1941 Studebaker Champion

Finally checked out the voltage regulator

Posted on July 9, 2016 by nvonadaJuly 9, 2016

It was a pretty nice day today so I decided to see what is up with my charging system. When a mechanical voltage regulator is charging high it is either the battery, the field wire, or the regulator. First I checked the battery. All three cells are showing marginal specific gravity. It might be failing. Next I checked the field wire from the regulator for continuity and shorts.

This wire was fine. So next I started the engine and checked out the voltage.

The voltage regulator is putting out good voltage. Finally I put my inductive ammeter on the negative battery cable. It is showing 15 amps of charge all the time. I think the battery is just not taking the charge. I will just keep an eye on it for now.

Charging more than usual…

Posted on June 29, 2016 by nvonadaJune 29, 2016

Since my spring maintenance (which I finally got to) the ammeter on the Stude seems to be showing a charge all the time. I took the battery out and cleaned the tray. Now I am wondering if I broke a terminal or something. I need to put a meter on it and see what is going on but I have been spending way too much time on the Jeepster project and neglecting the Studebaker. At least it keeps me out of the bars. Mostly.

Spring maintenance

Posted on May 30, 2016 by nvonadaMay 30, 2016

It has been a while since I posted anything. The car has been running great so not much to report. And I have a new project sucking up lots of my time. But I did do spring maintenance today. I have shown most of this before but I do have some new #0 grease for the steering box.

This is a John Deere lubricant sold as “Corn Head Grease”. As you might expect it is green and very, very slimy. I cleaned out my least favorite grease gun to hold this stuff.

Here is the target. I pumped in a ounce or two. We will see how it looks. I also did the following:

Changed oil
Replaced filter and cleaned filter canister
Lubed chassis
Adjusted brakes
Cleaned fuel sediment bowl
Cleaned battery and battery tray
Serviced battery
Rotated tires
Topped off tranny
Topped off diff
Cleaned points (did not gap them or check timing. Ran out of time)
Flushed and filled cooling system. I kinda screwed up here. I calculated the antifreeze quantity based on the capacity in the service manual. I forgot (again) that the heater is being bypassed. So my planned 50-50 mix is more like 70-30. Whups.

Brakes failed!

Posted on October 11, 2015 by nvonadaOctober 11, 2015

Car broke today. Here are the details!

Spring maintenance 2015

Posted on May 18, 2015 by nvonadaMay 18, 2015

Time for spring cleaning on the Studebaker. I am a little behind this year but last weekend I finally got a chance to get some work done. First step is to check the sediment bowl on the fuel pump.

Fuel pump

There were a few bits of crap floating in the sediment bowl. Not too bad.

Sediment bowl

The gas from the sediment bowl got recycled for cleaning the air filter. The air filter is pretty unsophisticated. It is just some copper wool with some engine oil on it to attract dirt. I cleaned it with gasoline, let it dry, then re-coated it with oil.

Air filter

Time for an oil change. Draining the oil from the pan is easy

Oil drain plug

But the filter is a pain. I have a Fram partial-flow oil filter installed that uses a cartridge-style filter.

Fram oil filter canister

After unscrewing the lid the old filter pops out

Old oil cartridge

Leaving behind 1/2 liter of old oil.

Oil left in filter can

All the oil has to be sucked out. Leaving this tasty treat.

Nice layer of sludge in the bottom of the filter can

After sacrificing a rag to the oil gods we have a nice clean filter can.

Oil filter can all cleaned up

A new filter from NAPA (1006). The filter just slides in then the can is filled with oil. A new gasket for the lid is included with the filter. 5 quarts of oil later and the oil change is complete.

New filter cartridge

Next I topped off the battery with distilled water.

Battery cells are a little low

And greased the chassis. There are grease fittings everywhere as well as oil holes, cups, and pads.I also adjusted all 4 brakes.

Front suspension grease fittings

Then this happened. Monsoon season shut down my fun for the day. The car and I both got soaked. Spark plugs and points will have to wait for another day.

New tires

Posted on July 31, 2014 by nvonadaJuly 31, 2014

The tires on the car look great but they are 30 years old and rock-hard. I was going to try and get another year or two out of them but I started to see cord though the rubber. So I ordered new Coker Classic radials. Wide white walls of course. That and new tubes make these the most expensive tires I have ever bought. I took them to Precision Alignment and Tire who as usual did a great job installing them.

Before and after shots:

Model year license plates added

Posted on September 30, 2013 by nvonadaSeptember 30, 2013

I found a 1941 Ohio license plate in good shape. Like most states Ohio allows cars to display license plates from the year of manufacture. All I had to do was stop off at the BMV, sign some paperwork, and hand over $4.50. I think it looks good.

International Drive Your Studebaker Day

Posted on September 17, 2013 by nvonadaSeptember 23, 2013

9/14/2013 was International Drive Your Studebaker day. This year Maria and I motored down to an Italian place down towards Dublin. The car ran great unlike last year. Later the dog and I drove over to pick my daughter up at school. Beautiful day and a lot of fun with the car.

2013 Delaware Airport fly-in and car show

Posted on September 17, 2013 by nvonadaSeptember 23, 2013

Delaware is putting together a really nice car show and fly-in at the airport. The only real problem was that the cars and the airplanes were too far apart. But I got to play in the B-25…

Timing Tweaks

Posted on August 27, 2013 by nvonadaAugust 27, 2013

I have been setting the timing to factory settings but it seemed to idle badly and sometimes it backfires into the exhaust a little on deceleration. I decided to advance the timing a little and see if that helps. I bumped the timing up about 3-5 degrees. After adjusting the idle mixture the car seems to pull stronger and run better with no sign of abnormal combustion. I might try to push it up a few more degrees and see what happens.