1954 Studebaker project

[Flipper]

We picked up a 1954 Stude coupe.  It looks like somebody had tried to build a mild drag car.  It supposedly had a cadillac of some sort in it in the past. It came with a fiberglass front cap, hood, rear deck, dash and bumpers...and a nice looking aluminum radiator  The rear body and doors look pretty decent.  Not 100% sure exactly what we are doing with it, probably just a street car.  Kinda thinking about sticking a 1954 Jaguar engine and trans that we have in it.  Dad likes the exhaust note of old jags and has yet to find a good use for this motor.  Kinda thinking about 70's jag suspension, but think it may be too wide.

20161216_160411 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

20161216_143156 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

20161216_110606 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

20161216_163511 by Flipper_1938, on Flickr

[416Ford]

If you put the Jag engine in it, half the people will not even know that it is a Studebaker anyway. Cool cars in my opinion.

[idrivejunk]

Cool!  

[58 Yeoman]

Those were always my favorite.

[butch27]

Pretty good body.

[Flipper]

Pretty good body.

It is a pretty decent car on the back half.  I wish I got ahold of it two previous owners ago.

[Rrumbler]

A good start to an interesting build.  The Jag would be a real head scratcher for most folks.  If my old memory remembers right, the mid to late fifties Cads were a popular swap for the Studes in those days; many variations of them.

[39deluxe]

So many possibilities. Keep us posted.

Tom

[Flipper]

Last weekend, I started prepping the front frame rails to accept jaguar XJS front suspension clip.  I'm splicing in a 16" long piece of 2x3 to replace the spring pockets in the original frame rails to give a nice place for the jag stuff to nest.  I'm gonna fishplate all of the seams too.

I plan on keeping the 15x6 jag wheels and skinny tires to make the wimpy six as much fun as possible.