Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

George Krem's blown '60 Lark

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • George Krem's blown '60 Lark

    George introduced us to this special car on this thread...



    Here's some pictures and a short description he sent me...







    "Here are three engine photos of my '60 Lark 2-door; thanks for your offer to post them. There is a filter element where the heater used to be.... makes a nice fresh/ram air setup, since the air is picked up from under the right front parking light. Externally, the car looks 100% stock....I'll send photos of it when I can get it out to take some. Brief engine description:

    259 bored .100", for 274 CID (a 7,000+ rpm engine)
    Variable ratio blower, blueprinted by Ted, curved vane impeller, R2 AFB carb, matched intake ports
    On a flow bench, the heads flow 15% better than stock R3 heads, w/titanium valves....R3 intake, 1.60" exhaust.
    R2 cam, forged Ross pistons, balanced.
    R3 headers w/ internal work & matching, 2 1/4" exhaust.
    Aluminum flywheel, OD trans, 4.27 TT rear end, HD rear springs.
    And much more. Everything is freshly built, and I'm just getting it broken in. Auto Machine built the engine (they built Ron Hall's 185 mph stock R3 Bonneville engine and the R3 in the Plain Brown Wrapper plus at least 50 Stude V8s for various Stude guys, so they know the Stude V8 very well).

    In doing this car, I had three concepts:

    1. Make a visual duplicate of my dad's 1960 Lark that he bought new...it had V8, power kit, no radio or other options, and it was Colonial Red. I was with him when he ordered it...sure enjoyed that car....I still have the original window sticker.
    2. Build a '60 very similar to the Holman & Moody racing Larks that did so well, plus blower.
    3. See what I could get out of a 259 for street use. The variable ratio blower gives quite a bit more low and mid-range power than a Paxton fixed ratio. They're about the same over 5,000 rpm when the VR pressure regulation runs out.

    A '59/'60/'61 Lark 2-door sedan is the lightest car that Studebaker put a V8 in.
    "






    Pretty neat!! [] [8D]



    Dick Steinkamp
    Bellingham, WA

    [IMG][/IMG]

    Dick Steinkamp
    Bellingham, WA

  • #2
    Wow, is that an incredible engine. That composition looked familiar...but, without any serious guts like that. So, that is what it is supposed to look like when done right!
    Somebody's cousin must be very proud. [^]


    [img][/img]



    Comment


    • #3
      DROOL SLOBBER DROOL!!!!!!!

      Comment


      • #4
        Where is Auto Machine located. Please advise phone #. I would like to talk to them about rebuilding a motor. Thank you

        58 Packard Wgn (Parade Red)
        58 Packard Wgn (Park Green)
        58 Packard Sdn (Shadowtone Red)
        62 Daytona (White)
        63 R2 Lark (Super Red)
        57 Packard Wagon parts car
        57 Packard sedan parts car
        58 Packard 2 dr hdtp parts car


        Comment


        • #5
          Wow, Barnlark....I thought I was seeing double for a minute until I started looking for the blower. You'll have to fix that, OK? The whole engine compartment looks better than mine....great job!

          Auto Machine is located in the far West Chicago suburb of St. Charles. Their telephone number is 630-584-1188; ask for Kim....he's the shop foreman and knows Stude V8s extremely well. They have a fully-equipped machine shop and other goodies such as a sonic tester for checking cylinder wall thickness.

          I forgot to mention that another one of my concepts when building the supercharged '60 Lark was to create what Studebaker could have done--but didn't--in 1959: Make the first Super Lark. The year 1958 was a recession year, and only 878 supercharged Golden Hawks were made (compare that to over 4,000 GHs in 1957). I'll bet they had some leftover blown GH 289s that would have fit beautifully in the new '59 Lark 2-door. That engine plus other common Stude options such as Twin Traction, HD springs & shocks and the T-85 GH overdrive would have made one of the very fastest 1959 cars available. Carter introduced the AFB four-barrel carb in 1957, so even that would have been possible instead of the Golden Hawk 2-barrel. In building more or less a duplicate of what they could have done, I tried to make it look like the factory did it....black valve covers, etc. Nothing fancy, just all business.

          Thanks for the post, Dick.

          George

          george krem
          george krem

          Comment


          • #6
            C'MON NOW... BREAK THAT BEAST IN SO WE CAN SEE WHAT IT'LL DO ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! HURRY ! ! ! ! ! ! ! MY BLOOD'S BOILING JUST THINKIN' ABOUT IT. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !!

            sals54
            sals54

            Comment


            • #7
              Dave that is one impressive looking Engine Compartment, I like it![]

              It may not be as fast as Georges, but it sure looks pretty! [:0]

              One thing does really jump out at me though, I probably should mention it, not to be picky, but it does look wrong to me!

              The heater hose from the upper part of the water manifold (the hot one) looks like it is going directly to the heater core! [:0] You can not turn off the hot water with the valve, unless you run it to the Valve.
              You have the Return hose coming from the water control Valve to the suction side of the pump.


              StudeRich at Studebakers Northwest -Ferndale,WA
              StudeRich
              Second Generation Stude Driver,
              Proud '54 Starliner Owner
              SDC Member Since 1967

              Comment


              • #8
                Dave and George, both engine compartments look great. You should both be very proud. And thanks to Dick for posting the pictures of George's car. I can't wait for the exterior pics!

                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Tom - Mulberry, FL

                1964 Studebaker Daytona - 289 4V, 4-Speed (Cost To Date: $2125.60)

                Tom - Bradenton, FL

                1964 Studebaker Daytona - 289 4V, 4-Speed (Cost To Date: $2514.10)
                1964 Studebaker Commander - 170 1V, 3-Speed w/OD

                Comment


                • #9
                  very inspiring, looks clean, simple and fast


                  1964 Daytona Wagonaire
                  259cid flight o matic

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    That is awesome! I hope someone gets a video of it going and puts it on youtube.[8D]

                    Dylan
                    '61 lark deluxe 4dr wagon
                    Dylan Wills
                    Everett, Wa.


                    1961 Lark 4 door wagon
                    1961 Lark 4 door wagon #2 (Wife's car!)
                    1955 VW Beetle (Went to the dark side)
                    1914 Ford Model T

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      I love EVERYTHING about this car!!!! EVERYTHING!!!!

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        As always, George and Ted do Studes right. That build is good science, good philosophy and great execution; determine what Stude could/should have done and make it happen. Naturally, I agree with that concept as that is what I am doing on a couple of my own. Can't wait to see some strip times from it.

                        As an aside, history shows Studebaker would have made the Super Lark option so expensive, few would have been sold. Stude was not alone in wildly overpricing the performance options on their cars. Ford was just as short-sighted back in the day. A base 1965 Mustang could be bought for around $2300. A full-performance K-code 271HP, 4-speed, limited-slip, chrome-wheel, disc brake car cost nearly $4,000. There was only $250 difference in the actual cost of components, but $1,000 more net profit built into the selling price.

                        Could'a, should'a, would'a, the unoffical Studebaker lover's mantra.

                        thnx, jack vines

                        PackardV8
                        PackardV8

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by StudeRich
                          One thing does really jump out at me though, I probably should mention it, not to be picky, but it does look wrong to me!

                          That's not picky and you're right. That picture is from when I had just dropped it in the car in the fall of 2007. For installation, I had been going by old pictures from when I got it that also had it installed wrong and quickly realized it wasn't right. Should have caught that. [B)] I don't drive it ever needing heat, that's for sure, but I worked pretty hard on that engine bay and the little stuff is now worked out. I am still not happy with the inner fender paint job and plan to fix that this spring.
                          Don't want to detract from George's engine...HOLY MOLY does that look sweet.
                          One question George: Does a 1958 289 engine have a unique ID number to distinguish if it was an original blown engine? I have one and just wondered.





                          Comment


                          • #14
                            What a beautiful build!!!
                            quote:Externally, the car looks 100% stock
                            Now that is the dictionary defintiton of "Sleeper".

                            Someone pulls up beside you at the local stoplight, revs the motor, and when the light goes green they wonder where you went........

                            Not to mention the open mouthed gaoping stares at the dragstrip!
                            55 Commander Regal Coupe
                            XA Bat (The Roadwarrior)
                            KARR (Knightrider)
                            Eleanor (ORIGINAL Gone in 60 Seconds)


                            Mad Max Car\'s \"Hero Car Ranch\"; Seattle, Wa.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              quote:Originally posted by barnlark
                              One question George: Does a 1958 289 engine have a unique ID number to distinguish if it was an original blown engine? I have one and just wondered.[/b]
                              Dave: I just noticed your question and thought I'd jump in. Yes, an originally-supercharged 1958 289 would have a unique identifying stamped number on the front of the block. Instead of P for a normally-aspirated "regular" 289, the supercharged engine will have PS for a Golden Hawk, or LS for a Packard Hawk. [b]BP
                              We've got to quit saying, "How stupid can you be?" Too many people are taking it as a challenge.

                              G. K. Chesterton: This triangle of truisms, of father, mother, and child, cannot be destroyed; it can only destroy those civilizations which disregard it.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X