1915 & 1917 "Four" (World War One) Parts Needed, Help Needed -

[Stude1915_1917]

Parts and Help:

 

1915 Studebaker “Four”

When we acquired this, we unknowingly/unwittingly bought a car that the previous owner had “chopped” to create a pseudo runabout race car. The body (doors, rear, side panels, etc) were all cut down to the frame height. While the previous owner had done some good work on the vehicle to get it running, it was full of incorrect parts from the wrong eras and different cars. Fortunately, the chopped design of the car allows us to build a “gun car/scout car” similar to the Studebaker-Crossman Machine Gun Car. Of the 8 known Crossman MG cars, at least 4 were known to be the Studebaker “Six” model, one was an attached Studebaker supply truck, and the other 3 were lost to history. It’s probable that the other 3 were also the model “six”. However, with the complexity of war-time acquisitions and the lack of continuity in unit-to-unit vehicle applications, it’s unknown what, when, why, and where most of the war-time vehicles were utilized. In the spirit of education, we’ll be restoring the 1915 to Crossman inspired design.

 

Parts Need:

We were fortunate to receive MOST of the critical parts for the 1915. However, we could use help tracking down a few items:

• Spot light
• Speedometer gauge (we have a spare but it’s trashed)
• Battery gauge (we have a spare but it’s trashed)
• Headlight mounts (front fender mounts)
• Headlight lenses (or if someone can recommend the right size lens)
• Bendix mount (We have the starter gear but the hand-crank starter is missing)

 

1917 Studebaker “Four”

Of the two cars, this is the one we are most excited about. It’s in excellent condition for being 100+ years old. The 1917 will be restored and presented as an Army Air Service Staff Car - think Eddie Rickenbacker riding in style. Like the 1915, we have about 90% of the needed parts. However, the parts we are missing a fairly vital!

 

Parts Need:

Here’s what we need:

-Hood (The 1915 hood is identical to the 1917, but we’d like to see if we can find an original before we have one made from scratch…ugh).

-Spare wheel bracket (mounts on the back of the vehicle)

-Headlights (we have the headlights for the 1915 and would like a set for the ’17).

-Engine mount (this was a frustrating discovery that the engine mounting had dramatically changed between 1915 and 1917. The engine mount appears to bolt to the frame and then curve over the top of the flywheel just ahead of the firewall. I’ve only see one picture of it thus far and don’t know what size it is. Before we try to engineer a new one, I’d like to see if anyone out there has one).

-Exhaust (we have several exhaust pieces for both cars, but they are all in fairly bad shape)

-Bendix mount (We have the starter gear but the hand-crank starter is missing - same as the 1915)

 

Lastly…

We’d love to know your tips! What should we know? What should be cautious of? Give us your best tips.

 

When the cars a finished - likely before the end of the year - we may have several spare parts that we’d be happy to put up for sale to fellow restorations folks (including at least one full engine).

 

Thank you all!

 

Attached are 3 pics of the Crossman Machine Gun Car  -