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choke heater mystery - '63 OHV 6

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  • Engine: choke heater mystery - '63 OHV 6

    Now that the OHV 6 engine has been rebuilt for my '63 Standard Wagon, I'm trying to put all the accessory bits back in place. I'm trying to figure out how the choke heater is supposed to be configured. What I'm looking at doesn't match anything in the '59-'64 parts catalog or shop manual.

    On the top side of the exhaust manifold is steel plug with a deep hole down the middle, but closed at the bottom. The plug has a big hex head and is threaded for 1/4" male pipe thread. Around the sides of the hex, there is a small through hole in each flat leading to the large middle hole. A copper tube, with the end flattened and cut at an angle, was poked into the large middle hole. It looks like air for the choke heater is supposed to go through the little holes, down inside the plug and up through the copper tube to the choke. Is this a Studebaker part or something a previous owner adapted for the job?

    When I took the engine apart, there were the remains of an old tube that went out through the bottom of the exhaust manifold, but they were rotted and twisted off. I got the short, dimpled steel pipe that is listed in the parts catalog for 63S cars, but it doesn't seem to fit any of this. It's shown on the left side of the parts. Of course, I carefully drilled out the remains of the old tube, so now I have a hole a little bigger than 1/4" in the bottom of the manifold. If I use the plug thingy on top, I guess I can just put a steel pipe plug in the bottom hole.

    Anyone have this setup on their engine?

    Click image for larger version

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    Gary Ash
    Dartmouth, Mass.

    '32 Indy car replica (in progress)
    ’41 Commander Land Cruiser
    '48 M5
    '65 Wagonaire Commander
    '63 Wagonaire Standard
    web site at http://www.studegarage.com

  • #2
    Gary, I have not seen anything like this. Maybe it is a 'repair' that someone made in the past? All the OHV 6 engines I have worked with ('63 and '64) have the dimpled pipe in the exhaust manifold. As you know, the carb will draw air thru the ID of the dimpled tube, heating the air as it goes thru the tube, and then into the choke housing. A somewhat weak point was when the dimpled plain steel tube rusted out, exhaust gases would get sucked up the hole and foul up the choke assembly.

    It will be interesting to see what other comments are made, but to me this seems like some sort of long ago repair.
    Paul
    Winston-Salem, NC
    Visit The Studebaker Skytop Registry website at: www.studebakerskytop.com

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    • #3
      If you zoom in on the manifold you will see a typical choke heater tube. That is a 63 OHV so it should be the same. Yours appears to be fabricated or at least something I have not seen before. If you look at the other photos you can see it from different angles.

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      • #4
        My 1962 OHV 6 Lark has the traditional dimpled tube, as a press/drive fit.

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        • #5
          Gary, I recently had to change the choke heater tube on my '48 Starlight coupe. It seems a previous owner had problems with the heater tube and drilled clear through the exhaust manifold and inserted the tube directly into the flow of exhaust. The choke became plugged with carbon and was not working correctly. We drilled a larger hole in the manifold, threaded it for a larger bolt, then drilled a slightly larger than 1/4 inch hole in the top of the bolt.
          This gave us a manifold heater that seems to be working correctly.
          Attached Files

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