I thrashed a couple of 544s in my youth. The only
critical [can't limp home] failures I could induce
were
1. The distributor cap will smash against the steering
column if you try a 5000rpm sidestep start and the
motor mount breaks.
2. The crankshaft will eventually break from the same
activity after about a million tries. 8-) The cranks
were readily available, as in the wrecking yard guy
saying "you broke a what!!?"
3. The distributor and oil pump drive share a drive
pin off the camshaft. Unfortunately the distributor
can keep turning without the pump. Found this out
about 40 miles from Winnemucca Nevada at 2 AM in
chilly October. That exhaust manifold glowed cherry
red and all the valves were tuliped before the head
gasket blew and I was stopped.
4. The exhaust manifolds broke and boiled/ignited the
rear carb rather often.
The P1800s used the same running gear as the sedan
[the late 544, and 122], a lot like the VW bug and KG.
Double a-arms up front and "truck arm" located solid
rear axle. The transmission shifter was a bit
different, the sedan had the long milk truck lever and
the P1800 the short now conventional looking one. The
P1800s had totally different bodywork and was
significantly heavier. The weirdest part was the
speedometer, a vertical thing that looked rather like
a cross between a model A speedo wheel and a
thermometer. The sedan had a totally 50s conventional
horizontal Buick type needle speedometer. Both cars
would scorch your leg if you ran the heater on high.
Swedish design thing I assume. My sedan also had a
flag attached to an underdash pull chain to close off
the radiator from the driver's seat. I do not recall
the P1800 having this.
Studebaker brakes and Ford clutches and wheels interchanged.
=====
Dennis Hale
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