1963 Studebaker - SLHS auto shop 2011 class project

The rear window is manual and it works well. I have a power regulator for it but I don't know if I have the switch. I haven't decided if we'll try to swap it out or not. I tried to put a power tailgate regulator in my '63 Chevy a few years back and I couldn't ever get it to lift the window.

 

OP, I wish for some reason you had to move to North Texas. I would join the class andand never miss one! I haven't been in school in 20 years!!!! Great job and great attitude!!!!!!!

 

i live in Seattle and can't wait to see the wagon on the streets! Will you be selling it once done? Or keeping it as a fine example of what the kids can accomplish?

 

Session 12

We had a our 12th class session on March 4th - and I didn't take any pictures...

Ben - a Studebaker guy from church - stopped by to check out the project and entertain us with Studebaker info. We listened to the motor run, fiddled with the carb, and assessed its tune up needs. I'm looking forward to more of Ben's help in the coming weeks.

The students worked on getting the brake lights working, getting the seats back in and cleaning up the interior.

I was just coming down with a fever that put me in bed the rest of the week, so I was happy to have the extra help and let it be more of a social afternoon.

 

The car will be for sale in June. Gotta clear space for the next project...

 

Hope you get well soon!

 

Session 13

We had our 13th class on March 18th.

The whole class was in attendance this week (somewhat rare) so we started with a class picture.

I thought I've seen pictures of these open-roof wagons hauling big loads in the back, but I'm here to tell you that four teenage boys pretty well bottomed out the suspension.



This week we focussed on the interior - sanding rust off the ceiling, installing the seats, putting in seat belts, cleaning up the rear cargo area.

I set Kris loose with the sander and had him clean up the ceiling. It was a dirty job, but he stuck with it and then took the sander to the cargo area when he was done.



Kris was making a lot of dust, so we were all wearing masks... Here's Ransom doing the easy side of the rear seat belts. Ian is underneath the car turning the wrench.


The seat frame and hinges are all cleaned up now and installed. We'll probably take some sandpaper to the wood on the seats and then put some kind of finish on it. Somehow we ended up with a brown rear seat and a green front seat (that matches the rest of the interior).


It's not station wagon related, but Ransom drove his grandpa's 48 Ford to class to show it off. It's really a nice truck.

 

Great pics Olive, that F1 is a nice truck! Bet that Stude is gonna be a gem when ya'll finish.

 

The students all look they're having fun - Keep up the good work!

 

Session 14

This week we had class on Saturday so that we could take the Stude to an exhaust shop near by that is willing to let the whole class into the shop.

The car already had a Y pipe on it, so we just ran a single pipe back. I know some will say we should have put on dual exhaust, but we're on a tight budget.





With the car up on the rack it was obvious that the front end alignment was WAY off, so I did a quick adjustment of the toe in. We still need to adjust the camber as the tires are leaned in.

Someone pointed out that lowering these cars can be a bit hazardous, and indeed we are getting a little tire rub on the fender if the wheels are turned when you come to a stop.

Now we're off for a couple weeks for spring break, then back at it with only four more classes left.

 

Hey Olive! Any update on the project?

 

Session 15

I've had a lot of irons in the fire lately and have been slacking on my updates...

Our 15th class session was back on April 22nd, and we only had two students. We spent the bulk of the time cleaning up the body. We tried to remove the roof so we could wash it down with CLR, but it was being stubborn so we decided to wash it in place.

I've seen other build threads where guys wash down rusty old cars with CLR and then clear coat them, so I was excited to try in on our car. Ken and Ian used Scotchbrite pads and then upgraded to steal wool for the really tough stuff.

You can see the puddle of rust in the driveway.



Unfortunately, the roof seals are not good...

After it was clean, Ransom put in some time with the buffer and Ian worked on cleaning the surface rust off the rear quarter so we could shoot it with some primer. We also welded in a patch on the driver's door sill that we never got around to doing when we patched the floor.

 

Session 16

Our 16th class session was on June 6th and we were lucky enough to have a Studebaker collector that I know from church come to visit and teach a little.

We mostly worked on the interior today. Ian reinstalled all the trim in the rear cargo area while Kris masked off the ceiling so we could paint it.



The spare tire cover on these is a sheet of plywood and our original cover had long since rotted away, so Ransom and Zach got to do a little wood working.



Ben also gave a lesson on how carburators work and helped us diagnose some carb issues with our car.

 

Cool beans Olive, thanks for the update. Krash, could this be a wagon you might be interested in?

 

Session 17

Our 17th session was mostly spent chasing down starting issues. The starter wasn't engaging so we took it off the car, cleaned it out, and lubed the Bendix. We also replaced the starter solenoid after it got stuck and tightened and cleaned up all the connections.

A couple of the students finished up the spare tire cover and Zach made some new panels for the rear cargo area.

Here's Ian installing the new panels - I think they turned out real good.