Phase IV: Studebaker Conversion: Fitting the Body to the Frame


After completing the frame grafting, I completely painted the new frame for corrosion protection. We then mounted the drive train into the new frame. We did not have the rear springs yet, so we leveled the chassis using a floor jack for measuring purposes.

I prepared the body by cutting out the spare wheel well. I needed this space for the new gas tank location. We lifted the Studebaker body with a forklift and carefully eased it over the new frame. We lowered the body to the frame and given that we had used 2/3 of the original Studebaker frame, the rear of the body aligned with the original mounting holes of the frame. We located places for the front of the body where we would attach new brackets on the frame to support the body. We pulled the body back off and installed those frame horns.

Back on the body went, and this time, we created clearance to fit the body down to the frame but to leave space for the transfer case. I needed to remove about 1 square foot of the original floor tunnel. After securing the body to the frame, I added new metal to the transmission tunnel and covered the new metal with rubber coating.

Fitting the front clip to the new frame required a bit more work around the very front of the frame. But we accomplished that with new frame horns and a little notching of the Chevy frame.

We test-fitted the front clip and everything looked good so we bolted it all together.