Potomac Chapter The Commander Drivers Club Volume 48 Issue 8 August 2016

Howard County Fairgrounds

(Rt.32 and I-70) West Friendship, MD

Murray all comfy, cozy Murray’s Champion

Steve White and Murray Welsh

Larry Pugh’s Truck

Steve White’s GT Hawk

President Vice President Treasurer Secretary Activities Director Karl Veit Steve Geiger Mike Farris Murray Welsh Terry & Shirley McDaniel 3703 7th Street South 2010 Kings Forest Trail 4313 Landgreen Street 24121 Ridge Road 580 Welltown School Road Arlington, VA 22204 Mount Airy, MD 21771 Rockville, MD 20853 Germantown, MD 20876 Martinsburg, WV 25403 703-979-4763 301-829-5155 301-460-4341 301-253-3723 304-263-3915 (hm) [email protected] [email protected] david.farris @verizon.net [email protected] 304-671-6704 (cell) [email protected] Membership Historian Web Master Editor Nadine & Mike Farris Ed Lemanski Bob Johnstone Lynda Welsh 4313 Landgreen Street 7875 Red Jacket Way 12161 Holly Knoll Circle 24121 Ridge Road Rockville, MD 20853 Jessup, MD 20794 Great Falls, VA 22066 Germantown, MD 20876 301-460-4341 301-776-9893 703-450-0754 301-253-3723 ndfarris [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Steering Column Karl Veit

No Steering Column this month

See flyer for these dates

Fall Picnic August 27 Fall Tour Sept 16-18

August

For planning purposes be advised Stephen Walter 8/2 that the Keystone Region Chapter Ken Davidson 8/10 membership has voted not to hold Anne Devore 8/13 any more York Swap Meets after the Steve White 8/13 Don Webber 8/15 2017 Meet. Darrell Carr 8/21 Eric Christensen 8/21 May I Powers 8/23 George Hamlin 8/25

The Commander is the monthly publication of the Potomac Chapter, Studebaker Drivers Club. Subscription is by membership to the Potomac Chapter at $15.00 yearly. Canada/Mexico $20.00, all other countries $25.00. Direct all membership correspondence to the Membership Director. Direct all correspondence relating to The Commander to the Editor, who retains the right to edit or modify any contribution. Deadline date is the 15th of the month for the following month’s issue. The Commander is also an internet publication. The Potomac Chapter is an officially chartered chapter of the Studebaker Drivers Club, Inc.; its by-laws were approved, and charter granted by SDC in June 1967. Membership is recruited from the States of Maryland, West Virginia, Northern Virginia and Washington, DC. And those from other areas wishing to join the chapter are welcome. Potomac Chapter, SDC Activities 2016 Event Date Contact

*International Drive Your Studebaker Day Sept 10 Terry McDaniel

Rose Hill Manor Car Show Frederick, MD Aug.21 Skip (240-422-0368

Fall Picnic, Johnsons, Martinsburg, WV Aug 27 Karen & Paul Johnson

Fall Tour, Luray, Virginia Sept 16 – 18 Murray Welsh

Hershey Fall Meet, Hershey, PA Oct 5 - 8 AACA

Bradfeld Show, Bridgewater, VA Oct 9 Terry McDaniel

Antique and Classic Car Show, Rockville, MD Oct 15 Bill Morgan (Potomac Chapter is one sponsor) Ron Salen

Reedsville Swap Meet, Reedsville, PA Oct 28 - 29 Max Corkins

Chapter Planning Meeting tbd Terry McDaniel

Chapter Holiday Party, Charles Town, WV Dec 18 Terry McDaniel

* Firm date- will always be the second Saturday in September

ON THIS DATE IN STUDEBAKER HISTORY

Aug 1, 1962 - Disc brakes made available on all Studebaker models. Aug 4, 1908 - EMF company incorporated. Aug 7, 1928 - Studebaker's purchase of Pierce-Arrow approved by stockholders $2M. Aug 8, 1965 - Avanti II introduced. Aug 14, 1962 - Avanti sets 29 speed records at Bonneville. Aug 15, 1928 - Pierce-Arrow purchase agreement signed. Aug 22, 1996 - Jim Lange 211.292mph at Bonneville in Studebaker powered Avanti. Aug 24, 1874 - Studebaker Wagon Works destroyed by fre. Aug 26, 1933 - Studebaker sells Pierce-Arrow to a group of Bufalo businessmen for $1M. Aug 31, 1853 - John M Studebaker arrives in Hangtown.

STUDE SPOTTER AUTOMOBILE Magazine September 2016 Pages 96 and 97 of the September issue of AUTOMOBILE features "1962-1963 Daytona - A classic for a Studey Stalwart." writen by Bob Merlis. Lots of facts and photos. Historian TECH TIP By Ed Lemanski by Ed Lemanski

FREDERICK GAMBRILL STATE PARK, MARY- CORRECTING ENGINE MISS/NO-START CONDI- LAND DNR TIONS

LOOKING BACK - THE TEA HOUSE - SEPTEMBER Your Studebaker began experiencing an annoying en- 1998 gine misfre that more recently has become a no-start con- dition. You've checked the distributor cap, the points, the The Potomac Chapter, SDC, successfully utilized this condenser, the spark plugs, and spark plug wires; and venue for our fall picnic for a number of years. We have ruled them all out as the cause. What to do next? stopped reserving it when scheduling became more difcult to book, combined with steep rental price in- There's a place where carbon tracking can occur that creases and member consensus that we should fnd an- makes it very difcult to diagnose. Never heard of carbon other location. Recently they began charging $3 admis- tracking outside of the distributor cap. Dampness collects sion in-state and $5 out-of-state. on the outside of the ignition coil too. Why? Vehicle stor- age in a moist area sets up the ideal condition for a carbon The Tea House aka the Tea Room had electricity, drink- track to develop. It is a good place to check. ing water, lights, and restroom. Firewood was provided and included in the price of the rental. Our ofcers To inspect for this problem, with the engine not run- would arrive early for table/chair and barbecue set up. ning, remove the coil wires and closely examine the area We were always complimented on leaving the Tea between the terminals. Use a penlight and a magnifer. Room in the same condition that we found it. look for and remove any traces of carbon tracking be- tween the contacts. Now might be a good time to clean The building accommodated about 55 people which the entire surface of the coil as carbon tracks can follow was perfect for our group size. Overfow was the nu- the moisture fow. This may not solve your problem but merous picnic tables at the entrance. The kitchen was it is nice to know that it might be the cause that you didn't designed for serving food. The stone balcony faced think of before. beautiful vistas; while a huge stone freplace dominated Enjoy those . the interior. I don't remember us ever having a fre though. Parking was scatered but usually less than 150 feet away.

Gambrill State Park ofered quaint, scenic vistas provid- ing a lovely backdrop for our fall picnics. Other sepa- rate areas at Gambrill State Park provided recreational facilities and activities for visitors of all ages. The High Knob area, which we used, was located at the top of Catoctin Mountain, and ofered scenic views from three native stone overlooks. This is one of my fondest club memories.

Finned 58’s: & Lake n’ Sea Boat This 1958 Studebaker Silver Hawk and same year Lake n’ Sea boat are ofered together as a pack- age, both having been restored to match. The boat is said to have won frst place at an antique boat festival, and hasn’t been in the water since work was completed. Both car and boat look to be in excellent condition throughout, and they also happen to complement each other beautifully. Find the pair here on Craigslist in Bokeelia, Florida for $50k. Special thanks to BaT reader Eric B. for this submission Potomac Chapter Fall Picnic 2016 Due to the many conficts in September, our chapter fall picnic will be held Saturday, August 27th (sort of an end of summer celebration). And, we have decided to hold the picnic at the St James Lu- theran Church Parish Hall instead of our home (maybe next year). Our picnic will be held rain or shine, dining starting at 1:30 pm. Many of you will remember the location from when we held our activities planning meetings there several years ago. The Parish Hall will be much beter for a summer activity- air conditioned, handy restrooms, nice kitchen, shady pavilion, plenty of parking and more.

We will provide plates, cups and fatware as well as cofee, tea and ice water. We are also going to go back in time a litle with a twist. Some years ago the Chapter provided fried chicken and we paid a small fee. This time we will provide the chicken, but with no fee. We will ask for a small donation to help defray the cost of the chicken. Excess, if any, will go to the Chapter. If we don’t collect enough… well, we just made a poor guess. So, please bring a salad or a vegetable dish or a dessert to share and let us know that you are coming and how many will be with you no later than August 24- Paul or Karen Johnson, 304-267-2911 or [email protected]

Directions to St. James Lutheran Church Parish Hall Coming from Maryland and Northern Virginia suburbs- from US Highway 340 at the Quality Inn (Clifside Inn) at Harpers Ferry (top of the hill), go 1.5 miles to the West Virginia Highway 230 (Shepherdstown) exit. Exit there and follow WV 230 a total of 4.2 miles. Turn right in to the St. James Lutheran Church Parish Hall parking lot (about 300 yards past the Uvilla United Methodist Church on the left).

From Virginia and points south, take US 340 north from Charles Town. Exit left at the WV Highway 230 (Shepherdstown) and follow directions above.

From Points north and west, from Shepherdstown, follow WV 230 4.5 miles from O'Hurley's General Store at the south edge of Shepherdstown. Turn left into the St. James Lutheran Church Parish Hall parking lot (about 100 yards past the St. James Lutheran Church and cemetery on the left). Or, tell your GPS to take you to 4328 Shepherdstown Pike (Route 230), Shenandoah Junction, WV 25425

Potomac Chapter SDC Fall Tour September 16, 17, and 18, 2016 Itinerary We will meet at the “Retro” McDonalds on Rt. 9 just west of Charles Town, WV in time for a 9:00am departure. We will head east on Rt.9 which becomes Rt. 340 south. We will follow 340 thru Berryville and all the way to the outskirts of Front Royal. At Front Royal we will turn right onto Rt. 55 toward Strasburg, VA. As we enter Strasburg on the left there will be a restored Nash – Hudson Dealership from the ‘50s – ‘60s era. We will make our frst stop there at 10:00am and be aforded a tour of the facility. At about 11:00am or so we will turn left and proceed a couple of blocks further on Rt. 55 to the Strasburg Museum exhibiting items from over 250 years of life in small town Shenandoah. The museum also features a model train layout of the Southern Railroad in an authentic baggage car. Someone will be there to operate it for us. We will leave the museum about 11:30am and again turn left on Rt. 55 and proceed about 2 blocks to the second trafc light, Halliday Street, and turn left. On block down on the left will be the historic Strasburg Hotel. We will stop there for lunch. It is a moderately priced full service restaurant. After lunch (about 1:00 to 1:30 – no rush) we will get back on Rt. 55 which is also Rt.11 south and will proceed on Rt. 11 through Woodstock and Mt. Jackson to Rt. 720, Wissler Street, where we will turn right. We will proceed through a real wooden covered bridge to Industrial Park Road where we will turn left and enter the Rt. 11 Potato Chip Factory on the right for a tour and some chip sampling. After that its back through the covered bridge and right on RT. 11 to Rt. 211 toward Luray, VA. We will be staying, for two nights, at the Luray Caverns Lodge directly across Rt. 211 from the Caverns complex. They have given us a group rate of $85.00 per night plus tax for our two night stay. IMPORTANT NOTICE! Everyone planning to take the tour and stay here must call the facility BEFORE SEPTEMBER 3rd to book a room at the club rate. If you call afer the 3rd even if a room is stll available it will be at a higher rate. All rooms are non-smoking with two Queen beds and we should be able to park our cars right outside our rooms. Call 888-443-6551, opton 4, and request a room for the Potomac Chapter SDC. We will have dinner Friday night at Uncle Buck’s Restaurant at 42 E. Main St. in Luray. Its about a mile east of our motel. Our reservaton is for 6:00pm. This is also a great place to have breakfast if you want a full breakfast. You will receive a coupon for a contnental breakfast at the caverns café from the motel. We will have all day Saturday, September 17th, at the caverns complex. We will have a group tour of the caverns at 11:00am. Afer that everybody is on their own to have lunch, explore the car and carriage museum, visit the Luray Valley Museum, or drive into town and explore.

Our dinner Saturday night will be 7 miles west of Luray on Rt. 211 at Dan’s Steak House. This is the restaurant that was everybody’s reply when I asked “what is a good place for dinner in Lu- ray.” This is why I picked it even though it is about a 10 minute drive away. This reservation is also for 6:00pm. That’s our Fall Tour. However, for anyone interested, Lynda and I plan to continue Sunday morning after breakfast (about 11:00am) east on Rt. 211 to Skyline Drive and go north to Front Royal. Any one that would like to come with us is more than welcome. Just let us know so we will look for you before we pull out. We will leave from the motel.

That’s our Fall Tour. However, for anyone interested, Lynda and I plan to continue Sunday morn- ing after breakfast (about 11:00am) east on Rt. 211 to Skyline Drive and go north to Front Royal. Any one that would like to come with us is more than welcome. Just let us know so we will look for you before we pull out. We will leave from the motel. I think this will be a fun tour that will be easy on the cars and the members. With the exception of the frst seven miles out of Charles Town the highest speed limit is 55 and in many, many plac- es a lot lower, down to 25. We will only travel a total of about 220 miles round trip from Charles Town all on well paved roads with no hills or turns except for Rt. 211 into Luray. Even there it’s all 3 and 4 lanes with new pavement. The Philipis On The Eastern Shore

Gail and I don’t get over to the Western Shore to do Studebaker stuf much anymore, but we do get to car shows to show of our Studebakers. I noticed in a listing of local shows an entry for the “Carter Davis Stu- debakers Garage Car and Truck Show” to be held on July 16 in Tasley, VA on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. It sounded like fun, so we went. When we pulled up to the location, we saw an old car dealership with a Stu- debaker Wheel and “Studebakers Garage” on the front. Well, it was indeed an old country car dealership, but not Studebaker! It was another “orphan” make, in this case Pontiac, that was sold there. They also sold GMC trucks. According to the owner, Mr. Davis, he just liked the name and “they weren’t using it anyway”. The showroom displays Mr. Davis ’64 Impala (409 and 4-speed) and the former service and parts areas are full of memorabilia such as gas pumps, ads, coke machines, and the like. We were the only Studebaker there and drew a lot of questions and compliments. Since our Lark convertible and the building have the same name, we were awarded Best of Show by Mr. Davis who was delighted to have us show up. This is a good photo op if you’re ever on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Keep those Studes on the road!!

Frank Philipipi

Membership Corner Chuck & Toni Stroh PO Box 101 Ken Davidson Reisterstown, MD. 21136 10026 Crystal Fall DR. B'day 8-16 B'day Chuck 12-23 Toni 5-35 Hagerstown, MD.21740 1960 Hawk 2 DR. 410-925-1028 301-791-5258 1954 Studebaker Pick up SDC# A01871D 1948 Studebaker 4 SWD

Jim & Molly Long 11210Beach Mill RD. B'days Jim 3-27 Molly Great Falls Mill Rd.,VA,22066 703-798-6323 e-mail [email protected] SDC# A01878L 1959Studebaker Scotman piclup.

Max & Tomi Mosse 91Derby Ct. B'day Max 3-28 Tomi 5-18 Martinsburg,WV 255403 !959 Lark 304-2167-8180 1963 Lark R2 HT UPDATE #6: 1954 Regal Starlight Coupe Project By Pete Rutledge, Woodbridge, VA It’s mid-summer, 2016, and the car is theoretically drivable again, with a rebuilt ’62 Studebaker 289, T-10 4-speed trans- mission with working Studebaker shift linkage, 10.25 inch clutch with working clutch linkage, 3.54:1 Dana 44 rear axle, working rebuilt brakes, and a dual exhaust system with Thrush bullet mufers. I say “theoretically” because of the fact that I haven’t started the rebuilt engine yet (although I have turned it many revolutions by hand in order to align the bell housings). The most recent Studebaker challenges have been: Rear axle alignment. Once the “new” rear axle was installed, I measured the pinion centerline angle and the angle of the transmission output shaft centerline. Well, they were both pointed downward for what has been nicknamed a “broken back” alignment. The centerlines through the transmission output and diferential pinion shafts should be par- allel to avoid unwanted drivetrain vibration. A “broken back” alignment is about as bad as it gets. To fx this, I installed readily available aftermarket 8 degree wedges between the rear axle and the leaf springs. Now the centerlines are paral- lel. Motor mounts. When I installed the engine last Fall, I noticed a couple of unusual things. The engine seemed to be too far to the rear—the road draft tube was being pinched between the engine and the frewall and the somewhat worn front motor mounts were deforming to the rear. Recently I found out that I had installed the rear motor mount backwards (the mount can be installed either way but it is not symmetrical and mounting it backwards pulls the engine to the rear by a half inch or so). I rectifed the problem by turning the rear mount around and installing new front mounts. Now there is adequate clearance between engine and frewall. Steering column wiring mismatch. A previous owner did some re-wiring of the car (all the fabric covered wiring is long gone). The frustrating part is that the color coding of the wires from the steering column in no way match the color cod- ing of the wires from the under-dash harness (which do match the colors in the shop manual wiring diagram). I ordered a new turn signal switch (533519) and it didn’t have the original wire color coding, either. Besides that, there was a dis- continuity inside the switch so the right rear signal/brake light would not light. So I returned the new switch for credit and took another look at my old one. With a switch wiring diagram from the SDC forum, I was able to replace one wire and map the colors of the other wires to the colors of the car’s harness. At this point, all the lights and signals are work- ing properly except for the license plate lights and fxing them shouldn’t be too difcult. Door vent window deterioration. My door vent windows have sufered a number of problems. The sandwiched plastic lamination was clearly showing around the edges of the glass. The chromed window frames were damaged by rust, especially along their botoms. The lower vent window pivots had rusted away. And, of course, the weather stripping was in poor shape. So I removed the vent windows from their outer frames and broke and pulled the old glass out of the inner chromed frames. Then I drilled out the rivets holding the upper and lower pivots and the latching handle to the chromed frames. I will shortly send the frames out for re chroming. Then I’ll install new lower pivots (found an NOS pair with rivets on eBay) and the old upper pivots and latch handle assemblies with new rivets. Then the new glass will go in with new rubber glass seting channel. Then new weather stripping and reinstallation of the chromed frames into the outer frames will follow and fnally reinstallation of the vent window assemblies in the doors. I expect to renew the main fuzzy window channels, as well, in the process of reinstalling everything back into the doors. Driver door rust. In past months, I fnished the rust repairs on the passenger door. Now the rust repairs needed on the driver door mark the virtual end of rust repairs on the car as a whole. As I did on the passenger side, I will remove the driver door to work on it. I have noticed, to my dismay, that a previous owner replaced some of the fat head, counter- sunk door hinge screws with hex-head bolts! So I’ll replace those with the proper screws as part of the door repair pro- ject. Speedometer cable. I’ve ordered a speedometer cable to ft the T10 transmission and the ’54 speedometer and with the right pinion gear for the 3.54:1 rear axle ratio; don’t know when it will arrive. Horns. My car no longer had its original horns, but I found a decent pair on eBay. They didn’t make any horn sound— only a soft hum. I popped of the spherical covers (held on by folded-over sheet metal tabs), blew out the dirt, cleaned and adjusted the contact points while testing the horns with a 6v batery charger, and am now geting prety decent horn sounds. I’m in search of horn brackets and know I may have to fabricate them. Soon I’ll have to reactivate my license plates so I can get the car out on the road and break in that rebuilt 289. More (a lot more) to come. Junkyard Treasure: 1949 Studebaker 2R Stakebed Truck htp://autoweek.com/car-life/junkyard-treasures? utm_source=DailyDrive20160726&utm_medium=enewsleter&utm_term=tag- center&utm_content=body&utm_campaign=awdailydrive

Hemmings Motor News - Carspoting heads to Vancouver, BC, circa 1951. What cars can you identify in this shot of Gran- ville Street?

For Sale 60 Studebaker Silver Hawk. Can call me at 443-864-7077. Thanks Stan Stan and Jean

One-of Vince Gardner-built Studebaker special expected to sell for as much as $600,000 htps://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2016/08/12/one-of-vince-gardner-built-studebaker- special-expected-to-sell-for-as-much-as-600000/?refer=news htp://www.hemmings.com/newsleter/newsleter?id=1652&tv=1 2016 Potomac Chapter SDC Membership Application or Renewal

Please complete this form and mail a check for $15.00, payable to POTOMAC CHAPTER SDC. Send the completed form and check to: Nadine & Mike Farris, 4313 Landgreen Street, Rockville, MD 20853 email [email protected] Phone: 301-460-4341

Yearly dues apply from Jan 1st to Dec 31st of each year

I am a member of I am joining SDC International at this time- SDC International National Upon receipt of your national membership #, Membership # Please send information to the address to email above.

This is a NEW Application Renewal/Update

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I own the following Studebakers (including , , EMF, Avanti)

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Reminder Fall Picnic August 27 Fall Tour Sept 16-18

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