Monday, January 21, 2013

Patience

Sorry for the lack of posts lately--but there hasn't been much going on in Studebaker-land. Since I didn't have to work today, I decided to check in on the Studebaker at the body shop. Unfortunately, there's been no work done since my last post on the subject.

I knew going in that insurance jobs came first. And, unfortunately, a bit of icy weather a couple of weeks ago, which is rare in this part of the world, ended up creating a lot of work for them--they're just now getting caught up from that. The good news is that they've been so busy that they're hiring another person. So here's hoping they finally get it into paint soon. The only thing left before paint was they need install the trunk latch and make sure everything is aligned.

And the last couple of weeks I've been busy preparing my "old" hobby car for a new owner--there were just a few little things that needed tweaking to get it ready for a road trip. Well, that's done now--the new owner, Chris, picked it up yesterday. That frees up a bit more of my weekend time.

So what to do?

Well, I was thinking that the first thing I need to do when I get the Studebaker back from the body shop is to rebuild the front suspension. Why not get a jump on it by picking up another setup? A quick call over to Studebaker John (a local Studebaker vendor, not the blues artist) and I've reserved the control arms and king pins from the 64 GT Hawk that my engine and twin-traction third member came out of. So as soon as it warms up a bit (we're seeing highs in the 30s here, not warm enough for either of us) I'll swing over to John's place to pick those up. Fingers crossed that will be next Saturday.

There's a slight advantage to the setup as well--the kingpins on the 64 allow a tiny bit more caster than the ones on my 53. This will make it go down the highway a little bit nicer.

Guess I'll go out and sweep the garage floor. That sounds exciting.