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Mel

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Posts posted by Mel

  1. As Ernier noted, changing the rear leaf springs made all the difference in my '66, also. (I also put on new front and rear shocks.) My springs were so sagged they were sagged slightly beyond level, not even slightly curved upward.

    Eaton makes springs for all kinds of cars and makes them up after you order them; they have the plans and make them up new. I was hesitant to order NOS springs from a Stude parts dealer thinking they might have lost some of their 'springiness' if left sitting around for 35-40 years, probably not but I certainly don't know. Anyway, I called Eaton (313-963-6820 www.eatonsprings.com) and they had regular and heavy duty springs -- same price. $479.00 plus shipping which was cheaper then NOS. They had two prices listed, one of which, I believe, was for a garage to purchase and the other for you and me. I told the guy on the phone I was having some work done at a garage (which was true) and could have the garage purchase them for the cheaper price and sent to the garage or he could sell them to me for the cheaper price and send them to me. He didn't hesitate at all, sold them to me for the cheaper price and sent them straight to my doorstep. Perfect fit.

    As I said earlier, regular and heavy duty were the same price. I think they just add another leaf but I'm not sure. I got heavy duty and they really raise the back end of the car up pretty high. I think, to do it again, I'd probably get regular duty as the heavy duty probably set it up higher than the stock 63-64 which, as we all know had more of a rake than the '65 and on models. I like the aggressive rake but it is a bit much.

    Good luck.

  2. I guess your battery could have suddenly developed an open cell but that does seem doubtful. I'd first take a meter to be sure you've got a good battery. If that's the case with the meter probes on the battery posts, you may have a bad connection on the battery post. If I were you, I'd start at the battery with a meter and work forward.

    For instance: If you have a good battery and battery post connections, I'd disconnect the positive cable on the battery and remove the ignition switch, but not the wires leading to it, from the back of the panel. (This is to make sure you don't short the battery terminal on the switch to the metal bar behind the switch.) Then, making sure the terminals of the switch aren't against anything, reconnect the battery. Then take a meter and be sure you have power coming to the switch terminal labelled 'Bat'. You can turn your switch to the various positions to see if you have power there. You can use your meter to see if you have power to the fuse block, etc. You should have power to the fuse block for the lights circuit even with the switch in the off position.

    My guess is it's something simple. Good luck.

  3. I would check to determine whether the hinge pin is significantly worn. You could try having the door open a few inches and grab the bottom of the door up under the bottom hinge and see if you can manually push the top of the door inward. If you can, your hinge pin on top may be worn or, if this era has bushings, the bushings may be worn. Studebaker Int'l has hinge parts through '85. Good luck.

  4. I recently had the dash out of my '66 which gave me more room to get the fan out but it was still not terribly easy; I don't know if it can be done without taking the dash out or not. If you have access to earlier issues of AOAI magazine, check out Issue 82, page 38. This tells how to get the dash 'down' -- i.e., pulled back but not out -- far enough to do most jobs; the described procedure will probably let you get the dash pulled back far enough to do the job. If you don't have the earlier issues, AOAI sells a CD-ROM for $95.00 which includes the entire contents (pictures, text and all) of issues 1-141 of the AOAI magazine (.pdf files). When AOAI prints their magazine supplement, they include a GREAT listing of all the articles, Tech-tips, letters of 'here's what worked for me' tips, etc. This CD is a very worthwhile investment. (By the way, the author of the above referenced article says he can get his dash 'down' in 15 minutes and back in the same time -- he's done it several times, apparently.)

    If you're a first timer doing this, I'd allow an afternoon to get it down and another to get it back in place; if you're taking it 'out', I'd allow a day each way for standing up and stretching, drinking a beer, losing your religion, etc. The four nuts which hold the dash up under the windshield are challenging. If you don't have a magnetic socket, you can get 'fun tack' -- essentially sticky but non-stick (oxymoron) rubber -- from a kid's hobby store and cram it in the end of the socket to hold the nut in the socket until you get it started. Some of it may stick to the nut when you pull the socket away, no worries.)

    I took my dash out following the shop manual which was pretty accurate. (I removed the oil line from the gauge early in the process which allowed easier access to the vacuum gauge which, depending on the length of the hose, you may or may not have to loosen if you only take the dash 'down'.) If you decide to take the dash 'out', remove the front seats and steering wheel. If you decide to try starting with taking the dash 'down', I'd still remove the passenger's seat to get to the fan. No matter how you do it -- 'out' or 'down' -- be sure to tag EVERYTHING.

    Studebaker Int'l has new 'heater core housing to kick panel', 'core housing to motor', and 'motor to firewall' gaskets. I'd replace these; they're cheap. At the least, you could inspect them after getting the fan out and order replacements as needed from SI. The grommets on the firewall where the heater hoses pass through are available. I'd certainly change the heater hoses and clamps, unless you know their history. I'd take the heater core to a radiator shop and have it flushed and pressure tested. While you're at it, check the condition of the hoses from the plenum to the defroster outlets. The original (mine, anyway) were tar impregnated cloth around wire and they rot after awhile; mine essentially fell apart in my hands. The hose is available from SI also. Check the 'flapper' valves in the side vents; the rubber on the edges usually falls apart and you have air leaks. The SI catalog lists the rubber seals for the edges of the flappers. (I made new flapper valves out of sheet aluminum, riveted the hardware from the originals to the new plates and made some 'seals' for the edges from an old inner tube and glued them to the plates. The original flapper plates were essentially hard pasteboard and humidity had taken its toll. You can certainly take care of the vents without taking the dash out or down.)

    WHen you tackle this, think of what all you might want to do and do it all at once -- change all dash light bulbs, reroute any radio/CD/speaker wiring, lubricate all your heater and vent cables, etc.,; this is not a task you want to do often. Between assessing things as the task went on and ordering more parts, my dash was out for about a month but I don't intend to ever take it down again.

    Mel RQA-0108

  5. Not sure why you're not getting power to the (trunk lid) brake lights but don't run just one wire from one of the fender brake lights to both trunk lid lights. If you do, you'll mess up your signal light circuit, the result being both trunk lid brake light filaments blinking when the right or left fender brake light is blinking, depending on which (left or right) filament you tied into.

  6. The cowling at the base of the windshield feeds air to the vents on the side kick panels and to the air inlet for the heater just above the right vent. Under the center of each cowling grill is a raised 1-1/2" OD 'fitting' which feeds through behind the dash. A flexible hose attaches to this fitting (behind the dash) which then, on my '66 anyway, empties into the front of the transmission shifter mounting and onto the ground. The only function I can see these would serve is if the water outlets under the side vents were so completely plugged that the water backed up into the cowling so high that it ran over and spilled into them to drain out the bottom; however, prior to the water getting this high, the water would leak into the kick panel vents and spill into the heater plenum. The only other function I can see for these is if they feed into the A/C system and mine have been 'rerouted' by a previous owner. If not, I'm thinking of plugging these up. Anyone have any input/thoughts?

  7. Thanks for all the tips; the magnetized tool is a good one. Gundry's book notes one of the 'shorts waiting to happen' is the steel plate behind the ignition switch rubbing the center post on the switch. It looks like about a half inch or so of that steel plate could be ground down to reduce that threat. Any experience with this? Thanks again.

  8. Gentlemen, Thanks for the ideas.

    My speaker grill does not have the 4 screws up top and, although I can see the two screws on the left side of the speaker, I can't see or get to the other two so I think I'll probably pull the dash.

    I have a 63-64 shop manual and Stan Gundry's manual and, although a lengthy procedure, removing the dash doesn't look too difficult. Any idea of how long a first-timer would require?

    The idea about bulb replacement was a good one. I'd thought about removing the steering wheel, also. Will a standard gear puller work? Does the lever on the signal light switch come off easily? I'd probably remove it to keep from breaking it. I think I'll replace the heater, defroster and A/C ductwork also. Thanks for the tip about using the same color and gauge wiring.

    Any other tips will be appreciated. Thanks again.

  9. My recently purchased '66 has had rather extensive 're-wiring' under the dash, including an aftermarket radio which has both front and rear outputs but only one set hooked up. I'd like to hook up the other set but I believe the wires are buried up under the indash speaker. I can't determine if the glove box comes out, whether the speaker comes out, or if I need to remove the dash.The car has A/C and removing the front panel from that gets me nowhere that I can see. I am considering removing the dash as there have obviously been some major shorts in the past but if I could get to everything without going that route, I may. I found a link under one of the forum questions in this section -- 'http://tinyurl.com/8fdyd' -- which supposedly told how to remove the radio but the article doesn't open. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

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