Gary_Ash

The tag actually indicates the gear ratio: 41/9 = 4.56. The patent numbers don't help a lot. Pat. 2018188 was issued in October 1935 and covers the use of a way to have the lubricant recirculate in the axle housing. It's probably a Dana/Spicer rear axle. It might have some numbers cast into the center section, perhaps 41 or 44. The numbers would be on the back side, lower right. Here's a photo of a Dana 41 mounted in an early 2R5 truck, say 1949-50, the last use of the Dana 41. Earlier, they were used on M5 trucks with the axle below the rear spring. I think these axles were also used on 1939-46 Champion cars. After 1950, Dana 44 axles were used. The "41" on the tag has nothing to do with the model number, only the number of teeth on the ring gear.

OK, Jojo, you're in for two. Anyone else?

Yes, Scott Stastny at Deluxe Auto Werks says he has the correct king pins. He says he made them for Pierce Arrows but it's the same part. I'll let you know when he sends me a pair and I can check them against my old ones.

How about $25 for a plain steel one, not stainless? It's the set-up charges that drive the costs; steel is cheap. We'll just count on the anti-corrosion stuff in the antifreeze to protect the new ones. In another 75 years, someone else can worry about replacing it again. I still can't figure out why the plate corroded so badly but the outer housing was just fine. Plain steel will have to do for the plate because not many people have the TIG welder, tri-mix gas, and special stainless alloy wire to join stainless to carbon steel without cracking. My '29-'40 parts catalog says these will fit: FC FD 61 62 70 71 73 82 B 1B C 1C 2C 3C with the small straight 8 engine.

Yes, I guess I can make one. Ford Stoecker told me that some replacements had been made from flat sheet, without the stamped groove around the edge. I think that's how it will have to be. The groove probably made it easier to locate the baffle plate in production and to spot weld it. I'm thinking to make a flat one out of 304L stainless steel [no more corrosion!] and TIG weld it in place in a few spots. Anything worth doing is worth overdoing. If I have some laser cut, does anyone else want one?

I pulled the water manifolds off the two 1937 engine blocks - both distribution plates are corroded. Has anyone reproduced these? I know Ernie Loga has them for 1938-42. The earlier style, p/n 167040, is a flat plate with a Vee embossed around the edges and some holes for directing the water to the front and rear cylinders. The plates were spot welded into the stamped outer manifold housing. My outer housings are OK, remarkably. It's the inner plate I need, though I would be happy with a complete manifold. As a side note, I've got a lead on a pair of kingpins for the 1929 President axle, hope to have them next week. I've got my fingers crossed that they are the correct ones. I did find a pair of new tie rod ends.

While looking for '28-'32 President kingpins, I found some for '25-'28 Dictators and EU cars. If you want some, Nelson Pease at N.B. Pease in Palmer, MA has two sets, complete with bushings at $75 a set. His phone is 413-283-7620, Mon-Fri 9-5, no web site or email.

I need two king pins, p/n 150078, and 4 bushings, p/n 172901. These fit 1928-32 Commanders and Presidents. The pins are 1.00" dia x 6.375 long with a 7/16 hole through the center from top to bottom. Anyone got pins and/or bushings? I managed to get one of the pins out of the old front axle, will try for the other one tomorrow. My little 12-ton hydraulic press really groaned pushing the pin out of the spindle. I guess that what happens after 80 years in place. If I can also press out one of the bushings, I can get some dimensions from it. I suspect it is 1.125 o.d x 1.001 i.d. x about 1" long. I can probably get the bushings made from stock ones at McMaster-Carr or MSC. I found the thrust bearings on Ebay! There was a fair amount of slop in the knuckles and the lower part of the pin was worn.

Nelson Pease of N. B. Pease in Palmer, Mass had them. He has number of buildings full of NOS parts from the teens through early '60s. No web site or email. Google for his phone number. He also has parts for old pianos and pipe organs.

I needed to replace the axle shaft with bad outer threads in the 1928 Commander rear axle I am using for the Indy car replica. I finally found a guy with the correct axle shaft: p/n 150025 for 1928 Commander GB/GH and President FA/FB cars, and the Studebaker Indy cars. They apparently do not fit anything else, and that model axle was only built during part of the 1928 production cycle. He had five NOS shafts on the shelf, so I took all of them. After more than 80 years on the shelf, they have a fine patina of rust, something that just a little polishing will take care of in the seal areas. One has some deeper pits in the seal area and may need to be turned about .010" in that area. I also delivered the differential unit to the shop today to have all of the bearings replaced and the backlash set. Most of the bearings were easy enough to find except for the cones for the outer ends of the axle shafts. These needed 419T cones with a tapered bore. It took some digging but I finally found all of the cones, cups, and seals for the entire axle. With new shafts that will let the outer nuts fit snugly, I'll feel a lot more comfortable when the time comes to drive it at speed.

Yes, it could be the '28 rear axle I'm looking for to get the axle shafts - just the shafts. Where is this car? Can someone take a closer look and get some photos? Here's a picture of the rear axle in Stude8's 1928 Commander. It should be the same as a 1928 President. Note that the differential housing bolts into the front of the axle housing. This is the "2-piece" design that I'm looking for. Of course, John spent a long time trying to pop the wheel hubs of this rear axle on a car in good condition using several types of hub pullers. I can't imagine how to get hubs off an axle that's been sitting in the woods for a lot of years - but I sure hope someone is willing to try!

I'm looking for an axle shaft to fit a 1928 Commander GB-W with 2-piece differential. The part number is 150025. These were also used in 1928 FA and FB Presidents. Has anyone got one or two of these or know where to find some?

If you have an old one, measure the outside diameter of the coils, inside diameter, wire diameter, free length, and number of of coils. Assume they are standard "music wire" steel springs. Go to Precision Spring Manufacturer - Century Spring Corp. and do a search for a compression spring that is close. When you tighten the bolts, the spring should only compress a little, leaving room for further compression under transient load. I haven't seen the tank, but let's assume it holds 20 gallons of gas at 6 lb/gal or 120 lbs plus the weight of the tank, say 30 lbs. That makes a total of 150 lbs or 50 lbs per spring. So, the springs should be holding the tank against the brackets even when the tank is full. If you have a spring rate of 200 lb/inch, the springs will be compressed 1/4" or a little more for the pre-load. The coils shouldn't be touching each other when the car is parked so that the tank can move a little bit when you hit a bump or the chassis twists a little.

For bearings and washers, try Steve at South Shore Bearing, 111 Copeland Street Quincy, MA 02169-6497 - (617) 471-7800. Mon-Fri 8-5, Sat 8-12. They have all the old catalogs and are good at finding obsolete stuff. They just found a bunch of rare bearings for my '28 Commander rear axle. I will also need to replace the seals, but I am hoping to find some modern lip seals that fit. Sometimes a Speedi-Sleeve needs to be used over the shaft to get a good sealing surface. You might want to replace the two inner felt oil seals while you have everything apart. I'm not sure how the inner ones come out. The other place to try is: George Bachleda Olcar Bearing Company 135 James Creek Southern Pines, NC 28387 910-693-3324 (no web site, no email - but knows his stuff!)

I'm trying to mount some '63 Riviera front brakes to a 1929 Studebaker solid front axle for my replica 1932 Studebaker Indy car. I got the backing plates but they didn't come with any of the rest of the hardware. I seem to be missing the brake shoe guides that slide over the large diameter front anchor tubes, but I don't have a good diagram or parts list. These guides are what the brake shoe return springs attach to, I think. These seem to be for self-adjusting brakes. Does anyone have a pair of these for sale? Can I hook the springs to them and not use the rest of the self adjuster parts (which I don't have, anyway)? I have new wheel cylinders, shoes, adjusters, hold-downs, and springs, but none of the self-adjust mechanisms. Does anyone have sets of these for both front wheels? See my web page for details and photos: Home Page Thanks!

Bob: The EW axle is different, uses different shafts. The Indy cars used the GB/GH axle. But, thanks for the offer.

I'm rebuilding the rear axle from a 1928 Studebaker Commander for my Indy car project. The axle had been rescued from a scrap yard and the threaded end of the axle suffered some rust and damage over the years. It started life as a 1"-14 thread, but now measures about .950" diameter. Does anyone have experience with a shop that could machine off the damaged surface (about an inch long), weld on some new metal, and re-thread it to the correct size? Alternatively, does anyone have one or two axle shafts, p/n 150025, from a 1928 GB or GH car, either NOS or good used? The good news is that I have been able to collect an entire set of new bearing cups and cones for the entire rear end set. I'm hoping that the axle shop can also press off the cone on the outer shaft taper and press on a new one. These were rare, expensive cones, but OlCar Bearing Co., in Southern Pines, NC sent me a set.

Just call 1-800-3DUPONT (1-800-338-7668) for the DuPont Color Lab. Give them the Studebaker code and color name or a code from another paint company and they will give you the best match using modern materials. You can get the paint mixed at a local auto paint supplier using the info from DuPont. Centari acrylic enamel is one of their good paints in a single-part formulation. But, be aware that the hardeners added at painting time have toxic fumes, so don't paint it yourself without the proper breathing equipment. You can see original paint chips and color codes at AutoColorLibrary.com Auto Color Library - The World's Largest Online Color-Chip Library They also offer lower cost paints. I haven't used them, don't know about their quality.

Gee, Matthew, I wish there was some trim for you to straighten. So far, none has appeared on my list of parts, but I'll keep your offer in mind. Thanks for the kind words. Keep up your writing efforts - when do we see the MB history of Studebaker or a novel?

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.