Some pics of the 59 Studebaker Truck I'm working on.

[turtle5353]

Hey guys, just thought I would post up some pics of the studebaker pickup im working on for a guy. His grandfather bought it brand new in 59 and it has been in the family ever since. He has some pretty big plans for this truck. He has a 400 chevy small block being built for it. He already has and entire bed being made out of solid oak by a local cabinetry shop. it will have recessed light pockets to use the factory tail lights and tailgate. And it will be cabinet quality finish. He is using a early 80's chevy 2wd shortbed truck frame under it. And he has me doing all the metal work to the cab,doors and fenders. And there is a ton of work to be done on all that sheetmetal. After the metal work is done I will have to build body mounts to mount the cab to the new frame. Still a long way from there but getting closer. Heres some pics of the progress so far. I will try to keep you guys updated on the build as i go if you guys wanna see it. I know its not a ford or a mustang, but it is pretty cool. dont see many old studebaker trucks out there. Well here ya go, let me know what ya think.

Studebaker parts everywhere!

New sheetmetal brake for the project.

 

[caspianwendell]

I love those old trucks...I am working on a 48 F1 for a guy right now

 

[Kermit 460]

I love those old trucks...I am working on a 48 F1 for a guy right now

+ 1 to that ! I helped my dad re-do a 48 F1 about 15 yrs ago.It was bright canary yellow,could 'nt miss that coming down the road.Thats great to have a vehicle around 3 generations of family.

 

[jeremycfr]

Cool stuff.

 

[hyena429]

Cool man...My dad use too have a old 56 i think...We called it old stew..lol

 

[Don65Stang]

Very cool! Nice work.

 

[JimNiki]

dad had something very similar in the late 60's. Used it to take the used clamshells to the tip. He took myself and my sister in it one Sunday for a drive somewhere. Didn't see the stop light till the last second and slammed on the practically non existent brakes. I was 8 and my sister was 9 at the time. I woke up in a strangers bed with my sister too. As it turns out, the truck rolled about 5 or 6 times. Somewhere during the rolling, dad got flung out. Amazingly we were all ok. The pictures you posted brought back a flood of memories.

 

[turtle5353]

dad had something very similar in the late 60's. Used it to take the used clamshells to the tip. He took myself and my sister in it one Sunday for a drive somewhere. Didn't see the stop light till the last second and slammed on the practically non existent brakes. I was 8 and my sister was 9 at the time. I woke up in a strangers bed with my sister too. As it turns out, the truck rolled about 5 or 6 times. Somewhere during the rolling, dad got flung out. Amazingly we were all ok. The pictures you posted brought back a flood of memories.

Dang jim, now thats a story!!! Glad everyone walked away from that one. Safety was one of the main reasons this guy is going with the newer truck frame. he wants it to be a dependable driver with good brakes and decent handling characteristics that he can take the grandkids for a ride in.

These studebaker trucks from this time all looked really similiar. They made 2 versions. A "c" cab and a "t" cab. The c cab was a true truck built on a truck frame, the t cab was a light duty truck on a car frame. This one is the "c' cab. The only changes they made to these "c" cabs were cosmetic from 1949-1964! All the sheetmetal will interchange. But even though, they are still very hard to find parts for. I believe they only made a few thousand every year. And most were worked to death.

Heres a few more pics of some of my progress from this morning before coming into work. got the cab corner finished, the cab support under the cab corner, and the front fender attachment point got reinforced.

 

[droptop73]

Nice metalwork!

 

[TheJ]

Very cool, and awesome job on the metal work.

 

[turtle5353]

Thanks Guys. Its turning out pretty good. Heres a few pics of what i did last night. Removed the old door patch, cutout rusted metal, started fitting the lower door skin patch. Going to try to hang the door and check fitment and get it all welded up. Still need to do some work to the hinges.

 

[caspianwendell]

Now that is what I call a rusted door. You got it looking good now