I definitely have my hands full. But, yes. Doable.

 

Greetings,
First time post for me, but I'm so focused on your project that I wanted to chime in. I too followed the methods of Racer X on the motor & trans mounts. When I put the Stude core support in I found that Studebaker centered the core support on their engine, but Dakota places the engine 2+ inches toward the passenger side. Not terrible since I'm planning on using the Explorer rear & it has a similar non-center on the rear diff & I had room to use the factory Dakota gas tank. Since I also wanted the radiator to be centered with the front of the engine, I cut the the difference out of the passenger side of the core support & added it to the driver side With the core support doing so much I thought this would be the best route. The adjustment in the core support caused the top of the support to interfere with the hood, so I cut the top of the support & rotated it to the back side oft the support to not interfere. I did this while mocking in my radiator. I'll try to post some pics. I also decided to cut the front of the frame rails so the front fenders would go down over them with my 2 inch dropped spindles in use. If you're still awake reading all this, congrats!

Pic showing shift in core support.

After shift caused interference with hood. Took this pic before rotating the cut off top to the back under the water inlet at top. I need to go back & dress-up the rotated top of the core support.

Front sheet metal mocked up. Shortened front of frame rails to go behind the fenders. Waiting to get my sway bar on order before doing my more on frame rails.

 

Sweet build, Oldie52! I am winging it on my build. I am no slouch on fabrication, but at this stage in life taking on this scope of a project can be a bit intimidating. The first project in retirement was a 750cc Kawasaki motorcycle that a close friend gifted me. It had been sitting outside in Anaheim, CA for 19 years. 34K miles, and nature tried to reclaim it. I did a frame off resto mod. I used a front end off a '05 Honda CBR600RR sports bike, rebuilt the engine, gusseted the frame in 6 places, and turned it into a Eddie Lawson tribute, Yeah, it's only a 750cc, but it handles like it 's on rails!

 

Great work on the bike! Those Kaws were really screamers. I've had a few bikes over the years & it's really easy for me to get the fever. I'm a bit OCD, & used to drive my wife nuts over bikes. I moved on into buggies & handrails in the early to mid-80's & then the cruising cars & trucks when I started going to cruise ins & shows. I'm so slow anymore so it's good that I'm just trying to stay focused on the Stude, but need to take a cold shower sometimes to keep from getting the fever for other stuff. You are keeping me inspired.

 

There needs to be more threads like this one! Pics and explanations of what was done.

 

" I moved on into buggies & handrails..."

Handrails? Maybe you are older than me! LOL! I have been a desert rat my whole life. I had this car for almost twenty years.



It had a 220 horsepower EJ25 Subaru engine in it. Two months prior to it's 20th anniversary of being in my garage, my shop burned down and took the baja with it.



A raw deal, for sure. I was building a street tracker out of a Suzuki LS650 Savage at the time as well. It was 90% complete at the time of the fire.

 

Dagon Spell Corrector! I blame Bill Gates for that stuff. That off road rig was really cool. Like your Suzuki too. I know it's no consolation but you still have great pics & memories.

 

Thanks, Oldie... You have an interesting take on your core support and radiator placement. I'm not sure I would go that route, but it's interesting!

The other day I put in an order with Classic Enterprises for some new Studebaker sheet metal. The driver's side step up, and two new upper floors. All three have sever rust issues, and cutting large sections out and welding in new metal is worth the cost of the replacements. Today I am doing some running around to get what I need for the Ford 8.8 rear axle. New axle bearings and seals, new e-brake shoes, and some mineral spirits to clean the outer areas for weld prep. I need to remeasure the link bar bracket placement one more time before they become permanent. Rear axle work and body mounts are at the top of the to do list.

 

I pulled the trigger today on the window seal & gasket kit for the cab. It will go on the shelf until the glass is procured, but I figured I found it so I might as well...

 

Sounds like you're making progress with the back half & the rear end.
The rubber for the cab is is something I don't have yet, but couple of years back I watched how quickly the prices were going up, so I bought a lot of the parts to finish the truck. I've had my share of 'scope creep' on this project. As I was working through the fab on the bed I bought a bed cover in case I needed to modify the bed to get a cover for a newer truck (stepside, etc.), & found Realtruck would make one, so I didn't need to modify the bed. The only Stude body parts I had were the cab & some badly rotted front fenders, so I tracked down & bought a decent bed, hood, & grill. The cab is stretched 10" & chopped 2", so I spent a lot of time getting the body part placement on the frame. I put the Dakota bed floor in the stude bed, & am putting a 55 Bel Air dash in.

Roughing in custom bed cover.

Roughed Dak bed floor.

Grafting-in 55 Bel Air Dash