the 41 Studebaker comes home today

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If a street rod is more inline to how you wish to use the car then you probably should before wasting another dollar on a quart of oil for the old six.
Just noting it would be a shame for you to go street rod solely because you thought you had to in order to go anywhere in it and expect to get there and back.
If you wanted sustained speeds from the car it wasn't designed for it will let go.
But if you drive it as it was meant to be you will find the old cars are as reliable or more
so than a modern car in my experience.
They can be very easy to keep going because everything is simple,
mechanical like a tractor. It predates even solid state electronics. Everything is
mechanically switched.
Once you work on and drive a car that is engineered in this manor you will question the need for what the modern automobile has become.
If they were only a bit faster. In goes the v8.
All the better if left a manual trans. It could be fun.
 
ssba said:
If a street rod is more inline to how you wish to use the car then you probably should before wasting another dollar on a quart of oil for the old six.
Just noting it would be a shame for you to go street rod solely because you thought you had to in order to go anywhere in it and expect to get there and back.
If you wanted sustained speeds from the car it wasn't designed for it will let go.
But if you drive it as it was meant to be you will find the old cars are as reliable or more
so than a modern car in my experience.
They can be very easy to keep going because everything is simple,
mechanical like a tractor. It predates even solid state electronics. Everything is
mechanically switched.
Once you work on and drive a car that is engineered in this manor you will question the need for what the modern automobile has become.
If they were only a bit faster. In goes the v8.
All the better if left a manual trans. It could be fun.
Click to expand...
I'm hearing ya, if I was going to drive around town and go to car shows and maybe to the coast a time or two per year I'd leave it. Believe me I can appreciate the purest aspects. BUT- thinking ahead and I'm 65 and my wife is almost 70 and we're going across country and lets say a gear in the rearen gives ? How long would it take to get a new one and find someone to fix it as apossed to and 8 1/4. Or like what happened to the old man and the reason it now has a three speed instead of the overdrive. The overdrive gear went out and when he finally found a guy who had the part because it was a one-year only part the guy didn't even know what they were until the old man showed him the old ones and told him what it was and ended up giving him the part for free because he let the guy know what he had and this guy had a lot of hearts 4 Studebaker. Now if I ever needed that part again good luck. I don't want to be an old man and my wife stuck across the United States waiting a week or two for a part to be sent from who-knows-where and who knows fixing it. I guess that's my biggest worry, at that age at least not fixing things in the middle of nowhere I don't mind working on maintaining it.
 
another thing. that old six probably has a hp rating of bout 75!!! I had a 49 chevy in hs, it kept me from walking.... barely//////most times! I have a lawnmower with more hp!!!! LOL

60 yr old cars are cool, but ya got to match the use of it to what ya do with (to) it!???

try going up a SMALL hill in the puring rain with vacuum wipers and a motor with 75 horse and virtual NO vacuum!~?????? ain't fun!!!
 
I had a '41 Studebaker Champion, 2dr Sedan. I was built into a "street rod" in the mid '70s. The dash was cut up, wrecked bad on the left front fender, had a 71-73 pinto front suspension grafted to the original frame. I found A donor coupe in the San Antonio area for the fender, windshield garnish moldings, dashboard & a lot of misc parts. Some friends & I cleaned up all the CS welding & repaired everything else. Put an Oldsmobile tilt/ cruise column in it & rewired it completely. I installed a 383 Chubby stroker & auto trans, changed the Pinto 4 lug to 5-4 1/2" pattern. It had an 8 3/4 BBP rear in it with a 42 case & a posi. I drove the wheels off of it for years & had a ton of fun with it. I got many orphan car trophies at rod runs with it. I sold it to a friend about 11 years ago & bought my Demon bracket car. He still drives the car & it still gets a lot of looks, as well as thumbs up on the road. I sort of miss the old car, but I'm having a total blast with my bracket car.
 
Demonracer said:
I had a '41 Studebaker Champion, 2dr Sedan. I was built into a "street rod" in the mid '70s. The dash was cut up, wrecked bad on the left front fender, had a 71-73 pinto front suspension grafted to the original frame. I found A donor coupe in the San Antonio area for the fender, windshield garnish moldings, dashboard & a lot of misc parts. Some friends & I cleaned up all the CS welding & repaired everything else. Put an Oldsmobile tilt/ cruise column in it & rewired it completely. I installed a 383 Chubby stroker & auto trans, changed the Pinto 4 lug to 5-4 1/2" pattern. It had an 8 3/4 BBP rear in it with a 42 case & a posi. I drove the wheels off of it for years & had a ton of fun with it. I got many orphan car trophies at rod runs with it. I sold it to a friend about 11 years ago & bought my Demon bracket car. He still drives the car & it still gets a lot of looks, as well as thumbs up on the road. I sort of miss the old car, but I'm having a total blast with my bracket car.
Click to expand...

Any pictures ? ?
 
Love the looks of the Stude, what a great front end and good lines. If it were me (ha) It would be;

a. Bone stock
b. A sleeper, stock look with updated and fun drive train
c. A gasser for the street

I could be happy with any of the above, but man would that look cool as a gasser.

So.... I am absolutely no help. :banghead: Here's a coupe, just sayin.
 

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Sorry Jpar of I have any pictures of it, they are buried. I've moved 3 times since I sold the car. If by some strange chance they appear, I will PM you for your email address & send them to you. Good luck with the 2dr sedan, I still think they are one of the neatest old cars even though they are orphans. LOL
 
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