Small Update

Well truth be told, I started this small update on 11/7 (it is now 12/1/11) and I still have nothing of value to report.

Things have been quite busy with the holidays and I just havent had the time to go out and work on the old wagon. I wish I could say that it is running, and street legal, but I can't. Instead, I can say that I had a wonderful Thanksgiving on the other side of the mountains with my wife's family and that Christmas is just around the corner. I can also say that by next summer, we will have another addition to our growing family. Due date is set for July 10th. I guess it is time to kick myself in gear to make room for a family of 4!

I did push the car in and out of the garage recently to find my mom's Christmas decorations and in doing so, found out that there is gas in the tank. Until now, I have been able to move the old girl with a slight tug on the front bumper. Due to the cold weather, pulling was not an option. So I crawled behind it and pushed the car out. This was no easy task to say the least. So for next time, I will be figuring out a way to empty out the tank. It has had a locking gas cap on it since it was first put in to storage in 76, and I was able to locate the key while rummaging around through the glove box and ash tray.

I wish I had more to offer to those of you reading my nonsensical posts. I'll try to have something of worth posted after the holidays.....

 Who knows... maybe Santa is bringing me the title or new tools at least. 

Raise the longroof!

It is all about the little victories in life. I didn't get around to doing the engine work that I had hoped to accomplish this time out. Gonna have a buddy come over who is more mechanically inclined that I to help with the aspect of the car. He is the one who helped me tow the car home. Anyways back to my little victory....

The Thorn in My Side... 

By golly I did it. But now you can see the dent in the roof.

Once I had the complete luggage rack taken off, I had a chance to survey the damage to the roof. There was some rust that had began to form where the rack bolted to the roof of the car. That and there was 50+ years of dirt that had accumulated under each bar.  I climbed in the car to see if I could push the roof back up... so I gently hit it with my fist.... and POP! back to form it was!

Now that it was back to its original shape, I decided it was time to clean off the dirt and grime that had accumulated. I also need to take a better look at the rust that had bubbled to the surface. Fortunately it wasn't too bad. I sanded it down a bit and plan to throw some primer on it next time I go out there.

The roof went from being dented and fairly dirty to this:

Not bad for an old longroof! Next I am going to make new pads for the feet of the luggage rack and shine it up as best I can. Some pitting will most likely still show through, but that is just a part of the character of the car!

So my little victory is that the ski rack is finally off the car and will be on Craigslist sooner than later. It can be yours! It would be a great addition to someone's '84 240 Volvo! It is vintage, which instantly means cool! Raise your standing among the hippies of Fremont by purchasing this golden gem.

My mind is aglow....

"My Mind is aglow with whirling, transient nodes of thought 

careening through a cosmic vapor of invention." 

- Hedley Lamarr (Blazing Saddles 1974)

Leave it to Mel Brooks to get straight to the point of the matter. I am full of nothing but idea after idea and no time to get to work on it. It really is difficult to work on a car when it is not being housed at the same location as I. I know I have stated that before, but it holds true. I have no idea what will be the final outcome of the wagon, just mere ideas floating around this size 7-3/4 dome of mine (yes I have a big head).

One thing I know for sure is that there will be a mix of styling cues from both old and new school. My ideas as of now include pictures that were photoshopped for me by members of The H.A.M.B. :

Old School Gasser.... just for kicks

This one is supposed to illustrate Candy Red with a Silver Metal Flake Roof

One thing that I want to do no matter what, is to have this car sitting on Wide White Walls. After looking at pictures over and over again, I personally think that the last picture is where I want this Wagon to go. I have the full set of Original Studebaker Hubcaps but I am not sure that they will find their way on to the car. They make great garage art in my humble opinion. The last picture shows an Orange Metal Flake roof to match that of the wheels as mentioned in my previous entry: Paint And A Buffer .

Just imagine this Metal Flake Orange 

Something like this!

I think I may just be getting somewhere with all of this mindless drivel. The exterior is pretty much taken care of in my mind. I think it will look fairly kick-ass. But I must continue on...

The interior for the time being will be kept original. I may stuff some new foam under the drivers seat as it has little to no support now. Here is how the original dash looked when it was still in storage:

All I have done since then is clean it up. There are tears in the leather dash-pad but that is too be expected after 35 years of not being treated. I plan to keep this all 100% original looking. I do however plan to run a newer stereo in this car and see two viable options and one that is a tad unorthodox:

1. Mount it in the glove box which can be seen in the center of the dash under the radio delete plate, or
2. Figure out a way to make the radio delete plate flip down and mount the stereo behind it. This way, the glove box would still be functional. 
3. Purchase an old 8track player and rip out the guts to mount a modern stereo inside.

Eventually I would most likely want to match the interior to the exterior but that is a ways down the road. Why not rock the original factory leather? I may find a Mexican blanket and through it down for good measure on the front seat.

As stated previously, the Studebaker 259 V8 will stay in the car and be backed by an automatic transmission of some sort. Still on the fence regarding which one though. TH350? 700R4? C6? Who knows these things! 

Paint and a Buffer

"Don't let off the gas, Whatever you do, do not let off the gas." 

- Dust To Glory (2007)

Well this weekend may have been one of the last in which the car ventures outside for a while. It would appear that the glorious Seattle weather is taking a turn on us. Our 3 weeks of summer are fading quickly... Its currently 54 degrees out and pouring.....

 WAIT A TIC.... My journey of bringing this old Stude back to life must continue. I cant let the weather force us in to a standstill.This is pedal to the metal until we are done, can't let off the gas now.

 I went and worked on the car on Saturday in my continuing effort to clean her up. When I rolled it out of the garage, I scared my daughter (2yrs old) and freaked out a neighbor. The neighbor saw the car roll out with no one behind the wheel and my daughter thought it was scary for some reason; she usually loves the car. In her defense, the arms on the ski rack were up and looked almost like horns.

I bought a new buffer and some paint prior to taking the Stude out of the garage. So now I have two buffers. Makes it nice when using polish or wax as it allows me to put a polishing pad on one and a terry cloth pad on the other. The pads can be a pain to pull over the buffer, so having two is ideal in my opinion. The paint that I purchased was for the engine and wheels. I picked up a can of this for the engine parts I will be taking off and painting. The color to be chosen to go over this is still undecided. Looking for input from you readers out there.

Duplicolor Engine Enamel - Gray Primer

The other paint that I purchased was for the wheels. I plan on painting the wheels so that they are a matched set, instead of two pairs. I picked up some white auto primer and Sparkle Silver MetalSpecks for the base coats. The final color will be Burnt Orange MetalSpecks. My I will lay down 2 coats of silver then 3-4 coats of Orange. The silver base should make the Burnt Orange really pop. Then I will spray a couple coats of clear over them

Duplicolor MetalSpecks - Burnt Orange

This picture gives an idea of the MetalSpecks final product.

I was able to get two wheels done on Saturday with the silver. The O'reilly's that I went to was out of stock on Burnt Orange MetalSpecks so I was only able to purchase the Silver. I will get the orange next chance I get.

 I cant wait to get the orange on there to see how it looks. I think it will be a good contrast to the Dark Green that the car is now. Once they are painted, the Stude will be getting some new Chrome Lugs and possible some Chrome trim rings if I cant locate some Original Stude center caps. At some point in the future, I want to add wide white walls on it as well.

Now I mentioned that I had purchased another buffer. I did so under the knowledge that I didn't have the patience to hand buff the entire car. I did that once on a '67 Buick Lesabre and never want to do it again. I have already spent a few hours doing it by hand and am no where close to being 1/4 done, and who doesn't like new toys tools! So, while the paint was drying I pulled out my new buffer and went to work.


I used NuFinish Car Polish as mentioned in a previous entry. I applied it with one buffer then switched to the other to buff it out. I managed to get one side of the car done and a section of the roof before calling it quits for the day. It was amazing watching the old oxidized paint come back to life. There are some rough areas, but all in all it is looking a lot better on the outside.

This pic was taken prior to the first wash.

This is how it sits as of now, following paint and polish

 While I was painting the wheels, I also switched the back ones to the front and front to back. The tires that are on there were picked up used and are two different sizes. The larger ones were initially mounted on the front and it didn't matter to begin with. After looking at it, I thought it looked a tad goofy with bigger tires in the front than the back. I think it looks much better now.

That "vintage" ski-rack is still sitting on the roof. I tried to take it off again before realizing that I would need to take the entire luggage rack off to take off the ski-rack. That was more than I was willing to do, so its still up there, till next time, till next time....

Next time will also include more engine work and I will finish buffing out the paint. I will have a new belt to install and possibly an alternator(fingers crossed) & battery(again fingers crossed). We are going to see if the Marvel Mystery Oil did its job; definitely praying that it did. This Old Wagon is coming back to life one step at a time.

And, next time, that damned ski-rack is coming off! 

Lift up your hood... and let's take a peak.

Unfortunately, this is the only decent pic I have at the moment
of the 259. I will be sure to snap some more soon.

What you see here is classic American art. I call it art because back in the day, vehicles were things of beauty. This beauty extended from Chrome bumper to Chrome bumper. Cars and Trucks had big chrome grills and they stood out from one another. There was a difference between Cadillacs, Studes, and Dodges. The lines, curves, and fins set them apart from each other. They were American art at its finest.

The heart that each had was in my opinion a piece of finely tuned art. I look at the above motor and can tell what parts are what. There is no gaudy plastic parts covering it up. It is there for the world to see. While the heart of the Stude isn't pretty now, it shows its age and beauty.

This particular wagon came with the Studebaker 259 v8 mated to a 3 on-the-tree Manual Trans. When I got the car home and started tinkering around on it, I quickly found out that the motor was seized. Thus I turned to a product that has been around and helping car guys around  the world with their projects:

Marvel Mystery Oil

Last weekend I managed to pour some of this fine concoction down into the cylinders in hopes of freeing them of the long sleep. My plan is to let it sit for at least another week or two before trying to turn it over. Fingers are crossed that it does in fact turn over. There have been many stories over the years proclaiming the greatness that is MMO so I am hoping to have my own very soon. Belts, hoses, and wires will be replaced as progress is made. If not, then a tear down will be in order. My uncle said that part of the engine was rebuilt in the late 60's, so most of it should be fairly decent. 

While attacking the cylinders, I pulled the alternator and associated brackets and started cleaning those up. The brackets were caked in 50 years worth of sludge that needed to come off. I took a wire brush to them which made quick work of the grime. I plan to paint the brackets with engine primer and then a color of some sort. What color with be chosen is still up in the air. If you, the reader has a suggestion, please comment away.

Once I get them  done, I will move to the valve covers which will get the same treatment. With the valve covers removed, I plan to cut some new gaskets for them in our shop. I would like to cut as many of the gaskets for the car myself in our shop as it will give me just a little bit more pride in the work. The valve covers will also get some pinstriping detail while off courtesy of my hand. The pinstriping will add to the artwork that already resides under the hood. Piece by piece I will remove, clean, and paint the engine parts as I go. 

One thing that will be changed for certain is the transmission. The manual transmission, while nostalgic, will be going out in favor of an Automatic. This will be a cruiser and hopefully a daily driver when needed. Thus, I want something that I can get in and go. I know this will catch some heat from traditionalists, but it will be more practical for me. The question of which AT is still up in the air. I would like something with Overdrive. This is still an area in which I am open to suggestions. So if you got one, post it up! 

By having 3 blogs posted so quickly, I hope that you do not get the sense that this will be a quick project. These posts cover the past 3 months. Since the car and I are not in the same location, I do not get to work on it as often as I would like. As progress is made, it will be posted for you to see... and next, I will add more pictures.

Time To Clear Out the Cobwebs

and 35 years of storage.

Stoked to get this wagon cleaned out

When we brought the car home, the back end was packed full of my uncle's stuff. Most of which was old car detailing stuff that has since gone bad or leaked through its containers. There was an old high-chair, an old wooden shopping basket, Triumph Motorcycle forks, Antlers (dated 1947), Records, and other assorted stuff that one collects over the years. 99% of what was inside hasnt been looked at since the car was put in to storage.

This was taken with the car still in storage.

It took a great deal of patience to get everything out of the old wagon. It seemed that every box that I picked up, quickly fell apart at the seams. My mess got a lot bigger before it got cleaner. To my surprise, the shag carpet that was stapled down in the back of the car, under the priceless treasures, was still some what intact... Not For Long!

A true Shaggin Wagon... Pretty sweet eh?

I quickly ripped it all out to find the original Studebaker vinyl in great shape. There are a few areas where it is bubbling up, but those are very few. This wouldn't be the only carpet to leave the car. I also ripped out the carpet in the front as it was starting to disappear anyways. Found a few rust holes, but far less than expected for a car that is 50+ years old. Eventually I will be ripping all of the carpet out. But I digress. Once the shag was out I was finally comfortable with folding the back seat back up to its normal position. 

More Junk!

Original Seat in perfect condition.

Among the stuff that I found under the seat was a plethora of tools and spare parts. There was a box of new(in 76) spark plugs that had fallen apart. Spare parts weren't that big of a deal to me, but the tools were exciting to find! Who doesn't like finding tools! Almost as soon as the seat was folded up, I folded it back down. This was about a month ago and I am yet to go back to clean out under there. 

Moving to the exterior of the car....

Storage Unit "Tint" Job

 Cleaning the exterior of the wagon has also been a lesson in patience. The first day that I was out there cleaning, I spent roughly 5 hours (this includes cleaning all of the junk out). A majority of the time was spent on washing off 35 years worth of dust, dirt, and cobwebs. If I recall correctly, I ended up washing most of it twice to make sure I got it all off. I ended up using about a 1/2 bottle of windex just trying to get the windows clean! I had planned on buffing out the paint with an electric buffer but soon found out that I had lost all of my pads for it during one of my many college moves. So, I attacked it old school with paper towels (read: pain in the ass).

The above pic shows an area of the hood that I hit with NuFinish Car Polish. I will be going over the entire car with it once I get my buffer pads purchased... or a new buffer. The NuFinish really cleared up a lot of the oxidization that has taken over since it was last washed 3 decades ago. As of now, the only thing that has been hit with the NuFinish is the hood. 

The outside is looking better and better each time I go out to work on it.. Next thing to do to the exterior is clean the wheels with a wire brush and paint them so that they all match. I also plan to do a little pinstriping on the wheels just for kicks. I will also be removing the ski rack and Craigslisting it... I hear Craigslisters love vintage junk.. well I have the ski rack for them!

Next update will be under the hood....

The story of an Old Wagon...

"What we have here is a failure to communicate" - Cool Hand Luke

When I was somewhere in the vicinity of 10 years old, my uncle and I made a few bets. Gambling should start at a young age if you hope to be successful at it.  We decided one afternoon to place a few wagers while playing basketball in my back yard. Our target was similar to this: 

It stood roughly 20' away, seemed to be a lot longer back then. My uncle and I went back and forth before we found any success. Then he decided to go after a model car that I had just built, a 1957 Chevy Gasser, my prized possession at the time. He drained his shot and I failed at my rebuttal. I was crushed as I handed it over to him. 

This is where this blog comes in to play. 

He had a 1960 Studebaker Wagon tucked away in storage for nearly 20 years and I always wanted it. I placed my bet and wouldn't you know it? Nothing but net! He failed at his chance to win her back and the car was mine! Or so I thought. To this day he claims I cheated and the car has stayed in his storage unit. Hence the quote seen above. That was up until November 2010 when I was able to convince him to move it. The destination would be my mom's garage....

This is where it sat... since 1976: Covered in prized treasures surely perfect for a garage sale.

 Months go by and slowly junk disappears. Leaving me with a car that needs to be moved... call in the cavalry...

Finally in daylight after 35 years of hiding and heading home. Now what this doesnt clarify is the ownership of the vehicle. But, it is in my possession and I am claiming the old "possessions is 9/10 of the law" routine.

 This is the story and rebirth of an Old Wagon.

I have more recent pictures and updates to add, but I must get back to work... as time permits.