Sisters men draw crowds with rare race car

Jeff and Jerry (J.T.) Taylor of Sisters have built a rare, if not unique, race car: a 1964 Studebaker Daytona. Wherever the car has raced, officials and fans gathered to snap photos, ask questions and give compliments.

What those fans don't know was the central question, the question that guided this project from first nut to final bolt, the question that spurred father and son as they worked over 18 months to create something from scratch without any history, manuals, or guidance:

"How hard could that be?"

How hard? To take a car that was engineered in the '50s with suspension components barely updated from the '30s and design, fabricate, fit, test - and occasionally start over - and build that car into a racer to compete with Mustangs, Camaros and Corvettes, and race at high speed on tracks in the Pacific Northwest? With no one to call who had done it before?

Really. How hard could that be?

It's not like they didn't have some experience; Jerry and Jeff were partners in the Les Schwab Taylor Tire Center in Sisters; Jeff now runs the store. Looking up at the walls of J.T.'s shop, there is quite a photo gallery of cars he has built over the years.

"We built three (race) Camaros in a row. We would build, race, sell. Build, race, sell. Build, race, sell. I had done all the Camaros I wanted to build, and was out of business for a couple of months. But Jeff and I discovered we missed it," said J.T.

"Soooo, we said, 'OK, let's build something together, 50/50. It had to be different. It had to be GM powered; we are Chevy guys and weren't going to change now. That left AMC, a Chevelle, or a Nova.

"Then a friend said, what about a Studebaker? There are FIA papers for a Studebaker."

FIA stands for "Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile," an organization, like the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA), that sanctions cars to race under a set of rules. Most vintage race cars have to meet FIA or SCCA specifications.

"We did not even know what a Studebaker looked like. What year, what body styles, or what they had for a motor. So we started researching, and found the 1964, '65, and '66 Studebaker Daytona two-door, hard-top car. Though it seemed like it could be difficult to make it work, we asked ourselves, 'How hard could that be?'"

They found a Daytona on eBay. They went to pick it up in Tulare, California. During the drive, a story began to evolve about the "history" of a project that had not yet happened.

"Two crippled minds on a two-day road trip," explained Jerry. For Jeff, the tale began because "that car is so weird, it had to have a story."

That is the story of racer Rex Easley, son of the owner of a Studebaker dealership in South Bend, Indiana, near the Studebaker factory.

"We believe the Studebaker dealership in South Bend, Indiana would have sponsored the car, (had it existed) and Rex would have had all the parts he would have wanted (if he had raced)."

An announcer described the car and its "history" at a Portland race this summer, over the loudspeaker system to crowds in the paddock. It was then suggested he say the name "Rex Easily" out loud. With a smile.

After bringing the car back in August, 2006, the two went to work. What followed was a year and a half of discovery, research, occasional frustration, and, if you know the Taylors, a lot of laughs.

Every single nut or bolt that could come off, came off. Every single part was blasted and painted. And except for the blasting, the car never left the shop in Sisters.

"I said I was not going to do the Jerry Taylor total nut and bold total restoration job. But I did," said J.T. A 30 gallon can of undercoating was chipped, chiseled or burnt off the car. Metal was cut out. Eventually, the car was lightened by an astounding 300 pounds.

The Studebaker runs a 9-inch Ford rear end with a 4.10 final drive ratio. Studebaker had closed its motor production plant in 1964, and in '65 and '66 General Motors licensed to Studebaker use of the 283. Under the FIA rules, that can be bored out to 302 cubic inches.

The 302-cubic-inch Chevy, breathing through a 750 cfm Holley carburetor, is probably in the 425 horsepower range, pushing the grunt through a T-10 transmission. There was a disc brake option and a four-speed option in the day so that is what was installed.

Of course there was no kit for the roll cage, a structure of steel tubes welded together to protect the driver in the event of impact. The Taylors put it where they thought it belonged, but will move it.

"We would feel better if the seat was more laid back, so we are going to move the seat back three inches," said Jeff.

The stock front suspension originally had "negative caster," somewhat like wheels on a shopping cart, not the best for high speed stability. That system had to be re-engineered, then built.

"Building a car from scratch is tough," said Jeff.

"There is no one to call. Nothing to look at. We had to figure everything out," said Jerry. Sometimes they worked together, sometimes separately.

Jeff redesigned the steering system while Jerry was out of town.

"Some things are just easier that way," Jeff explained. "There are certain things to do when J.T. is not here.

"J.T. can fabricate and plumb. I wire and do the engineering and fabrication," said Jeff.

Jerry retorts: "We also might need a small disk with a hole in it. Jeff would say 'we could use the 40.50 nuclear irradiated steel and I'll mill the part.' I would say, 'Or, we can use this washer.' Jeff will say, 'We can reengineer the rear track bar and machine the ends.' I will say, 'Or we can cut the heads off these bolts."

Building any race car takes money, even if all the work is done in your own shop. The partners split costs as well as the work. J.T. said they kept every receipt, and when they finally tallied up what each had spent, there was a $160 difference.

"That was pretty amazing," said J.T.

They both said that building the car is 3/4 of the fun. And the fun factor is not to be underestimated when talking to the Taylors. The car has real license plates from its home of "origin," South Bend, Indiana.

Occasionally they will be asked at the track how they lightened the car enough to race.

"We tell them we took oak out of the frame, and put in pine," says J.T. with a nod, and barely a smile.

J.T. is the driver this year. Jeff is going to get his racing licence this fall or next spring. J.T. loves the fact that the Studebaker, running it's GM motor, "is between two tanker Corvetes and running with them. And we are going to get a lot better.

"We have ideas, and a VISA card. After all, how hard can it be?"