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**rockne10** · 11-25-2011, 07:12 PM

No sense in putting it back in without servicing, which it obviously needs.
I'm a great fan of polishing. If your shop is good, they can install bearings that match each journal. Why make them all 10/1000 or 20/1000 if one can be 3/1000 or another 5/1000? Just be certain oil pump and passages will handle the improved pressure.

**PackardV8** · 11-25-2011, 07:23 PM

Yes, in the bad old CASO days I've seen much worse and put the same bearings back and driven it a long time.

I guess the right thing to do is to take the crank in and have it professionally cleaned and polished... I REALLY don't want to get it reground unless it's absolutely necessary.

No, I won't do that any more. I'd charge you $50 to clean and polish it, but why put $250 worth of bearings on a suspect crank? A .010" regrind, including cleaning and polishing, is less than $100. There's where the smart money would go.

I'm a great fan of polishing. If your shop is good, they can install bearings that match each journal. Why make them all 10/1000 or 20/1000 if one can be 3/1000 or another 5/1000?

Your results may have varied from this, but I'm going to have to disagree here. First, those fractional undersize bearings aren't available for Studes and haven't been for many, many years. Second, it's impossible to polish a rough crank enough to clean it up and have the journals still be straight and square. Belts follow the irregularities. The grinding stone makes it flat and square. These days, polishing is used only to take off the fuzz left by the grinding wheel.

Maybe, Jeff, decide what are your goals for the engine and talk to me off line.

jack vines

**kmac530** · 11-25-2011, 07:27 PM

That'll buff out.
lol...literally buff out

**StudeRich** · 11-25-2011, 11:31 PM

Looks like you had a dirty engine, no oil filter, too long or too many miles between Oil changes.

**JohnM15** · 11-26-2011, 01:07 AM

You might be making more out of this is necessary. It's hard to tell in the photos how deep the scratches are. The wearing of the lead bearing plating is no big deal. That occurs in the first 1,000 mile. Many engines will have small scratches just because of the dirt/grime/metal shavings left in the oil passages on a rebuild.

That said, you can now replace the bearings without adding to the passage grime and the scratches should not reoccur.

Keep in mind that removing scratches with fine paper will increase clearances, the last thing you want to do. It will just lower your oil pressure.

Just my two cents...

**jclary** · 11-26-2011, 06:25 AM

This gets back to how much a perfectionist you are. If you just want a good reliable driver and don't plan on kicking the machine to the limit, then just use some common sense and build it back to suit your budget and piece of mind. These are tough old engines and will perform pretty darn good under less than perfection. However, having gone this far, you should invest in some precision measurements. Check bores, inspect pistons for cracks and scoring and ring groove wear. If everything checks out in "plus & minus" tolerances...new rings, rod bearings, etc. usually don't break the bank. A .010 grind crank and appropriate bearings is a wise investment in terms of mechanics and peace of mind. Cam bearings and a new cam gear equals excellent insurance for long-term performance.

Otherwise, you are welcome to junk it in my back yard and sign over the title to me. I'll take care of the rest.

**PackardV8** · 11-26-2011, 08:15 AM

The wearing of the lead bearing plating is no big deal. That occurs in the first 1,000 mile.

This is new information to me and to Clevite. I recently attended an engine building seminar where a Clevite engineer presented the slides in this link. http://engineparts.com/publications/CL77-3-402.pdf If an engine was correct to begin with, properly maintained and operated, the babbit layer will still be complete and shiny after 100,000 miles. If the babbit is gone and the copper is showing the bearings are worn past service limits.

Looks like you had a dirty engine, no oil filter, too long or too many miles between Oil changes.

Agree. Clevite says 45% of bearing wear and failures can be attributed to dirt.

jack vines

**JoeHall** · 11-26-2011, 08:42 AM

At a minimum, I would hand polish the rod & main journals, and install new rod & main bearings. If I had a little more time & money, I'd turn the heads into a shop for refurbishing. If I had a little more, I'd install new rings.

As is, it is a sick pig. The upper rod bearings are gonna look worse than the lowers you're now looking at (because the uppers carry the load). The lower mains youy're already looking at are as bad as you will see, since the lower mains carry the load. I would not bother to plastigage the old bearings. But I'd definitely plastigage the new bearings mentioned in the above procedure.

Odds are, that crank has lots of life left if hand polished and new bearings installed. I would not put it back together as is and try to run it for long.

**unclemiltie** · 11-26-2011, 09:16 AM

An old timer put me on to using Crocus Cloth to shine them up. While it is slow, it does a nice job. It will not take out scores in the crank but will nicely remove any residue the bearings have left on the crank. I have been lucky several times doing this. While it still has to meet the friendly Micrometer before being used, it can be worth the time. My understanding is that crocus cloth was originally made of ground up walnut shells, not sure if this is still the case. From the pictures above I would not be surprised if that would "fix" the crank and make it ready for new bearings.

**gordr** · 11-26-2011, 12:00 PM

Originally posted by unclemiltie View Post

An old timer put me on to using Crocus Cloth to shine them up. While it is slow, it does a nice job. It will not take out scores in the crank but will nicely remove any residue the bearings have left on the crank. I have been lucky several times doing this. While it still has to meet the friendly Micrometer before being used, it can be worth the time. My understanding is that crocus cloth was originally made of ground up walnut shells, not sure if this is still the case. From the pictures above I would not be surprised if that would "fix" the crank and make it ready for new bearings.

Quite concur. The pictures show normal wear and tear, IMHO, not unusual damage. The engine was running without knocks. As such, it's a prime candidate for an overhaul, as "overhaul" is defined in the shop manual. It used to be standard procedure, back in the day. Polish the journals, new bearing shells to fit, use that Plastigage!, and hone the cylinders and new cast-iron rings. No point in grinding away 40 to 50 thousand miles of life from your block and crank, taking them to the first standard undersize. This isn't some sort of wild-eyed CASO patch job, it was standard dealership practice, back when there still were Studebaker dealers. There was a time when shop labor was relatively a lot cheaper than new parts, so on balance, the overhaul made economic sense.

Seeing as you already have the engine out, do it up right. Hone the cylinders, and ream the ridge if one is present. Polish the crank, and use solvent and gun-cleaning brushes to clean all the oil passages in the crank and block. Knock out the frost plugs, use various probes to dig out compacted rust. Don't forget the head! Once all this cleaning has been done, take a presure washer to it, and blow out the water jackets, crankcase, and all oil passages with hot, soapy water, followed by clear rinse water. Use compressed air to blow out all the oil passages. If a little flash rust occurs on cleaned metal surfaces, don't sweat it, rub it off with an oily cloth, but don't let lint and fibers get in the oil passages.

You may be able to find enough bearings by buying individual bearings or partial sets at swap meets. You used to be able to find bearings in .001 or .002" undersize. It wouldn't surprise me to find that .002's would be tight on that crank (unless of course, the crank has been previously ground. you will have to mike it).

Remember, it used to be common practice to do this sort of overhaul "in-frame". Having the engine out and on the bench is a luxury. You get to work standing up!

**PackardV8** · 11-26-2011, 12:42 PM

On a DIY overhaul, I'd recommend to knurl the valve guides and install new valve stem seals. Most of the blue smoke produced by a worn Studebaker V8 caused by oil sucked down the intake valve guides.

jack vines

**gordr** · 11-26-2011, 02:34 PM

Originally posted by PackardV8 View Post

On a DIY overhaul, I'd recommend to knurl the valve guides and install new valve stem seals. Most of the blue smoke produced by a worn Studebaker V8 caused by oil sucked down the intake valve guides.

jack vines

I would definitely agree with that!

**cliffh** · 11-26-2011, 03:20 PM

Jeff,
If you don't need to get your crank ground, I have a standard set of rod and main bearings purchased from SI that I want to sell. PM me if you are interested.
Cliff

**irish** · 11-26-2011, 09:59 PM

First of all Jack Vines gave you some good advice. Secondly, I looked at your pics on photobucket and I didn't see anything to be alarmed about. I've seen many engines in far worse condition. I would start by measuring the journals (in 3 to 4 different places on each journal is best) It's possible all you really need are some new bearings, measuring the journals will tell you if you need to have the crank turned or not.

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