Gary_Ash

I've done some more work on the brakes for the Indy car replica, put up a new web page on the details. The latest info is on the Brakes - Part 2 page here: BRAKES - PART 2 You can see the project general info from this page: Indy Car 1 Does anyone have a radiator from a 1931-32 President or Commander. I need the tanks, will have it recored anyway. The tanks have to be about 18" wide. I also need the rectangular to round hose adapter at the bottom of the tank.

This thing has gone viral! Someone must have forwarded the "story" to every car club internet forum. Just Google "Charles Schumer collector car tax" and see the reactions that are being flamed across the country. Has Rich Kopec confessed to the prank? At some point, it will be necessary to help a few of the most-outraged to cool off. But, I take the point that it's bad to plant ideas in the heads of our legislators, either state or federal. Do we think that Schumer's office is being barraged with angry phone calls and emails? Some might find THAT funny!

Robert: You can obtain copies of many of the original manufacturing drawings of Studebaker parts. Call archivist Andy Beckman at the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend and give him the part numbers and descriptions of the items you need. Sometimes, it is necessary to have the drawing for the raw casting and another for the finish machined part. The museum staff can figure out what you need from the numbers in the parts catalogs. There are something like 70 tons of original drawings on file. Searches and copying are done by museum staff and volunteers. The museum charges by the hour, but a typical set of drawings might cost $50-$150, and they will take VISA/MC. Particularly for parts with tight tolerances, like +/- .0002 inch for slip fits, etc., these drawings make possible exact reproductions of parts. I recently got drawings for the cam, pistons, and connecting rods for the 1935-7 straight 8s, complete front axles for 1929-33, and wheel hub drawings for 1928 and 1930 cars. Owners of other old cars are not so lucky as we Studebaker drivers are in having access to such drawings.

Great info, John! I've been looking at the NES re-threaders for the job, think I'll order one of those. Unfortunately, I still have to drive to work in the snow. The 55 mile trip took about 2 hours yesterday moring, "only" 1.5 hours coming home - then I got to drive the snowblower around for an hour or so. The cold part of the storm passed mostly north of me, now we're just getting rain here on the South Coast of Massachusetts. But, I may get into the garage this weekend.

Unfortunately, that part number seems to fit '35-'37 Dictators only. The good news is that there are some NOS axle shafts around, and I'm hoping to find one. VAP Inc has a lot of neat NOS parts in stock, like axle shafts and ring-and-pinion gears. Alas, they don't have what I wanted. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

I got the hub drawings from the museum, but not the axle drawing. I can always call them back and order it. I was hoping to just wire brush or use some fine abrasive cloth (~100-200 grit) to take the rust bumps off without actually re-machining the axle shafts. The snow has already started here (7:30 am Tuesday). We're due for 6-11 inches. North and west may get 21 inches - and they already have a couple of feet on the ground and on their roofs. Ugly! Here's a CAD drawing of the new hubs to take the '63 Buick 12" drums. Fronts are similar. I'm hoping to make them so the drums can be pulled off without removing the hubs. I'll need four 6.5" dia. bars of 4140 steel, 4" long to make these. The CNC machine shop down the road says, "No problem!" Only my checkbook will feel any pain, LOL. Most of the 40 lbs of each bar will wind up as chips, leaving about 10 lbs when done. The original rears were forged (by Kelsey-Hayes) and thoroughly annealed, the fronts were malleable iron.

I'm working on the rear axle from a 1928 GB Commander sedan for the Indy car project. While the internals of the axle look very good, the axle taper and the threads are pretty bad. I guess I can run a thread chaser around the threads, but how should I clean up the 1:12 taper? It's pretty badly rusted and pitted. I'm making new hubs for knock-off wire wheels and I want to avoid wobbly wheels. New hubs will probably be made from annealed 4140 steel. I got the drawings for the original hubs, so I know the correct dimensions for the critical areas. Does anyone have a pair of these shafts in better condition or NOS? Part number is 150025. Used on 1928 EW and GB Commanders with drum brakes. I need the nuts, too, p/n 113346.

Zone numbers came into use June 1, 1943, so the brochure is probably post-WWII. Not sure when they stopped using that logo.

If it's a King-Seeley gauge, it may be like the old Ford gauges. See this thread: http://forums.aaca.org/f120/1928-liquid-fuel-guage-fluid-156800-2.html Mac's Auto Parts has the fluid: part V9280A, $2.90 for 1932-35 Fords Fuel Gauge Liquid RED FOR HYDROSTATIC GAUGES - MAC's Antique Auto Parts

A compensation for the shrinkage can be made by dipping the handles in melted wax first to get a coating of 1-2 mm (.040-.080"). A female master is then made from silicone or urethane rubber by pouring it around the handle, then cutting it in half with a razor blade when it's set to remove the metal handle. [No damage to the old handle.] Wax "children" are then made from the rubber mold and used for the "lost wax" casting process. When done in plaster/ceramic molds, the surface finish is much better than standard sand casting, but you have to ask for the first ceramic coat to be of fine grain material. Where you need to have an oversize area that can be machined to final size, you can build the old part up with Bondo or wax before making the rubber mold. The wax dip on the old handle will cause a little loss of fine detail. You can choose shrinkage or detail loss. An option is to cast the parts from type 316 stainless steel and just polish them. That may be a cheaper way out than plating and the color will be very nearly the same. Unfortunately, cast parts don't do very well in electropolish baths, so the polishing has to be by manual buffing. This has to be done carefully so as not to lose more detail. The whole process is much cheaper when done in China or India, as long as you find someone you trust to do it.

It looks almost - but not quite - right. The Studebaker letters are supposed to be white and I don't understand the green on the outside. Thanks for thinking of me. Here's what it is supposed to look like:

I'm looking for a 1.25-inch diameter grille badge from a 1931-32 President, though maybe the same badge was used for many years. It has the wheel with red spokes and white tire, "Studebaker" script in white, gold background. I've seen larger ones, but I need the 1.25 inch size. Anyone have one for sale?

Try here: Shock Absorbers or here: Five Points Auto Shocks Five Points Classic Auto Shocks

Actually, for only a few dollars, the factory would paint anything any color. In addition, dealers could repaint cars before delivery per customer request, so saying that a color combo is not "factory correct" may be taking a very narrow view of what might have been delivered to the first owner. It's also necessary to be cautious when looking at paint chip charts from a paint vendor of the period. They might not have had access to all of the colors offered by Studebaker over the course of a model year, and the company was famous (infamous?) for bringing out "Spring colors" or other special offerings. According to our favorite Studebaker guru, the company offered "metallic" paints as early as 1932, though they were really "pearlescent" or irridescent, not necessarily true metal flakes, and certainly not the large size flakes used on modern cars. But, an irridescent silver or gray of muted intensity might be considered correct for the period. It's a pretty good looking car.

No, my lists (1934-46 parts and M truck parts) don't have 41x277. There are many 41x parts listed, nominally described as "plain washer, steel" though a few are noted as being brass, fiber, or copper. There is no relation between the numbering and i.d.

Some of the pre-war parts catalogs have these "Standard Parts" listed and illustrated in the back of the book. I can match the 55x10 screw to a "round head machine screw, steel, 8-32x7/16". The 40X series seem to be standard split lockwashers, but I didn't find a 40X31, only a 40X431 which is a 1/4" one. The 26X series describes plain steel hex nuts, but my 1934-46catalog doesn't show a 26X29. But, maybe you can figure out the size of the nut and washer from the screw they attach to. These are all "old series" numbers, and I think the "new series" was used before WWII and was later replaced by the 6- and 7-digit numbers of the rest of the Studebaker parts.

There were about 5000 built before WWII, the rest through March 1948, about 52,500 total for the 1/2-ton pickups. There are minor differences in a few of the pre-war parts, but the rest are nearly identical. All of the mechanical parts, wiring harnesses, and rubber are easy to buy. Good steel fenders are hard to come by, as are doors. Recently, reproduction bed floors, cab floors, and cab corner repair pieces have been made. Installing an overdrive transmission allows highway speeds. The same basic 170 cubic engine flat-head six engine was used in Studebaker cars and trucks from 1939-1960. These are simple trucks to work on. Buy the best one you can afford and save a lot of restoration time, especially on rust repair. A running but rusted truck is worth about $1000-$2000, a good one for a driver may run $5000-$10,000, more for a show truck. Ask someone in the local chapter of the Studebaker Driver's Club to help you look at candidates. See my web site for a history of restoring an M5: Home Page

The parts catalog says .030" over was the maximum size (3.0915-3.0935") piston available from 1934 on. Be sure to read Ford Stoeker's article on rebuilding his engine in the May 2000 issue of Antique Studebaker Review. He offered some other piston options and some words about bearings.

Call Gerry Kurtz in Dover, PA (near York). He'll modify your standard transmission or supply one complete. Excellent quality stuff! His phone (so bots don't read it) is seven-one-seven 308 eighteen hundred.

Looks to be late 1920's Big Six axle with hub for wood spoke wheel. There should be a gear ratio tag on the center section. Low numbers have value, especially 3.31 and 3.09. It seems to be from a 1927-28 car or earlier, before they made the switch from external brakes to internal ones.

I'm looking for a 1930-35 vintage Bendix Scintilla model VAG8-D3 magneto or very similar for a replica of a Studebaker Indy car. See picture below. Gary Ash Dartmouth, MA

The aluminum head may have casting number 186189. If so, it's 6.5:1 compression; the iron head may be 5.5 or 6:1. The aluminum head weighs 17 lbs versus the 54 lbs of the iron head. You just need to find the 184631 gasket for the head. Be sure to check the head for cracks before using it. Other things being equal, I'd chose the transmission with the latest build date, if it fits. B/W may have improved some things with time, but I have no details of the differences.

The axle looks like the 1928 Commander model with internal drum brakes. Get out your wire brush and go around the rear cover on the axle. There should be a small tag between two of the cover bolts showing the axle ratio. These ranged from 3.09 to 3.73, maybe higher numerically. Also, use the wire brush on the outer ends of the rear axle housing on the top surface out near the flanges. There should be some numbers cast into the conical ends. Rub a piece of white chalk over the numbers to make them stand out and take some pictures. They might be something like MO2068.

John: None of the cars have the same dash today, so it's hard to know what was "correct". Perhaps Bob Valpey's #37 car is the most original. Here are the other dashes: Mike Cleary's #18 car: The Indy Motor Speedway Museum's #22 car: Bob Valpey's #37 car: And the replica #46 car is also different. I'm looking for the Stewart-Warner gauges with the little moons on the back ends of the arrows and without the modern S-W logos. So, that's why I'm looking for whatever I can get from a '32 President. These gauges were probably used on some other cars (and boats) of the period, as well. So far, I've got an oil pressure gauge and ammeter I can use. Of course, the original cars had no ammeter because they had no generators, only the magneto. I'm also looking for a large 4000 or 5000 rpm S-W tachometer to match.

I'm looking for a speedometer, temperature gauge, and gas gauge from a 1932 President in good or restorable condition. These will go in the dash of the Indy car I'm building. Here's what they look like in a 1932 President State roadster: