Dave, I don't know exactly why you would want to stretch a studebaker. They have a pretty long wheel base on them as is. I don't remember off the top of my head what the 48 Starlite Cpe was that I did, but the 53 I am presently building is 120" wheel base. These cars have a lot of room under the hood and a big block isn't even a shoe horn affair. I went with a 350 chevy in my 53 and moved the engine back 8". So, I had to put a little 2" dimple in the firewall. The Vintage air Generation II still fits under the dash just fine.

Personally, I like the 50 bullet nose much better than the 52, and parts are available for both. Ted Harbit out of Florida runs a 51 Bullet Nose with a 289/supercharged studebaker engine that he has turned 10.3 quarter miles with. A good man to contact for parts. He can be found in the "Venders" section of the Studebaker.com link. SASCO also has a lot of NOS studebaker parts, including bumpers.

As far as chassis or suspension pieces, look at Art Morrison's stuff. They also have the air ride available. I used one of their coil over rears suspensions on mine. Nice unit. I also used a Fatman front clip and MII. Not all that impressed with it. Jim Meyers also has a nice front suspension setup. It has a lot more ajustability to it.

If you decide not to go the all out tube chassis route, the studebaker front suspension is actually very good. A Grand Am center steer rack and pinion adapts to them well. Turner Brake carries a disc brake conversion, and they do need a lot more brakes.