Joel and Karel Daniel hosted the South Georgia Studebaker meeting this past
weekend at their house in Macon.  I made it up for the day and just wanted
to post on the board what a great time it was.

Bruce Garey and Loren Hendley had their GT Hawks there while Pat Skelly
showed up in a brand X so the wife could have more room for shopping.  Poor
Pat. <g>

Neil Thornton drove his Avanti.  I had my 57 Silver Hawk there and Joel had
his Studebaker Patrol car sitting in the driveway to control the speed
demons.

There was a large number of South Georgia members there and I'm sorry I dont
remember everyone's name to list.

The food was great and I am really glad I took the time to drive up for the
weekend.  I'll be back again.  So I just wanted to say thank you to the
South Georgia Chapter and to Joel and Karel for the great day with fellow
SDC'ers.

For those who were at the meeting you probably saw everyone looking under
the hood of my hawk trying to help me find my problem which had me pretty
much stranded.   The car went from Daytona to just past Jacksonville fine
then start lurching and sputtering as I went down the road.  I would pull
over and after sitting a few mintues would make it another 20 miles before
the problem started again.

At the meeting we found a hose that was missing a clamp that we thought
might be the problem so we put a clamp on.  We also put some clothes pins on
the fuel line incase it was vapor locking.  I dont know if this works or not
but after the day I had driving up I-75 I was willing to try anything.  We
looked at the fuel filter and it looked clean.  So after the meeting I
headed out and started for home.  I didnt even make it 10 miles on 475
before the problem started again and this time it seemed to be getting
worse.

After calling Jerry Forrester he thought maybe it was my fuel pump so he
drove over 120 miles each way in the rain to bring me a fuel pump at 8pm and
to put it on the car for me.  (I am not that mechanically inclined with
engines)   Jerry went way out of his way to help me out and was there when I
was in trouble.  Thanks alot Jerry.

We think its fixed and Jerry heads back for Douglasville and I start
southward again.  30 miles later I'm coasting on the shoulder with the car
going dead everytime I even try to give it some gas.  Frustrated I make it
to 100 miles from the FL state line and see a sign for $29.95 hotel rooms.
That was a low enough price I decided I was going to stop. haha  After
pulling off the interstate I see a wal-mart.  I figured the only thing left
to replace was the fuel filter so pulled in there and went in to buy one.

I spend the next hour in the parking lot taking off the old filter then
putting on the new one only to find I didnt have enough hose to hook it up.
The old one was a longer glass filter and they didnt have those in walmart.
So I start examining the old filter and noticed it came apart (something you
mechanics know already but I was learning in the parking lot of walmart last
night......)

While under the hood in the parking lot an older lady probably in her 60's
comes up and looks at the car and says: "I havent seen a 56 Belair like this
in a long time"  I told her it was a 57 Studebaker and she tells me "Its not
a Studebaker, it has the fins like a BelAir".  She walks around the car says
something I couldnt hear well and walks off. <g>

anyway......
The inside of the filter was all dirty so I took all the pieces apart, blew
it clean as a could then put it back together the same way.  I go to put it
back on the car when I realize the guys who rebuilt my engine put the fuel
filter on backwards.  Not wanting to reverse the flow thru the filter and
send dirt into the carb I put it back on the way it came off and was able to
make it to Jacksonville much faster with fewer hesitations than I had been
having.

So 6am I pull into Advance Autoparts in Jacksonville and curl up in the
front seat of my hawk to sleep til they open.  This was the first time I
have ever tried sleeping in this car and it will be my last.  Once they open
I go in and find the filter and replacements like is on my car.  I confirmed
it was on backwards and after replacing the filter and properly installing
it I made it from Jacksonville to Daytona with no further problems.

So finally at noon today I pulled back into my driveway in Daytona
Beach...... 20 hours after leaving Joel's house.

But I'd still rather have my Old Studebaker then my Dad's Hot Rod Ford.
<seg>

Sam Dixon
http://studebakeronline.com
138 DAYS TIL CHARLOTTE 2004!!!