Mark Pearson's 1948 Studebaker Car Restoration Project - Part 8

My oldest, Joseph, is home from college for Labor Day holiday, so he is here at the garage, helping me with the disassembly. We have the hood off, and the hood latch assembly off, and the left headlight assembly out, and we are diligently removing rusty fender bolts from the front fenders and radiator air deflector. We started to remove the bumper, but discovered that the grille assembly was in the way of the bumper bolts. So, we started to remove the grille, but found that the bumper was in the way. Ever have a day like that?

A better view of the hoodless front end. I used to be real skinny, just like Joseph, when I was his age. It's a lot more fun to work on an old car like this, when you've got other members of the family involved. I haven't gotten any pictures of him, but my middle son, Andrew, has been able to help me some, also. He was the one who helped me get the windshield out. It's always fascinating to me to see how car builders 50 years ago had low-tech solutions to things we think of as modern inventions.

The bumper is off, at last! I figured out, after some cogitatin', that I could remove the bumper support from the frame, and then remove the bumper from the bumper supports. Took some doin', but we got it. Sure am glad that Brenda's dad left us some nice half-inch sockets and a big breaker bar!

The grille is off! After the bumper was off, I found two more bolts holding the grille on. I guess that might have helped to get it off previously. As you can see, the radiator is already out. You may recall that it was in the trunk when I bought the car, so it did not need to be removed at this point. You can also see the "mystery hole" on the right front fender. It is a round hole that would be behind the grille, and another one is in the inner fender nearby. I have only seen one other Stude of this vintage that has the hose connecting the two holes. I have not been able to find this in the Stude parts manual, so I really don't know what it was for. I think that it would have directed cooling air over the oil pump and fuel pump on the right side of the engine, but it is just a guess.

I am not sure what the name of this particular piece is, but anyway, it is off. I guess you could call it the "chin." I believe that at one time, there was a rubber gasket that went in between this piece and the fenders, but over time, it has disappeared. I did find some slight vestiges of old rubber there, but not much. The left side was a bit bent up, and one of the screws had been replaced with a nut and bolt. It's always gratifying when the bolt first begins to move, and depressing when it breaks off. I will be buying a lot of new bolts.