West Coast R3 builder?

[drrotor]

Speaking of the Northwest, you might also consider giving a call to Pacific Auto Machine in Renton, Wa. 425-226-0930 Talk to Garry. They have been building Studebaker engines for many many years. They do all my machine work. Their ad appears in our local SDC chapter newsletter every month. I also have my cams ground at Delta Camshaft in Tacoma 800-562-5500 They have all the cam profiles for racing and performance Studes, and have helped with the builds of several famous Bonneville Salt Studebakers. These are proven local vendors with high reputations.

[Stunt]

I'm not on this forum super often, but enough that I shoulda known better than even mention the term R3!

In any case, my first and second posts here somewhat contradict each other, so maybe everyone's right. But what I'm looking for is something more along the lines of an R3 than an R2, meaning supercharged, and more care put into correctly building a fast engine than just slapping on a supercharger and an R2 cam, which is what I have right now. I ended up making that more clear in my second post. So what I really should've said is, who on the west coast can build a sturdy Stude V8 street engine with some good power using the SN60 supercharger that I already have. I don't need it to be an R3 clone or tribute.

Drroter, thanks for the info. Has Pacific Auto Machine done performance work on Studes that you know of? They're certainly pretty close by. And yes, I'm familiar with Delta. They ground me a mild slant 6 cam for my 63 Dart about 15 years ago, and ground my Stude cam to R2 specs more recently. What a great shop!

Dan, thanks for mentioning the Novi 2000, but I'll probably stick with the SN60, since I already have it and all the necessary parts.

The other thing R3's had that I like is the windage tray in the oil pan. It seems like my engine is starving for oil at high RPM's. The windage tray was designed to alleviate this somewhat, correct? I think the R3 oil pump was a little longer because they had 6 quart oil pans, but I don't think the pump operated any better than the stock one.
Are there other things that people do to improve the oiling on Stude V8's? It's a somewhat big concern for me.

[64studeavanti]

Any of the 'R' oil pans have the windage tray
There is also a baffle that bolts to one of the main bearing caps. As far as oiling goes, the later heads (570 and 582) had larger drain holes to help keep the oil from pooling in the rocker area.

[Stunt]

Any of the 'R' oil pans have the windage tray
There is also a baffle that bolts to one of the main bearing caps. As far as oiling goes, the later heads (570 and 582) had larger drain holes to help keep the oil from pooling in the rocker area.

Ah - I thought I had read something about the drain holes and the baffle before, but couldn't find the info again. Thanks for this!

Is there any rough consensus out there as to whether these oiling improvements were helpful? And are there better, more modern improvements easily available?

[DieselJim]

The stock oil pan can be modified to the R type. Phil Harris or Myers Studebaker have the parts. I have done a couple of them.

[64studeavanti]

If you want an 'R' pan, I have a couple of spares.

[JoeHall]

To the OP,
If you want to get around oil related problems, i.e. oil going to the topside faster than it can return to the pan, you might simply wanna slow the RPMs down. Since you are going to the extent you are, a 5-speed transmission would give you the gears for burning up the race track, and an upper gear for all other driving experiences. You have not mentioned what year/model Stude you are working on, buta 5-speed would go nicely in just about any 53 or later Stude. Just an idea.

[PackardV8]

Is there any rough consensus out there as to whether these oiling improvements were helpful?

At the same time the drain back holes were enlarged, the rocker shafts and rocker arms were changed to restrict the volume of oil being pumped into the rocker area. These two changes did solve the worst of the problem; well enough for anything this side of Bonneville.

jack vines

[tsenecal]

I read an article on Racing Studebaker site, about filling in all of the depressions in the lifter valley. Couldn't find the article again but they used some type of metal impregnated epoxy, and they claimed that it sped the oil return to the holes at the rear of the valley. If interested you might try searching for it.

[Alan]

Dave, it all depends on what you are using this engine for. Drag Racing, 1/8 or 1/4. Just a little bit of power around town to put the ricers in place. Or Bonnie. The R3 pan is 1.100" deeper than stock. The gears on the R3 pump are .125" taller than stock for more volume and the oil pump pick up tube is an inch longer to get closer to the bottom of the pan. For drag racing I put a 45 degree angle horse collar baffle half way up the back of the pan to keep the oil off the rear main seal and to direct the oil back to the pick up tube.

[Stunt]

Cool, thanks for the further info, everyone - this is very helpful.

And Joe Hall, yeah, guess I neglected to mention, but this is a '61 Hawk. I've been curious about putting in a 5-speed, like the TKO 500. Hard to get a handle on how nuts of a job that is though. Certainly beyond my own mechanical expertise, and sometimes tough to find a shop willing to do that kind of swap. Have you done a 5-speed swap before? Any insight?

[Alan]

Now you are right up my alley. I have done many. I keep 2 or 3 TKO 500's under my work bench for when I need one in a hurry. But like skinning cats there are many ways to do it.

[Stunt]

Alan, good to know! Sending you a PM.

[t walgamuth]

And once again, a perfectly simple and honest request for information deteriorates into a stupid "my old man can beat up your old man" shouting match. This forum is the best, and also the worst. Best because there is such a wealth of information available to any interested party. Worst, because of constant attacks and sniping, and insistence on "I am right", "my way or the hiway" attitudes.

Seems to me that people should be allowed their opinion without being attacked, no matter what side you are on. This is the main reason that I've dropped out of this forum for extended periods, I just get tired of the sniping. Seems to be pretty much the same user ID's involved in attacks a lot of the time.

"Can't we all just get along?"

Here here! I'll be brewing up a batch of hot chocolate, buttered popcorn and we can all sing Kumbayah at 500 pm.

We have some sticklers here on authenticity and there are the same over at the Mercedes forum where people go off on being sure to always replace both brake calipers at the same time because the factory service manual says so.

Well the FSM was written for factory service technicians not hobbyist with all the liability and need to make a profit associated with automotive service business.

The cars are often 30 to 40 years old and who knows if the caliper is factory or has already been changed twice? My policy has always been to fix what is broken. I do replace shocks in pairs and brake pads in pairs but it all depends on the situation.

There is room for reasonableness, IMHO.

You know?

[bezhawk]

I just finished a TKO 600 in a customers car. I chose the 600 because the standard 500 low ratio is 3.33, and the 600 is 2.89 or there abouts. I used a 3.92 twin traction with Mosier axles, and didn't want him to have to shift in 5 ft. Also there are two different overdrive ratios. I also used the QuickTime scatter shield bell housing, and a Centerforce dual friction clutch. I used the stock clutch arm to actuate a hydraulic clutch master cylinder to a hydraulic pull back slave cylinder hooked to the Chevy style clutch fork. This gives you adjustability, and if there is ever a leak it is not inside on the clutch facing, and you don't have to pull the transmission.