Engine: Engine performance for a 55 speedster

[mod55]

I am having the engine rebuilt for my 55 Speedster and wanted to reach out to get opinions on performance. Can anyone recommend anything to increase the performance on this V8 259.2 cu. in., 185 horsepower engine? Not trying to build a hotrod, just thought there may be some interesting options out there.

[warrlaw1]

You've already got 20 more HP than my 259 by virtue of having dual exhaust and a 4 BBL. I tried pertronix ignition, but went back to points. I went with stainless exhaust from Don Simmons. Other than that I went 30 thou over on the cylinders and replaced EVERYTHING. My engine rebuild guy was a perfectionist. Retired with a plaque praising him for rebuilding 70,000 engines during his career. Mine's running great, now, and I like the performance. If you want to go stock, spend the money on the rebuild. If you want to go faster than stock, there are performance guys on here that know what to do. Phil Harris, at Fairborn Studebaker was a great help to me. Good luck.

[r1lark]

Retired with a plaque praising him for rebuilding 70,000 engines during his career.

Wow, 70,000 engines rebuilt in his career? Assuming he worked 40 years, 52 weeks a year, 5 days per week.......that's almost seven (7) engines per day!

[warrlaw1]

He was the foreman/boss, had a full machine shop with plenty of help, but checked everything personally. Little guy, very humble, even rebuilt my Ross steering box and warned me about everything my good 'ol boy was taking short cuts on. Best money I ever spent.

[studegary]

My question is - Why is the engine being rebuilt? Most people that are not familiar with Studebaker V8s assume that the engine needs a complete rebuild based on experience with other brands. Most commonly, the Studebaker V8 only needs things like valve seals, possibly a valve job, possibly bearings, etc.

[warrlaw1]

Good question, Gary. In my case, the motor had been run dry of oil and then frozen. Pulling it apart, besides what happened in the cylinders, we found pin holes in the oil pick up in the pan that could have explained it. I had some help from Dwain G., too, as to whether we should fix those holes (lol). After the block was tanked and fluxed, it seemed OK. The local rebuilder, Parry Automotive, was getting a bad rep, but their retired go to guy, Jim Duncan, lived just up the road from my good ol boy and popped in daily to watch our progress. He sent it to Parry's for machining, with a note that he would personally do the final assembly. Good thing. He found lots of discrepensies and fixed all of them, himself. Never had an engine "blueprinted", but I suspect that's just what he did. Cheers.

[mod55]

Gary...can you elaborate? I'm an owner who doesn't know enough to ask the right questions. How do I know if it needs a 'complete' rebuild, or just the items you mentioned? I've developed a good relationship with the shop that is working on my car, but I also don't want to be stupid.

[studegary]

Gary...can you elaborate? I'm an owner who doesn't know enough to ask the right questions. How do I know if it needs a 'complete' rebuild, or just the items you mentioned? I've developed a good relationship with the shop that is working on my car, but I also don't want to be stupid.

It is hard to give an answer to this from a distance. Does the engine run? Does it smoke excessively - on start up or all the time? Does the engine knock? What is the compression and is it fairly even across all eight cylinders?
If a Studebaker V8 starts and runs reasonably smooth and has less than about 250K miles, it usually doesn't need a complete rebuild.
I have found that if a Studebaker engine is shot, it is easier and cheaper to just replace it with a known, good running, used engine. If you put all the exterior parts from your engine on the replacement, any 259 or 289 from 1955-1964 will look the same except for the engine numbers and late-1962-1964 are full flow blocks (even then, you can put a dummy oil filter up top).

EDIT: There are a couple of knowledgeable Studebaker guys in your general area that may volunteer to assist in the evaluation of the engine for their expenses, assuming that you can not drive the car to them. I would do it if you were here.

[mod55]

it DOES run, but pretty rough. it DOES smoke. 3-4 of the cylinders are running low. it doesn't knock. I think it's strong enough to keep, but I will discuss more with my guy to see how extensive he thinks we need to go. thanks for all your input!!!

[SN-60]

To: mod55,---- The stock 259, in good condition, is a really nice running engine. It winds up fast, and has a nice smooth idle. I'd go stock for now till You get the rest of Your '55 Speedster sorted out. The question people should be
asking though, is what transmission are You using BEHIND that engine? If it's the original Studebaker Automatic Drive, the last thing You would want to do is put more horsepower in front of it!!