Some people have seen my Model A Truck at one event or another over the last 18 years since I got it on the road. It runs a Studebaker 289 and 4Sp that came out of my 55 Stude Commander Coupe. Long story short, on my way back from BTT50’s last year, I had 10-15psi of oil pressure for most of the trip. Something was wrong and I needed to fix it. I have been dragging around a Back-up Studebaker motor for about 8yr now so I figured it was time to send it to the shop for a rebuild, this time I want to go faster, well as faster as you can make a Studebaker V8 go. This is a later block so it has the full flow oil filter system too. The build sheet is as follows: - 0.060” over bore to give me 299ci - CNC ported heads with R3 Valves and R2 Springs by Jeff Rice (DeepNHock) - Custom Aluminum dual plane Intake by Jeff Rice (DeepNHock) - R2+ cam by Ted Harbit - Custom equal length Headers (Already on the car) - Aluminum Timing gear to replace the original Fiber one (That had partially eaten itself) - New lightened Flywheel with a fresh clutch disc and TO bearing
Everything was going well, I found a local Machine shop that is experienced with Cadillac and Studebaker (I won’t name them because this part of the story does not go well). I dropped off the short block and began to patiently wait in line. In the mean time I started to clean up all the sheet metal and bolt-on parts for a coat of shiny white. Blasted everything and picked up some single stage paint from Eastwood. Now I have painted engines before with single stage and it turned out very nice, however the Eastwood paint does not seem to be as robust as the Nason I used before. The first call I got from the machine shop was an indication of how this was going to go, they obviously did not check any of the parts when they came in. They accidentally ordered 0.030” over pistons and rings so that’s how they bored the block, and they wanted to know if that was OK. HELL NO it’s not OK, I asked for 0.060 and that’s what I want. Second call they re-bored it and were about to put in the cam bearings when they noticed two 6” cracks in the block, how they did not notice it during the first two boring processes I don’t know, and they obviously did not pressure check anything, so the backup motor I have been carrying around all this time was junk, I had to pull the partial flow 289 out of the car and strip it down over a weekend so they could continue.
Third call I get, the short block is ready so I picked it up and paid my bill, it was a big bill. When I got home and pulled the bag off, I noticed the timing gear was fiber, they ordered and installed the wrong part…. AGAIN. I pulled the cam and took it back to them to get the correct part and press it onto the cam. ***embling the short block: Heads went on with no issues, using a 50yr old motor manual, last time I did this to this motor was with my dad in the late 80’s. Put on the oil pan and got it all sealed up then I looked on the bench and saw the Oil Pump staring back at me. Pulled the oil pan, installed the pump and put the pan on for the 2nd time. I was supposed to get new oil pump gears and bottom plate, but the machine shop neglected to get them, I checked everything and all clearances looked good so I put the old one back in. Flipped the motor over and install the valve train and found somewhere the crank snout bolt got stripped, looks like someone held an impact on it a bit too long (Not Me). Luckily it didn’t mess up the crank threads, but I had to get an 11/16-16 ($$$) tap to chase them so I didn’t screw up my other bolt, made an oil priming tool and filled it up with zinc break in oil. Primed the motor and promptly shot a ¼” stream of oil 8’ across the shop into the side of the Model A, they forgot to install a plug. Fixed the plug, got it primed and noticed oil on the outside of the pan. ****, what I thought was a small nick in the pan turned out to be a crack. Pulled the freshly painted pan to weld the crack, re paint It and install it for the 3rd time.
Primed it to 80psi while rotating it and was happy as a clam. Now to slap on the flywheel and bolt up the bellhousing and transmission so I can stab it back in the car. The flywheel bolts on a Stude go through the back of the crank flange and have to be inserted before you install the crank. They put in flex plate bolts instead of flywheel bolts so they were ¼” too short. Drain the oil, off with the pan, pulled the rear main cap and was able to swap the bolts. Oil pan goes back on for the 4th time. Install the Lightened flywheel (removed 28lb.) Re primed and I’m back where I started. Install: Got the bell, trans, etc. all bolted up and stabbed it into the Model A. Put on the new intake and Holley carb. Bolted up the headers, exhaust and driveshaft. Filled it with fresh coolant and had to chase some leaks in the water pump housing and water pump. Pulled the pump off again to flip it over so the weep hole was on the bottom.
Start Up: Cranked her over and got it going, I started to mess with the timing and noticed a steam cloud coming from the p***enger side. Shut it down and discovered water ******* out of a poorly installed freeze plug…. ****ed by the machine shop again. Luckily, I was able to pull the header and install a new one in the car. Re ***emble and start again, this time no leaks, until it reached temp and built some pressure in the cooling system and 3 more freeze plugs started to leak. It’s the Oil pan all over again 4 out of 6 leaking freeze plugs is not good odds for a supposed professional machine shop. I heat cycled it several more times to see if anything else was going to spring a leak before I did any more repairs. Pulled the p*** header and replaced another plug, the driver header requires removal of the starter and part of the steering shaft. On the driver side I also discovered one of the freeze plugs had a piece of the seat broken out, I felt around inside the water p***age and all of them are thin at the top on this side, there must have been some core shift when they cast this block. Not uncommon, and not something I can blame on the machine shop. Everything is all fixed now and back together and ready to be started again to see what else goes wrong. This brings us to today.
I was all ready to say how cool it was that you were running a Stude. And it is. In the long run the frustration is part of what makes it cool.
This has been going on over the last couple months. Two weeks ago when the first freeze plug leaked I let out a string of adjectives that would make the toughest biker blush. Then I picked myself up, filled my gl*** half way up and made a plan. When the other 3 started leaking I just shook my head and added them to the list. Now I just need to fix what is broken so I can have my car back for Summer.
Love Studys too,had 5 of them,4 V8s an one flathead 6. Sorry ya got bummer shop there,we have enough probs from just age,with out screw-ups by A SHOP. Wish I still had any of my Studys. I do beat my self up some the same way keeping my Y-block Ford running. For fun read,for those that need some Study info;https://www.hemmings.com/magazine/hcc/2015/03/America-s-Best-V-8-Engine--Studebaker/3747591.html
I feel your pain! I went through the same **** with a supposed "professional" rebuild shop also. They made a mess of my 50 flathead and I had to correct more **** in that motor than you would believe. Looked like it was built by the owners 15 year old son! I now have it running after a lot of effort and it sounds great. Stick with it! You'll get er done!
Some good things happened too. I finally brazed a bung on the oil pan so I could hook up a Oil Temp gauge that has been in the car for the last 10yr. I added an off topic A/F meter which should really help in tuning. I also have a set of 3.55 gears and an Auburn Locker to go in the rear end after I get the engine all sorted out.
Great thread, I will be doing the same in the next 24 months or so. Get that Hell Rocket to a ch***is dyno, gotta see what she pulls. Mine will need the stock intake however.... Do have the Delco dizzy or Presto lite?
Delco Dizzy with points (No Pertronics) Jeff can build you a low rise intake that will fit under the hood of an Avanti. Do you have a machine shop yet, PM before you use one in IL. or check my thread on RacingStudebaker forum.
I fired it up last night and ran it enough to get the coolant hot and build some pressure......NOTHING LEAKED..... I need to do some adjusting on the idle circuits and check the timing curve, but I think I am finally over the hump.
I think you should call out the shop that built the motor. It may help someone else in the future to know who to stay away from. These ****ty businesses need to be named, so they can either clean up their act or go out of business.
I'm glad you stuck it out. My R2 Avanti has low oil pressure too, but given the lousy shops around here (well maybe lack of shops since the three I knew of closed) I am dreading what they will botch. Shop manual or not, they all screwed up every engine I had done in some manner. Because of that, I think I'll take this engine on a road trip for machine work, but haven' decided where
raise your fist and yell "STUDE POWER!" Kidding aside, very cool, actually, and very nice truck. I have a late full-flow 259 going together right now. It was supposed to be a runner when I bought it, but when I got into it, I discovered it had blown head gaskets and both the water spaces and the oil spaces inside were full of Barzleak or it's equivalent. No choice but to tear it down. A friend who is into Studes volunteered to do the heads for me. Every exhaust valve was cooked and/or pounded out, but the heads were not warped and the valve seats were able to be ground. He installed new guides, replaced the bad valves with good used ones from his stash and put it together with a three angle valve job. Tearing into the bottom end, I found all of the rings stuck to their grooves, but the bores were all still within spec, and pistons in good condition (after hours of cleaning them). I had my machinist clean the block and hone the cylinders. Decks checked for flat. He also installed new cam bearings and freeze plugs. There was one main bearing that started to disintegrate, but all the rest of the bearings, rods and mains, looked like they could run. The crank mic'd std so I had it polished. The motor is going back together with new rings, bearings, gaskets and a new AL timing gear. It will probably end up in a big ugly President I have sitting out back. So, I guess where I am going with this is, I started with a core 259 that had been totally cooked. In spite of that, all of the major pieces (block, heads, crank, rods, pistons) were still usable. What do you have to do to a Stude motor to get it to crack? Did it freeze, bad casting, something else?
Still tuning the carb, I have a lean condition and this is my first time playing with a Holley. And I got sidetracked when I took an upholstery cl***, so now I am making door panels instead of working on the motor.
@flt-blk, What a helluva Cool Hotrod, and your incredible patience and perseverance is something to behold... That Timing gear was a great appetizer for a journey with mechanical to human error and all in between...and the oil pump deal, that gets one talking to oneself eh... You know I often say it never gets old and this Thread is a great example...First I've seen it... I know your Ride is Shiney (maybe it's just the hood the rest is as above) now but it looked really sharp here as well...Hope it's still delivering smiles per mile after all that jazz...
It's getting shinier by the fender. The Grill went shiny about a year ago, and the p***enger side got shiny blue just before my Bonneville trip. Truly one piece at a time. 2 more challenges cropped up, The hood and +0.060 over bore. I have it running a around 180-190 but it climbs more than I like it to. Made a fan shroud which seems to help some but I would like to get it back to the 170-180 it used to run. I also added a 5sp when I did the 3.55 gear and Auburn Locker last year. Not a straight forward upgrade, had to butcher the floor and add a cross member, etc. But that's hot rodding, and the pay out is pictures like this on the Salt.
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