Studebaker Headliner Installation

As with any project, there are many roads to completion. Below is a link to a great Studebaker Drivers Club Forum thread about installing a new headliner. There are some good techniques and products noted for this tricky task.

View this conversation about headliner installation on the Studebaker Drivers Club Forum.

1951 Studebaker Champion Business Coupe Restoration

I stumbled upon a well-documented restoration of a 1951 Studebaker Champion Business Coupe. This article is a great reference from those doing a frame-off or in-situ/frame-on restoration. The restorer/owner did a great job of providing plenty of pictures; simply click on each section in the article to view the images.

Details:
1951 Champion Business Coupe
Model: 10G-Q4 #1219 of 2429 Vin: G1050198

"The roof area was covered with an aluminized bubble wrap like material with about 1/4" thickness. This was glued to the roof with 3M 777 Spray Adhesive. For the headliner fabric, I went with a cool grey vinyl instead of cloth. It will last longer and be easier to clean than a fabric."

Click here to see the final Studebaker restoration.

Click here to read the full article.

Sun Visor - 1950 Studebaker Champion - Sun Shield

I've been searching for a Fulton Sun Visor for my 1950 Studebaker Champion, but I'm at a loss to find one for sale that is in decent condition.

An alternative is a reproduction sun visor from Big Jim's of Whitney, Texas. Big Jim's sells a Studebaker one-piece visor with brackets and a chrome front trim for $249.

View the Studebaker sun visor at Big Jim's online.

If you have a sun visor/sun shield, you might find yourself strained to see traffic signals. The solution is a traffic light viewer or prism that can be mounted to the dashboard of your Studebaker.

View a traffic light viewer.

1950 Studebaker Land Cruiser - Regal DeLuxe

I am fanatical about scouring the Web for reference materials/images in preparation for restoring our Studebaker's interior. Old Car and Truck Pictures has some excellent scans of Studebaker advertisements from the 1950s.

The scan below shows the upholstery pattern and trim designs for the 1950 Studebaker Land Cruiser Regal DeLuxe.

See more Studebaker Brochures at Old Car and Truck Pictures.

Bendix Woods - Studebaker - Sign - Trees

"The name Bendix Woods originates from the Bendix Corporation, which donated the land to the county for the creation of a park. The park's historical significance, however, dates to its establishment by the Studebaker Corporation, formerly of nearby South Bend, Indiana as the first model test facility for an American automobile company.

Studebaker developed the 840 acres of land in 1926 as the first ever controlled automotive testing grounds for their product lines. Studebaker heavily promoted the grounds as a "Million Dollar Outdoor Testing Laboratory" in advertisements.

The test track that ran through the grounds simulated a variety of terrains and road conditions. Studebaker landscaped the park by keeping natural features; in 1937 the company planted more than 5,000 pine trees in a pattern that when viewed from a plane spelled STUDEBAKER."

See more about this article at Wikipedia.

Are You in Studebaker Country?

Google released Google Insights, a statistics package that shows search requests (searches) for particular categories and topics.

Top 10 state populations searching for Studebaker:

1. Indiana
2. Idaho
3. Oregon
4. Nebraska
5. Washington
6. Oklahoma
7. Iowa
8. Kansas
9. Ohio
10. Kentucky

Top 10 city populations searching for Studebaker:

1. South Bend
2. Portland
3. Phoenix
4. Seattle
5. Chicago
6. Los Angeles
7. Minneapolis
8. Denver
9. Tampa
10. Atlanta

And what are folks searching for?

1. studebaker hawk
2. studebaker for sale
3. studebaker truck
4. studebaker car
5. studebaker parts
6. studebaker cars
7. avanti studebaker
8. avanti
9. studebaker lark
10. studebaker club
...
#12 "1950 Studebaker" and #16... of course, the venerated "Studebaker Champion!"

View Google Insights statistics about Studebaker here. Or, see the chart below (click to enlarge).

1955 Studebaker Commander - For Sale

Wow. Check out this beauty. A "1955 Studebaker fully restored. One year only model. Beautiful condition. Under 60,000 original miles. Call Mike for details. 805-260-2260. $13,000"

For more pictures of this 1955 Studebaker Commander.

Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk

2Modern.com commented on the 1962 Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk and linked to the following resources.

A brief history of the 1962-1964 Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk.

A history of the Studebaker Corporation.

Image: Canadian driver dot com

Electric Fuel Pump - Exterior Mount - Inline

Doc's electric fuel pump is toast. I'm a father of two with a limited amount of free time to drive my Studebaker, so the dead fuel pump was a real disappointment last weekend. Doc will return tomorrow with a new exterior-mounted inline fuel pump - ready for a weekend cruise.

I can’t say if a hydraulic fuel pump outperforms an electric version, but I do know that NOS Studebaker hydraulic fuel pumps are available for around $80. A new electric fuel pump from NAPA auto parts cost either $63 or $163; there are two models.

Until the next drive.™