E/GCC Studebaker Build....

[Wade_Owens]

We started on this car while the Camaro was having the cage installed. Dennis Reeves of Reeves Fabrication will handle all of the welding and help with input on running and tuning the car. I love starting new projects. It takes your mind away from all the crap the world throws at you. As you can see by the condition of the car, this will be a project. The rust doesn't bother me as the basic shell of the car is pretty good. We don't have those beautiful, California winters here. This is what we work with.

[Wade_Owens]

Off to the sandblaster. I was amazed at how much "metal" I lost during this process. It was way worse than it appeared. Still, the shell was pretty good. We are losing the floor pans and firewall anyway. Next step, get it off the frame and get the pans out of it.

[Wade_Owens]

Aladdin Garris of Garris Auto Body, Perryville, MO performed the blasting. He is very reasonable and works quick. The car was ready the next day and he actually cleaned more then we agreed upon. You don't get that kind of service often.







My grandson, Kevion, helping with the strip and teardown of the floor sheet metal.

[Wade_Owens]

I built the frame jig just for this project. We decided on a '69 Camaro front stub. You can buy any part to fit it for next to nothing and they are much more sturdy than some aftermarket front ends. I saw Andre's car at the Ohio Mile, he had the same setup and said he had been 210mph with his car. We're moving our wheelbase out 6" to 127".





My son, Alex, getting the body ready to set up on the jig.

[Wade_Owens]

We're going to use this BMW engine for starters. It was in a Comp Eliminator Dragster and has plenty of good parts in it. At 215", it will be short of the cube limit. We want to make plenty of shakedown runs and this will do the job. Special thanks to Danny Byrd, one of my best friends. He supplied me with the 2 engines and I really appreciate his help. Hopefully, he'll help with some input on this project, too!

[Wade_Owens]

Got the rockers welded in after everything was squared. Time to remove some rusty floorpans. At this time, I hadn't had my knee surgery, so my friend Regan came over and fired up the plasma.







No, we aren't using a PG. This is for mock up purposes. We'll be using a metric 200 for the BMW, simply because its already had all the engineering done and we're not going to buy two complete custom clutch set ups. We'll be switching over to a trailblazer engine pretty quick. We'll put the stick shift set up behind that one.

[Wade_Owens]

Just used an old driveshaft to mock the rearend location.

[Sumner]

Thanks for posting all of the great pictures and this looks like it will be an interesting project.  I'll throw something out there about the front suspension.  I have a camaro sub-frame under the front of my truck (picture to the left) and love it.  Hooley put in a somewhat of a mustang type setup in the Stude and it will probably come out at some point.  Not sure how fast you are trying to run but we have gone from about 3000 lbs. to about 5000+ lbs. for traction and to get the center of gravity forward.  We are about at the limits of what we can find front springs for now.

The car will probably get changed to a solid front axle with leaf springs similar to what ...



... Gary Hart had on his car that ran over 240 and seemed to handle very well.  Maybe Gary will jump in here with an opinion and more detail.  Not saying that the sub-frame won't work just maybe consider all options.  You don't need much travel at all and you want to make sure the car can't lift easily on the suspension,

Sum

[Sumner]

.... We'll be switching over to a trailblazer engine pretty quick. We'll put the stick shift set up behind that one...

Would that be the Atlas 4200.  I just bought an Atlas 2.9 for the lakester.  If you are real familiar with these engines I'd like to talk at some point.  I've found some info on the internet and talked to the Self's but the more I can find the better,

Sum

[Rex Schimmer]

Wade,
Nice start to what looks to be a great project. Great looking frame jig and I love the BMW engine!! Keep the post coming.

Rex

[Frankie7799]

Sweet looking start to a project Wade, yet another build Ill be tuned into

[lsrjunkie]

Sweet project Wade! First build of seen on here where somebody has started from the same point as myself. Tons of work, but it's gonna be cool. Keep us posted man!

[Geo]

Wade,

I like it!  I'll be watching the progress!

Geo

[Wade_Owens]

.... We'll be switching over to a trailblazer engine pretty quick. We'll put the stick shift set up behind that one...

Would that be the Atlas 4200.  I just bought an Atlas 2.9 for the lakester.  If you are real familiar with these engines I'd like to talk at some point.  I've found some info on the internet and talked to the Self's but the more I can find the better,

Sum

Sum, thanks for jumping in the build. I appreciate it. The 4.2 comes out in the Chevy Trailblazer. I don't know if it is considered an Atlas. They do have oiling issues, which I'm told is easily corrected with a dry sump. The 2006 and later uses the aluminum valve cover and is preferred because it has a much better exhaust port. I did originally Facebook the Self's at first about the engine. They won a race this past year with that combo. I since have talked with someone else who is also well known for making them fast. My guy's engine is 245" and makes 614 hp. This is a pic my son took of Self's car when we were down in Louisiana.





 

[Wade_Owens]

My idea for the suspension is to use some weight jacks. We'll weld a spring cup to the bottom of the front control arm. Then brace the upper shock mount, enlarge the hole to accempt the jack screw and move the ride height where we want it depending on conditions. Same goes for the back, weight jacks to lower the ride height there also.





These pics are for the front. Are there some guys who have built something similar? Where have an idea of what we want, but, like lots of other forms of racing, its all theory until we put salt in the wheel wells.