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then you have to worry about stopping it with the single shoe drum brakes. Plan about a block ahead . . . :-D I understand somebody's making disc brake conversion kits for it, and if I drive it any distance I'll have to see about getting one

Hmmm... Maserati fuel injection - and puny drum brakes. Yep, it might be a good idea to upgrade that Stude. Check with TurnerBrake.com, they have reasonable prices and the kits use commonly found brake components from GM and/or Ford. You'll have to put different wheels on it, though - the old wheels won't clear the brake calipers.

While the brake lines are disconnected, go ahead and put a dual-reservoir master brake cylinder on the car, too - those old "fruit jar" master cylinders are scary. One little leak in any brake line and *all* of the hydraulic pressure goes away.

I like to see a restored classic car, but I think that I enjoy "restomods" even more. You can hide an amazing amount of modern hardware in that Lark, such as a Borg-Warner T-5 transmission. An overdrive cruising gear would sure be nice, and if you nose around the Studebaker tech articles on the web, you'll find one that describes the swap in great detail.

Wow! Thanks for the advice! (if you need help on any topic under the sun, just check on FR).

I think dad may have already put a new master in, I'll have to go under the hood and look. I checked the website, and Turner recommends replacing the master at the same time you do the disc brake conversion. Relying on that emergency brake cable to grind to a halt is a slim reed!

It's definitely not concours and I'm not into that (my late father in law was, but he was a pre-1939 man and that is WAY out of my league!) and dad has made all sorts of odd modifications to the car along the way. Some - the aerobatic harness and the caution placard on the glove box "CAUTION - Do Not Open Windows At Speeds in Excess of 120 MPH" - I kinda like, others (the black plastic replacement rear view mirrors) I definitely do NOT. I think I'm going to try to take it back to original cosmetically (except for the placard!), but with the running gear, as far as I'm concerned, anything goes. (I'm not doing a thing to the engine, though, I've never heard one purr like this one. My only complaint is that the radiator is too small, and there's NO ROOM - you couldn't fit a dime in the engine compartment.)

What was the T-5 tranny originally built for? I had OD on my TR-6 and (other than the fact that nothing that Lucas had a hand in really works right) it was nice.