball you will be hard pressed to guess what will be bringing top dollar 10 years from now. Just like fashions change the direction of what is hot, and what is not, changes in the old car hobby. As was said by others here – don’t buy with the intent of making money in the future – buy only the cars you love and would be willing to take to your grave. I have been in this old car hobby for 35 years and in that time I have bought and sold dozens of cars. A few I broke even on, most I lost money on, but I did not care because I am not in the hobby to make money. I am in it because it is a hobby, not an investment.

Studeboy, Your frustration with the folks at Turning Wheels is why I stopped my association with the Studebaker Drives Club many years ago. To be honest the true focus of the SDC has always been with the post WWII Studebakers. It used to make me so mad when they would have their once a year token article on a pre-war Studebaker and spend the other 11 issues of the year rehashing the post-war cars. The final straw for me was when they had a picture of the “BEST OF SHOW” Frankenstude on the cover of Turning Wheels one year from their Las Vegas National Meet. The SDC believes that accepting modified Studebakers is promoting the preservation of all Studebakers. I was hard pressed to see the connection between excessively modifying of a Studebaker and preservation. The same issues that I have were felt by others many years ago which is why there is an Antique Studebaker Club. Let me stress that the preceding comments regarding the SDC are my personal opinion and it is not my intent to offend anyone in the SDC – so please reframe form flaming me because of my past negative experiences with the SDC. In response to your original posting regarding the cowl lights on your car. Studebaker advertised in the 1920s that they would not hold changes to production cars to the next model year. If they felt a change was necessary they did it at any point during a production run. This is why 1928s are so difficult to restore. Bill Cannon broke them down to three distinct series based on significant running changes that started with the early 1928 to late 1928 production run. To add to this confusion I have in my possession a copy of a Studebaker Sales Department letter dated in the late 1920s that states that Studebaker does not want to lose sales over things like the factory colors. The letter went on to detail how a Studebaker dealer can make money by ordering a whole car, or parts, in primer to be painted at the point of delivery to the customer’s specifications. I believe this was also true for other features on 1928 Studebakers. My brother once owned a 1928 Studebaker FB President roadster with dual side mounts. We found out the car was purchased NEW in Bakersfield, CA with the dual side mounts as a custom order from the factory. FB roadsters did not come from the factory with side mounts unless it was a special order. Apparently it did not happen very often, but it COULD happen. Studebaker did not want to lose sales and did everything they could to make sure they were competitive which included making running changes on the assembly line and catering to special requests from the customer.

Corine, Nice looking color combination. I am sure you will have a very sharp looking Dictator when you are done. Keep up the good work! And yes, I am jealous, my President still sports the original factory colors poking through the cheap old repaint. On my Christmas wish list is a new paint job for the old girl, maybe next year.

You now know why I love driving my President. What I find interesting about this discussion is that there is no line in the sand with non-Classic on one side and Full Classics are on the other side. What there is a lot of grey area and somewhere in the center of that grey area is an imaginary line. What we must decide is how far from the center of the grey area do we want to wander in our acceptance for what is, or is not, a Full Classic? There are many obvious choices for exclusion, but there are many cars that fall within the grey area that make exclusion a difficult choice that results in a lot a passion and sometimes bruised feelings.

Dynaflash8, In response to your original question regarding the admittance of the “the 1931 through 1939 Buick Series 80 cars and the 1941 Buick Series 70” I will have to plead ignorance to their qualifications. I am a Studebaker guy, always have been since I bought a 1929 Studebaker when I was 17 as my first car. This does not detract from my appreciation of other car makes and models. I think Buick made some fantastic cars in the 1930s. From what you have stated here in the forum it sounds like you have the knowledge and skills necessary to put together a comprehensive application to the CCCA nominating committee for acceptance of these two series of Buicks. Will it fly? Who knows, but you won me over on there merits and maybe you can win over the nominating committee. Nothing ventured, nothing gained?

The CCCA has been around since 1953. In the ensuing years there has been a never ending debate over which cars should, or should not, be included. 2000 years ago there was one Christian denomination, now there are 38000 Christian denominations in the world. I wonder how long before CCCA begins to splinter into multiple competing clubs because in our modern society rules and standards are considered old fashion having been replaced by immediate gratification at all costs as the new standard.

Classic expressions never go out of style.

Carine, <O:p</O:p Unless I am mistaken, I believe that open cars have a dash that is the same as the body color. This had to do with painting the cowl in one piece prior to assembly. The engine side of the cowl was then painted flat black, not the dash. <O:p</O:p

Studeboy1930 – You mentioned that both of your Dictators are 8 cylinder cars. The Dictator 8 was introduced in 1930. In 1928 – 1929 model Dictators could have come with, or without, the winged motif on the headlamps. Standard trim Dictators had painted headlight buckets with plain chrome bezel that did not have the wing on top. Dictators with delux trim had fully chromed headlights with the wing motif. Regardless of whether the headlights were chromed or painted the radiator had a winged cap. I have been in the ASC for 35 years and I have never seen a 1928-30 Dictators that did not have a winged radiator cap. Until now I was never aware of the possibility of a Dictator leaving the factory with anything other than the standard winged cap – even the ones with plain painted headlight buckets. I guess anything is possible and that maybe there is such a thing as a plain cap on some Dictators.

I have attached a picture of the radiator of a 1929 Dictator. You can see the up raised wing on the cap and the matching wings on the headlights.

Studeboy1930, The picture you posted does not appear to be a correct cap. From what I can see it is not a winged Studebaker cap.

The Dictator / Commander size caps do come up on Ebay occasionally, and I have seen them at swap meets recently. You have to be careful not to buy one that is cracked around the wing, and make sure it is not the large President model. The metal the caps are made out of cracks with age. These caps have been reproduced by Steve Munts in Spokane, WA. You might want to check with him to see if he has one available, or if he is still making reproductions. The last Steve Munts parts catalog that I have is a 2001. In this catalog the 1929-1930 Dictator / Commander winged radiator cap is listed as a non-stock part item and takes about 6 – 12 weeks for delivery at $179.95 each. (Remember this is a 2001 catalog).

Here is a picture of a 1929 President cap. The style is the same as the Dictator, however; the Dictator is a little smaller. The Dictator and Commander shared the same size cap.

The most recent registries that I am aware of have been for EMF/Flanders and the Rockne. Back in the early days of the ASC there were other registries, however; I believe they have all been inactive for years. I do not recall that there was a registry for the Dictator. I guess now would be a good time to start one if there is anyone willing to put the time and effort into the project.

In 1983 I bought a 1961 Mercury Comet as a daily drive. It appeared to be a solid, clean, and well cared for car. Shortly after buying the car I decided to drive from Sacramento, CA to southern Utah. As I approached Barstow, CA (the middle of a vast desert) the drive line developed a bad vibration that was getting worse. I pulled off into one of the many repair garages in Barstow to have the driveline looked at. To make a long story short I had to rent a car and leave mine to be repaired. A few days later I returned to find out that my car was not repaired. The problem was the transmission input bearing was bad and to make matters worse the part was unavailable because the transmission in my Comet was only used one year - 1961. Now I was stuck in the desert with a bad transmission that could not be repaired. In order to get home I had to drive over 400 miles on California freeways never exceeding 45 mph. Any faster than that there was a sever vibration in the driveline. In all the driving I have done with old cars I have never received as many waves from passing motorists as I did on that trip home – unfortunately; all the waves were the single finger variety! As soon as I got home I sold the Comet, with full disclosure of the transmission problem. Lost a lot of money on that car.

Like others having previously mentioned – only buy what you like – or – gets you excited! If you want to lose interest in a car fast buy a car that does not excite you from the moment you first see it. Before you go to check out the ’40 Buick, do you homework. Find out everything you can about a ’40 Buick, if you are not already familiar with that year and model. I have been exclusively a 29 Studebaker guy for 34 years. Once I drove 700 miles to check out a 29 Studebaker for sale in another state. I had a roll of cash in my pocket and the car trailer connected to my truck when I arrived to check out the Studebaker that was for sale. I asked all the right questions on the phone in advance and requested pictures before I committed to the 1,400 mile round trip drive to get the car. When I arrived I found a car that was misrepresented, had many incorrect and non original parts, and had previously been in an accident because the frame was bent. The seller had owned the car for over 50 years! He was the one who previously wrecked the car and fixed it up with incorrect parts (including Ford headlights and taillights). My point is this; because I was intimately familiar with 29 Studebakers I knew what was correct and incorrect. I walked away from buying that car and made a point to tell the seller to not misrepresent the car to the next buyer because he might get physical with him. Bottom line; do your homework, be prepared to check out the care thoroughly, if necessary go check out a correctly restored, or original, ’40 Buick that is just like the one you are looking at buying. Better yet, take someone with you who is knowledgeable in ’40 Buicks.

Hi Jacobus2, I sent you a private message. Mark

I do not know the reason behind Studebaker’s use of the two piece drive shaft that used the rag dics as couplers. It is possible that some of the later 20s Studebaker driveshafts with a more modern design might interchange with your car. Do you know anyone in your area with a 28-29 model Dictator that will allow you to compare driveshafts?

This is the remains of a homemade truck that started out life most likely as sedan, somewhere in the range of a 1928 ½ to 1930 sedan.

In addition to the Studebaker that I currently own, 1929 President Brougham, I previously owned a 1929 Commander and a 1928 1st Series President. There are a couple points of caution that I can give you as you embark on your ambitious project, first do not sand blast your frame unless you have completely stripped it down to a bare frame. If you have any components still attached you will never get the blasting material complete out and it will cause long term problems. Secondly, other than the doors and cowl Studebaker bodies are framed in wood. When you lift the body off the frame you can put stress on the body that may cause twisting that will damage the wood framing. When I got my first Studebaker in 1975 (the ’29 Commander) I worked in a Gulf gas station. The first thing I did was take the Commander to work one day and put it up on the stations lift to do an oil change and lube job. This was a mistake because it caused twisting of the body while it was in the air on the lift. After the car was back on the ground I was not able to open the doors. I learned my lesson to never put any of my old Studebakers on a lift that raises them up by the frame.

JustDave: Years ago I was looking at buying a 1915 Studebaker, never did, but what I learned about the early Studebakers is that they have a weak rear end. Early Studebakers, including the 1915, had a transmission at the front center of the rear axle, also know as a transaxle. This is a notorious week design that results in transmission or axle failure. Knowledgeable restores will rebuild the transaxle with modern gears and beefed up axels. Check to see if this car still has the original transaxle, or has been rebuilt with modern materials.

The Commander: I think you have been retired too long. I said that because of the oil filler it is NOT the style used on the 1929-30 Commander’s. See, I was eliminating that possibility and suggesting that it is more into the '30s.