Nice fixer upper. This is the second one I have seen. My cousin owned one back in the early 80's, they used it to pick up and deliver furniture for thier upholstery business. They used it for a couple of years and sold it. And yes it was a Ford right hand drive, I thought it was neat with the steering on the other side.

 

It has a full frame. Small 6 cyl. 240 cid I would guess. The engine is locked up will have to rebuild or replace.

 

With a full frame you'll have an easier time with rust-out repairs
It ought to be a fun little hauler when you're done with it.

 

If you need parts that are the same as the Studebaker Zip Vans, there are several Studebaker parts vendors that have NEW parts available.

SASCO located in South Bend, Indiana / Studebaker International located in Greenfield, Indiana. There's one or two more, but I'll post the names later when I can remember them.

 

SASCO,
http://www.studeparts.com/
They do'nt appear in the online catalog, but SASCO is descended from an outfit that bought the factory parts division and all sorts of treasures keep turning up
No guarantees, but they might be worth a call on stuff for the rear half of the body
Stephen Allen is an exellent source too, lots of old dealer parts inventory and used stuff
http://www.mystudebaker.com/index.html

 

SASCO = Studebaker Auto Sales Corporation...what Studebaker became after March 1966, when they stopped selling cars. SASCO was purchased by Newman & Altman, a former Packard/Studebaker dealer from South Bend, when they purchased Avanti (and the truck division) when Studebaker folded. At one time, Newman & Altman had THREE parts divisions: Avanti, Newman & Altman, and SASCO. Nate Altman was also a scrap dealer, and had been buying Studebakers obsolete parts since the early 1950's. N&A's long time parts manager owns SASCO now.

Studebaker International's owner is Ed Reynolds, whose dad was a Studie engineer. He had his own parts store in Long Beach, CA, and then bought out all Max Merritt's Studebaker parts from Max' Packard Farm in Indiana. He has more parts than anyone. I've bought out over 10 dealers stocks, and tried several yrs ago to buy out the fellow in Joliet, IL, but we never could arrive at a price. I've known Jon Myer (myerstudebaker.com) since the 1960's when we both lived in West LA.

Zip Van part numbers are unique. they are 7 digits long and start with 16, other Studie numbers are 6 digits long.

How do I know all this? Before I was a Ford partsman...I was a Studebaker parts man.

 

You'd need fairly deep pockets to buy out Bob Kapteyn
For a few years back in the 90s I had a vendor space at the South Bend swap meet, I parted out a few rustbuckets and made my Stude habit support itself
Unfortunately that chapter came to a close with my losing a job and my shopspace
I'm easing myself back into Studes, I'm also the designated mechanic for a sweet little 2R5 pickup, I've still got a 64 Challenger parts car and assorted goodies socked away here at the farm so all I need now is to get a decent hauler together

 

Couldn't remember Bob's name...his daughter lives near me, and he said he was thinking of moving west. The conversations to buy him out happened in 2004, after I heard about him wanting to sell at the SDC Convention in Charlotte (I was there, were you?). That was the yr of the vendor revolt.

Richard Quinn told me if I wanted to corner the Rockne market, Bob had tons of the parts. He told me other things, too. Bob would never name a price, he wanted me to make him an offer...uh huh, yeah right.

Have you been to the Museum lately....Is that 1934 Studebaker 8 foot banner hung up yet? I donated that in memory of an old Studie buddy named Bob Heimer, who passed several yrs ago.

I have a fair amount of GT Hawk NOS parts including a set (2 & 2) of those air flo wheel covers (AC 3278/79), but no 2R or 64 stuff..except for some R-1 & 2 emblems.

I'm no longer an SDC member. The chapter here only wanted to display the cars...boring, not tour in them. One old battle axe told me..."We can't drive them far, Frost & French isn't around to fix them any more."

 

The last National I went to was South Bend in 97, life went pear-shaped that fall
After my landlord sold me out it was just too damn painful to think about Studes for a while and I dropped off the radar
I've just started to hang out in the SDC forums and rejoined the club this spring.
I've got a lead on an old-timer with some some Studes 'behind the barn' a few miles from here so I might be back in the the thick of it next year if things go well
This 2R5 is almost road worthy, a fresh wiring harness and some TLC this winter ought to have the old girl ready for a Pilgrimage to South Bend in the spring
You can definitely put me in the 'drive it forever' camp, I tear up thinking about all the flawless Cali Studes that are *still* going to the crusher
My Dad is taking his time getting his Tonner up here for a heart transplant, I'm kicking around the notion of diving into the ate-up front axle on 'Ol Spot', a 79 F 150 4x4 he's got parked up here, so I can *haul* stuff

 

Does SDC have a site like this? That would be great...I could go over there and argue with ppl after I get tired of doing it here.

 

"Does SDC have a site like this? That would be great...I could go over there and argue with ppl after I get tired of doing it here. "

Yup
It does'nt have *quite* this much traffic, but I bet you'd have fun in the tech forum
I go there through the main SDC page at:
http://www.studebakerdriversclub.com/
There are a happy few maniacs working out ways to make Studes go fast at:
http://racingstudebakers.com/stl-web/bulletin/bb/index.php
And Stude truck enthusiasts network at:
http://www.network54.com/Forum/23885/
There are some others out there, but these are the ones I hit often

 

Congrats on your purchase of a rare, and almost extinct Ford. I dont know if i can help on the sheet metal but its all flat panels and should be easy to patch or fabricate. You may be interested in knowing that your G100 Van was based on the early Bronco chassis and many parts are interchangeable. Radius arms, and many other misc. suspension and frame components, instrument cluster, headlight rings, steering wheel, and rear axle to name a few. I wish you much success in your investment. Many of these trucks when retired from Govt. service, became ice cream trucks and i still see them occasionally in very rough but running condition.

Another note; it should be equipped with a 250 CI in line six and a C-4 automatic transmission. The C-4 version in the G100 was produced in a limited production van/passenger car variant for the G100 application. In other words it wasnt the typical pan-filled version found in Ford light trucks, and probably wont fit any ford vehicles designed and sold for civilian usage.

 

John,
How's the restoration coming? I am having a hard time finding a replacement radiator for my 1971 Ford G100. The previous owner put an after market p.o.s. in it that tanked on me the other day. Could I bother you to send me the OEM number from your radiator? It would help immensely. I'm finding the right size radiator here and there, but the inlet and outlet connections are on the wrong sides. Any insight you could give will be greatly appreciated. Check out the pics in my gallery!

 

long time no posts...how's restoration coming?

 

Yeah! pugzbarbq isnt the only one who is interested in this,

~C-4 Master~.