Back to the Body Shop

The body shop called...they want my Stude back.

So I told 'em to come pick it up. 

On to number three

Now that I've gotten the power steering leaks under control (ok, mostly--I have a very small leak around one of the hose connections on the power control valve; I've tightened it up a bit, so we'll see if that fixes it...) it was time to move on to the leaks in the brake system.

From my research on the subject, I have a couple of things against me: I'm using synthetic (Dot 5) fluid and stainless steel lines. Stainless steel is exceptionally hard, which makes it difficult to get it to crush sufficiently in order to establish a seal, and Dot 5 fluid is a bit thinner than traditional fluid. Plus I really didn't have any indication that the residual check valves and proportioning valve provided with the dual master cylinder/disc brake kit were rated for Dot 5 fluid; I figured I'd just start over.

So I ordered a very nice set of residual check valves and a fancy proportioning valve made by Wilwood, ran down to the parts store and purchased a collection of various lengths of coated brake line, and went to work.

First, I found a suitable location to mount the proportioning valve, drilled a couple of holes in the floor, and used carriage bolts to avoid leaving a big bump under the carpet.

After that, it was simply a matter of bending and tweaking a bunch of brake line.

Now all that remains is to bleed the system and see if I have any more leaks. Fingers crossed.

Not so fast...

"Ok, something isn't quite right," I thought, looking down at the half quart or so of power steering fluid on the floor of my garage. The second power steering pump was now leaking out the shaft seal. What was happening?

After a little research, I realized that the rubber seal that goes under the wing nut holding the lid on the reservoir was blocking a small hole put there to relieve pressure. Hoping that's the case, I pulled the pump off, verified that it was leaking from the front seal, and went out and bought a new seal and a couple of o-rings for under the reservoir. And I cut a little bit out of that seal to let the lid vent.

The most time today was spent cleaning up the reservoir and pulley for paint--I figured while I had it out I'd paint it black.

I'm not going to say it is fixed yet--we'll have to see. Fingers crossed though.

I also replaced my beat up old parking brake handle with a new old stock one. The grip portion of the handle requires paint, so I sprayed it silver to match the column and dash, and installed it. It is nice to have a parking brake again.

Careful observers will notice that I nicked the paint on the mounting bracket--an easy fix, but I'll wait until I install the dash to take care of that (and any other nicks along the way.)

Two down, one to go

Today, I tackled the power steering leaks. And by tackled, I mean I removed the leaking parts and called Studebaker John to see if he had any known good ones in stock. Then I headed over his way.

He said that it was rare for the control valves to leak, and since there are very few seals to replace, we decided to tear it down and take a look. I was almost sure there had to be something that I had done wrong, but that wasn't the case. The only thing we could detect was a bit of abnormal wear inside the valve which was likely allowing fluid under pressure to go where it shouldn't be. So it was off to storage to get another one.

For the pump, John grabbed another one and decided he'd tear into my old one in his spare time. And I found a chrome cover for the new one, so decided to get a little bling.

Then it was back home to install everything. I learned from last time that it would probably be easier to install the hoses before attaching the pitman arm to the steering gear. That cut down install time dramatically.

I was going to paint it up, but it'll never show.

So next up are those three small leaks in the brake lines.

The three problems

I have three problems that I'm struggling with on the car: Several power steering leaks:

This is from the control valve--there's also a leak from the pump.

Then there's the few odd, troublesome leaks in the brake lines, combined with a brake pedal that is a little lower than I'd like:

Apparently, it is difficult to get the combination of stainless steel brake lines and silicone (synthetic) brake fluid to form a good seal.

And finally there's the clutch; the clutch point is on the floor.

I've decided that I pick one of these at a time and resolve it.  The easiest of these seemed like the clutch. Since the adjustment rod was tightened as far as it would go, I removed it, clamped it in my vise and took a die to it, adding a few extra threads.

A bit more adjustment--just what I needed.

The clutch release point was now decently high off the floor where it belonged, but when pressed to the floor, the release levers on the pressure plate were making contact with the spring. There was now too much throw. No matter how much I tweaked the adjustment, I couldn't seem to get it quite right. I left it alone for the evening to ponder.

Originally, the car was equipped with a floor mounted starter switch. It was sort of a safety feature--you had to depress the clutch to start the car. It dawned on me that the clutch was never designed to go all the way to the floor.  So tonight I went to my collection of labeled baggies, pulled out the old starter switch, found the little tang that fit under the cltuch pedal to activate it, and installed them.

The clutch range is now limited.

I'm now able to adjust the clutch to be at a normal release point, and the levers don't come into contact with the disc springs when fully depressed.  Problem #1 solved.

I'm thinking the other two won't be so easy to fix--but at least there are only two remaining.

Rumble

Exhaust-ing

Dropped my car off this morning at Jerry's Precision Muffler for new dual exhaust. Jeff hooked me up.

2-inch exhaust into Magnaflow Mufflers

X-Pipe--more for smoothing out the sound than performance since a Stude V8 isn't really a high-rpm engine.

Modern hangers--exhaust tips will be added once the bumper is mounted

I also was able to discover where the source of my power steering fluid leak was coming from: a c-clip holding in the seals on the steering ram apparently hadn't been seated properly, and had blown out along with a couple of seals. All still there, so I should be able to push them back into position and, hopefully, fix that leak.

After that, I'll fire this thing back up and let you listen to it.

Clutch working normally, ready for exhaust

Nothing major to report other than my new pressure plate arrived this week, and I installed it. Everything worked as it should (other than the pedal being a bit low, but that's adjustable.)

The car now moves normally under its own power and is ready to be put on a trailer and hauled to the local exhaust shop for a bit of pipe bending and fitting.

Three steps forward, one back

So clutch adjustment time. I noticed there was a lot of slack in the pedal--about 2-inches or so--before the throwout bearing shaft started to turn. Starting to look for a cause of it, I discovered a good deal of motion where the adjustment rod connected--taking it apart, I discovered a groove had been worn in the shaft. Even a small amount of slack movement here can amplify when at the pedal level.

I suppose I should suspect a little wear after 50 years

So over to the welder I go, and fill the groove with weld. Then the tedious task of filing it into shape, followed by a light sanding. The end result:

Much better

So I put it back together and tried--no good. I still could not get the clutch to release. I adjusted the rod to both extremes, and still no good. So I decided to try a shorter adjustment rod (I have several.) I adjusted the shortest rod to the shortest length (giving me the most movement) and snap:

Something is definitely not right here. Removing the access panel inside the car, I was able to use a small video inspection camera to view the throwout bearing area via a small hole in the top of the bell housing. I could see that the throwout bearing was moving forward properly and engaging the pressure plate toggle levers as it should. Hmm. Nothing for it--I'm going to have to remove the transmission and see what's happening.

 

 

Off comes the shifter..

Down comes the batwing..

And, after removing the driveshaft, out comes the transmission

Now I can see the clutch assembly and notice something is definitely not right:

One of the toggle levers is resting against the springs!

And judging from the bits of broken metal I retrieved from the bottom of the bell housing, I'm guessing this must have been the result of a casting flaw. Time to order a new cover/pressure plate assembly.

More progress and a very short drive

Today I decided to wire up the charging circuit, the electric choke, and the fuel pump. And that meant rolling out the wiring harness.  After straightening out the main circuits, and inserting a grommet in the hole in the firewall to protect the wires from chaffing, I fed through the forward and rear sections of the harness.

I decided to tackle the charging circuit first.  After a trip to the parts store to get a modern, solid-state voltage regulator designed for a later model Chrysler product (Wells VR706, or Echlin VR32--a much easier to deal with solution over the old analog version,) I pulled the alternator power and alternator exciter wires over into position, crimped some ends on them (temporarily, since I will can't put the regulator in the correct position without the fenders in place) and attached it to the firewall.

Then it was simply a matter of connecting the other ends to the appropriate positions on the alternator.

 

Next,  after quickly crimping ends on a couple of wires and plugging in the electric choke, I tackled the fuel pump wiring. I purchased an extra circuit for the fuel pump with the wiring harness that included a relay with a fuse. After a good deal of pondering, it just made sense that given the wiring layout the circuit was designed to mount near the fuel pump. So into the trunk I went. After drilling a 1/2-inch hole and putting in another grommet, I mounted the relay assembly to the inner fender well.

The purple and red wire goes all the way to the front of the car, the black wire (barely visible) to ground and the yellow wire provides power to the pump. The purple wire will eventually go to the ignition switch--for now, it goes to a toggle switch on the dash for simplicity. The red power wire goes to the battery side of the solenoid. When the toggle switch is turned to the on position, the power causes a switch within the relay to close, completing the circuit to the fuel pump. The advantage of using a relay is that it allows for less current draw through the ignition switch, which is a good thing when so many other electrical devices are running through it.

I ended up with the car looking like this:

It was time for a test. I rolled the car out into the driveway, chocked the tires, then added a gallon of fuel to the tank. I hooked up the battery, threw the switch for the ignition and the switch for the fuel pump. It began clicking and soon quieted as it started pumping gas--some of which started leaking under the car. A quick turn of a couple of wrenches tightened down the joint I had missed, and after a bit of clean up and allowing the gas to evaporate, I tested it again and found no leaks. The car now fired up quickly, and idled very fast (and very loud.) After about 30 seconds I shut her down, and adjusted the fast idle circuit to a normal pace, and restarted her. She ran much better.

And then, in a fit of bravery, I decided I should try backing her into the garage. I cleared the tire chocks and fired her back up. I pushed in the clutch and tried to put her into reverse. No go--just some grinding. I shut the engine off, put it in reverse and, holding the brake down and gritting my teeth, I started the car.  The brakes held; when released, the car would move backwards even with the clutch fully depressed to the floor. Sounds like I have a clutch to adjust tomorrow.