This is not meant as an antagonistic post as we seem to be getting along lately but I cant take the misinformation anymore! There seem to be a huge amount of people on this board offering erroneous information that has been picked up here and there concerning the R3 engine. If your not sure of something, say so, as the info can be passed on as truth.
First off, all A,B, and EX serial numbered engines are in fact REAL "R-3" engines. They are not clones, never were, never will be. The only ones in question would be the very last 4 or 5 engines that were pieced together (with genuine, BRAND NEW, studebaker built parts) at Paxton products. The earliest engines were all 299 cubic inches, quickly changing to 304.5 that most of us associate with the R-3. ALL the Bonneville records (worlds fastest car in 1964) were broken with 299 engines, not the 304.5 version as used in the 10 factory cars. There was even an R-3 259 at bonneville and the engine exists today with a bad cylinder or two (John Hora used to own it).
Many people on this board are calling these "B" series engines clones and that is ridiculous. Do you really think Studebaker offered these to the public and made them on a one by one basis? Of course not , this was a huge company, producing 69,555 cars in 1963 and double that just 4 years earlier. Studebaker produced roughly 1800 supercharged Avantis, yet they planned on making only 9 R-3 engines to sell to the public....please. It was in fact quite the opposite. While most of the exact records from daily operations at Paxton were conveniently lost in a fire, we know the majority of the 118 REAL R-3 engines were built,crated and sitting in South bend waiting to be put into factory cars (Avantis,Daytonas, Commmanders,cruisers,challengers.....even pick up trucks if ordered as they did build 3 factory R-2 champ trucks)I have been in manufacturing for 18 years and there is no way in hell you made these engines a few at a time. The heads, intake manifolds, headers, air boxes, connecting rods, pistons and even the valve covers were all R-3 specific and needed to be manufactured in the hundreds at the bare minimum. The blocks were then sonic tested and only 1 in 12 had the wall thickness to survive the .093 overbore. After that, all the components (every screw,gasket,etc)had to be shipped clear across the nation to their performance division "Paxton Products" to be hand ported, polished,balanced and assembled. Then back on the train to make the long,slow rail trip back to Indiana. Can you imagine the massive delays if this was done a few at a time? Paxton Products, although an official Studebaker company did not make the heads, headers, etc., they assembled,machined,tested and sometimes provided field engineering as they really were part of Studebaker but not in a manufacturing sense.
To avoid making these costly delays even worse , Studebaker ran larger amounts of these engines at a time and eventually virtually all of the R-3 engines were cradled snuggly inside the familiar confines of South Bend. The sad irony is all this finally became real in the final weeks of Studbakers existance....hence the reason why the nine R-3 cars were at the end of the line with the VERY LAST Avanti built being an R-3!!!!
The production serial numbers tell us this is true as well. I own 3 real R-3 engines, one being in a factory R-3 Avanti. The proof is in the fact that I own B-24 which was bought from Paxton after Studebaker died, yet my factory R-3 is serial # B-38. How could B38 come before B24 even though B24 is a clone engine to some of you people? They were made in order and Stubaker grabbed which ever one was easiest to grab with a forklift and then put there own serial number after the B number . In the case of R5546 the engine reads r-3, B38 k309. What happened to B1 through B37 which should have gone into production cars before B38? Ill tell you what happened....they were bought by Paxton when Studebaker died and sent back to California in STUDEBAKER crates to be resold as REAL, AUTHENTIC, studebaker re
First off, all A,B, and EX serial numbered engines are in fact REAL "R-3" engines. They are not clones, never were, never will be. The only ones in question would be the very last 4 or 5 engines that were pieced together (with genuine, BRAND NEW, studebaker built parts) at Paxton products. The earliest engines were all 299 cubic inches, quickly changing to 304.5 that most of us associate with the R-3. ALL the Bonneville records (worlds fastest car in 1964) were broken with 299 engines, not the 304.5 version as used in the 10 factory cars. There was even an R-3 259 at bonneville and the engine exists today with a bad cylinder or two (John Hora used to own it).
Many people on this board are calling these "B" series engines clones and that is ridiculous. Do you really think Studebaker offered these to the public and made them on a one by one basis? Of course not , this was a huge company, producing 69,555 cars in 1963 and double that just 4 years earlier. Studebaker produced roughly 1800 supercharged Avantis, yet they planned on making only 9 R-3 engines to sell to the public....please. It was in fact quite the opposite. While most of the exact records from daily operations at Paxton were conveniently lost in a fire, we know the majority of the 118 REAL R-3 engines were built,crated and sitting in South bend waiting to be put into factory cars (Avantis,Daytonas, Commmanders,cruisers,challengers.....even pick up trucks if ordered as they did build 3 factory R-2 champ trucks)I have been in manufacturing for 18 years and there is no way in hell you made these engines a few at a time. The heads, intake manifolds, headers, air boxes, connecting rods, pistons and even the valve covers were all R-3 specific and needed to be manufactured in the hundreds at the bare minimum. The blocks were then sonic tested and only 1 in 12 had the wall thickness to survive the .093 overbore. After that, all the components (every screw,gasket,etc)had to be shipped clear across the nation to their performance division "Paxton Products" to be hand ported, polished,balanced and assembled. Then back on the train to make the long,slow rail trip back to Indiana. Can you imagine the massive delays if this was done a few at a time? Paxton Products, although an official Studebaker company did not make the heads, headers, etc., they assembled,machined,tested and sometimes provided field engineering as they really were part of Studebaker but not in a manufacturing sense.
To avoid making these costly delays even worse , Studebaker ran larger amounts of these engines at a time and eventually virtually all of the R-3 engines were cradled snuggly inside the familiar confines of South Bend. The sad irony is all this finally became real in the final weeks of Studbakers existance....hence the reason why the nine R-3 cars were at the end of the line with the VERY LAST Avanti built being an R-3!!!!
The production serial numbers tell us this is true as well. I own 3 real R-3 engines, one being in a factory R-3 Avanti. The proof is in the fact that I own B-24 which was bought from Paxton after Studebaker died, yet my factory R-3 is serial # B-38. How could B38 come before B24 even though B24 is a clone engine to some of you people? They were made in order and Stubaker grabbed which ever one was easiest to grab with a forklift and then put there own serial number after the B number . In the case of R5546 the engine reads r-3, B38 k309. What happened to B1 through B37 which should have gone into production cars before B38? Ill tell you what happened....they were bought by Paxton when Studebaker died and sent back to California in STUDEBAKER crates to be resold as REAL, AUTHENTIC, studebaker re
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