27 studebaker build

[boojoe]

Heres a picture of what I started with!! A 27 Studebaker standard 6, I got this in Kansas about 4 weeks ago. I think this may be a long term project!!

[Guest QGolden]

Good Speedster start. Does it run?

[boojoe]

not yet ,the motor is stuck, but my friend and I are going to try to get it free. The engine is complete and nothing is missing. I was going to get more pics today but I forgot my camera.. It does roll and the trans is not frozen!

[whtbaron]

Cool... we'll give you a week....lol, u should be on the road then...

[boojoe]

Today I pulled the motor out, removed trans,clutch housing ,pressure plate and flywheel. Found a large mouse nest in clutch housing ,It was so big I think Mickey was living there. Next I will be removing the front cover ! I was surprised to find the trans turns in all gears. That's good news,Ithink!!

[whtbaron]

You've got 3 days left... ready to fire it up yet??

[boojoe]

Can I have another week??

[boojoe]

heres a couple of pics I promised, got a long way to go! The chassis go's to the sandblaster on friday

[boojoe]

Back from the sand -blaster, Look ma no cracks!!

[Guest QGolden]

Back from the sand -blaster, Look ma no cracks!!

That is a good sign!

[whtbaron]

Think you can use the wooden wheels, or going to something else?

[boojoe]

The plan is to have the wood wheels rebuilt. Theres a guy that can do them in Penn.

[boojoe]

Good news, tried to remove rear wheels. I thought I would not be able to get them off and was ready to buy a puller. A little wiggling and I was able to get the off without much of a problem. sometimes you get lucky!! axle and key looks good. I think the trip home from Kansas broke them free!!

[keiser31]

Can't wait to see more photos of your progress. That looks like a cool project. I would love to find a chassis suitable for a speedster "refab" for myself one of these days.

[boojoe]

I'm going to Ct. for two weeks,will post more pics when I return. The frame. is now in black rust encapsulator ! When I get back its time to take the wood wheels apart to send to be rebuilt Should be fun,maybe.

[Dwight Romberger]

boojoe,

Great project! You have more guts than I do.

I thought about using Metal Rescue to dissolve the rust that is causing the pistons/rings to be stuck.

I have used it successfully on other projects and am currently using it to remove rust on the metal parts of wood spoke wheels without damaging the wood. I don't know if anyone has actually tried it yet with a frozen engine. It might be worth an email to the company to inquire.

Dwight

[paulrhd29nz]

How bad are your wheels? I would investigate a bit before spending the big bucks. You could spend up to $1000 a wheel. Talk to a studebaker guy and see what year of wheels will fit your 27 and start asking and looking.

[Larry Schramm]

I would recommend Stutzman wheel. Here is a discussion on them. Model T Ford Forum: Stutzman wheel shop Baltic OH Very reasonable. Just leave a message and they will call you back. I have had two sets of wheels made by them.

[boojoe]

O K play time is over, I need to get some work on this stude done before I have to leave for Bonneville in aug. I'm going to call Stutzmans this week to ask a ? about the wheels. Hopfully he can do the Studebaker wheels. I think I will have to take them apart and sandblast them before I send them to him. Don't know!

[boojoe]

O K troops, time for me to get back to work!! Had a great time at Bonneville ,Lots of wild stuff. Before I left I managed to get the two front wheels apart. This week I'm hopeing to get the back ones apart , then sandblasting and paint. The 46 motor and trans I was going to use temp is a bit of a problem. The trans hits the crossmember, (4-speed truck). I'm looking for a three speed that is smaller. I don't want to cut the frame as I plan to put the original engine and trans back in latter on.

[paulrhd29nz]

Whats the motor?

[boojoe]

a 6 cyl. . out of a 46 pick-up . I think 185 cu in

[whtbaron]

Studebaker truck? That size isn't ringing any bells.... flathead or OHV?

[boojoe]

Its a flathead, I'm thinking of adapting the 27 trans to it. the bolt holes on the motor look similar to the 27 motor. This is turning into a long term project!!

[boojoe]

someone wrote me about my rear fenders .I deleted it by mistake. I am not going to use them and they are in decent shape. One has a small dent P.m. me again and we can talk about price

[boojoe]

Hers a few more pics I promised . The wheels are apart and almost ready to send away. I have to sandblast the outer rim .They were not to hard to get apart. Used the B.F.H.

[Guest prs519]

Would solid disc wheels be suitable for a speedster? I believe Studebaker offered them around about the time of your car. Just curious if you had considered them.

[nzcarnerd]

Are you sure this car is a 1927? The distinctive feature of the Studebakers for 1927 was that they had unique disc wheels which were needed for the style of four wheel brakes fitted to all car that year. As far as I know 1926 was the last year that two wheel brakes were available and those cars had wood wheels. Have you got the chassis and engine numbers? The chassis number can be found on an aluminium plate behind the left front wheel. The engine number will be just above the water side plate on the right side of the engine. There should also be casting dates on the block and head.

From 1928 the front brakes were redesigned and they were able to fit wood, wire of disc wheels to all models.

Looking at your recent pics again I see that the chassis plate is there. The last number for 1926 cars is 1346000. Any number higher than that is a 1927 car. The engien number will start with a letter code. If it is ER it is 1926, EU is 1927.

[boojoe]

I was told when I got it it was a 27. I have the I d plate on the frame the number starts with 12. The car is not at my house so I don't have the whole number today. It could be a 26 ,it really doesn't matter to me. I will get the numbers tomorrow when I go to my shop. Could it be a 25 or 26? It has no front brakes at all.

[nzcarnerd]

If the first two digits are 12 then it is most likely a '26. If the engine is an ER that will confirm it.

[boojoe]

Thanks for the info, I will check the motor when I go to my shop!!

[boojoe]

today I remembered to check the numbers!! The frame plate says 1260245 The motor # is ER262433, I think your right its a 26 Thanks for the info.

[boojoe]

Wheels are apart ,sandblasted, and halfway painted, (primed) will finish painting next week ! Then starts fitting the motor. I got a second motor from Kansas this one has a three speed out of a car, hopefuthis won't hit the crossmember. I think maybe a week and a half.

[nzcarnerd]

Good news - maybe. I think your car is older than we first thought. According to the numbers quoted in The Standard Catalog of American Cars the first serial number for the ER series is 1202001 and the first number for the 1926 series is 1284001 so yours is about halfway through the 1925 run. The ER series was basically the same through 1925 and 1926 but to quote The Standard Catalog - "there were numerous running production changes that restorers of today find confusing". The casting dates on the block and head should have a D as the first letter - maybe in the order D - 20 - 3 for March 20 1925 for example. I could stand corrected on this. Maybe an ER owner could confirm it. I am only going by the engines I have which have G and H on them for 1928 and 1929. Note the 1930 series 53 engine in this thread - http://forums.aaca.org/f126/1929-studebaker-dictator-drivetrain-353587.html - has a J code on it.

[boojoe]

That is good news, the older the better. Thanks for the info. When I got it I was told it was a 27. I will try to remember to check the casting dates tomorrow .

[boojoe]

Looked at my casting number today, it appears to be an E or an F

[nzcarnerd]

Hopefully the owner of a Model ER will chime in and tell us the casting date letter code for that model.

[whtbaron]

Maybe post on a specifically Studebaker forum...

[nzcarnerd]

Godd suggestion whtbaron, but in the meantime I found this thread which is useful - http://forums.aaca.org/f126/studebaker-standard-six-head-216044.html - and confirms F for 1927 and E for 1926.

[boojoe]

The wheels were sent to Stutzmans on Friday. I started to mount the temp engine,had to build my own mounts! I'm now using a three speed trans. As soon as I find a two bolt Studebaker starter I will try to get the motor fired. I'm making sure I check radiator clearance,I don't want to screw up as I've done in the past. Monday I will complete the front mount then we'll see what happens.