I took my R-2 Lark for inspection today. The blower is off at the moment. I am presently running the car with a 700 CFM holley and 3.73 gears. I recently re-installed the MSD box with new MSD wire and their coil. With the Holley jetted pretty lean the car posted 187 PPM on the HC test with a max allowable of 1400. The CO's were 3.61 with a max allowable of 8.50. The mileage isn't too bad considering the gears and the short 235-60-15's on the car. I never gave a car a name before. I'm thinking of calling it "Rainman" from the movie of the same name. The character played by Dustin Hoffman kept telling his brother played by Tom Cruise that "I'm an excellent driver" The car is really becoming an excellent driver. It hasn't really been sucessful on the dragstrip at this point. Traction problems and a slipping blower belt have been plaguing it. It has however been driven to the 3 different dragstrips that it has been run on. I recently installed the plastic dash cover from International Autos. I removed the dash to do it. I don't know if I received a particularly inaccurate one or what. The speaker grill area wasn't even close. The glove box door latch needed modification, due to the cover moving the Vanity glove box out. My radio delete plate needed to be shaved down.The gauge cluster opening on the dash cover had to be trimmed way back to get the cluster to fit back in place. Then finally the ash tray pad still needs to be narrowed and recovered with fresh black vinyl because the opening for the ashtray is too small. It is either narrow the pad - or cut open the dash opening some . It is easier to re-work the pad. I bought a new Dremel tool to do the job. I don't see how the pad could possibly be installed without one. While the dash was out I made a plate to mount and hide my MSD box behind where the factory radio was mounted. I also installed 2 new 3 1/2" speakers on a plate in the original speaker grill location. Then I installed a Kenwood amplifier behind the glove box area.I have a black box type mount for a DIN type stereo under the dash that holds a JVC unit that has cassette and a controller for a 12 disc changer in the trunk. The mounting box is available from the Crutchfield Catalog. This car is a driver and a good stereo adds to the enjoyment of the car. I found that I had some under dash courtesy lights that are used in convertibles- since they don't have a dome light. I now have 3 courtesy lights in the car.The dome plus 2 in the lower corner of the dash.It adds a nice touch when you open the car up in the dark. Future plans for the interior include making some map pockets for the kick panels,and also getting replacement map pockets for the seat backs on the bucket seats. I still need to replace my headliner that is not even 4 years old thanks to mice staying in the car 2 winters ago. The map pockets help keep the car neater when it is on a road trip. I'm always amazed how quickly 4 of can make a mess of the car on a trip.Plus all of the flyers that get dumped in your car when you are out looking at other stuff. This way there'll be a place for everything and everything in it's place. No plans for cupholders however. The motor vehicle inspectors got a kick out of the car . None of them had ever heard of a Studebaker before. I gave the 1st inspector a bit of a "preflight" on the Lark. I had to show her how the parking brake and rocker switches worked. She fixed the name in the computer for the car. It was listed as a "Vanity". I don't have the LARK block letters on the fenders. I couldn't bring myself to drilling the needed holes in the NOS fenders,I bought the letters and have them in the glove box. The last time it was inspected they read the name off the glove box door, so I became the owner of a "Studebaker Vanity"
- posted
16 years ago