Studebaker Champion Overheating

You've got to have a passion for cars in order to own a 59 year-old automobile, because when things break, and they will ...

you might as well rip out your heart, stomp on it a few times, and stick it back in your chest haphazardly. Then, withdraw thousands of dollars from the bank and flush them down the toilet. But ...

when your classic car is repaired - and purrs - you suddenly forget about the heartache, the money, and the frustration. Your heart beats back to life and your brain falls in love all over again with the hulking mishmash of parts and toxic fluids.

Today, my heart is still on the floor. My Stude is a pint low and in need of a fluorescent green transfusion. There's a wound on the radiator that needs cauterizing and a quadruple bypass in the repair plan. I can tell you what's not the cause of the escalating heat issue:

- Thermostat (replaced)
- Rust in the engine block
- Water pump impeller (pump OK)
- Radiator cap (right size)
- Gas in the crankcase (I pray not)

Yes, it's just a car, but it's my Studebaker. Until next drive.