In reply to 759NRNG :
Thanks... there is a lot more to the story...If I am fortunate enough to work out a deal, it should be fun for several reasons.
In reply to 759NRNG :
Thanks... there is a lot more to the story...If I am fortunate enough to work out a deal, it should be fun for several reasons.
https://www.1956goldenhawk.com/
A great website for all kinds of info.
In reply to a_florida_man :
Long time lurker but definitely a car I know something about.
I had bought a '56 Sky Hawk (one step below a Golden Hawk) six or seven years ago out of Florida that was probably in similar condition. It was a fair amount of work but turned out great and I put a bunch of miles on it and ran it in the Great Race 3 or 4 times.
1956 in my opinion was a good year for Studebaker. The Loewy Coupe was introduced in 1953. It and the 1954 were beautiful to look at but not so good to drive. 1955 was a less than successful restyle and in 1956 they did another, more successful restyle and renamed them the Hawk series and it finally got the stiffer frame, 12 volts, and bigger front brakes it needed.
From 1953 to 1955 they had a confusing set of names; Starliner for the hardtop, Starlight for the coupe, and then another name, either Commander (for the v8) or Champion (for the flathead six). In 1956 they renamed them all as Hawks. For 1956 they had the Golden Hawk, Sky Hawk, Power Hawk and the bottom of the line Flight Hawk. The Golden Hawk and Sky Hawks were hardtops and the Power Hawk and Flight Hawk were coupes. In 1957 and following they just had the Golden Hawk (hardtop) and the Silver Hawk (coupe).
All had Studebaker engines except the 1956 Golden Hawk which got the heavy Packard 352. For 1957 the Golden Hawk got the Studebaker 289 V8 (not a ford) that the 1956 Sky Hawk had except it got a McCollough supercharger to go with it.
All of them handled like a car from the '50's but adding the bigger front sway bar from a later Hawk really helps as do adding front disk brakes. Some guys are big proponents of later non-Studebaker sway bars and quicker steering arms as well.
This is a cool car. A Golden Hawk even in this condition unless its frame is rusted out has a good bit of value. Studebakers are great solid cars, built by engineers. There is a classic photo of some Studebaker engineers at a conference table with a plaque that says "weight is the enemy". While I'm not too sure how successful they were with that I appreciated the thought.
The Studebaker Drivers Club forum is full of info and parts are pretty readily available; Matt with Stephen Allen Studebaker (in Florida) was my go to guy and is very knowledgeable.
Good luck!
In reply to dke :
Thanks for the input.
Do you have any pictures of yours?
Id be interested in seeing before / after etc..
In reply to a_florida_man :
In reply to dke :
Great Job!
What wheels are those in the second pic?
Another Studebaker positive, the wheel bolt pattern is 5 on 4.5", dirt common. All of dke's comments about the club support are 100%, the people make the club. It is a one make group with a great ethos, all are welcome from the Nelson's and their radical racers to the preservationists.
There is 1000 + hours of free time to be used up on that car.
Some see that sentence as 1000 hours of chores
Others see it as 1000 hours of golfing or fishing or whatever else you do for fun challenge.
The style and untouched nature of that project will be intriguing to those that enjoy the journey.
In reply to NOHOME :
I'm in for the 1000's of hours of fun and joy in enjoying the style and the challenge of preservation with 100% function*.
Does that count? lol.
* If I can work a deal, lol....
In reply to a_florida_man :
and I'm in to read about it!
EDIT: I did not know the 56 Golden Hawk was so unique among Hawks. I wouldn't seek one out, but at the right time and place I'd take one.
The wheels in the picture are 17" from a late model Mustang. They were new take offs from a 2018 v6 Mustang I think.
The backs fit with no problem, the fronts required a spacer. If you want to stay with steel wheels (and factory wheel covers) the 6.5x15 wheels from a 1990's Crown Vic fit just fine.
I did my Sky Hawk in about 6 months of nights and weekends. Like any project it was a lot of work but not thousands of hours.
The car had sat since the '70's and had about 75K on it when I got it. I sold it last fall with just over 100,000 on it.
In reply to dke :
Thanks for the info on Stephen Allen Studebaker and on the wheel sizes.
Im going to want to take a set of rollers along for loading onto the trailer.
Stephen Allen Studebaker is about 20 min from my house so that's a good sign right?
It sounds like your car was resurrected from a hibernating state very similar to this one.
Feel free to share more before and after pics of it, if you like.
The other pics I didn't load on pg#1
I did the Sky Hawk specifically to run in the Great Race. I had run it previously in a smaller car and wanted something a little bigger and always wanted a Studebaker so that was that.
Should you not be familiar with the Great Race I would describe as a ten day over-the-top cross country rolling circus of a time speed distance rally for old cars where first place takes home $50,000. It is competitive, challenging, expensive, exhausting, demanding of the car, the driver, the navigator, and a whole lot of fun. And you will run with a bunch of cool cars; over the years we ran with everything from a Toyota 2000GT, an original unrestored '55 Corvette, a handful of real Shelby Mustangs as well some Hudson speedsters from the teens among a bunch of other cars. (The newest they can be is 1974). Obviously, your car has to be as bullet proof as you can get it.
So once I confirmed the Sky Hawk had good compression I just did the basics. Cleaned the tank, new hard line from the tank to the engine compartment, carb work as required, new belts, hoses, water pump, new gaskets as required, new motor mounts, new trans mount, serviced the transmission, new u-joints and center bearing, had the driveshaft balanced, new rear wheel bearings and seals, etc. I learned that an aftermarket aluminum radiator for a cj7 with a small block chevy was almost a straight bolt in (although I don't know if the water outlets are on the right side for the Packard engine). I also added pertronix ignition and did some suspension work.
The brakes took some work. I added front disks (pretty sure the kit was from Turner), new lines, new dual master, new rear wheel cylinders and the kit came with a manual proportioning valve which took a few tries to get right.
Then I did the body work and some rust repair and prepped it for paint and had Maaco spray it. I went with white to not advertise my limited body work skills. It turned out fine for my application.
Compared to what I've seen others do on this forum this was a walk in the park ;).
And I eventually replaced the generator with a 3 wire GM alternator. And eventually had the transmission rebuilt. (It was a Borge Warner transmission that Studebaker call the Flightomatic; Ford's version was the Fordomatic, which was later named the Cruiseomatic, which was later named the FMX. I think I got that right). Anyway, not all were automatics; I would have liked to had the three speed manual with overdrive which the Golden Hawks also used as well.
Over 20k+ miles with no problems. And over the years it went from upstate New York to Nova Scotia, up the west coast, from Texas to South Carolina and back and from Rhode Island to North Dakota to Texas. Got to admit, there is not much to see in North Dakota.
And regarding using a small block chevy, there was an article in Hot Rod magazine in the late '50's about do that so that is nothing new. Having one with a 700r4 or newer would be nice no doubt.
They are great cars, well ahead of their time. And there is a reason the LaCarrera crowd and the Bonneville crowd like them as well.
Yup, that's about what the Sky Hawk looked like. And I can almost smell it from here ;)
In reply to dke :
Thanks,
This one has the 3-speed manual with OD.
From what I read, the Packard engines are pretty tough. On this 352 there can be an issue with air entrainment in the oil pump that causes lifter noise, but there is a fix for it.
I'm a big fan of dual circuit brakes, so the next step to discs is easy enough.
I've spent some time already on the great race website. I find it to be fascinating. It's on the bucket list!
dke said:Yup, that's about what the Sky Hawk looked like. And I can almost smell it from here ;)
Do you know if the rear quarter panels bolt on or were they welded on?
In reply to dke :
How's the quality of the wiring?
In my '58 Healey, it was alluminum wire, covered in cloth and varnished, I think.
I replaced it all.
The rear quarters on the Sky Hawk unbolt. In later years when they got metal fins the fins were spot welded to the quarter and to the panel next to the trunk meaning the quarters would only unbolt if you drilled out the spot welds for the fins.
But the 1956 Golden Hawk had the only fins of the Hawk series in 1956 and I'm pretty sure (but not positive) the fins were fiberglass and were bolted on the car not spot welded. If that is the case the rear quarters should unbolt after you unbolt the fins.
So I think the quarters on a 1956 Golden Hawk will unbolt but am not 100 percent sure.
The 1956 Golden Hawk fins are smaller than what came later.
A few more before and after pictures. I found it pretty easy to work on. 
dke said:The rear quarters on the Sky Hawk unbolt. In later years when they got metal fins the fins were spot welded to the quarter and to the panel next to the trunk meaning the quarters would only unbolt if you drilled out the spot welds for the fins.
But the 1956 Golden Hawk had the only fins of the Hawk series in 1956 and I'm pretty sure (but not positive) the fins were fiberglass and were bolted on the car not spot welded. If that is the case the rear quarters should unbolt after you unbolt the fins.
So I think the quarters on a 1956 Golden Hawk will unbolt but am not 100 percent sure.
The 1956 Golden Hawk fins are smaller than what came later.
Yes, from what i've read the fins do bolt on.
Removeable quarters are nice, for wheel well cleaning and rust proofing.
Thanks
In reply to dke :
great car. I like the look of those steelies. What did you replace it with?
Thanks.
The steel wheels were pullapart 6.5x15 1990's Crown Vic wheels with Dodge cop car hubcaps. They were originally black and later painted gold.
The alloy wheels in the later pictures were 17" from a late model Mustang.
Not surprisingly, it rode better with the 15" wheels but handled better with the 17" wheels.
In reply to a_florida_man :
I'm 100% in the camp of clean it extremely well to preserve the exterior and interior and put it on the road!
AxeHealey said:In reply to a_florida_man :
I'm 100% in the camp of clean it extremely well to preserve the exterior and interior and put it on the road!
We are in the same camp.
They are only original once!
Make every needed mechanical repair
Make it safe
make it reliable
make it water tight
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