Need fuel tip for 289

[Shane]

What would be a good practice for fueling 1964 Cruiser with a 289 it has about 73,000 should I use gasoline lead additive?

Shane Kennewick,WA

[avantilover]

There is debate about this, but here in Australia I use "Flashlube" with each fill of my 1962 259 Lark Regal. 1ml per liter of gasoline and no worries. Maybe unnecessary, but at minimal cost why take a chance? I am now running BP Ultimate 98 Octane Premium Unleaded and she purrs like a contented cat.

John Clements
Avantilover, your South Australian Studebaker lover!!!
Lockleys South Australia

[StudeRich]

Shane, just put the unleaded 87 Octane Regular in and don't worry about it, you can't drive it enough miles to hurt a set of Studebaker heads or valves unless you are pulling heavy loads up hills all the time as with a Truck engine.

When it is time to rebuild it, you could always install the unleaded valve seats if you are concerned or the seats recede.

StudeRich

[Mike Van Veghten]

My daily driver - 59 Lark, 259, auto trans, gets the 89 oct. fuel. I use the 89 because this lets me raise the ignition timing which raises the power level slightly (but noticably).

As far as the seats are concerned, the intakes will be fine no matter what gas you use.
The exhaust WILL erode...no matter what driving you do. This will depend on the type of driving you do.
Daily, freeway is the worst, which is what my car gets the most of.
Around town...not too big of a problem.

The only additive I use is at every oil change and on long trips (in the 350 mile+ trips) is Lucas Fuel Injector Cleaner. It has prooven to me that it works well in keeping everything (carburetor, ports, valves, pistons) pretty clean. Been using it in both my cars and motorcycles for lotsa years with great results.

Check the valve clearances often, till you get an idea what's happening. You should get about 4 or 5 exhaust adjustments to every intake adj.
When your engine is hot and at idle (assuming EVERYTHING else is in good shape), if the idle gets a bit rough...it's time for a clearance check, normally in the 3000 to 4000 mile range. Just like in the old days of solid lifter engines..!

Mike

P.s. - I port Stude cylinder heads for some extra power. I've seen more than my fair share of heads. It's pretty easy to tell when a given head was removed from service by what the exhaust seats (and valves) look like.
Like Rich says, for good seat life (long life), have the exhaust seats replaced with hard seats. Most any good shop can do this for you.