When I got the car, the oil filler cap was broken, leaving a hole for things to get in there. Draining the oil revealed a beetle bug haven. I refilled a few times with used oil until it came out clean. Someone had obviously done more tinkering on the car than the PO remembered. When I opened up the dizzy to replace the innards, there wasn't a rotor in there at all!
After replacing the plugs, points, condenser, cap and adding fresh oil and a filter, I stuck the fuel line into a gas can and she fired right up! Dead dirt daubers, hornet nests and spider remains shot out of the tailpipes and everywhere else. I wasn't expecting her to fire up that easy and it scared the crap outta me! I have a video of the first start and restart after I regained my composure. If I can figure out how to do the youtube thing I'll load them up.
The original fuel pump leaked fuel into the oil pan. I called my local parts store and to my surprise...they had a pump listed. If I would have done some investigating I would have found that the Air Tex replacement pump is actually made for a Mopar and doesn't always work on a Stude. After installing the replacement pump I proceeded to fill up my pan with gas again.
While I waited for a proper pump (which I never got around to ordering) I decided to move onto other priorities. I lowered the car by cutting two coils and used 4" blocks in the rear. I had to cut off the tailpipes since the routing wasn't done very well over the rear axle, and after lowering the car they didn't fit right at all. When I have the exhaust done I'll extend the swaybar mounts as well.
Found a set of Texas plates too.
I got tired of airing the tires up to move the car around. I purchased a 15"x6" set of Cragar 69's along with new lugnuts and bullet centers. I also found some used trim rings to try since Cragar couldn't tell me if there were any available that would work with the wheels. They fit just fine.
In retrospect I screwed up on the wheels. I kinda like the look, but the stance looks pretty wide for the body of the car to me. The original 15"x5" Stude wheels have a backspace of 4.5". The tires are the same (metric equivalent) size as the originals. The Cragars only have 3.5" backspacing and I had to pull on the rear fenders to get the trim clips to clear the tires when I checked suspension travel. I'm not sure what I'll end up with as far as wheels go. I also have the original full hubcaps. You can see one on the wall in the photo above.
I replaced the original oil bath air cleaner, but wanted something different. I modified a baby moon for the cover.
Before I get back to work on the car, I need to purchase a modified pump from Fairborn Studebaker or mount a inline electrical pump. If anyone knows of a good lightweight inline pump that won't break the bank, I'm open to suggestions.