Wagons Found.....

With most of my time at work being spent at the computer, I have a lot of time to search for more and more wagon information and articles.

Man + Machine : The beautiful Stude wagon that they profile even has roll-up shades! This wagon is the pale-green cousin to This Old Stude.

Automotive History: The Short and Odd Life of The Two Door Station Wagon : Great article regarding the hist of the "nomad" style wagons.

1963 Wagonaire Article : Great article about a 1963 Slide-top Wagonaire.

I have more buried in my favorites that I am sure I will unearth here soon.

Updates Coming Soon......

2012 has been flying by! And so have the last few months without any progress.

I hope to start getting more time over with the wagon soon. The weather is coming around finally which will really help the cause.

Since my last post, we have put an offer in on a Garage... with a house attached to it. Finally the car and I will be residing in the same place. This has been a year long process to come across and our patience really paid off. Inspection is this weekend. Then the fun begins.

Also, we have found out that we have a boy on the way. Due out in July.

Last but certainly not least, the Wagon may be getting a companion in the the form of a 1965 Studebaker Commander. The 65' has a 283 Thunderbolt in it and new wiring. This is a project that will become another optional Daily Driver. The wife wasn't fully on board with the wagon but is for this car for the most part. Hell, she suggested that it become a second DD. Bonus. I hope to get more pics and info on this one in coming days. Assuming all goes as planned, I should be able to bring it home this weekend. Fingers crossed!

2 months in to the year and nothing is crossed off the list from the previous post.... but progress has been made in other aspects of life.

Everyone talks about resolutions....

Its about time I follow through on one. 


This year I happen to have two resolutions to tackle. One may be quite a bit easier than the other. The first is to finish off an old resolution. Last year we managed to join a gym like the rest of America. Well 12 months later that resolution is done for. No, I didn't tackle my gym membership throughout the year. Truth be told I haven't been back since April. So my first resolution of 2012 is to cancel my gym membership. See, that's an easy one.

Task #2: Get This Old Stude running by the time the NW Nationals come to Puyallup. I fully believe that this is something that I can and will do. My goal is to have it running and driving on down the road. Heck, I would love to drive it down to the car show. But lets tackle one thing at a time.

List of to-do's for 2012:

1. Get it Running... If this means engine rebuild, then so be it, I want to tackle as much work myself as possible. I do have some people that are quite knowledgeable around cars who can help with this lofty task..
2. Get it Geared... ie I want to either rebuild the Transmission since it is missing 2nd or mate up a newer Automatic. I would prefer to find an Automatic with overdrive as I have mentioned in previous posts. 
3. Get it Stopping ... Power brakes would be a bonus since no one in Seattle really knows how to drive. I saw 1 wreck this morning and was a part of 2 or 3 near misses/tire screechers. 
4. Take more pictures!

I guess that I should include a 3rd resolution for 2012:

Convince my uncle to sign the title over finally... 

or hand him the bill for all of the work that I have done!

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!