Technical Stude Pickup Warehouse Find

That halted the action for a little while. I had the local metal supply cut me four 6” pieces of 1/4”x4” to make plates for the removable piece of the crossmember. I also got some 2 1/2”x 3/16 wall square tubing to make the new center piece. I went a little heavier than I usually would because the torsion bars will put varying loads on everything. Of course, my chop saw is down in LA so I’ll need to find a different way to cut it. Torch and grind I guess.
In the meantime I decided to look at my newly acquired ‘62 389. I got it on the engine stand and tried to turn the crank….no way. He told me it turned. Hmm….
I pulled the valley cover off and it looks rusty. Like rust over oil? The lifters backed out until the varnish stopped them (normal). I pulled off the damper and timing cover. There was a high-water mark across the front of the block just above the bottom of the cam gear. Damn. I pulled the oil pan. Everything is rusty/oily.
It looks like it was left uncovered and partially filled with water, and then sat. I lucked out, it was frozen in a position where I was able to pull out the pistons and rods. The pistons are stock, the rings and bearings were/are brand new with markings still on them. There was Lubriplate or white grease in the oil p***ages of the crank and squeezed out on the rod journals. Someone did a Ring & Bearing job and then let it get ruined. Everything is standard size so far.

Markings are still on the rings….

It will clean up, but I will probably take it to the machine shop for a stock rebuild.
Oh yeah, did I mention; after correcting the timing and getting the current engine to run smooth and nice, I started it again a day or so later and the damned shaky idle is back. I warmed it up thoroughly but it’s still shaking. The distributor was tightened securely while it was running fine and I haven’t done anything except install the temp gauge, through the firewall and into the front of the manifold.
I’m thinking it might be my Studebaker curse…. I don’t get it, I’ve treated it with the utmost respect, I haven’t cussed at it, even when it drew blood I considered it “bonding”. It’s really making me work for it. Lol

 

Uhmm, idk, Bob. Maybe the Stude truck is "unappreciative" of the poncho mill, at the min not having the FI feeding it. I mean, the stude probably considers, the Poncho a step-down for "slumming". . Or maybe..., sounds the poncho the one grumbling & throwing the hissy fits, & the Stude is entirely blameless here... .
Hope you get your trans issues fixed. Going "late-model" w/OD?
Marcus...

 

Ha, ha, ha, I have a 392 Chrysler with a TH400 sitting in the shop just begging to be dropped into an old truck. It came out of my flatbottom ski boat. I’ve been fighting the urge….
The new trans? I’m undecided. I have a good TH400 and a good TH350. I’ve never had an ounce of trouble with the 400s but almost every 350 I’ve had worked fine, but leaked.
I also considered resealing the Jetaway and putting it back in. I kinda want to give it a chance, and keep it as the brothers built it. I’ve already invested a bunch of $$ in this thing and it still doesn’t drive. I’ll use what I have on hand.
I talked to Danny Pisano the other day and gave them an update. His father Carman built the truck, his uncle Tony owned it and helped build it. I mentioned that the old Pontiac was screwing with me and that I was ready to drop in my 392. He said, go ahead, you know my Dad would have. Lol.
But the old Pontiac hasn’t defeated me yet. It runs so good - when it runs good.
Today, I got all of the critical measurements taken and got all of the pieces cut for the new crossmember drop-out.

 

Studes like hemis - if the orig mill can't be retained... .
Understand about trying to use the current trans, I'd try the same thing, for the same reasons. & I'd be sure to have a "Come-to-Jesus" talk w/it, & the mill, letting it know in no-uncertain terms what will happen if it doesn't shape-up, since there's a couple of other trannies & mills eager for their turn... . I'm betting the poncho is P.O.'d 'cause it isn't crowned & fed w/the FI... . Good luck w/all that. .
Marcus...

 

QUOTE="nrgwizard, post: 14806472, member: 18434"]... I'm betting the poncho is P.O.'d 'cause it isn't crowned & fed w/the FI...
Marcus...[/QUOTE]
It shouldn’t be too upset, it’s wearing the top-of-the-line intake for it’s model year.
Black Panther mentioned 50 year old valve springs, he may be onto something there.

 

Could be, if they were sitting & held open for that long. ???
Ahhh, 2nd from the top . FI was top. Unless It had a rare(iirc - *all* recalled from all the mfgrs) Bendix Electromotive EFI. Can't remember if Poncho had a couple out there like Chrysler n AMC(Rambler, iirc). So, maybe 3rd from the top? .
Marcus...
W/o going thru this thread again, are the lifters solids or hyd? I suppose hyd could have small amts of **** or varnish in them, enough to move around just a little & periodically blocking correct function a bit? I suppose solids could be varnish(y) to stick just a little, or maybe(probably) the valve stems??? It is odd... you'd think that things wouldn't be on-again/off-again/on-again/etc, just be either on *or* off, in regards to sticking/missing/etc. ??? Just the front cyl on either side. ??? I know you checked the cap, wonder if there's a hidden internal crack or electrical leak on those 2 electrical paths??? Annoying, but sorta interesting "trouble". .
Marcus...

 

What's between the front main cap and counter weight on that rusty Poncho?

 

I'd be perfectly fine with boring old "Trouble-free"
It has hydraulic lifters. They clattered for a few seconds when I first started it and have been totally silent ever since. Amazing, considering the sludge in the engine. The only noise it makes is an occasional squeal from the belt - it's a hair too long.
I swapped distributor caps, rotors, plug wires and plugs - no effect. I ain't done yet...

 

80 grit sandpaper. I used it to clean the pads on the rods before I stamped the numbers on them. I couldn't see what I had stamped until I sanded them clean. Lol. The old eyes ain't what they used to be....

 

Hey, Bob;
I wasn't thinking clatter, as much as either staying slightly collapsed, or slightly non-compressed; messing w/the valve action just barely enough to cause roughness. So the varnish **** would be inside the lifter, eventually getting out in very little tiny pieces, or at least moving away from the oil p***ages. They are machined to rather tight tolerances, so it shouldn't happen, but... IDK. It'll be interesting to finally find out what. .
Marcus...
Lifter-preload is the term I was trying to think of. Long-term valve pressure from sitting open on the cam nose maybe weakened the lifter internal springs, + varnish, + minute crud = sometimes trouble???

 

Raining today so I had to play indoors. I modified some dental tools for the wife, cleaned and put away my previously abused tools while watching the F1 race. (Checo #1, Fernando/Aston Martin on the podium, and both of our Haas cars finished well - good day!)
I got the crank and cam out with little drama. The main bearings look new. No flat lobes on the cam, but there is a little rust on the tip of some of the lobes where the Parkerizing, or whatever it had, worn off. I need to make some wooden V-blocks so I can really clean and inspect the crank but so far it looks ok.

 

A few posts back I mentioned that I ordered a transmission jack. It got here quick. I ***embled it that afternoon and left it 'til tomorrow.
The next morning.... Dang. Everything I own leaks!!

I layed it down on it's side and removed the control rod and the open-close valve. It's supposed to have a quasi-swivel action at the valve but the pin fit was too tight and pulled the valve around instead of just rotating it. I also put a wrap of .010 thick aluminum tape around the valve under each of the two O-rings to expand them a little. Two wraps under the outer one. I drilled the holes in the swivel oversize so it actually swivels easily.

So far so good, no puddle the next morning.
I can't complain, it's an import so it's par for the course. I could have bought a USA made one for $800-1500 but at my age I won't be using it much, so a $225/free shipping import is fine as long as it does the job. I used it to hold a bucket while I drained the fluid out of the old Jetaway today in between rainstorms.
Call me crazy, but I ordered a reseal kit from Fatsco for the Jetaway, I'll get the trans out, throw some seals in it and see what happens. I mean, look how well it worked for the old Treadle-Vac ?

 

It's worth a try - might even work... . Then you'll be stuck using it for awhile... .
Good luck.
Marcus...

 

The wife asked me to pick up some oven cleaner while I was out yesterday. It reminded me that I’ve used it before to clean car stuff with pretty good results, so I got two cans. Man, has that stuff gone up! $6.99 a can at our local market. I tried it on the front of the new 389, where there was a high-water mark - rust up to the cam bearing, grease above that. I sprayed it on and went looking for an old rag to wipe it off. In just a few minutes most of the ugly was wiped off. I did it one more time and it looked like this. Not bad for so little effort.

When I showed my friend at the machine shop photos and asked about checking the block and crank for me I saw that look on his face, he wasn’t going to be too excited to get that ****py, filthy thing. I usually do my best to clean stuff so I don’t mess up his cleaning machine. I found my pressure washer and brought it up to the shop, got some (pre) cleaning to do. Another iron in the fire….

 

Hey, Bob;
Lots of fun poking, prodding, s****ing all the crust outta the water jackets n cyls, too. . At least you get new core-plugs from the efforts. But the effort expended is worth it, in terms of cooling, + no **** in the rad. Which will need cleaning, coolant pump/housing, etc, too. Interesting to see just how much old sand, core-wires, etc, is left in the jackets. Oh, the fun! . But would never skip doing it. .
Marcus...

 

Yeah, that’s the ugly part of messing with cars, especially old cars. There’s years of crud from just being ignored. The oven cleaner did a great job of loosening all of the crud, even the rust. It’s going to clean up ok. I clean it well before going to the machine shop, they clean it and I clean it again before ***embly
The underside of the Stude itself has a nice layer of oil leak thickened with road dirt. The upside is that sometimes all that dirt preserves the metal. As I s****e it off, there’s nice fresh paint and metal underneath.

 

I thought about it. It was very cheap compared to the $500-800 that some guys were asking on Craigslist. He did embellish the condition a little on the phone. But it's on me that I didn't make him show me that it turns. If I had known, I wouldn't have bought it, but that would have been a mistake on my part. I think it will be a good engine with some TLC. The heads look fine, may even have a recent valve job. Unfortunately, those heads won't work with the F.I. or my current 3x2 set-ups.

 

The point of no return….
I spent the morning s****ing and wire brushing the crossmember prior to marking and cutting. I took two more turns on each torsion bar bolt just for good measure, got out the trusty Sawzall and cut out the center. Now there’s room to get the big ol’ Jetaway out.
But first I’m going to get the new piece in and mount the old trans to it. I made the new crossmember plates a little big so I could move the main tube forward or back as needed to mount the transmission, but after fitting things together I decided to just install the new tube in the same position as the old piece and adapt a standard Chevy transmission mount to the Jetaway. For the TH400 or 350 I’ll make new center pieces that use the same Chevy mount.

Nothing sprang or twanged when I cut the center out, that’s the camera making things look saggy.

 

Shhh, don’t discourage him Mark. Bob and I have been in secret negotiations on a late model drive train I have

 

Thanks for the sentiment Mark. It may be silly, but I really have tried to keep it the way it was and keep any changes true to what I think Carman and Tony would have done back then as the truck got used. I worked for Carman on and off over the years and I kind of considered him like an uncle. I don't look at the truck or work on it without thinking about him. He was just one of those characters.
And yes, we do seem to think alike on this car stuff. I just wish I had had your eye for collecting over the years, my shop could have easily been Moriarty West. Lol

 

I too really like your truck, and your approach. If you went and put a small block Chev in it, it would just tumble down the cool ladder. Keep on pluggin' man.

 

A little update. I ended up having just a little time this afternoon to tinker with the truck but I’m very pleased with what I accomplished. I fit checked the plates to the old crossmember stubs by rigging up some clamps and stuff to hold them while I took some real world measurements. Surprise, surprise, my cuts were actually straight and square and required just a little evening out and deburring. I got the true length of the new center piece.
I re-cut the tube and squared it up. I did some final detailing on the plates, radiused the corners and edges and hit the holes lightly with a countersink. Then I tacked one plate on and tried it in the truck to be sure I was on the right track. All good, so I tacked on the other plate. I put it all together and tried to install it. It was close, but I used a file to dress a couple spots on each frame stub. With a little “influence” it popped right into position. A big clamp held it while I stood back to see how it looked. I think it’ll be ok….

I dropped the center so I could convert the Jetaway to a more modern and more available Chevy trans mount and still keep the full 2 1/2” tube cross section for strength. According to my miscalculations, if I end up using a TH400 I will just have to add a bracket to the back of the existing tube. A TH350 will require a bracket on the front. They all will use the standard Chevy transmission mount, pretty versatile. I hope to get it all welded up tomorrow.

 

Welding day and of course it’s windy, so I had to put up a tarp. I love living up on a bluff but there’s almost always wind, sometimes lots of wind. I welded up the crossmember in the shop before rolling my welding setup out by the hoist.


The first squirt told me that I needed to turn up the gas. After that the welding went well. That shelf unit lying on the ground? We have some powerful winds sometimes.


I made a bracket to fit the standard Chevy transmission mount up to the Jetaway.

The Jetaway mount uses two screws, one dedicated to the mount and one that doubles as a tailshaft housing screw. The new mount is cantilevered a bit but it doesn’t rely solely on the screws to support the weight. There’s a pad that the new mount bracket rests on as well.


All of the fabrication and welding is done, everything fits like it should. The center tube slides in and out easily (with the load off the torsion bars), whew. I took it all apart and painted everything with Krylon Rust-Tough low gloss black. It’s a 24 hour dry so it’s under the lamps until tomorrow.
I need to go buy some good hardware to finish it off.

 

Looks good! keep on truckin'!

 

Time to weld up a windmill for electric power

 

I’d like to have one to pump water. There’s a lot of Aermotor windmills out here putting water in the troughs for the cattle. When the power goes out, the well doesn’t work. We keep 5 gallon containers of water around to flush toilets with. We just got a bigger generator, that should help, I just need to hook it up. Country living, a whole new world for a guy who lived his whole life in LA. Lol

 

I put it all together, all done. I found some hardware without having to buy new. It looks like my transmission support will work fine to support the engine when I pull out the Jetaway. As soon as the seal kit arrives, I guess I’ll take it out.

I got my pressure washer running today and I made a V-block fixture to hold the crankshaft from the ‘62 389 so I can start cleaning it up. Once the Jetaway is out, I’ll pressure wash both the trans and the Pontiac parts.