R-2 question

[candbstudebakers]

did or do the R-2 engines come with flat top pistons? I opened the engine that I took out of my 57 golden hawk it had been worked on in the past long time past as I had known the owner of the hawk back in the 60's He had 2 supercharged Avanti's 1- 54 hardtop R-2 4 speed powered and the golden hawk, only one person ever worked on his cars and that was Garth Wilson at Ben Begier Studebaker in San Leandro, California, Garth was the only one there that worked on the Avanti's others worked on the stockers, well any way Garth build this engine for the golden hawk and ran it like an R-2 sealed 4 bld. carb ect. engine was stuck when I got the car from the family 2 years ago after it sat out side for 10 years after the owner passed away, the engine has been sitting in my shop since I pulled it out of the car so took it apart today, it had low compression heads the stock 57 number 76 ones, but it has flat top pistons and a 289 crank along with the alum. timing gear and if I have the cam checked out it will be the R-1, R-2 grind so question is did they use flat top pistons in R-2 engines?? please fill in the blanks for me , thanks.

[avantilover]

Bob,
According to this information from Bob Johnstone's website the standard pistion was a flattop.-

Pistons The intended use of the Avanti engines necessitated a new piston. That was also an item that could be redesigned and manufactured cheaply. The standard piston used 1950 technology for its design. The new R1/R2 piston was made with then current industry standard design. It is a flattop piston made with a high strength cast aluminum material and has a non-full, slipper style skirt. It is lighter and stronger than the standard piston plus has less operating friction. It also raised compression.

Here is the link to this page: http://www.studebaker-info.org/eng_s...enginedev.html

I know it says Avanti, but the engines were (I hope) the same regardless of the vehicle they were installed into.

Regards

John C

[64V-K7]

AFAIK and am pretty certain, the R1/RE2 came with flat top pistons. The short block for the R1/R2 were the same. The difference in compression was achieved by using different heads.

[candbstudebakers]

Thanks guys, that is what I figured but will pull a piston today and see if original Studebaker since they had the name on the inside , will keep you posted, thanks again.

[gordr]

It's my understanding that R1s came with flat-top pistons, and R2s with dished pistons. Pretty much had to be; R1s were quoted as 10.5 to ! compression ratio. Add the supercharger to that, and you get into detonation country real quick.

[irish]

It's my understanding that R1s came with flat-top pistons, and R2s with dished pistons. Pretty much had to be; R1s were quoted as 10.5 to ! compression ratio. Add the supercharger to that, and you get into detonation country real quick.

Both the R1 and R2's had flat-top pistons. The R1 used the regular head, thin head gaskets and flat top pistons to achieve the 10.5 to 1 compression. The R2 used the lower compression trucks head with the thin head gaskets and flat top pistons to achieve the 9 to 1 compression ratio. To put it simply the only difference with the R1 and R2's is the head they used. With that said the 1957 Golden Hawk engines were not built the same as the R1/R2's.

Joe