Meet The Players

Remember the 1956 Chevy Station wagon? It did not sell on ebay, so a few days later I started fixing the rust and getting it ready for another sale. But fate intervened.

Right after I sold the Studebaker, I went looking for another project to flip. A friend of mine found another 1954 Studebaker only a few miles from the shop so I went to take a look. It was a decent project, a factory black car with a red interior that had been taken apart for restoration 18 years ago and nothing else ever happened. I thought about it but passed o the car, I'm not really sure why. In the end the friend who told me about the car bought it.

Cut to a month later, I'm cutting rust out of the '56 Chevy and he brings the Studebaker home on a trailer. I took another look at the car and realized it was a nice survivor with real potential. He really liked the wagon so we traded! I decided that this will be the car to get the 5.3/T56 6 speed with the 76mm turbo. It should make 600 horsepower on an easy 10 pounds of boost.

I have to tell you, I have not been this excited about building a car in years.

The car is very solid overall, no rust in the body anywhere. There's some very minor dings in it here and there.

It is a factory black car, everything was included in the sale. The previous owner had grand plans to restore it but never got beyond taking it apart and ordering a bunch of parts. Unlike the other Studebaker I built this one is a post car, they are stronger and used more often to build race cars.

This is the 5.3 mated to the T56 6 speed manual transmission. The motor came out of a 2002 Chevy Silverado pickup truck. Also note Jeremy, an enthusiastic supporter of all things Schraders and one of the smartest people I know. I can't tell you how many times I've called him for answers. Thanks Jeremy!

I wanted to use the stock Studebaker frame mounts for the motor so I whipped up these engine mounts. They are made from 1/4" cold rolled plate and are strong as hell.

The Studebaker had no real transmission crossmember since it was mounted off of ears on the bellhousing. This frame brace is bolted in to strengthen the frame and was in about the right spot to support the T56.

I sliced and diced it to come up with this solution. It's bolt in and fits like a glove.

Here's the motor and transmission mounted, there's the turbo manifolds peeking out as well.