50Traveler

So glad that you saw this. My DeSoto has spoiled me with its Fluid Drive and TipToe shift that won't stall out and shifts for itself. I've stalled the Studebaker a few times now for lack of gas starting from a stop. I doubt I'll race either of them since they are both winners in my book. Back in the 1980s the car was restored and then sold. It deteriorated from there until it was a smelly, infested and undriveable heap. I tracked down the 1980s owner and will have to send him some pictures of the cars resurrection. He was the one who found NOS gravel guards. I am missing one piece of the stainless trim, the front end is really sloppy, the speedo doesn't work, and the gas gauge registers backwards but that is pretty minor considered against all I had to go through since September when I bought it. Justin

Last week I had a false start and limped home from the car's first trial run. Yesterday was different and all went well. I still have plenty of bugs to work out but it is drivable. I had a lot of forum support to bring me this far so I wanted to share my progress. Thank you all, Justin

Where would I be without you? In a week or so when I expect to finally drive the car from the garage I'll have to send you one of the first pictures. The bumpers on mine are different front to back and top to bottom, but maybe the brackets aren't. I'll take your idea and dismantle all the pieces and try to come up with the best combination. It will be good to compare the repaired one to the same piece from the other side just to see how much difference that compromise makes. I'll let you now what I find. Thanks again, Justin

Anyone have advice on aligning bumpers?<o:p></o:p>The front bumper of my 1946 Studebaker is off center and it bugs me. One iron was broken and welded so I know there is a missing bit of history there. I thought I could shift one side to the other side of the frame and then just shim the other side but there is not enough depth accessible on the inside of the front of the frame without interference from a crossmember. It is only off center by about an inch. Otherwise it is straight and the distance from the grill is uniform I have made some remarkable progress and hope to have it leave the garage under its own power within a few weeks. Thank you any and all for whatever suggestions you can make. Justin

How could I have missed that!? The engine is the basic little flathead on my 1946 Champion. The vacuum advance and the clamp to loosen for adjustments is different than the '53 I once had. I have a feeling that I have to spread the clamp a bit for removal but I don't want to force anything that won't be un-doable if that is not correct. Thanks a lot for letting me know I was missing this piece of info. Justin

I discovered that my distributor will not stay secured because the clamp screw is both bent and stripped. I managed to get that out but now I want to remove the distributor and and vac advance for some cleanup and study. What am I missing? I have the screw that sets the octane selector removed and the clamp screw entirely out. It is now about an 1/8th of an inch further out and will not go back in and will not come all the way out either. Do I need to spread the clamp further? Thanks for any input. The car runs like a champ should when I correct the timing but I need it so stay put. Justin

The screws on my hinges are big standard slotted screws. It takes a lot of muscle and a wrench on my biggest screwdriver to make any kind of slow progress. The hinge on that door is OK; none are as bad as I remember on some 1970's Fords. I am being careful. Thanks again for your invaluable 2 cents, Justin

Not really an answer to your query, but I asked a "body man" if he could fix the slight sag in the doors on my Coupe Express restoration. He said he could. Oops. He broke the body at the hinge attachment at all four hinges. I had to have a real restoration artist rebuild this part of the body by going in through the outside of the cowl and building reinforcement. It is perfect now, the doors close perfectly and are completely in line, but oh my the $$$. I guess I am saying if you try to lift the door to get a better fit on closing, be really really careful. The restoration artist thinks the first guy used a jack under the door. Wow. Good luck. LikeDon Aust 1937 Dictator "Doctor's" Coupe 1937 Dictator Sedan 1937 Coupe Express 1928 Harley-Davidson JD 1922 Harley-Davidson J Thank you for the warning. Several people from several sources have suggested taking a 2 x 4 and a floor jack to work the door into place but I never wanted to do that. I am sorry you had to go through this but at least I can benefit from your experience and find a gentler way to a solution. Justin

The left rear door of my '46 Champion is hard to close. I know there are too many variable to easily get the door perfectly aligned, but in this case the top half of the door is too close to the body so I'd like to move it out a bit. Will the hinge shift a bit for adjustment or can I shim the upper hinge strap that screws to the door? The other doors have seams that are too narrow on the side where they are hinged and too wide at the center pillar where they are latched. I may shim these to the paint doesn't chip an more than it has. Are there any good handy hints for doing this? Thank you, Justin

I had a terrific time at York and did find some good goodies for my car. I also dropped off the tranmission to have it looked over. While I wait for the transmisson to be worked on I am cleaning up some other loose ends. I can readily find the insertable hub cap clips that were used more recently than the rivetted ones on my '46 Champ. Before I dremel off one from the spare, does anyone have a source for these older ones? Thanks all

I will start on this over the weekend. Thank you for the procedure. I had considered shellacking or fiberglassing the old glovebox and trimming the edges for fresh attachment points, but it just smells so bad and looks so stained that I am starting fresh. In single digit temps it would be OK, but come summer humidity I know it will find a way to remind me of what I started with. I'll let you know how the tranny removal goes. Thanks again, Justin

Here you are once again coming to my rescue. Thank you. I was getting ready to peruse your pages to see if there were any hints for taking the transmission out. My old '53 didn't have the x members to get in the way as the '46 does. I really appreciate your very specific knowledge and the willingness to share it. Justin

Great info from you both. I have a bunch of under dash stuff to do and most of the interior is in the basement getting stripped, shampooed, and restuffed where needed. I used to be a lot more flexible for this and it seems I never have the right glasses on to focus on what I need. I want to dissect the instruments for a cleaning and replace the temp gauge since it is the wrong one. I'll be under there for some time before and after York. I am bringing the transmission with me for that trip. Today I reassembled the defroster backwards after I washed the muck out if it and it was sucking where it should have been blowing. I was tempted to build a vintage looking Studebaker factory accessory built-in and on-board vacuum cleaner but thought better of it. Thanks for your help, Justin

The M series truck used an instrument panel that was very similar to the Champions. Studebaker International offers a replacement glove box for the truck but doesn't mention the car. Does anyone know what the difference would be? Mine was so soaked and stained with mouse pee that it has been out of the car since it arrived. Despite the cold I have been making progress. This car may come to life by summer! Thanks all, Justin

Merry Christmas to each and everyone. My Studebaker is so much better off for all the info and support I gather from this site. Though it won't fit under the tree its the best kind of gift and I have to let you all know that I am grateful. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year. Justin

OK, how do you know? I have had to dissect each seat, front and back, fronts and backs to get rid of the dead spots and the befouled stuffing. Anything that is stained or too ratty is replaced and the coverings are shampooed and re-stretched. I have finished the back seat, but the front is waiting as I do some wiring in the door pillar. Those mice were real busy reshuffling the stuffing. You can't blame a mouse for acting like a mouse, but I pray that the car isn't as stinky come spring. J

Especially those mousies. I’ve got too many projects going at once and I really need to get to the Overdrive, but since I have removed the hoses to the heater and drained the system I figured I’d open up the bottom of the heater just to get to know it better. There I found enough misappropriated cotton batting, poop, and other debris to stuff a sack. The trough that runs to the core isn’t too accessible so I have been running a vacuum cleaner hose in all directions hoping to get the mess that I couldn't reach. Next is to put the blower end in through the kick panel area and the suction end up through the trough as I have been. I’m real glad I never turned the heater on; the car is ripe enough already. Justin

As one chore ends another begins; I love having a car to work on even if the garage is sooooo very cold. The overdrive solenoid on my '53 and a friends '51 were easily removed with a twist and pull once the two bolts were out. On my '46 the solenoid comes off but the plunger and spring stay attached to the pieces that push and pull inside the transmission. I want to replace the solenoid and the gaskets too. Is there a trick to removing what is left hanging after the solenoid is off. Thanks again all, Justin

Hi Nathan. I don't know if this was the best way to do this but I posted on your site the link to the car I am working on. BTW, my every day cars get oil sprayed each fall before the salt goes down on the roads. I hate the stuff but I think the salt lobby must be pretty strong up here in Rochester. You'd think Science would find a better alternative. The spraying is pretty noxious so this year I tried a penetrating waxy spray called LPS3. Hopefully the Citation will clean up nicely come spring. J

Now that is the magic answer I needed. I wasn't sure if when activated the switch created a ground or ungrounded a ground. Now I can make a switch to do the same thing until I find the correct one. Big Thanks!

Here are pictures of the switch I have on my '46. I am guessing that there was one terminal on the missing half of the back. The car is a 4-door "Cruising Sedan". It looks to have the same insulation on the firewall as your picture, but the sound-deadener that was sprayed on the inside of the trunk and parts of the interior floor is rougher than the flocking you describe. What I have reminds me of the sprayed on textured ceilings that some cheap construction projects used in the 1970s. I don't know if the firewall pad contains asbestos but I imagine it was jute, horsehair and whatever other cheap fiber they could find. There is a nice looking '41 Land Cruiser on eBay right now and the interior of the trunk lid doesn't match the exterior paint. It looks brown. My Sagamore Green '46 has the same color on the inside of the trunk lid. Is this how they came from the body builder? Chrysler had trunk insides painted a gray blue because that was how their builder, Briggs, sent them out the door before Chrysler did the real body spray. Thanks again for the feedback and info, Justin

I think this may be the most correct answer. The wiring diagram shows only one wire going to it and the fiber/plastic portion of the back of mine isn't large enough to hold the four terminals as seen in the pictures. Like most cars that have been through several owners there are some "fixes" that I have to undo before moving in the right direction. This info helps a lot. BTW, that gooey trunk liner really did its job. Where the mat adhered to flat metal there is no rust at all. Around the edges and in the ribs is where the rust took hold. I am sorry to lose something original but anything that lessens the smell is progress. Thank you all, Justin

I spent the better part of the day removing the old trunk mat from my '46 Champion with a heat gun. It was like thick tar paper with a layer of embossed cardboard on top. Is this how they came from the factory? Though it was mostly intact it had rust underneath it and was one more of many parts that had been soaked in places with mouse pee. It was such a noxious chore to remove that I was curious if this was how they were built. Next question, Does anyone out there have a picture of the kickdown switch used in these Overdrive systems? The OD system used on the Champions through the 1946 models is different than what came later. I only have a part of the switch and would like to have a better idea of what to look for. Thank you, again and always, Justin

The manual advises flushing with a light oil. How about Marvel Mystery Oil? I wasn't sure what light weight oils would be available at the local parts place and wasn't too clear in what was meant by light weight but I can always find some MMO. Its getting cold here in upstate NY and draining anything is slow going. I have gotten rid of a lot of the mouse pee odor that took me away from more pressing needs like running and stopping. I lost my focus altogether yesterday with door alignment issues, missing door latch springs and pretty much lost the day in trivial stuff. I think the cold reduces my brain speed. Thanks for your help, Justin

This is all great info, but the best part was discovering this web site. Is this you? We have shared some similar experiences and I appreciate that you put them all down online and with pictures too. I'll be sharing that info too. Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving, Justin