Was the battery ground cable originally braided and how long was it? Mine seems painfully short. Is there a proper replacement or reproduction available?

Yes, braided. And quite short, I don't have one handy to measure but by memory less than 8" in length.

I don't think that's possible unless mine is connected to the wrong place which is under the oil filter bolt closest to the battery holder. Mine is probably nearly a foot long, yet I have to hang the battery over the side of the tray for the cable to reach it.

My mistake Don, I was speaking of the chassis ground strap, not the battery ground - sorry I misread you. But yes, the battery ground is a woven strap and if you look at factory photos it is routed under the battery hold down and thence to one of the oil filter bolts. There is an excellent illustration in the shop manual, page 1 of the electrical section, which shows both the style of the cable and its routing beneath the battery hold down frame.

Edited, Group 60 battery both years, my error (again).

Thank you, that makes more sense on the negative terminal and looking back at my question I see it wasn't really very clear. Do you know how long it should be?

On the battery size, there was a recent discussion here on the original battery size which I copied and pasted into my notes where it says that the original was group 60 but maybe group 55 was a replacement? This is getting a bit confusing as it also mentions group 31 and others!

Don

That's interesting. My kit from Kanters came with the (optional) shaft, vacuum washer and extra bits for the Treadle Vac etc. Hope I have everything now. Thinking about getting into it before the paint job, if I can find a way to get the car up in the air safely. Outside activities have pretty much ground to a halt now with the coronavirus problem.

I didn't spot these kits online, although mine came from Kanters in just a few days. Can you share where you got yours, for future reference?

Cheers

Brian

I posted it somewhere (I think it’s in my Tale of Two Patricians blog but don’t recall offhand. They also offer reproductions for the master cylinder casting.

Edit: I bought the kit and Bendix casting here but note that the casting is missing a bent hole that I had to drill.

My trim code is 41 which according to the saleman’s manual Light Gray Diamond and Black Nylon. However, my car has Light Gray Diamond upper, black leather or vinyl for the armrest area and what appears to be Black Diamond at the bottom. My Clipper’s seats are also partially vinyl or leather along with the Light Gray Diamond seating areas. Could a trim code have variations or where there changes?

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That looks to be the standard 56 Clipper Custom / Executive style. The trim code only refers to the predominant materials in the seats for quick identification, not to everything that was in the interior. All of those cars had the heat sealed vinyl panel in the seatback to suggest individual cushions.

Late in the year when excrement was impinging the ventilator there were substitutions to use up old stock and save the expense of buying new. My customer's 56 Super has '55 400 fabric on the seat inserts instead of the painfully delicate stuff used earlier in the year. Later, '58 Studebakers came with a variety of leftover Packard fabrics. That makes good sense for a struggling firm. Here is a Champion with '55 Clipper super fabric. This is an unusual survivor with less than a thousand miles, built in south Bend and exported to New Zealand.

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That’s great information, thank you! The trim 41 shows black nylon but I’ve found no such material in my interior but there is black diamond.

Interesting, though, about the pressed material on the center seat backs as I only just noticed it when looking at photos that I took a while back. The interior is gray and black but I can't tell from the photos if the seat vinyl is gray or if it's faded black but the door panels definitely have black.

There also seems to be confusion in the trunk lining material as the sample I received says “exact match” and does seem to be what restorers are using but it is more of a light tan with dark gray squares while my original is distinctly black and white houndstooth. Anything on that?

Incidentally, not far from here is a right-hand drive 1956 Studebaker that was made for the India market and was originally owned by a much-liked monarch.