1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk

Coupe

8 - Cyl.

Manual

6800460

Gasoline

1956 STUDEBAKER GOLDEN HAWK3 Speed Overdrive With Power Steering & Power Windows This is a numbers matching 1956 Golden Hawk (56J) produced at Studebakers Los Angeles plant and originally consigned to Mission Motors Studebaker in Ventura, CA. The car has spent its life in the greater Los Angeles area until coming east about 5 years ago. I acquired the car from a good friend who kept it in a climate controlled garage, and since I owned it it has spent most of it's time in a non climate controlled garage. Since owning it I have driven it regularly had it has always started right up and never given a day of trouble excepting for a few minor "routine" issues which I have had promptly taken care of. On the open highway it cruises nicely, straight and true. At 65MPH the tach reads 2200 RPM and the engine really loafs when cruising! This particular example has the most desirable option set among 56 Golden Hawk enthusiasts, and only around 149 such examples were ever produced: -352 Packard V8 with Carter WCFB 4BBL carb-3 speed manual transmission WITH overdrive-3.27 rear axle (originally equipped with a 4.56 rear axle which was replaced by the dealer making it a far nicer cruiser)-Power Steering-Power windows-Tinted Glass-6 tube bushbutton radio (electronically restored and working)-Clock-Backup lights-Climatizer (heater)-Front seat belts A copy of the build sheet for the car will accompany the sale.It is an olderpaint job repainted in the original correct colors (sunglow gold & snowcap white ). Chrome is very good original; a few marks on the rear bumper mainly and very light pitting on the top area of the checkmarks which meet the front of the fenders, but again honest wear that presents well. There are two small areas of concern to the body: both on the left front fender. There is rust bubbling near the top rear which is about 2 1/2 inches round, and another area at the very bottom of the same fender about the size of a quarter which is rusting. Finally, there is a pencil point line of dotting that is just beginning on the same fender where it meets the door. This is extremely minor but it should be pointed out. Both rocker panels are beginning to exhibit pin points as well, so they also should be addressed. However NOS rocker panels are commonly available so depending on what you want to do, you can easily repair these or just swap them out. There are no other rust, rot or body issues whatsoever. The floorboards are 100% solid as is the trunk floor, fenderwells, frame, etc. The interior is shot and needs to be redone. Definitely the upholstery and the headliner. I have new kick panels which go with the car. Dashboard is good and personally I would not bother having it recovered. The steering wheel however is an original and it is perfect. Everything works fine in the car, the radio, power windows, clock (quartz movement installed which drives the original hands etc), gauges, overdrive, electrical system etc, excepting for the backup lights. The wire leading back to them broke and I never got around to replacing it, but it is a very easy fix. Also, the cable running from the heater control to the valve is not connected. The original valve needs to be resealed and I temporarily have the heat regulated via a generic valve under the hood leading to the heater core. NOW PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY:The engine at present needs a ring job. The heads were completely rebuilt two years ago and are fine, however recently while driving I began noticing a skip and noticed some greyish smoke coming from the crankcase ventillation tube on hard acceleration. I had it looked at and the diagnosis was a ring job is in order. The engine still runs and starts up right away and is quiet, with normal range oil pressure, but its' time for new rings, and of course while its apart a new set of main bearings. I have a NOS set which will go with the car. Since owning the car, I have replaced or rebuilt the following: -NOS correct Auto-Lite generator-Voltage regulator-Electronically restored the radio-New front Coker Classic wide whitewall tires (rear tires are worn and should be replaced)-Rebuilt the heads-Replaced the brake master cylinder-Rebuilt brake slave cylinders This car is definitely not a candidate for a total frame off restoration (unless of course you wanted to do that). Tend to the rings, repair those few isolated rust bubble spots, put in a new interior, maybe rechrome the rear bumper swap out the check marks if you run across a perfect NOS set (good luck with that) and you've got a real sharp showing Golden Hawk with super rare and desirable options that will cruise sweetly anywhere! Reserve is set taking into account the costs of the engine, interior, body repaint, etc and then some. Successful bidder agrees to $500. deposit by PayPal with 48 hrs of close of auction and balance payment via certified check or cash within 7 days. As with any used or classic car, there are no warranties. Buyer is also responsible for shipping. I have sold many classic cars and will work closely with your shipper to make pickup easy and uneventful! When it comes to options, they don't come any more desirable than this one. Don't miss it!On Mar-14-12 at 06:49:17 PDT, seller added the following information: I have uploaded 11 additional pictures of the car which I took this morning. In addition I have even more photos but I am restricted to only 23. So if you would like additional shots please send me an email and I'll get them over to you. Please be sure to include your personal email address since I cannot send photos over the eBay system! Also, when I started the car this morning it started right up and ran smoothly on all 8 cylinders, no problems at all. So I'm thinking the ring issue is becoming a borderline attention related problem. What this means is the car can be driven for relatively short distances however I would get the ring job done NOW before cruising around with it this summer! Finally, I forgot to mention above, the rear main oil seal is worn and will of course be replaced when the ring job is done and the crankshaft is lowered from the block. Also, the timing gear cover is beginning to leak. I found the bolts were all loose last summer and retorqued them to 15 pounds which stopped the leak, but they are getting loose again, so while the block is being done I'm certain the meachanic doing the work will replace the seal and properly tighten the bolts to only 10-15 pounds! IKf you overtighten them you bend the cover seal which causes seepage. So stick with 10-15 pounds and all will be right with the world!