Thread: Rodding 65 Studebaker with SBC

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You guys were a big help with my circle track car questions. Here's my second project.

I have a 65 Studebaker Commander. It was built with a Chevy (McKinnen) 283 V8, Borg Warner Flight-o-matic auto trans, and a Dana 44 3.31 rear end. See pic

http://www.dougs-stuff.com/Studebaker/DSCN2522.JPG

I know the white walls have to go!

It's not a big car and does pretty well with the 283, stock cam and 2 barrel carb. But I would like to turn it into more of a performer. What do you think, should I:

1. leave the 283, upgrade carb, cam, intake and exhaust
2. replace the 283 with built 350 (my current choice)
3. go for broke with 383 or 400 (I think this would be too much for the car)

I still want to run pump gas. It doesn't have much room under the hood and headers might be a problem, it has ram horn manifolds. It needs a new exhaust, should I leave the ram horns and just go dual pipes.

Any recommendations on a small distributor. I don't think I can fit a HEI distributor as it would hit the firewall. It currently has points (where did I put that dwell meter?)

Studebaker and AMC used there own variation of other company's stuff, and IH did it with trucks also except theres was more body panal borrowing. The Stude and AMC engines are there own with only designes used from the Chevy or Ford or Mopar engine it is designed from. some parts are interchangable but what, I don't know. It will be hard finding hi po parts for that engine. your best bet is to get a 350 and bolt it in, the mounts may be the same, probably not, then that means your trans will not bolt to the engine, so you are going to have to get a TH350 for it or TH400 if you need the strength. Because Studebaker was closely related to mopar rather than chevy ( look at an early 60's Valiant, up to '64 or '65 and compare the front end to your car ) so put in a 360 crate engine from Mopar and get a 727 torq flight. nice car, has it been restored?

The way I hear it is the last year Studebaker made cars in the US is 64. They closed in the states and continued in Canada. My 65 was made in Canada and since they no longer made their own V8 they bought the Chevy 283 which was made in the St. Catherines plant (known as McKinnen Industries at the time). I've asked the Studebaker guys and they say it is a chevy small block and the transmission will match.

then just do a carb/ cam and manifold swap, ram horns are good manifolds, there are pretty nice louvered polished covers for them too.

Of all the things I know very little about, I know the littlest about carberators.

What carb would be a good economical choice for the 283 with stock heads and a mild street performance cam? I would prefer to keep the mechanical fuel pump. Is that a good idea?

I hear holleys are much better than qjets.

Also, remember the car is a 65 so it would need a old style choke (right?)

I have one word for you....STUDILLAC

Matt, nothing on this car other than the SBC has anything to do with GM, Ford, Chrysler or AMC. Studebaker only used GM engines in '65 and '66. AMC only bought transmissions. All AMC engines are of AMC design. Studebaker bought their transmissions from Borg-Warner (similar unit that Ford bought from Borg, the Ford-O-Matic).

As for the '65 Commander, personally I'd get a ZZ4 crate motor from GM Performance. This is a 350 HP engine and will do the job fine. The Borg-Warner unit will take the power, but I'd look for a first gear start valve body. These units typically start from 2nd gear.

You could also get a Chevy Turbo 350 or a GM 700R4 (with overdrive). You would have to get a drive shaft made for it and modify the trans mount, but they do work.

The rear end is pretty tough, and there were all kinds of gear sets used including a 3.55 and 3.73. Mine came with a 3.07. Finding a good Twin-Traction unit with the gear you want should not be hard to find.

To stop the little beast, see about getting a Turner brake conversion kit. This will allow Ford brake vented discs and GM calipers.

Petronix makes electronic conversion kits for Studebaker distributors. I'm not sure if this includes the distributor in the GM engine, but that's where I would start.

Headers were available at the time. They fit very tight and are hard to find. I'm unsure of their availablity, someone may still make these(?).

My other suggestion would be to join the Studebaker Drivers Club (the online Forum does not require membership). I would also check out the Racing Studebakers site. Keep in mind that most that paticipate in the SDC forum are into keeping their Studes all Stude. But the people on the site have forgot more about these cars than you or I will ever know .

The one thing to watch for is the frame cracking in the rear suspension area. To much power thru this old frame could twist the car apart, which is why I'm suggesting no more than a ZZ4 engine.



GM ZZ4 Crate Engine
Pertronix
Turner Brake
Fairborn Studebaker Flanged Rear Axles for the Dana 44 Rear Axle
Studebaker Online Vendor List

Studebaker Drivers Club
Racing Studebakers Forum
SDC Forum

By the way, as I'm sure you've noticed, these cars in unmodified form do not take large rubber. This is another reason to keep the power down. Unless you're willing to have your frame modified and reinforced like I'm having done ($8K!), a tire that fits a 15" X 6" is all that will work.

Welcome to the Stude family. See if you can find another when you take your car to a show!

Thanks, Tom.

I've learned most of what I know about this car from the Studebakers Drivers Club.

I know what you're saying about keeping things stock. I got this car from my dad, and I may just have to wait until he's not around any more to modify it, just to keep him off my back.

The car only has 48k miles, 34k of which my dad put on it, so I would hope I don't have any frame problems yet.

I've look at the Turner brake kits. I think I will go that route when I get the $$.

So I need a new valve body the get first back? Is there a mod to the stock one for that?

I've also thought about putting in AC and making it a daily driver.

From my understanding, you actually need the valve body to make the conversion, and may be difficult to find. My Daytona came with a 4-speed, so I don't have that problem.

As for the A/C, I don't know how you want to go about this. The factory A/C system and it's individual parts can be hard to find. I've seen some guys buy complete (parts) cars to pirate a complete system. And the Climatizer heater system doesn't lend itself to converting to newer aftermarket stuff from places like Vintage Air.

If you find an aftermarket under-dash unit similar to the factory stuff, make sure it's R-134a compatible. R12 is way to expensive if there is a need to charge or recharge the system.

The radical way to go would using a Vintage Air or Hot Rod Air system. Unfortunately you'd have to completely pull the OEM heating system, and the factory heater switches will just be taking up space.

Hmmm, Flint. Howdy neighbor!