1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk (56J)

[mr moto]

I don't usually do WIP threads but since this is such a long term project it seems to deserve one. This build started about 10 years ago! After working on it for a while I found  that my skills were being overwhelmed and life was putting a lot of demands on me also so I just set it aside to have a break. Before long that break had stretched out to 10 years but it's finally back under way. I don't plan to post any photos from the "old days" - just the recent work - and mostly let the photos do the talking with maybe a brief comment added as needed and I'll start a new post every ten or so pictures so they don't take too long for viewers to load.

In the Studebaker world, the '56 Golden Hawk is usually referred to as a 56J. That was Studebaker's internal  code for it. Most of my references came from the on-line Studebaker community which is large and has always been very supportive and helpful. The documentation for these cars is amazing and I frequently referred to the 168 page (!) Authenticity Guide that you can find right here: https://www.1956goldenhawk.com/manuals/56ghauth.pdf

Here's what came out of storage:

That's an R&R resin body with some improvements made already and more to come and a "Frankenstein" engine made to be a reasonable replica of the Packard V-8 (Stude called it a Sky Power 352) that powered the 56J plus bits and pieces from a '53 Starliner donor kit. That was in June of this year so now we'll start catching up to the present time.

I decided that the R&R interior was unacceptable so work began on modifying the '53 interior to suit.

Another post will be coming soon - still not caught up to present.

 

[NOBLNG]

I know next to nothing about Studebakers, but I think they were very unique looking cars. I’m following this one.👍

[MrObsessive]

Manuel!! You're doing one of my FAVORITE cars of the '50's! Hawks, especially the finned '56-'61 cars, are a definite childhood memory as I can distinctly remember being carted around in one of those as a little kid. I don't remember exactly what year it was, but it was one of the finned cars with the rounded rear window.

I have this kit too..........not bad as it's IMO one of Ray's better castings. It however, leaves much to be desired in the small details and I'll certainly be following along.

Thanks also for the PDF link........I saved that one in my arsenal of reference materials. I see how it crosses over into the later Hawks as that will come in handy. Years ago (late '90's), I built and finished a '58. Unfortunately, a cat I had at the time knocked it off the shelf and it came crashing onto the floor. The hood was damaged and I never got around to fixing 'er up again for display. It's here on my Fotki page.

Keep up the great work............LOVE those Hawks!

[Zippi]

Your Studebaker project is looking nice.

[hedotwo]

I like where this is headed so I'm following along as well!

[TransAmMike]

Always liked the the streamlined design of the early pre Lark Studes. Will be watching.

[cobraman]

Great work ! I will be following . Love those cars !

[charlie8575]

This is exciting. I'll be watching.

Charlie Larkin

[misterNNL]

I'm tuned in as well.

[Dominik]

ohlala! Thats interesting. Keep it coming!

[espo]

I'm also looking forward to watching your build on this. Like so many others I also remember the Studebakers well and thought they had some of the most advanced styling of the time. Mechanically the were just about as bullet proof as you could buy at the time. 

[Mike F.]

Thanks for sharing, should be fun to follow.

[mr moto]

Hi again! Thanks, thanks, thanks to everybody for the appreciative comments! I didn't know Studebakers were so popular but they've been special to me for my entire  life. There's no particular personal or family connection but they just seem fascinating in a way that other cars are not.

Next installment - still bringing you up to the present time. As of right now in real time, the interior and engine are actually finished and waiting for installation and I'm currently working on the chassis.

So, the front seat was done much like the rear one but also needed some contour enhancement on the back side.

Then it was time to make the dashboard. The R&R dash (at the top in the next photo) was right in a lot of ways but totally wrong in others so I decided to make a new overlay that would go on top of the AMT '53 dashboard.

And that was it for the interior. Another installment soon.

[Paul Payne]

Did you know- the 53 Studebaker 2 door hardtop bodies were used for all the Hawks, including the 62 to 64 GT Hawks? The Hawk fins were simply bolted on, and when they styled the GT Hawks, they simply didn't bolt them on. Eleven years for one body-not so much for the 4 door!

[NOBLNG]

Great job on that dashboard! The interior looks nice too.👍

Edited September 24, 2021 by NOBLNG

[cobraman]

Interior looks killer !

[MeatMan]

Nice project!\

Impressive interior work.

[slusher]

Great interior work,  I like how you done your dash !

[ModelcarJR]

Great interior work and those gauge bezels look great! Nice work! 👍

[bobthehobbyguy]

Cool project. That style of studebaker is really cool. Will be following

[mr moto]

Time for a new installment of the 56J build and thanks for following!

Here comes a couple of minor details but some of my favorites to include on Stude builds. The windshield washer bag appears on almost all postwar Studes (if they had the optional washer) so I've made these several times in the past. The bag itself is my resin re-pop of an old JoHan part and it gets decorated with a homemade decal. Most of my images (maybe all?) for under hood Studebaker decals come from the on-line catalog of Studebaker International, a parts supplier to the 1:1 Studebaker community.

This build also requires a battery upgrade since the '53 donor kit includes a 6 volt battery but by 1956 Studebaker had stepped up to 12 volt along with most of the rest of the auto industry. They always used Willard batteries as standard equipment (though some later ones were labelled Studebaker) so that's a cool detail to include on these builds.

A battery tray upgrade is also needed and on this car the washer bag actually hangs on the battery hold-down frame.

At this point, the engine was mostly temporarily assembled so it could be test fitted to the chassis. More about the engine itself later.

The 56J requires a dual exhaust system, unlike the donor kit, and I decided to fab one up from Evergreen styrene. It's amazing how much bend you can put into 3/32" styrene tube just with finger pressure if you take it slow. When more bend was needed I used heat from a little coffee mug warmer - kind of like a mini hotplate. The exhausts were made in sections so a slip-up on one section wouldn't ruin the whole thing and then connected with plastic pins. The 56J (and all Hawks from then on)also has an extra frame brace. It has an unusual shape so one pipe passes above and the other passes below the brace. I think that allows room for the engine to twist under acceleration torque without either pipe hitting the brace.

I think that will do it for now but there's more to come!

[espo]

Great looking interior and dash. The extra detailing your adding will really look good when finished. 

[John Goschke]

Nice build of a great subject.  Looking forward to more.

[misterNNL]

I have personally seen a Packard version of the Hawk. I talked with the gentleman that had owned it since new and he had all the original paperwork documentation for it including the window price and option sticker. The hood was different from the Studebaker Hawks.

[MrObsessive]

13 minutes ago, misterNNL said:

I have personally seen a Packard version of the Hawk. I talked with the gentleman that had owned it since new and he had all the original paperwork documentation for it including the window price and option sticker. The hood was different from the Studebaker Hawks.

In my life, I've only ever seen this car twice in person. Once on the road not far from where I lived at the time, and another time in the Hershey Museum. This is another one I'd like to build from the '53.......Franklin Mint (or Danbury?) did one, but like their Stude Golden Hawk, the bodies aren't "quite right".

I'd have to build mine WITHOUT that toilet seat on the decklid though! I was told that was optional.