Early 1920s Studebaker ?

9 minute(s) of a 173 minute read

Hello Scott

Please pardon my confusion does your Light Six have an aluminium or a cast iron head?

As a supplementary question was the windscreen mounted "Spot-light" a standard fitting or a popular option.

11-5-2017

Hello Again

Having looked closely and measured the spark-plug holes with my antique 'Optical' Calipers, it would appear that at some time in the past, all six of the spark-plug holes have had inserts  put into them to reduce the size of the hole to 18mm. Unfortunately with the one hole the insert has stuck to the Spark-plug thread and has pulled out.

Quite possibly all the holes were reduced due to the un-availability and or cost of 7/8 plugs. This being more so as the car had been located in what would have been, still is, a small country village away from a  readily available source of 7/8 plugs. Even today without the convenience of the inter-net 7/8 plugs and even today their price is 2 or 3 times that of 18mm plugs. My task now is to source/make an oversize insert.

11-7-2017

Hello Again

Having spent several hours looking and pondering, the more I think about it, the more I am of the opinion that there was nothing wrong with the original 7/8 -18 threads in my Light Six's spark-plug holes but it was simply an economy driven move to install the conversion sleeves to reduce the holes to suit the then readily available 18mm spark-plugs. Measuring the o/d of the one adaptor I have out it is 21mm slightly UNDER 7/8"  I am now wondering IF I am able to withdraw the other five inserts, I could clean up the threads in the six holes and go back to using the original 7/8 spark-plugs.

Today I have searched the internet looking for a 7/8 -18  thread chaser/tap to clean up the threads in the six spark plug holes. Does anyone know of the existence/availability of such a thing?

I did find one site offering a conversion adaptor, 7/8" flat seat to 14mm taper seat. Has anyone had experience with these?

I seem to be spending a lot of time apologising lately. Having realised/remembered that I have had a 7/8 Spark plug hanging on my "kennel" wall for years & years, I took it down and after taking it off its little display board treid it in the offending hole.

Sadly it simply fell into the hole with room to spare. Now I either have to buy some new callipers or grind the "shoulder" off my old pair so I can measure the hole accurately. Then at least I will know what I need to do next.

I really am sorry for taking up your valuable time.

11-8-2017

At the risk of being labelled paranoid, I have thought of little else than what needs to be done. I  do not have either the ability or the machinery to do it myself. I have one son who does BUT he also has a young family and a difficult business to look after. SO I am reluctant to pile too much on his shoulders. This is after all supposed to be a hobby. All too often I am guilty of letting my interest in old motor cars control my life.

My immediate plan is to have just the one "threaded sleeve" , for the want of a better term, made. Having read and looked at quite a bit of information about that absolutely unique breed of Studebaker, the 1920 RHD Light Six (with Magneto Ignition).

 One of my major concerns is the durability of the original cylinder head, as a result I am very reluctant to remove it from the motor. It is my gut feeling that if I remove it that it may never go back! This in turn inhibits the ease in making and fitting a repair to the one damaged spark-plug hole as this must be done with the head in place. 

One thing in my "to-do" basket, is to discover exactly how many other people who make up that tiny segment of people around the world actually have a totally original RHD Studebaker Light Six with an Aluminium cylinder head, magneto ignition and 18mm Spark-plugs.  How many of those cars are still running.????

Yours may be the only one, especially WHEN you get it running.

There is one other 1920 Light Six  one 1921 and three 1922 listed in the Historical Studebaker Register of Australia although it is impossible to tell if they are running or if they still have an Aluminium cylinder head and if they have coil or magneto ignition. Unfortunately they are spread around the country and not all owners list an email address. I have sent the question to the Newsletter editor but even then not everyone either reads all the news letters oor bother to reply. Even contacting some by "post" does not guarantee a reply.  I must confess that I am still new enough to Studebakers not to fully understand the Model year/Designation  i.e. EJ EM etc. 

Looking through the VSCC UK list of members (over 7,000) does not really help either as identifying Studebakers in England etc as where a member has multiple cars only one is listed. I will contact my friend Michael Worthington Williams who writes the "Finds & Discoveries" in the UK based Automobile Magazine as it has wide readership not only in England.

I am a little like my favourite breed of dog, Airedale Terriers. Once I get hold of something, I will not let it go.

11-10-2017

I have some time up my sleeve so I thought that I would check out some "antique-junk furniture" shops to see if I could find an extension "leaf" from an expanding dining table or a Timber Bed-head from an old 4'6" double bed. Mahogany was a favourite furniture timber and it should be well "seasoned". 

When I removed the speedo from my dash the nickel plated rim came out towards the fromt and the main body of the speedo out the back. 

The rim complete with glass is simply a press fit onto the front of the speedo. The hole for the trip reading reset button is the only tricky bit

11-11-2017

I am sorry but I have the cylinder head  and all the relevant bits right in front of me. The actual size of the "hole" in number one cylinder is 22. mm to the inside. The existing threaded sleeve which "falls" through the hole is 7/8" O/D. Sadly my 20 year old Nikon camera has just exhausted it's battery so now I am trying to see if I can get a useable image by scaning. From these images you can see that this existing "sleeve is already 22mm (7/8")

I do not apologise but you must make some allowances for me!

I have no formal training in Mechanical Engineering and no highly sophisticated didigital measuring devices. I am now, as I have said several times already, 81 years old, I live on a "State"  "old-age" pension, so I have a very limited income! My cars are very much my life and it is a constant source of frustration that I cannot just simply hand them over to a professional "Restoration" workshop alongwith a "blank" cheque.

As I am sure that many of the people reading this with a smirk across their face, do.

I am sure that there any number of people reading this who would also tell you that I do not "deserve" to have a car like either my Lagonda or the Studebaker. That I have owned the Lagonda since 1978 has little or no relevance to them! That I have actually driven it over 100,000 miles is of no interest and of little concern to them.

If it had not been for the intervention of an extremely talented surgeon I would have been dead twelve years ago.

Did I hear someone say "More is the pity".

Unfortunately (for you) I do not intend dying just yet or for another year or two at least. I will  muddle along working essentially by my-self in my grossly inadequate garage/work shop. If you are over 6'0" tall you would have trouble moving about in it. as a result I do much of my work outside in the open air.

Probably I should make this my last post as I have no hope of living up to your expectations.  

The only thing I can add is that there is no compulsion to look at any of the threads that I have started.

Perhaps "someone" would like to make an offer to take the Studebaker away and give it the total, ground -up, last nut and bolt, restoration that it deserves. They could easily overcome the problen of the thread in the spark plug hole.

Just fit a later motor. Perhaps a Chev or Ford would do as well.

Anyone interested in taking over the Studebaker? Something around US$15-20,000 would secure it. I will even help arrange (but not pay for) shipping anywhere around the world.

Better still. As I am so ignorant and so stupid, why not just make me an offer I cannot refuse.