lotsofgtos

New member here. Have a '53 Studebaker Commander that I want to LS1/T56. Any tips from someone doing something similiar? Donor car is an '00 Z28. Wondering if I can use the Z engine cradle/front suspension assembly with fabricated bracketry to the existing Stude frame? I do have a fair amount of mechanical/fabrication skills and want to do the swap myself rather than hire it out. Any info at all? Brackets, etc.? New to the ls1's, have spent a lot of time on tri-5 Chevys,60' and 70's muscle cars over the past 20+ years, though. Wanting to this swap right and am not afraid to ask for advice. Thanks, John

PBB

Welcome John,

There's a guy here (Stu Cool) who's putting an LS1 and 4L60E (Auto) into a '53 Starlight Coupe. Your best bet would to get in touch with him.

His member profile: https://ls1tech.com/forums/member.php?userid=32236
His '53 build journal: http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/jour...ge=1&reverse=1

Hope that helps.

-Matt

Stu Cool

iTrader: (13)

Hey John,

I am working on the very thing you describe. Our swaps are different because my Studebaker frame has a narrowed 68 Nova subframe grafted on to the front of it. Mine also already had a 350 Chevy in it when I started.

The folks at this link say they have Chevy motor mounts for Studebaker frame, scroll down to the bottom of the page. If you get those the S&P type mount plates on the LS1 should enable you to bolt the LS1 in, but that is only guessing on my part. I find myself wishing I had the Studebaker frame still so I could use their front suspension and R&P steering

http://www.studebakervendors.com/phantom.htm

As to whether the Z cradle would work, I do not know.

There is another fella doing an LS1 '53 at this link:

http://nelson-motorsports.com/studebaker.htm

He is using a repro Studebaker frame from Morrison that really looks trick, but way more money than I could spend. You could study his to see how it goes into something similar to the Studebaker frame.

Hope that helps, feel free to email me at p.dilling@comcast.net or send me a PM. I will send you my phone # and we can chat. I'll be happy to share what I know.

Great to have another Studebaker guy on the forum!

Pat

lotsofgtos

PBB and Stu Cool , Thanks for the info, I've had the same request at another site for about a week, the most help I recieved their was the link to this site. Stu, I was reading your build journal that PBB had listed when you posted your reply. Your project looks great! Hope mine goes together as well as yours. Thanks for the link to the vendor with the front suspension and R&P kit. Looks slick, thought a little pricey at first until I started adding up the cost and time of going another route. Now the kit appears to be VERY reasonable priced! Any idea of quality, customer satisfaction, etc. from anyone who has used it? I like the idea of your narrowed Nova subframe but with a kit like this available I think it would be the way to go as long as quality , fitment, overall end product , etc. have no shortfalls associated with them. The link to the builder with the Art Morrison frame is very interesting but a little too pricey for me. The AM frames are becoming more common on the high-end tri-5 Chevy builds though. Makes me just curious what the Stude frame would cost. I'll email you and chat with you when I get a little further along on the project and you can help me with the really technical stuff when I' getting REALLY confused. Right now I'm just getting all my ducks in a row for the swap. I know that Fatman makes a front frame stub for this car to be used with a MustangII front end but don' know if it would handle a good as I'm going to want the car to, that's why I was wondering about the possibility of using the Z28 cradle/suspension. Thanks again. John

RedlineBrian

This sounds like a really great project. If you go, please keep us posted. My Dad actually has a '56 Studebaker Commander. I've tried to convince him to put an LS1 in it, but he loves that old 289 "Sweepstakes" motor and his three speed on the tree.

Stu Cool

iTrader: (13)

John,

I don't know anyone personally that has the front suspension components, but there was a 53 in one of Rod & Customs rod competition events that had it. They drove it across country to compete and did pretty well, including in the handling and braking. That car had a small block Chevy in it and may have belonged to one of the kit developers. I think it would be a definite asset to open up space around the motor. My narrowed subframe has been a bit of a liability because it is tight around the steering box. You saw what we went through with the exhaust. I did consider trying to convert to rack & pinion, and that may still be something for the future. If I had a stock frame Studebaker I think that suspension I linked to would be a very strong candidate. Did you notice they also offer dropped spindles to lower the car?

Keep us posted

Pat

lotsofgtos

Pat and R. Brian, Thanks for your quick responses. Pat, I did notice the dropped spindles that they offer, should be just right for the stance that I'm after. I think the kit would open up room in the engine compartment as you also stated. Your header ordeal looked to be just that-- an ordeal, I respect your perseverence to make things fit. And it also goes to show me why the bolt-on front suspension and rack are the way to go, no endless hours of getting things just right, hopefully just bolt and go. I do know that a lot of the tri-5 R&P conversions suffer from excessive bumpsteer so I'd really like a testimonial of sorts from someone who has installed the suspension/R&P kit. Anyone????? I do consider the link to the components an EXTREMEMLY strong candidate and probally the route I will wind up going. Brian, thanks for your comments as well. Some of those Stude fans, like your dad, just want to keep it all Stude, I can't really blame them. My car left me no real choice as when I bought it it had no engine/trans, going back orig. would be too costly especially out in the West where I live. Excellent body, been in a barn since 1970, a never-done project of another rodder who has had previous 327 SBC Speedsters. The project will definately get done, the only delay may be if the z28 parts car becomes "fixable" rather than for parts only! I have a bad habit of seeing the good in parts cars once I get them home and falling for the "it will only take a little time and work to get it back on the road"! Focus! focus! lol. Thanks again, John

cracker

iTrader: (1)

http://www.lnjstreetrods.com/projects/50_studebaker/

kustomtool

I am also in the early process of an LS into a Stude with a Morrison Chassis.
Here is a link to another guy who did it. There are a lot of pics that might help. http://nelson-motorsports.com/studebaker.htm
I am new to LS motors but am a big fan of them and have put together a bunch of small & BBchevs, 351 Ford, etc. I usually like to choose my own parts and assemble my own but need to learn the "ins & outs" & differences of the LS first.
Morrison also makes headers for the swap but may need some tweaking.

Stu Cool

iTrader: (13)

kustomtool, Welcome to the forum. I have been following the swap at Nelsons for some time and am envious of the Morrison frame. I think he got one of, or possibly the first one so he had to work out some of the "beta" bugs. The LS itself is not all that difficult especially if you enlist one of the wiring gurus like John at Speatech to help with your harness and PCM reprogram. Most of the rest of it basic fabrication. You will need a high pressure fuel pump, but even that is pretty straight forward. Not saying it is easy, but it's not rocket science either. Let me know if I can help. Mine has been running almost a year now and I love it. I love the power and especially love the facial expressions and the "Holy ****" I get when people look under the hood.

Pat