Studebaker Foundry and Forgings

[bezhawk]

There is a thread on the Packard forum about Packard V8 cranks and how some were produced that were forged instead of cast.
I mentioned that Stude had their own foundry, and all of the cranks were forged.
Someone replied "having a foundry, and making their own forgings, is two separate things"

Did Studebaker forge their own stuff?? I know they cast their own engines, but what about the forgings?
Please give me a link so I can brag to the other guys.

[StudeRich]

Sorry, the Lamberti Papers talked about getting the Crankshaft Forgings from a Supplier Co. and named it, they were machined in house.

[R2Andrea]

All of Studebaker connecting rods and crankshafts were forgings. I'm reasonably sure that sure that Studebaker produced their own connecting rod forgings, but the crankshaft forgings were produced by the Wyman-Gordon Co. in their Chicago plant. All machine work on the cranks were done in-house by Studebaker. About 15 years ago I spent a considerable amount of time and money trying to track down the 289 crank forging dies. Unfortunately they had been declared scrap and disposed of by 1966. I got quotes of around $60,000 for a new die at that time. Those forged Packard V8 crankshafts were made as service parts, replacing the cast production pieces. The pattern equipment for the Packard cranks was lost or destroyed and they chose to go with a forging instead.


IIRC , they miss spelled Wyman-Gordon in the Lamberti Papers

[studerodder]

I worked at wyman-gordon from 1975 to 1982. it was actually in Harvey, Illinois about 15 miles south of chicago. five other men from my family worked there too. the company started as Ingalls-Shepard forging co. in the early 1900's. my first year i worked in heat treating, a horrible job. after 14 months, a position opened up in the truck shop as a lift truck mechanic. i took the test and passed, so i transferred. best job i ever had. the place was so big it had five different unions, with five different contracts, so someone was always on strike. W/G built a big plant 100 miles south in Danville Illinois and busted the unions. this plant failed and a few years later they had a huge explosion at their Rome, Texas plant. i believe the company is no more. the huge steam hammers, which were so powerful they would bounce you off the floor when they struck, were dismantled and sent to south america. Harvey operations ceased around 1986.