SCCQ Club Member – Ross Oldman – Restoration of 1960 Studebaker Hawk
Wednesday, December 15, 2021 09:19

Ross Oldman – 1960 Hawk

I am a New Zealander, born in the town of Balclutha in Otago in 1953 and the oldest of thirteen children, six boys and seven girls from my father’s two marriages. My father was an absolute car nut who I am sure owned more than a hundred cars over his lifetime. Whenever he had a car in good running condition that seemed to be the time to sell it and start another project. He was a very good self-taught mechanic, and he actively passed these interests on to his sons and daughters. To his disappointment only three of us caught his disease.

We were living on Bank Peninsula when he taught me to drive at the age of fourteen as in New Zealand you can sit for your driver’s licence at fifteen. The vehicle of choice was a 1938 Ford V8 three tonne truck that was fitted with cable brakes and a four speed crash gearbox.

For those not familiar with Banks Peninsula it is made up of two adjacent volcanic cones and the roads are steeper than any you are likely to find in most of Australia. Dad was a hard taskmaster. I was taught to double clutch and to change gear both up and down without using the clutch. The brakes were to be used only when absolutely necessary. He was very concerned with teaching me mechanical sympathy and as a result I have hated to see a vehicle abused ever since. All this is by way of explaining my interest in cars and why the engineering and styling are important to me.

My interest in Studebakers started with my joining the All American car club in Cairns. At the time I was driving a 1972 Mercedes coupe, which while it was a lovely car was definitely not American. Pauline and I decided to join the American contingent by buying an American car in late 2002. The club had about a hundred members and all the popular makes and models were well represented. None of them really aroused my interest. I had spotted a Hawk on the tablelands at a car show near Mareeba around 1988 and this car had made a positive impression.

Further research showed that while Studebakers were significantly cheaper than more popular makes and models, they offered well engineered cars with great style and parts support was excellent here in Australia. I was discussing my options with a good friend, and I mentioned to him the virtues of the R series of engines when coupled with a four speed close ratio gearbox. A few weeks later he alerted me to a 1960 coupe on eBay in Tucson Arizona. The car was fitted with an R2 engine, close ratio gearbox and the limited slip differential.

I contacted the membership officer of the Studebaker club in Phoenix Arizona who gave me the phone number of a member who was inspecting the car for fellow club members in the Western states. We spoke for about an hour and a half going through the comprehensive report that he had prepared. Those who had commissioned his report had lost interest because the car is not original. A home made dashboard had been installed. This was of a high quality, wood grain veneer and was chock full of all sorts of gauges including temperature gauges for the supercharger, the gearbox, and the differential. He reported a good paint job, and I have kept the colour because it suits the car. The interior was black and in good condition. He was not able to drive the car off the property, but he believed that mechanically the car was in good condition. He did say that the car had been sitting undercover and unused for an unknown period of time.

Currently the car was in the ownership of a man who had a collection of cars that qualified for the Pure Stock and Nostalgic drag circuit. He had purchased the car from an owner in Texas who had built the car in the early 1970’s and had sold it due to advancing age. A recent heart attack had resulted in an ultimatum from his wife that he must reduce his collection down to a minimum of eight cars and the Studebaker did not make the cut to stay. Probably because a close ratio gearbox and 3.31 differential ratio are far from ideal for drag racing.

The car was heavily modified, and it is possible that it was a six cylinder, automatic when built. The records of the Jetthrust Registry showed that engine was out of a Black 1963 Super Hawk that was delivered with an automatic gearbox. The close ratio T10 gearbox was mounted to the engine using the correct bell housing, so it is likely that it came out of another Studebaker. It came with a Hurst shifter that has since provided very good gear changes.

The differential was a Dana limited slip with 3.31 gear ratios so it may have been removed from the Super Hawk. I somewhat nervously decided to bid for the car based on the information provided from the inspection. Due to the location in America and the time difference I remember being on line at an ungodly hour when I won the auction. I arranged shipping via Long Beach California using a company and the car arrived without too many issues in October of 2003.

When taken out of the shipping container the car presented very well and Pauline and I were reassured that the risk we had taken buying the car sight unseen had paid off. Our hopes of driving the 1600 kilometres back to Cairns were dashed by brake problems so instead the car made the first of many visits to Mike Cosgrove’s in Jimboomba and we flew home. Mike overhauled the entire braking system, installed seat belts, and completed a comprehensive review of the car, repairing anything that required attention.

When finished we arranged shipment to Cairns. For the next two years we drove the car a lot on club runs. In Cairns a club run is by necessity often a long run and we clocked up a lot of miles. Late in 2005 Pauline and I decided that we would tackle a body on refurbishment, and this started in October 2006.

Pauline’s role was parts co-ordinator. My role was do everything else. We had negotiated a paint job that included any necessary panel repairs with a friend for $12,000. Pauline and I put together a budget of $20,000 which proved to be an under estimate of at least $20,000. I was given one side of a two car carport and set to work removing the motor and gearbox. I stripped the interior and set to work removing all the panels for paint stripping to bare metal.

The interior floors and boot were in very good rust free condition, so I ground off any surface rust and applied copious amounts of PR15 paint. This was followed by Dynamat on all the floor surfaces, in the doors and under the roof. The bare body and panels were then delivered for painting. The gearbox was fitted with new bearings, synchromesh and seals but was found to be in excellent condition.

Harold Ireland supplied a new clutch and pressure plate. I stripped enough of ancillary items off the engine to ensure a good paint job. The sump and valley cover were re-chromed. Chris Skinner supplied 1961 bucket seats, centra console and a replacement dashboard that included all the correct gauges. He also secured a Delco Remy combination generator and power steering pump which Mike Cosgrove rebuilt to ensure reliability. This unit was necessary because two years without air conditioning in Cairns had been a real trial and discouraged use of the car on very hot days. Without the expertise of Chris, we would not have known that such an option existed, and the unit has provided trouble free service since fitting.

Pauline and I found that the parts suppliers were most helpful, and we bought something from most of them. A Vintage Air system was secured and supplied our first expensive lesson on the American way when it comes to shipping. Despite extensive consultation between us showing that we wanted the cheapest shipping method possible, and that time of delivery was not an issue the system turned up on air freight at a greater cost for shipping from Florida than the system itself cost. It is a good thing that the air conditioning has proven to be trouble free and very efficient, but you do not forget or forgive these things.

Our research showed that Phantom Autoworks provided the best quality interior kits, so we went ahead with a purchase. Unfortunately, we found that at the time of the purchase ownership had changed and when it came to fitting the kit it was found that the fit was less than ideal, and our upholsterer had some difficulty with the installation. The painting was completed mid-year and I started to put the car back together. The most difficult jobs for me was installing the door mechanisms and the mouldings around the fins.

I had bought fastening kits and I found these kits to be a godsend. I was surprised when stripping the car to find that not a single nut or bolt was rusted up and seized. This showed to me that the car had been pretty much completely stripped during the rebuild in Texas. Towards the end of 2007 I was informed that I had a new position in Brisbane and therefore a permanent move was necessary. The pressure was on to finish the Hawk ready for shipment in November. The car was made roadworthy two days before shipment. Surprisingly, we were able to drive the car reliably and without too many teething problems straight away.

Once I was able to attend club meetings and get to know the resources that are available around SEQ I realised just how much cheaper the refurbishment would have been in Brisbane and how many errors and complications could have been avoided. Having said that I have no regrets. This was likely to be the only time that I get involved with such a comprehensive project. The project was finished in a very short time period and no major setbacks were met. Pauline and I worked with a lot of very helpful people when looking for parts and were provided with very good advice along the way.

In 2009 the engine was completely rebuilt and at the same time Michael Cosgrove rebuilt the supercharger. It was agreed that the supercharger rebuild would be done with sufficient tolerances to ensure both reliability, lower operating temperatures and a longer life. The supercharger produces 2 lb to 3 lb of boost at 2,500 – 3000 revs. Maximum is 5 lbs at 5,200 revs which of course the engine never sees. I view the Paxton more as an interesting example of Studebaker’s engineering than a true performance enhancement.

At the time of writing, I have bought an electronic distributor which is currently having the timing curve calibrated to suit the R2 engine. It will be interesting to see if this proves to be an upgrade over the standard dual point distributor. I have had persistent issues with hesitancy on acceleration that we have been unable to eliminate. The current distributor seems to work best with a lot of advance but has to be dialled back to manage “pinging” and engine over run on shutdown. Studebaker blogs seem to have as many opinions as there are options on timing the R2. A persistent theme is that the engines need a lot of advance and that it should come in fairly early in the rev range. The new distributor will be set up for 12o on the crank and with the balance coming in around 2,500 revs. Trial and error will tell us what the total advance will be.

The hawk has given years of pleasure to both Pauline and I, and we have no intention of ever selling the car while we can still drive it. Currently we have done over 31,000 miles in the car since the restoration was completed.

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