Thread: Stude M5 build

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Most of the frame swaps I've seen look terrible mostly because the wheelbase or track were not even close to what they should have been. The explorer frame was really close to the stock dimensions. Swapping to a modern frame creates it's own problems,I sometimes wonder if sticking to the stock frame would have been better. Every decision takes you in a different direction. I liked the idea of factory built suspension, steering and brakes.

I like your idea of a diesel swap, that could be really cool. If I had done a 4X4 version of this it would have been a diesel for sure.

Thanks for the kind words guys.

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I got my engine harness fuse block, data port and check engine light built. Following the tutorial on Lt1swap.com. Today going to loom and route the wires around the engine and sort out the under dash rat's nest. Still more wires to deal with, like the TCC brake light switch and neutral safety switch, have to run a wire to the fuel pump.

I'm so glad all that info is available on LT1swap.com. I used his info on my 5.3 swap. Nice work on your wiring. I have to finish mine up on the Camaro too. Just need about 10hrs more in a day.

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I got my engine harness fuse block, data port and check engine light built. Following the tutorial on Lt1swap.com. Today going to loom and route the wires around the engine and sort out the under dash rat's nest. Still more wires to deal with, like the TCC brake light switch and neutral safety switch, have to run a wire to the fuel pump.

Your bringing back some bad memories for me. Wiring is kinda fun for me, but after 4 days on your back it's not fun anymore. I wanted to make my own harness for my 5.3 but due to time being valued over money at that time I broke down and bought one.

I did a lot of mental debating whether to buy a pre made swap harness but my cheap side won out. Also the point of this project is to enjoy the build process, not to get it finished. It has been a lot of work figuring it out but the challenge is kind of fun. Hopefully I got all the wires right and it works right. I was going to try to build a body harness from scratch but I chickened out on that one.

Putting new gauges in the old panel, going to keep itooking stock. Getting decals made for the faces, will paint the needles gold.

I like your work idea on the gauge cluster. Are you going to blank out the faces on the new gauges so just the markings on the original face show? Are your new gauges 2 inch?



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Yes 2 inch. There's a guy on the Studebaker forum that makes decals for the gauge markings. I'm going to paint the faces and put the decals on and it should look stock if you don't look to close.

Cool. How are you going to view the speedometer for accuracy? all the others look viewable .

I'm going to have to drive at a know speed and cal it from there. It's not going to be totally accurate at all speeds but I think it will be close enough. The other gauges I will make note of the range they need to be in, so not great detail there either.

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Still waiting to finish my dash decals. I have made some progress on other things. I got the radiator hoses figured out with the steam vent. Also got the intake tube and air filter fitted. Last, the trans cooler mounted and lines made. Getting closer to an engine start up.

It's looking really nice.

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I got one of the decals on after painting the faces.

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Got my gauge panel back together. Also did some work on the dash. If you look at a stock stude dash they have a couple bolt on panels that run across the front of it. I welded in those areas so it's smooth across the front. Also filled in the radio area and going to use that for the AC controls and use one of those hidden media players instead. I plan on making a ribbed aluminum speaker grill for the center like the old chrome ones.

Looks great !!!!!



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