Putting a volare clip in a Studebaker Where to begin?

First, decide if a Volare is what you really want. Are parts available? Will they be in 10 years when it's time to refresh?

Okay, now what is the wheelbase and track width of both the truck and the donor?
WB will affect the ackerman. Track width will affect wheel selection and looks.

Next, line up the truck on the floor and mark out front body mount, radiator location, wheel location, firewall location and steering column/box location. Also mark out the frame rail width from the axle centerline to the back of the cab.

Move the donor to the same spot and mark the same things.

Make plans for each variance.
Will the sheetmetal and radiator mount work?
Will the sheetmetal clear the frame?
Will the engine clear front and back?
Will the engine still fit in the new frame location?
will the steering column enter the cab at the same point and angle?
Will the 2 frames cross at a point where splicing and boxing are realistic?
What is the plan for the brake master?
What about radiator hoses, brake lines, exhaust and other routing?

A friend of mine bought one of those clips at a yard recently and wanted to hang it on the front of a '56 Plymouth that he is building. He asked me for advice and since I had never done one, I asked a rod builder that I respect about the process. The builder had done a few of those, but not recently and does not recommend them because they were not that good to begin with and now those parts are 40 years old
I remembered that I worked at a NAPA store in Kirkland when the Aspen / Volares were new and had conversations with the techs in the Kirkland, WA motor pool. They had ongoing problems keeping the police cars in alignment. It comes down to this, if you are going to build a high dollar street rod why would you want to build it with worn out parts???

Do yourself a favor and get an IFS kit from a reputable rod chassis shop and have it professionally installed.

Parts for that clip are all readily avalible,brakes,bushings,suspension,steering,all mother Mopar and engine bolts directly in. Just would like to see pictures and how to determine ride height. I'm very capable of welding it in just want to make sure it's in correctly.

Sounds like you have your mind set on the Volate clip. Can I ask why? Have you considered a Dakota front end? I have used them on both Dodge and Ford frames, they are readily available, easy to install and drive great.

F/M body isolated front end has a multitude of problems, but that being said you probably won't get killed from using one. The cop cars exposed some metallurgy and quality issues that eventually got dealt with.... so you'd probably want a unit out of a late 80s gran fury or diplomat rather than a late 70s F body. But any would work.

The issue you'll never be able to deal with is the wandering. The lower control arms are double-jointed so to speak, one rubber joint on the control arm, and then the rubber pivot joint on the torsion bar that doubles as the strut. this tends to make them follow the grooves even a little more than your standard mopar. I drove a 79 Lebaron and then 81 diplomat for years and you tend to get used to it. they're flawed designs, but it will get you around.

I think if you came up with a auxiliary strut arm or radius rod and gusseted the upper control arm towers it'd be fine. And if you do that, be sure to sell the patent to one of the aftermarket guys

Its been a while. If I remember correctly, the original mounting ears were designed to be level with earth (front to back, and side to side) at ride height (ride height is important). That should set the upper control arms with the rear lower then the front by about an inch, to an inch and a half,(there is quite a visible difference, if you have an opportunity to see one still installed in a car, look at the upper control arm angles) from level. You need to be sure you have the spindles centered in your wheel openings, and square to the truck. You also need to set the distance from the frame correct for your ride height and clearance when everything is done. Though there is some height adjustment, cranking the cross torsion bars up will be short lived, they tend to settle down pretty fast when they are under load, and there is very little it can be lowered. Its important that the K member be set and positioned correctly, then adapt the frame to meet the correctly positioned K member. Resist the temptation to adapt the K member mounting to making attaching to the frame easy. Compromising the correct location of the K member for ease of installation is most often what gave these clips a bad rep. The other issue is the torsion bar mounting pieces, (and other worn suspension) be sure yours are good.

If you are using the original steering box, be watchful of the angle of the column and the steering column clearance with the motor & firewall. The box sits back on the K member and it tends to have a pretty steep angle for the column on old trucks. Steering U joints can only handle about a 25 degree angle from straight, the the box is close to the firewall (at least was on the 3 I did).

The Volare suspension gives a great ride under a mid 50s truck (I had one under a 54 Dodge pickup). They tend to feel a bit mushy if you do spirited corners, and bigger sway bars are the only fix. The brakes are excellent, especially if combined with 10" or 11" rear brakes. Two of the 3 vehicles I installed these clips under were my personal vehicles. One went 70,000 after the install without issues, and the other went 40,000 miles without issues. Both vehicles were sold for different projects.

The later versions of the K member (from 5th Ave/Diplomats) had a reinforcing bar added under the upper control arm, bolted to the adjusting plate. The extra reinforcing plate helped the alignment issue the early cars had.

You have the K member in hand, and it looks pretty clean. Mount it correctly, and use it. That said, there are better and more easy to mount clips available these days, for your next project. Gene

Thanks for your info,the clip I have is very decent and your right about the Dakota clip but we are building this project with limited funds and got the clip to next to nothing. Truck is a 64 Studebaker with 69 440,727,8 3/4 but wanted to shed the straight axle. Anyone have pictures of thier build? Would
Appreciate some.
Thanks!

in most applications the subframe will have to notched into the stock frame to keep the ride height normal----that part is a tedious job---you also have to use a center sump oil pan on the 440.....

I put one in my 56 Plymouth ..and it's great..I now have disc brakes and power steering , and t/b suspension..car runs low 11's gone thru the traps at 119 mph straight and smooth.. and I have driven it from FL to NJ and back twice..RB power Mine is from a 1986 5th ave that I bought for $259 with bad motor..Got the whole car ,used the steering colume and anything else I could take....Easy install ..remove the coil spring ,weld a flat plate on the inside and notch the frame for the pads and go..

Be forewarned, cars and trucks have different frame heights compared to ride height. If you cut notches into your truck frame to mount the K member, the front sheet metal will be on the ground.
The car has the crossmember under the motor as the lowest frame point and the suspension attaches to the side of it. Most truck frames do not have a cross member under the motor, and the lowest frame point is under the cab. The suspension sits under the frame (sometimes by quite a distance). I don't want to sound like a broken record, but make sure your final ride height will be correct before you mount the K member. Gene

Thanks, I'm going to make sure all the weight is in the pickup and check & adjust for ride height before we do any cutting.My cousin did exactly what your talking about which is why i'm on here getting as much info as i can before i cut.
Thanks!!

Putting that front clip should be interesting. Could be fun as well. A good group of workers and pals should be able to tackle it and get it propper.

one of my friends put that k member under a 56 ford truck----he did not notch the frame and it sat so high he had to let the tension off on the torsion bars-----the truck handled like shik he said he learned his lesson on the shortcut of NOT notching the frame..

On my 54 Dodge, I cut the original frame off 11" in front of the front cab mounts and welded a 2" x 4" tube subframe into the existing truck frame, that area was boxed closed. Then I built mounts and bolted the K member to my new tube rails. I tied the front of the tube rails together with a tube end cap that sat below the side rails. This front tube was welded and gusseted to the side rails. The front tube served as a bumper bracket location, as a radiator surround support which was also front fender support.

The original frame rails on my Dodge were 6" high. I installed the tubing with the top of the tube 1" above the original rails, and my truck sat too low. The bottom of my front bumper was beat up bad, as were the leading edges of the running boards. A 12 oz pop can just fit under the front of the running boards and they scrapped many places.

If you intend to mount the Volare clip by the mounting brackets, the front 2 bolt holes are 4" on center wider then the rear 2 mounting bolts. My tube rails were composed of 2 sections of the tubing, welded side by side about midway to the front, the wider section towards the front. Unfortunately, all of my pictures of the truck construction went with the truck. There may still be a poor picture of the black painted frame, I will see if I can find it. Gene

Thanks Gene,we're looking at cutting the front rails n going with square tube just deciding on using the mount holes or welding solid.

Would anybody have some lamens info on an idea or way about cutting into the front frame horns beings due to a champ truck is not similar to an older f100 frame wise? (F100 being the only common threads available for complete info). Any info or ideas such as laying the existing frame up and back or fabbing up new frame horns to allow ease of a lower stance and mounting.

Last post was before updating the info you had put up. That seems to be very good info on a way to properly mount and fit. Are you saying that you have placed a "notch " or bars connecting the front and rear sections , passing around or above the installed suspension setup? As in using the member as a section of frame and incorporating bars or tubes to cross over the top of the now in place member ?