The Mission of the Jet Thrust News
A permanent goal of the JTN is the
maintenance of the owner rosters of ‘63 and ‘64 JT cars and loose engines.
These 3 rosters are published on the PC. Reports of JT cars that the JTN
receives go into the rosters. That includes changes of ownership, engine
transplants, survivor discoveries and news of parted and crushed vehicles.
“Loose” means the engine is no longer in its original car. The roster trio is
available as shown on the title page. The JTN keeps a library of photos and
build sheets. Please send JTN your photos and build sheet along with that JT
story. With the aid of the readership, we do our best to track down sightings and
reports of JT equipped cars. JTN counts on its readers to report such sightings
and to aid in identification. Another part of the JTN mission is sharing of
technical and historical information about Studebaker high performance from
South Bend and Paxton Products during the 1963 and 1964 model years.
Some back issues are hosted
on the Web at www.stude.com.JTN/ These issues have been edited for the Web.
Roster News
Surviving cars
found since the last issue
|
Owner
|
Car
|
Owner
|
Car
|
|
Jeff Grohs
|
63V9019 R2 GT Hawk
|
Bob Miles
|
63V19568 R1 Cruiser
|
|
(S) Malcolm Berry
|
63V19109 R2 GT Hawk
|
aloe*97
|
63V10284 R2 GT Hawk
|
|
Nelson Bove
|
64V1450 R1 GT Hawk
|
(S)Bob Palma
|
64V11104 R1 Daytona 4 door
|
|
Jerry Blount
|
64V14491 R1 Cruiser
|
Jack Rupard
|
63V8436 R2 GT Hawk
|
|
James Bell
|
63V23972 R2 GT Hawk
|
|
|
(S) indicates source of info,
not owner
Found engines
|
Owner
|
Number
|
|
Wayne Limbaugh
|
JT1084 out of 63V3537 GT
Hawk
|
Cars sold
|
Owner
|
Car
|
Last owner
|
|
Nelson Bove
|
63V6177 R2 GT Hawk
|
Bruce Bennet
|
|
Mike Myer
|
63V24760 R1 GT Hawk
|
Bruce Bennet
|
|
Scott Cawley
|
63V8546 R2 Convertible
|
Mike Parker
|
|
Jim Porterfield
|
64V14327 R2 Daytona
Hardtop
|
Torrey Kirby
|
|
Russell McCauley
|
64V5151 R2 Daytona Hardtop
|
John Poulos
|
|
John Hollier
|
64V6523 R1 GT Hawk
|
Ken Voigt
|
|
Robert Young
|
64V3392 R1 GT Hawk
|
John McClung
|
|
Roger Bawdon
|
64V1378 R1 Daytona Hardtop
|
Bob Helm
|
James Bell and 63V23972
James has acquired the first R2 package Powershift GT
Hawk. The car was found in Wisconsin and had originally been sold in Los
Angeles. It’s white, is mostly intact and needs a serious restoration. James
observes that of the four white R2 package GT Hawks made for 1963, only the
first 4 speed, 63V23914, remains at large. George Krem came through with a
production order for 23972.
Hemmings Muscle Machines on the R3 Commander
The August edition of Hemmings Muscle Machines included an
article on Nelson Bove’s R3 Commander. The magazine didn’t publish some of
Nelson’s commentary on Big 3 muscle. Nelson’s unpublished words are quoted
directly here.
I think I grew up with gasoline in my blood.
I've been infatuated with cars as long as I can remember. At fifteen, my father
bought me a 1936 Cadillac conv to restore. At sixteen, I bought my first car, a
1939 Ford. At seventeen, I bought my first Studebaker, A 1955 Speedster. I
owned this a very short period of time as I found a 1963 Stude GT Hawk with a
R1 Avanti engine and four speed. It had a full set of direct reading
Stewart Warner instuments, including a tach; all glowed red at night. It
had bucket seats, and a powerful engine that sounded awesome. I loved the car,
but, my friends drove Chevies, Ford and Chrysler products. My car was
generally at the root of many jokes. It got to the point where I actually
thought something was wrong with a Studebaker, although I didn't know
what it was.
I kept the Hawk through college and finally sold
it, as the Midwest rust finally did it in. After college I got a job as an
engineer and finally started making some real money. Unmarried at the time and
with few expenses, I thought I might as well experience as many of the old high
performance "brand X's" as I could and see what I had missed. So for
about five years I bought and drove a wide variety of 60's and 70's muscle
cars. I found all to be very nice rides but all had varying degrees of muscle
car pedigree. I eased into my adventure by first buying a 1968 AMX. This car
had the 390 engine with the four speed. I had always liked those cars and still
do. It had impressive handling characteristics and felt fairly powerful up
into the mid 5000 rpm range. The disappointment was in the interior quality. On
a one to ten scale, I would rate the car at 7.5 to 8.
Another
purchase was a 1968 Hemi Roadrunner with a column shift automatic. Again, a
nice car. Very sinister looking with "Hemi" on the hood scoop. The
engine compartment was awsome looking.....wall to wall engine. Interior was
spartan, but I liked that. The car was obviously engineered to compete at the
drag races as it launched extremely well (in fact, better than any stock car
I've owned). But, from the factory, it just didn't have the brute acceleration
performance that I expected. I assume this performance increase was left for
the enthusiast to wring out his wallet in after market parts. I would give the
Roadrunner an 8 to 8.5.
Another
Chrysler product was the 1970 TA Challenger 340 six pack. This car was equipped
with an automatic transmission. These cars I had always admired. I thought it
looked very predatory with the large rear tires and side exhaust. The car was
very quick but not brutally so. The interior quality, I thought, was poor,
especially the hard plastic door panels that I continually bruised my elbow on.
I'd rate it a 6 to 6.5.
I
then purchased several Shelby Mustangs. The first two where 350 models. One a
1966 350 H with automatic, the other a 1967 350 with the four speed. Both cars
were obviously light weight, easy to drive, and handled well.
Performance was good but not what I had expected as a fifteen year old looking
at them through the show room window. I'd rate the 350's at a 7.5. Two other
Shelbys I owned were a 1968 500 conv four speed and a 500KR with the C6
automatic. I'll have to say the cars lost a lot when going from the earlier
350's. The cars felt larger and heavier. The 428, for whatever reason, didn't
seem to fit this car. When I bought the 500 conv I was told it would "push
my eyeballs back in my head". It didn't. I'd rate these at a 5.5 to 6.
On
the GM side I've owned many, but the two that stand out are the Corvettes. One
was a 1967 427, 435 horse roadster I bought from the original owner with 33k
miles. The other was a 1970 454 LS5 automatic. Both cars are nice to look at,
the '67 more so than the '70. The 427 car was very torquey, had good power and
performance. The paint, fit, and finish were poor at best, but this was typical
of Corvettes back then. I worked in a body shop at a Buick dealership back in
the late 60's so I was critical when it came to body and paint and the
Corvettes were on the bottom for sure. The '70 LS5 was not at all fast. The
front of the long nose was invisible from the driver's seat making it
difficult to judge when parking. Instrument glass was plastic in the '67 and
'70, but the mass production techniques were becoming more obvious by 1970 with
usage of phony Allen head screws molded into the plastic dash and around the
gauges, etc. Fit and finish got absolutely terrible. I'd rate the '70 at a
3 - 3.5 and the '67 at 7 - 7.5. I've owned others but these stand out as
typical.
To
put all this into perspective, I also own a 1951 Allard with a 331 Cadillac
mounted with four two barrel Strombergs, running a three speed floor shift
transmission, and side exhaust. It drives and handles like a truck relative to
today's cars. It is not comfortable to drive long distances, stops poorly
(again by today's standards), but it is a 10 as far as a fun package is
concerned. It is what it is....no compromise....nothing pretentious.
Now
for the Lark R3.
I look at the car as a genuine attempt by the company to
make a super car. With its disc brakes, it stops equivalent to today's cars; it
handles better than any American sedan of that era, and its acceleration
performance is exhilarating. Its launching characteristic is not that of the
Hemi Roadrunner but is still very good. The launch sensation of the car I
actually like better as the car rises high on its suspension due to the top
mount traction bars. Interior trim is excellent and actually superior to any of
the Big Three. Probably due in part to limited production numbers and no
attainable break even point for production tooling to manufacture vacuum formed
door panels and carpets, phony plastic bolts around instruments, etc. Instead
the interior has more of a hand crafted appearance. Carpets are wool and
stitched to fit the contour of the floor; instruments are Stewart Warner using
real chrome bezels and real glass. Some vacuum forming was used such as the
padded dash; upholstery and door panels where heat seamed and stitched.The
engine sounds great from the driver's seat(...... the mechanical sounds from the
solid lifters, the whine of the Paxton supercharger, etc.) The clutch is stiff,
but it needs to be.The seating position is high by today's standards, but it
gives you sort of a command position while driving among
today's cars. When you finally do exercise the car, all these sensations
come together. Your hair rises on the back of your neck. As RPM rises so does
blower output and horsepower. Unlike normal cars of that era, the performance
and thrust increase with engine rpm instead of dropping off. In fact, you have
to tell yourself to get out of the throttle before you damage something.
Shifting at 5000 - 5500 rpm puts the rear of the car into a slight drift,
shifting at 6000 - 6500 will literally melt the tires off the car.
Driving around town the car is very tight. The springing
and damping characteristics are excellent. The car rides stiff, similar to a
present day BMW. Seating is comfortable for its day and is just fine for around
town. The 4.55 axle ratio is perfect for a 20 year old, but I get tired of it
quickly and actually avoid trips over say 30 miles because of it. But, on the
scale of 1 - 10, I'll give the Super Lark a 10. If I were to rank the
factory effort put forth in its development I would give them a 15 on the 10
scale as I believe Studebaker put 150% effort into their super car program.
It’s just a shame they could not have survived another year so as more of these
adrenaline pumpers could have been built.
News from Tim
Kobernik
Tim
writes: I thought you might like an update on the progress of R2 Package GT
Hawk #64V8165. To recap I bought this
car in July, 2002 from a longtime owner in Kansas City. It is Bordeaux Red with black vinyl
Sportroof and black vinyl interior, Powershift and AM-FM radio. It appeared to be a nicely equipped version
of a standard GT. There were a few
puzzling things, however, like the brake fluid reservoir on the firewall, the
traction bars on the Twin-Traction axle and the 160 mph speedometer, not to
mention that rubber hose attached to a
piece of rusted off fuel return line. I
sent in the serial number on the doorpost to get a production order and it came
back saying the car was a run of the mill four speed in Laguna Blue! After talking to Andy Beckman I was just
barely able to discern the secret serial number on the last frame rail (not an
easy task on a typical Midwest car).
The production order from this serial number matched the body tag
numbers and showed it to be an R2 Package car equipped with engine number
JTSJ318.
During a restoration in the early 70’s this car was
equipped with a 259 with a four barrel and chrome valve covers, a Ford
Cruisomatic and front drum brakes. It
also had R1 badges placed on it.
So
far my efforts have been spent on taking care of much needed maintenance,
restoring the Studebaker disc brakes, reinstalling the backup light and starter
switches on the shift linkage, replacing the fuel return line, replacing all
the door gaskets and trunk gaskets, and starting the rebuild of a standard 289
to R2 performance specs.
My long
range plans call for finishing the engine overhaul and installing it in the
car. Then finding and installing all
the R2 parts and lastly having the body repainted. In the meantime I intend to enjoy driving the car as much as
possible.
Original Owners of ’64 R2 Daytonas, Compiled by Andy
Petrass
JTN production researcher Andy Petrass gathered the sales
information from the production archives on the 11 ’64 R2 Daytona hardtops that
are missing in the Western US. Andy is also working on a list of dealer names
to match with the dealer numbers. If anyone can help with names of Studebaker
dealers that were in business in 1963 or the whereabouts of any people listed
below, please share with Andy and your editor.
|
64V
VIN
|
Buyer
|
Buyer’s
Address
|
City
|
State
|
Sale
Date
|
Dealer
#
|
|
1401
|
Apache
Investment
|
PO
Box A
|
Carmichael
|
CA
|
1-27-64
|
4096
|
|
1418
|
G.
Woodward
|
2208
W Princeton
|
Fresno
|
CA
|
1-24-64
|
3892
|
|
1699
|
J.E.
Foulkrod
|
2504
Arvet
|
Modesto
|
CA
|
3-30-64
|
1436
|
|
4855
|
J.
Reynolds
|
41
Laurel Ave
|
Del
Paso
|
CA
|
7-30-64
|
3287
|
|
5045
|
W.A.
Norton
|
415
Geneva Pl
|
Claremont
|
CA
|
5-20-64
|
4192
|
|
7795
|
W.
Klein
|
8660
Colbath
|
Panorama
|
CA
|
9-6-64
|
4512
|
|
10299
|
J.A.
Terry
|
PO
Box 473
|
Minden
|
NV
|
8-20-64
|
4316
|
|
13341
|
A.R.
Winsten
|
2073
Zavier Ct
|
Santa
Clara
|
CA
|
2-27-63
|
4486
|
|
14023
|
W.A.
Norton
|
415
Geneva Pl
|
Claremont
|
CA
|
12-04-63
|
4192
|
|
16197
|
T.
Lally
|
986
Corona
|
Denver
|
CO
|
4-11-64
|
0408
|
|
19008
|
G.
Ziegler
|
1196
Harold St
|
Crescent
City
|
CA
|
4-6-64
|
0219
|
Muscle Car Drags News from June
The following is a synopsis of articles published on the
Internet Studebaker Newsgroup as posted by Ted Harbit and others plus a report
from George Krem.
Richard Poe driving his ‘63 R1 Custom 2 door came close to getting into the 14s, posting a 15.055. Doug Tjapkes driving his '63 R2 package GT Hawk automatic got into the 14.90's.
A fellow named Steve Clay owned a portable dynamometer on the premises
and was charging to have your car rear-wheel "dynoed" if you wanted...but he was so taken with The R3 Plain Brown Wrapper that he asked us to bring it back and he would "dyno" it for free! The whole procedure and readout are more complicated than it would appear. The R3 really strained at the Plain Brown Wrapper's tethers and produced peak 365.1 BHP at the rear wheels with a fully loaded drivetrain at 5830 RPM.
Plain Brown Wrapper performed flawlessly; absolutely no belt slip, breakage, or traction problems other than a little wheel spin, depending on how Ted launched. PBW also set two new quarter-mile records for itself: 111.35 MPH and 12.85 second ET.
PBW won its 2-out-of-3 shootout in the first two runs, beating a dead sharp, 1969 396/4-speed Nova Coupe that is Certified Stock. The Nova has run as fast as 12.47 at this event.
With only one car, was a lot more relaxing or maybe it was because we didn't have to constantly be trying to correct things (blower belts, hopping, etc.). Big thanks go to Nimesh Solanki and Nelson Bove for solving these two headaches. No (or very little hopping) and boost held 8 pound to the finish line.
Muscle Car Drags News from September
The following is a synopsis of articles published on the
Internet Studebaker Newsgroup as posted by Ted Harbit.
Both Richard Poe and Doug Tjapkes returned. Richard was paired with Peter Sant’s R2 Avanti in the shootout and won two out of three is a very close match. Richard ran 14.729 sec ET @ 93.94 mph. Doug had his '63 R2 Hawk there and just missed getting into the 14's with a 15.04 @ 93.68 mph.
Ted planned to put Stude Tomato, the ’63 R2 Custom, through the certification process. He was successful. The inspection involved head cc, valve lift and compression check among other things. At the strip Friday morning, the car had a miss in fourth gear about 5500 and the tach jumped around. Points cleaning, resetting, putting in another condensor, coil, etc., did not help. Times were all in the 13's except one that was 14.3 when let off knowing the miss was still there. Best and qualifying shootout time was 13.64. We were paired in the Saturday shoot out with a '68 400 cu. in. Ram Air GTO as his time was 13.60. Ted also had trouble getting a decent 60' time. Best was the first one at 2.18 and the rest were 2.2's to 2.3's.
Friday night back at the hotel, Nelson Bove, Ted and Tim Kobernik took the Delco window distributor, cap, wires, coil, etc., out of the Ted’s truck and put in the Tomato and put the dual point Prestolite in the truck. The Delco worked fine in the truck but with the weak advance springs, the truck sounds like a bunch of pop bottles rattling in low speed pulling so set the timing back. The Delco has the Pertronix Ignitor and Coil and Saturday morning the miss was gone and the tach was steady now but it still "flattened" out about a 100 feet from the finish line. Supercharger belt slippage may be the reason.
In the shoot out we got lucky as the rpm and clutch feathering must have been about right as it got a 2.14 sixty foot time. Power shifted it as felt we would need all we could get to stay with the GTO and won the first round but was amazed when looked at the et slip that read 13.37. The car’s previous best was 13.41.
In the second round, we were just as lucky as got a 2.12 sixty foot time. Ted stayed in it again to see if it would run that good again. Ted won that round with a 13.30. At 0.3 sec better than the qualifying time, the shootout was forfeited to the GTO. The GTO pulled into the pits and we followed him to tell him he won because of this and told him we could go a third round if he wanted. He agreed but the track officials turned them down.
Parts wanted
R2
Hawk engine parts needed; water manifold, tensioner, mounting bracket, pulleys,
carburetor, air cleaner and bonnet for the restoration of R2 Package GT Hawk
64V8165. Tim Kobernik, PO Box 404,
Mazomanie, WI 53560, (608)225-5471, Tim64vk6@yahoo.com
Parts For Sale
www.studebakervendors.com is
the place where customers and vendors meet. Forget the phone, the mail and
SASE. All the major vendors are listed on Studebaker Vendors. Just point, click
and view. Most vendors have Email, and many have on-line shopping carts. Studebaker
Vendors, your one-stop shopping mall.
The Jet Thrust
News