Woo-Hoo!
Actually did some Studebaker stuff today. A nice, sunny day here in my part of Alberta, and quite warm despite the steady south wind.
Aired up a flat tire on the '53 Champion coupe I got at Mannville, AB. Installed a six-volt battery, but the starter wouldn't engage. Drive is sticky. So I "bumped" it repeatedly with 18 volts (ignition off, of course) until the reluctant Bendix kicked in. As soon as it was engaged, I disconnected the outside 12 volt battery, and successfully cranked it into life with the six-volt. Drove it over by the shop, and shut down, and filled it up with antifreeze, which was my main goal, since last time I'd run it, I'd used water in the rad. There wasn't much water left in the system, since it apparently has a bad leak from the rear frost plug on the block. Anyway once I had antifreeze in the system, I ran it until the coolant was circulating warm, then shut down again and drained it. Other than a bit of crud in it, the antifreeze was scarcely discolored, so it seems the system was indeed empty.
While the rad was draining, I fired up a lawnmower, and mowed where the car had sat, as well as where I planned to move it to. Last mow for the season; still some weed whacking to do.
Once the rad was drained, I put the "used" coolant in an empty jug; it will need to filtered, but is otherwise OK. Then I started up the coupe, and drove it, sans coolant, across the yard to its new parking place. Don't worry, it was run dry for under a minute. At least, any dregs of coolant in the block/rad will be freeze-protected, so the engine should survive the frost.
Next, I gutted out a pair of doors from a '66 Daytona Sport coupe. I want the shells to make doors for my '64 Daytona hardtop. Man! Those doors, complete, are heavy! It was all I could do to lift them onto my work stand. Once the inner panel, glass, regulator, hinges, and window frame were out, they were a cinch to handle. Something to think about for the racing crowd. I was lucky, and all bolts and screws save for one came out intact with no struggle. The one holdout was one of the door latch retaining screws on the driver's door. I drilled the head out, and will get the rest of it some other time.
Tomorrow, I'm off to Montana to fetch a parts Weasel I bought. Wish me luck.
Gord Richmond