Once the Studebaker was home and tucked away in the garage it was time to assess the car in depth. We already had plenty of snow so the classic driving season is already over, which gives me plenty of time to get it sorted for spring 2021.
Thanks to Bill Jarvis on Flickr I have the following information from my body tag and serial number.
Body tag:
63 = 1963
V = V8 (could be either 259 or 289 but the engine id says 259)
Y = 4-door sedan (could be either of 2 wheelbases)
6 = Lark Custom (top trim level for the regular 113-inch wheelbase)
Serial number:
63 = 1963
V = V-8
C = Canadian-built (Hamilton ON)
I am not sure why but I started with the trunk. Perhaps it was the thrill of the treasure hunt. Perhaps it was just the back of the car was closest to the garage door. There was certainly a large volume of stuff, so surely at least some of it would be at least interesting. As a refresher, above is how it looked like in as-bought condition. On the top layer I could see more of that exterior green deck carpet. That seemed like an obvious candidate for the trash but I will hold onto it for a bit to be sure. There was also a small cache of chrome trim, and I hoped at least some of it would fit the rear doors.
One layer down I found a spare tire plus a tire iron. A blue tarp, random gloves and an electrical cord were also exposed.
Fuel pump, speaker, jumper cables and another extension cord are now visible with the spare out. Also ten cents in Canadian Tire money we can count that against my purchase price. Finding a bondo spreader in your new purchase does not exactly inspire confidence… let’s go deeper.
A quick vacuum has it looking better. It could do with a wash and repaint at some point but it is remarkably solid and rust free.
Here are the contents minus the spare tire and trash:
Jack, sandpaper, chrome trim, air filter, sun visor, alternator, spray bottle, door pull, jumper cables, 2x extension cords, fuel pump, tarp, carpet, jack and box of parts.
Looking into the box we have spray paint, silicone caulk, painting tape, horn, trim, door handles, spare ignition, coil, radiator cap, single speaker.
10 cents of Canadian Tire money.
The sun visor, door handle pull and body trim chrome are likely the bits missing from the car, which is good news.
Awesome spray?
Rusty pliers.
Some hardware plus a spray straw.
Some miscellaneous electrical bits.
Since going through the trunk was fun, I had to do the glove box next. I made a video this time. These had a “Exclusive Beauty Vanity” which was marketed to women as an in-car vanity. It was the Sixties I guess.
The rest of the interior needed a go through as well. The missing air cleaner housing and hub cap. Also paint container plus a car cover.
After a quick clean. The stained fabric on the seats did not come as clean as I hoped but the stains have likely been there a long time. An ash tray for the rear occupants is something not seen on modern vehicles.
The front seats were given a similar cleaning attempt which worked well on the vinyl but not the fabric. While not visible in this shot, the headliner is not fantastic, with a few holes in it.
Studebaker was one of the first makes to include seat belts as standard.
The gauge cluster is quite complete with speedometer, clock, temperature, amps, oil pressure, and fuel. Interestingly this gauge cluster is incorrect for a 1963 and likely from 1966 Lark.
The Studebaker radio turned on and received some AM stations along with a generous helping of static.
A close up of some of the odd white paint splattered around the interior. Not sure why.
New old stock manual for which I found the receipt in the truck. These are not a reprint but left overs from 1963.
It was now time to take a peek underneath to see how rusty it was. I was pleasantly surprised with only the front section of the floor replaced. The rest of the under-body and frame was very solid. There was also a recent looking exhaust system which was a definite plus. Things were looking up.
The biggest question mark was the transmission. Taking a look at that, it was clear it was leaking, but how much and from where? Time for a clean.
I think there is a very slow leak coming from one of the linkage arms. The good news is that part is available but a bit of a pain to replace. Parts availability in general is very good on Studebakers. Now I was able to read the tag, which identifies this as an AS-10-5P transmission. These are a three speed unit that starts in second from what I understand (unless you manual select Low) making them a little slow off the mark. Can any reader shed any light on why a manufacturer would build a three speed but make it act like a two speed? I recall Mercedes transmissions did this as well for a number of years.
Reading the engine identification number, I now know it is a Canadian built 259 cid V8 producing 180 hp @ 4500 rpm from 1963. So there is a strong possibility that the car is numbers matching. The air cleaner went on the engine and the valve covers were cleaned up. Paint overspray is evident on the radiator from when it got painted. Not sure why the insides of the fenders are red. Primer perhaps, and the previous owner never painted them? Seems to make more sense than the car being previously red with the green interior. Overall the car is a bit of a hodgepodge, with the tail lights and hubcaps from a 1962 model. Good thing it will be driver level rather than show car.
The filthy rear section was bugging me so I gave it a basic wash.
The rear window had some residue from a long missing stick on panel of some kind but looked much better once removed.
Going through the electrical components the signals, headlights, and brake lights all worked. The wipers moved a bit and stopped so I really need lubricate the linkage then wet down the glass before trying again. The horn did not work. I connected the horn directly to the battery and that worked. The steering wheel button wiring and mechanism looked in good shape and was not corroded. I suspect the relay is the culprit but need still to verify. With each discovery I am torn between loving this car and being a little let down by the condition of certain things. In the end it should be a very inexpensive classic cruiser for the summer. Regardless of the mental roller coaster I am putting myself on I cannot wait to get behind the wheel this upcoming summer.
Further reading:
Automotive History: The Studebaker V8 Engine – Punching Below Its Weight
Car Show Classic: 1963 Studebaker Lark Regal – A Left Brain Car For A Right Brain World
You certainly have a job ahead of you! It will be a sweet car to drive. Good luck!
My understanding is that second gear starts in Drive were smoother than starting in first, because the 1-2 shift was a little rough. Partly as a reaction to the jerkiness of the original Hydra-Matic many subsequent early autos went in the other direction and emphasized seamlessness-Dynaflow, the early Ultramatic, and the early Powerglide were all dependent on the torque converters and didn’t shift at all.
The B-W automatic, also used in Fords, could use second gear in combination with the torque converter to give as much torque multiplication at take-off as a three-speed manual and that was enough for a lot of people.
That’s a good summation. People who bought automatics in the ’50s were looking for smoothness over performance. And a second gear start gave them that.
This transmission is essentially the original Fordomatic, which worked the same way.
IIRC, the Chrysler Torqueflite was the first three-speed automatic to automatically start in first gear, because in part, Chrysler the Simpson gearset, whereas the Fordomatic/BW used the Ravigneaux gear set. The Simpson gearset was more conducive to smoother shifts, and eventually became the standard. Ford went with the Simpson for the C4.
That make sense and to be honest I read your article linked above on transmissions after I had written this.
There are parts to convert it to full three speed operation but taking apart an old working automatic transmission seems like tempting fate bit. Plus the parts are a little scarce and therefore not cheap.
In the end this car is more of a cruiser than a high performance car so it likely works as is.
From where I’m sitting, it all sounds pretty good to excellent and could have gone much worse. Fix a few foibles, replace a few worn-out pieces, and you’re on the road. This must beat working around all the rust on your usual adoptees. 🙂
In sum a fairly solid car, a few new-to-you tools/toys for the collection, and a bottle of Awesome spray elixir. It seems just like how you celebrate Thanksgiving a month or so early up there, so too has Christmas come a month or so early. Maybe summer will start in February for you to enjoy cruising around, who knows…
When I was in high school I had a friend , Jim, whose family was into old cars which they stored in a barn behind their house the next street over. His Dad considered 1940 a “new car”. Jim was a bit eccentric so you just knew he was not going to have just any old workaday beater as his first car. His daily driver senior year of high school was a car just like yours but in sort of a salmon color he and his Dad rehabbed and made roadworthy. To say that stood out in 1983 in the school parking lot would be an understatement. But it was pretty cool. Looking forward to seeing this one take shape and roadworthy! Very much enjoyed reading about your journey.
Looks like a solid piece of machinery.
I have been inside a ’59 Lark, ages ago. Don’t remember much, but some things are familiar here.
As an aside, do the black rocker switches on a bright plate in a wood (sic) panel dash show a bit of cobbledness? (It would be understandable, given the very finite sums Studebaker had for revisions.)
That two-tone South Bend steering wheel in a Canadian-build Studebaker is a bit odd. But if it’s got an incorrect gauge cluster, could have been swapped. It looks to be in good shape, too.
I suspect it was probably revived with the use of a parts car at some point. I am not worried about the mismatched year parts. If they function that is good enough for me. This car is unlikely to be judged at Pebble Beach.
Man, for $1200 I wouldn’t sweat that purchase a bit! A new windshield and a few seals and you’ll be in pretty good shape. You could probably hold off on the transmission seal and see if a few miles on the road clears it up a little, and what old car doesn’t leak a few drops anyway? It looks like you may be able to drop the trans crossmember and lower the transmission a bit for better access if necessary; I had to do that to replace the shift shaft seals on my Dart.
Regarding the off-year parts, maybe it’s just me, but I wouldn’t let it bother me that much. You could probably get the right parts and sell the current ones to offset the cost if it bothers you. I don’t think this will be a very profitable flip when you decide to sell, but you’ll have a good time and you probably won’t lose much. Financially, I don’t think most of us can ask for more than that. I’d call that a great purchase.
Indeed. For my purposes it is just fine. Any sort of numbers matching mentality is not a worry on here. It is an inexpensive summer cruiser that one can use without too much stress.
We use Awesome at work for spot disinfecting high touch areas on the school bus between runs. The car cleaned up nicely and the instrument panel is identical to the one in the ’66 I had. Those can be converted to first gear start by sourcing a valve body from a Rambler or Jeep. Tune it up, adjust the valves and enjoy. Also the trick to greasing the kingpin bearings is to jack it up so the front wheels hang, get a piece of wood plank that fits above it in the fenderwell and a small jack on top of the tire. You need to put a little downward pressure on the top of the tire with the jack against the wood above it in the fenderwell. I use a short 4×4. This will sort of ‘seal’ the bottom of the steering knuckle forcing the grease up into the thrust bearing at the top. I have fixed many hard steering Studebakers like this. Release the top jack and hit it again to let the grease come out the bottom and hit the other 11 or 12 fittings as normal. The transmission might not leak as much if it is run regularly. Not giving the torque converter a chance to totally drain back might keep the level down in the pan below the linkage. One question, is it a full flow motor with the spin on oil filter on the side of the motor? It should be but I am curious. It looks like you got a good one from here.
That Awesome spray is a godsend, and I use it all the time. They sell it at the dollar store in town and at the local Rite Aid for about the same price. It’s great at removing stains in upholstery or carpets.
Good point on the leak may dissipate with usage. I will have to take a look at the filter – have not noticed yet.
Looks like your lark is turning out NOT to be a Turkey, hyuk!
That’s amazing that it runs, and drives, and everything works. There’s something to be said for the simple cast iron technology of old cars that were built to last and didn’t have parts with engineered life expectancies. The other side of that coin of.course is cars like this required a lot more frequent fiddling and repair at the hands of a patient owner.
I wish I had the time, energy, and patience to engage in a project like this but I shall look forward to your updates and reportage instead.
David, in all seriousness you should not feel let down. From where I sit in rusty Ontario you got a screaming good deal on a car with great bones.
Any $1,200 old car here is a hopeless rusty mess. I am envious.
And a Hamilton car! JP owes me a beer! BTW let me know if you want me to swing by the factory and pick you up a windshield 🙂
Well I definitely a windshield … we’ll see what road trip opportunities there are this summer.
I figured it was a Canuck based on where it came from, but I’ll buy you a beer next time we meet anyway.
Bummer that there weren’t any great treasures in the trunk of glove box. The real treasure is that most of the things seem to work and there didn’t turn out to be any serious rust.
I definitely wouldn’t sweat the mix and match nature of some of the parts, if they work that is good enough, for a car like this, in my opinion.
Absolutely on the parts mismatch. Does not worry me at all. I do have a new snow brush and a couple extra extension cords thanks to the trunk contents.
I would say that there //were// treasures found in the car. Imagine trying to source all the loose parts that turned out to actually belong on the car!
I’m loving this series about your Studebaker. Nice find and I love the color. I find the transmission tag to be of interest. The Packard name disappeared from the company letterhead in early 1962, but it’s on your transmission tag. A replacement? Old stock being used up? Or maybe the last use of the Packard name?
It appears that Packard was dropped from the legal name in 1962. But then this car might have been built in late 1962. In any case, it wouldn’t surprise me if they kept using obsolete tags like this for a while longer.
Paul references the Ford-O-Matic, but the transmission in your car is more an exact match for the concurrent AMC Flash-O–Matic.
Studebaker transmissions on V8 cars started in second gear, going back to 1951, and continued that way thru the 1963 Avanti. That car had beefed-up bands and using the manual shift from a start in 1st to 2nd was encouraged (the “Power-Shift Transmission”). Six cylinder cars all started in first gear, so you can change out the valve body… But the bands in the V8 aren’t really designed to handle that level of use and there’s supposedly that jerky shift. I usually enjoyed using the column shifter to get that extra ‘go’. Didn’t have a problem in my multiple larks.
Just for clarity, all Studebaker engines were cast and assembled in South Bend. Your Canadian-Assembled car used an engine shipped up from the main plant.
Get a Shop Manual.. There are 17 points to grease on your car every two- to three-thousand miles. Extremely important is to grease that center pivot in the front cross-member. With all those points to grease, steering can be ‘really fun’ when they all wear. Also grease the u joints of the car if it has been sitting.
Change the oil, change the tyranny fluid, oh, you’ll need a HUB puller to remove the rear drums. Get a Turner Brake dual master cylinder kit. Drive and enjoy.
(Can’t stand the pop up ads now on this site!)
I’m sure I’ve posted this before, but it’s worth repeating here- if the bench seats come out, look under them. Could be more treasures.
I checked. Nothing. 🙁
It’s cleaning up nicely. There seems to be a lot of good here.
Dual master cylinder, alternator, electric wipers, 2-1/2 speed automatic transmission, back-of-seat ashtray, Civil Defense radio…
David, you’re doing Awesome.
Thanks for the report.
The red paint is red oxide primer they used to stem further rust damage and prime before they resprayed the turquoise to freshen it up. Just evidence someone was trying to save the car.
Before doing too much further, check to make sure the frame is still good and solid. Studebakers can develop serious frame rust.
The frame is actually very solid thankfully.
Good! As solid as the four fenders are plus the red primer suggest a previous owner replaced all four with NOS fenders which were readily available at some point to keep the Lark condition good. The rocker panels many have been too. It does not show the typical ‘Studebaker-itis’ in the fenders common even in dry regions since there were no inner wheelhouses to keep the mud and water from plastering the underside and starting rust.
BTW, the windshields for 1963-’66 models interchange, used ones do turn up. Check the SDC website for more resources.
Wow, such a great find with many good surprises. You have a solid start on a very fun car. The Mexican blanket really does the trick. Sharp! I too have felt the ups and downs of bringing an old car back to life, concentrate on the good stuff and overall fun you can have. My 67 LeSabre project languished a bit but working on it with my teenage son makes the frustration worth it. Just turned the engine over for the first time since I rebuilt it 8 years ago. Started right up!