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1952 Studebaker Commander Starlight Coupe


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It's positive ground. To help try to keep it straight, someone along the way painted the ground strap red and the battery cable to the solenoid green. It's hooked up right - drove it many hundreds of miles like this, until it effectively "passed away" and decided it's not moving another inch with what's under the hood.

 

When I bought it (about 3 years ago), the generator had lost its polarity or whatever it is. I looked that up and touched the wire from whatever to whatever, and the generator worked just fine. Right now, the generator isn't even part of it. The wire out from the voltage regulator is disconnected while I'm working out just where all this electricity is going.

 

The supreme mystery of all this is, how is all the voltage being sucked up before it can power ANYTHING else on the car? There's got to be a short somewhere. That would logically mean that something that is typically connected to both polarities at once, as in it's got a "hot" wire to it and the other side of the device is grounded to the structure, is shorted. But nothing is still connected in such a way.

 

Things NOT connected: ALL lights, turn signal switch, heater/defroster fans, windshield wipers, the gauges (temp, gas level, ammeter), ignition coil, horns, starter solenoid, starter, voltage regulator - I'm probably forgetting something, but if it's in the car, it DOESN'T have both poles going to it. At least not in an obvious physical sense. I seem to have discovered haunting, perpetual motion, mysterious beams powering the car, or some other supernatural force. Maybe my garage is an energy vortex. Maybe it wants to be on the jack stands again...

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Ok, it's all back to normal now. Had an unbiased outside observer help with some things this morning. He had a portable 12V jump start pack & we touched that to a couple of things. Everything worked then. So charge the battery!

 

I didn't suspect that because I've had this battery about a month, and the previous (unknown vintage, but fairly recent) battery would make many more starts than this.

 

I knew there was a hint in my first description of the problem - press start button, starter just starts, then stops = charge the battery!

 

I might just take this battery back for a check. It seems much weaker than the exact same model of battery that I took out.

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I just logged on this minute to say if you are having a power source problem start with the power source, the battery. Get a new one, even new ones or almost new ones can be defective and have plates shorting out. Glad to hear you it sounds like you are on the way to solving this and aliens haven't taken over your Studebaker!

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  • 1 year later...
  • 3 months later...

Hi Paul,

Didn't see your post because I haven't been checking in here. We moved about a year ago, so it's been one thing after another with this new house. Some of the things we chose to do / update, but a lot we didn't. With that, I try to drive the Studebaker - ends up being about every 3-4 weeks. I've put it on c-list a couple of times, but nobody's really buying cars now, or they expect a $30k+ restoration for the price I'm asking.

 

From last quarter to this quarter, Hagerty's valuation shows a BIG increase in these cars. Not sure what's going on, because I barely get response to ads at all, and even then they offer 2/3 what I'm asking...

 

I still haven't finally resolved the starter. It still starts with the 6-cyl starter, and I bought a Bendix drive for the 8-cyl starter, but it's the same wrong-size Bendix as I got back from the rebuilder. I've posted on a Studebaker-specific forum about this starter, and some deny that there's even different starters for the 6- or 8-cyl. But there definitely is, as the parts manual and shop manual show. I need to get back on there and see if someone has a definite 8-cyl starter - even if it doesn't work, all I really need is the correct Bendix out of it.

 

Right now, my thought is sell the car to pay for landscaping. Not a very thrilling thought, but I look at the (lack of) landscaping every day...

 

If it doesn't sell, I'm thinking about getting the headliner, door panels, and floor carpet replaced. I've heard the back window has to be out to do the headliner. Not thrilled at that prospect, so I'll probably be looking at new back window gaskets as well...

Screenshot_20210911-150441_Samsung Internet.jpg

Edited by Eric W
clarification (see edit history)
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Hi Eric, good to hear from you!

 

Yes, I remember the trials of moving to a new house, always something to do, always something the spouse wants changed. ;)  Just keep trying on selling the car, the right person will come along. 

 

The valuations did take quite a jump, based on what you posted. I always liked the '52 styling, but I know years ago when I got into Studebakers they were considered as not very attractive (some called them 'clam diggers'). But over the years, folks have come to appreciate the styling, especially the hardtops. Plus, a lot of new people in the hobby now that are looking at these cars in a new light. 

 

What Studebaker part number bendix are you looking for? 

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The Bendix part number is 531829.

 

 

Ok, I aired up the tires, topped off the coolant, and at the request of one potential buyer, pulled the battery, took it to the local shop for a check (it's good), cleaned up the battery hold down bracket, and reinstalled the battery. Another good hint from this potential buyer was the adjustment on the steering box - so I pulled the left front wheel for access and tightened that 1/4 turn. It did make a difference, but there's still a dead zone due to little clearances in the multiple linkages between your hand and the wheels (steering box to bell crank, bell crank to frame, bell crank to steering rods, steering rods to spindles) - someone could go nuts with trying to replace all that stuff, or live with a little dead zone. The car tracks straight, so it's not like this drives me nuts with constant corrections.

 

I should tighten the brakes - pedal is low, and I bet a click or two on each wheel would do it (this car has later, manual-adjust brakes rather than the '52 self-adjusters).

 

Bad news, but good diagnostics by one guy looking at it - the left head gasket leaks. It's allowing coolant into the exhaust (making white smoke, which is steam). Head gaskets are all of $15 each, so not a major part to buy, but I believe the job also requires (or should require) fresh exhaust manifold gaskets, and a good bit of effort to pull the heads off, change out the gaskets, and "adjust the valves". This potential buyer knows how to do this and seems willing to accept this condition, but he's yet to show up with money.

 

I don't understand this - when I buy a car, I generally realize that other people are looking for it too, so if I have the cash on me, let's make the deal and I'll load it up and get it out of there. Maybe he really wants someone else to save him from this temptation.

 

I had one guy tell me the photos in the ad make the car look better than it is. Isn't that the point of advertising? Everything looks better in little online photos than it is. I didn't retouch or process the photos to make them look better - just cropped for size. Should I take "worse" photos? He wouldn't say what the defects were, but yes, the paint has a little orange peel. Should I include microscopic close-ups of that? Does anyone really stand that close to a car when it's driving by? There's some cracks in the 69 year-old rubber. We didn't perfectly smooth every last ding. If you want a $30k+ restoration, look at $30k+ cars!

 

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As for the photos, I wouldn't take 'worse' photos. The ad photos should overall flatter the car. If someone local sees it and comes to look at it, then they can see any small "defects" for themselves. But if someone is interested but not within reasonable driving distance, you can send them more detailed photos. 

 

Besides a head gasket and exhaust manifold gaskets, you will need a set of intake gaskets if you tackle the job of pulling the head. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Yes, that was a nice-looking car. Opens up being able to look for something else though. Anyone want to move a very small car from Indianapolis to Tucson? Seems all the commercial trucks are moving cars from NE to Florida. None wants to go West for less money... Right now, I have a car that's 10th on the list (of 33) needing to go from Indianapolis to Phoenix or beyond. But they're all just sitting.

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