fiberglass bodies -- in-sourced and one-piece

[BillyBob]

i seem to recall the original Studebaker fiberglass body was 130 pieces +/-. it was shortly in-sourced after production (still as 130+/- pieces?). i believe it was later re-done as one piece+/- possibly when moved from South Bend to Youngstown. what is known? tnx, BillyBob

[Gunslinger]

There were attempts beginning with Steve Blake to change the process and make larger body pieces to cut down on all the man hours it took to make the body...with varying degrees of success. We know what happened when Steve Blake tried it and used a new paint system...bankruptcy. What changes were made after that through the first Mike Kelly then Caffaro ownerships is harder to track. They actually used Kevlar in the bodies late in production but I don't know how that process worked compared to fiberglass.

How much reduction in the number of body parts was ever achieved is open to interpretation. Many small items were included in the number of body parts...not simply the main body parts but the console pieces, the panel between the interior and the gas tank, the seat shells, etc. It could be a bit misleading as all may not have been strictly a "body" part but were included in the total number...I guess to impress.

[BillyBob]

Like Avanti, Avanti II, AVX...the literature is confusing. At best. Thanks.