Hot Rods Studebaker? Turbo? Truck?... Huh?

Well I haven't posted here in some time so I thought I would post some pictures of this goofy truck I saved from abandonment. Its already an orphan being a Studebaker and it was last touched in 1977 when the previous owners were not able to finish a motor rebuild. Fast forward It was a Gifted to me 2 years ago and it was totally complete and stock down to the 4 hubcaps. so I got it running and took it for a spin and WOW was this thing underpowered I guess that is to be expected with a 75HP flathead 169ci six. I decided I would try my hand at a Hop up on the old six. No amount of available speed equip. could do much for a 169 flathead six so I decided to go all in.
I have been driving it for about 200 miles now and its now a fun and kinda scary truck it drives if you can imagine like a 2 stroke tractor. Its all or nothing I only have the wastgate set at 9psi at least until I get the water methanol inj. system put on im going to work on that next week. Oh and BTW everything is made from 304L Stainless steel.
here are some pictures

 

and here is a dumb video of me driving it I hit 9psi at one point

 

Uhhhh...... OK! I was preparing for another ho hum LSx swap. Nope! Very nice fab work. Are you using the original trans and rear? Looks like EFI ? Give more details man!

 

Well good clean install. I see the micuni smoothbore, but what's the turbo? A custom built unit for the engine or???

 

Well done! Love it.

 

Good eye its a Mikuni 48mm flatslide with a bowl spacer for volume. and I bought the turbo off a riceburner that was upgrading . The turbo is a custom T3/T4 Garrett that I modified with a carbon seal and also rebuilt and its water cooled.

No efi here hell im even running points and the rest of the drivetrain is stock but rebuilt its a 3spd w/OD and a Dana 41 w/4:89s

 

NICELY DONE!! Beautiful workmanship and appears very well thought out. Congratulations and Thanks for sharing.

More details would be appreciated.

Ray

 

Well you did a different change then what I did with my '51. I was given a '51 when I was in high school that needed the transmission installed. it was a stone for sure but I drove it around for a couple of weeks until a friend decided to put a hemi in his '57 Hawk, he gave me the V8 out of the hawk. Wouldn't go much faster but it would get going as fast as it would go faster.

Nice job anyway.

 

Here is how the header started life .108" wall SS


Mikuni Vision... Bird Strike anyone?

 

Benno...you Silver Tongued Devil! Hemingway has nuttin' on you!

 

I love this project - always liked the old stude trucks. Underhood did you paint green over undercoating? Do not see EFI, sucking Micuni's gas through turbo will eat away turbo blades over time. Same with water injection into turbo. Love more detail on brakes and drive train. Wonder what power it makes with turbo. What 0-60 time? Stick with the patina paint job - love it all.....

 

Wow, that is some incredible work! I was fearful that you were gonna stick a late model diesel in there or something. Amazing fabrication sir.

 

Eventually the truck will be Oliver tractor green so I painted the engine compartment when I had the chance and over the factory under coating that shit is really on there so I figured fuck it.. Compressor wheels are cheap and it will take a long long time to hurt one. The H2o/Meth will be shot into the manifold. Im guessing 200hp tops when I get up to 17psi. Oh and the brakes they are totally new 11" x 2" stock Studebaker truck with chevy truck finned drums on all 4 corners.

 

Really nice. looks like a Stude is an engine that would respond to reliving. I had a GMG 270 with two Corvair turbos. I ended up using a throttle stop to limit boost. Must like aircraft. As Beaner stated. It just slowed down the rate of acceleration. Not the top speed. I like your choice of truck. If you need anoyher with a nine inch rear and Fatman Fab pinto front located in San Mateo give me a PM.

 

I feel so dumb. All I did was put a '63 Pontiac 421 in my Stude. Fun, sure but not near as cool.

 

Where does one look for a Mikuni of that type ??

Ray

 

Any cycle shop or Egay its the largest flatslide made its a Mikuni HSR 48mm its ment for big cube race Harleys. In retrospect its most likely a little big for this motor.

 

Man that's so cool. Well done!

 

Hey, BYB;
Thanks for posting.
Excellent job on the fab work. Stude mills do respond well to turbos. Like the job you did. Any more detail pics of the I/E manifold. & what else got done to the mill? Additional specs, etc. Good parts are available, some speed equipment(new), but turbos give the best bang for the buck.

If you haven't seen the write-up, TurboStude did some interesting work w/a 169 + turbo. Set a couple of records @ Bonneville, & the one in his coupe hauls it, when he drives it.

Another friend (Dave in Indiana) has a M-type pu, 169 w/a (IIRC) Mercedes blower w/a sidedraft carb, designed a bypass for it, & it really wakes up the Champ mill. Not a drag toy, but has great street manners.
Marcus...

 

I shot a lot of photos when I was fab'n the in/ex man. my phone got destroyed along with all the pic's ....Lame.
Turbo Stude's Bonnie car was the inspriation for me.
Some details on the engine :

• .060" overbore,
• cast pistons no Carbon grove,
• Castiron rings, .015" gap,
• SS Ex. Valves Nos Intakes,
• Intake guides cut for Teflon seals,
• stock cam and springs
• stock forged rods and forged steel crank .030 .030
• Aluminum cam gear
• Modified oil pump exits out the top and into remote filter
• Closed crankcase ventilation W/ exhaust venturi and valve
• ARP head studs torqued @ 60#

 

Definitely a one-of-a-kind turbo set up. Looks super fun!

 

Its funny I kept the original motor because I wanted it to be stock. Im tired of engine swaps and reengineering everything. I ended up reengineering everything anyway. I seem to make simple things as hard a possible. Character flaw on my part.....
I think I just like puzzles.....Make em then solve em.

 

That's way cool! I have several vehicles with the Studebaker 170 in them, but they are all WWII track rigs called the "M29 Weasel". Never have had a minutes trouble with the engines, they seem bullet proof in stock form. Don't think I need to turbo any of them, but I am thinking seriously about a Ford C-4 conversion. When crossing a swamp or mud hole, they bog down and need more power, when I push in the clutch to down shift the resistance of the slop the tracks are going through stops the rig and I have to start from standing still. An automatic would down shift quickly enough to keep my momentum up and hopefully keep me going.

Are you planning an automatic for your truck? Has anyone made this conversion? Here's a video of my main runner several years ago. Sorry, for some reason youtube keeps downgrading the quality of this video. Not intending to hijack your thread, just thought you might be interested in seeing a different style Studebaker operating in it's intended element.

 

MAN that weasel is killer thank you for sharing. I love it. I have wanted one since I discovered they existed many years back. Not a cheap toy!!!

 

nothing like a mild easy upgrade

 

Thanks for the info. Any additional pics, etc of the manifold would be nice, if you have them.
TIA.
Marcus...

 

Backyard guy. You need another one of those trucks. I even have a '62 OHV 170 Stude champ motor and 3 speed I'll throw in.

 

Here are some shots of my 3D model

 

Some very impressive fab work there. ...