Yeah, well, you know I have a wife to deal with!;)

I think the 4BT is just too big for the studie....much as I'd love it.

39 Stude Coupe Express
 

If you really are ready to toss the original shocks, I'd love them. I'm doing a frame off restoration of a 39 and am having trouble finding the front shocks. I wouldn't worry about a little rust in the floorboards. This truck is solid and the patch work isn't a big deal. Please let me know if we can make a deal. I'm happy to send you some pics if you think they would be helpful. R

Looking at the quality in the brake drums yesterday sparked a thought of restoring to running condition in its original form so the possibility of using mine is still there. I want to drive it though and would want reliable effective shocks so if these can be made both of those I might just keep them.

Thanks for the offer! What are they worth to you? PM me.

Some of those old shocks are rebuildable to like new. Several venues do them. May depend on the original manufacturer though.

If rebuilt to new would they be adequate today? I like a good bilstein shock, can the houdailles be made to satisfy me, any idea?

Also I think they have leather seals in them, how long could that actually work before being worn out after a rebuild?

Houdaille's were the top shop of their day. They worked on both jounce and rebound at a time when simple rebound straps or snubbers were in common use. They were an improvement. Shock absorbers are misnamed in this country--the SPRINGS ( and the passengers!) are the true shock absorbers--the shocks are more correctly understood using the British term-spring dampers. They act to keep the shocks from oscillating over and over. The friction in leaf springs will contribute to their dampening, but coils would tend to continue rebounding for quite a while. The friction devices made by Houdaille were effective, but expensive. I believe they were replaced by tube shocks for reasons of economy rather than superior performance.
I would rebuild them, and try them. If not satisfied you should be able to recoup your cost by selling to someone needing them for a restoration. Often the same shock fits many applications with only the arms being changed.
How many miles a year are you planning on driving it? That also may be a factor in your decision.

I pulled the diff plug yesterday and found it about half full but the lube in it looked viable. I am thinking of changing the lube in it and using it if I can find some disc brake conversions for it. I will pull the cover first and see how it looks first hand.

Rat stue
 

It's not the quality of the steel. It's the climate. You can probably find old steel beer cans in the weeds wherever you got your old Studebaker from.

Forum member Daveus in western NY messes with studes and hudsons of this era, those rear fenders look same for many different yrs from37 up and should be faily easy to find another one--- just be glad you are not dealing with a 37-8 GM pickup-- hardly any 38's produced because of the recession that yr. I sold an NOS one earlier this yr for $700. an old one that can be redone goes for $300 and usually takes yrs to source.

Thats one reason the fenderless rods are growing in popularity -they are from 36 earlier including the GM's and others like studes, because the grill shell is the right style and lends itsself good for a 33-4 fordish type rod.

I talked to a fellow in Colorado who has 7 or so fenders in various states of condition, all sound better than mine. Trick is getting the bulky buggers here!

Heh!! My truck already looks better than that!

I just noticed this post. they are not friction shocks but are hydraulic rotary shocks. Yeah, there is probably a market for them. I already had a guy over on the Studey forum ask about buying my cores. I ask him what they were worth to him but no aswer yet. Rebuilding them is $165 each so they better work really well for that!

Me likey! :cool:

This one is not so bad--but I really dont dig the stuff with 3 ft beds, most of these--the guys Really need to stop drinkin, those budweiser headaches result in piles of chit.