Cool stuff!

I went down today and checked the progress. They have the doghouse mounteded, the radiator and oil cooler mounted and have welded up all the places sectioned on the floor and firewall. Michael was cutting part of the roof out of a parts roof I got from the PO and will weld it into the front edge of my roof. That's Michael and his right hand man Steve in front of the CE. Its pretty cold here today and in Anderson they had about 4" of snow but we have none so far here.

Wooo hoooo!

Oh, and the radiator from the mb is sitting right where the Studebaker rad was previously with the oil cooler mounted above it. almost a perfect fit. A bracket here and there and the existing sheet metal directing the air from the low intake grills directing the air up to the radiator is working perfectly for the mb radiator. Cool!

When they put the doghouse back together they found a lot of small spiderwebs of fatigue cracks in the sheet metal mounting points which required welding. The front end is put together as a dog house which is held to the car with a minimum of attachment bolts.

In these pictures the car is up on jack stands so it looks higher than it will.

He has all the rust repair done on the cab and fenders, I believe. Next is plumbing and wiring. I'll get him to paint inside the cab and fenders.

This is just so cool!

Thanks! It is taking a long time though.;)

Memories of "Suzy"
 

My dad's first car was a 1939 Studebaker Commander sedan he bought brand new for $1,000 CASH from the Ansel Schloss Studebaker dealership in San Francisco, where he lived at the time, as a bright and upcoming young IBM engineer.

He told me the salesman took him out to Ocean Beach in SF in the car and taught him how to drive it.

He was dating my mother at the time, taking the bus. train and ferryboat across the SF bay to Marin County for their dates.

My mom told me she was absolutely floored when he came over to Mill Valley across the (then) new 2 year old Golden Gate bridge

http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2013/05/28/photos-the-golden-gate-bridge/6142/

to pick her up in this "big beautiful new car".

He got special gas ration stickers for it during WWII because they would not let him serve, as the war effort needed his skills at home, he was a customer engineer for IBM on call 24/7 to fix these big new things called "computers" when they broke down anywhere in the SF bay area such as the Army Presidio....

He kept it for many years, as the family car, finally using it only to take to the bus stop to commute to SF from Marin County

Finally it died, in 1959. He was going to sell it for $25 to a 16 year old kid but got mad when he discovered the kid did not have permission from his parents to buy the car. And revoked the sale to the kid.

So he got it running again, but after some time it conked out again.

He gave it away for free to the tow truck driver that came to get it.

Sadly I was only 11 and not quite old enough to drive it or it could have been mine.

It only had 55,000 miles on it!

It had mohair seats and wood on the dashboard.

My mom used to drive it to the beach with my brother, me, and our dog Brownie, a cocker spaniel/irish setter mix..

******

What memories your project evokes, Tom,

All the best with this project. If I ever can get out your way, I would love to get a ride in it. (Her? He? Does it have a name?).

I haven't attached a name. Perhaps I should call it Loren in honor of my grandfather who worked in the studie factory in 39 and who may have built the seat for it.

In your link photos 23 and 30 are interchanged.

I have a 39 commander like your dads which I bought for parts for the Coupe Express. It has a wonderful art deco interior including a wood grained steel dash. I believe I paid $1000 for it as well last year.;)

It would be my pleasure to give you a ride in it when it is finished enough;)

Nice to see a photo of the car with working focus!

I figured I would subscribe and watch your progress. That is a way cool project you are doing. Keep up the good work!

Heh!

Thanks! Its got your bracket in there!

Tom one thing I thought I should mention. The rad seems to get enough air flow on my thirty nine buick. Actually by design the front end is similar to the Studebakers in some respects. Back in those days the front rails where closer together and the inner fenders where too.

I find with the 327 in the compartment there is not enough exit airflow. So it remains a little hotter under the hood than I would like. Causes no engine coolant system problems at all though.

Hopefully your vertical five cylinder engine is no more restrictive than the original one was to through airflow. . I think wrapping my headers or engineering some type of additional ventilation into the inner fenders when and if I get time would help in my case.

I guess I am just saying have a look down alongside the engine to see if there are good exit areas for the airflow. I do not know the comparative widths of the studabakers original engine and the Mercedes five cylinder engine. Again just a random thought that occurred to me.

Early thirty nine buicks had two design issues that had to be addressed. The early thirty nine grills had the teeth of the grill too close so the grill whistled. Also they eliminated the rear frame past the rear axel. This was a disaster. My thirty nine was a later in the year production so had neither issue. Your truck seems to be moving along well now.

Thanks for your observations. I will keep it in mind. I might run without the side panels on the hood.

Here's pic's of a '39 Commander sedan
 

Nice to know they are out there

Hemmings Find of the Day – 1939 Studebaker Commander | Hemmings Daily

Ide say its coming along rapidly compared to the average custom car truck project you see on the internet. Being retired and having the funds to go to the completion-paying a shop of specialists sure helps.