Doing some yard cleanup yesterday. Had this 289 out of a '61 hawk parts car sitting in the yard on a small pallet, in the way of everything. What to do, what to do? Figured if it was seized, I'd store in the old truck body at the bottom of the yard; if not, it should go in the barn.
A pry bar between the ring gear teeth and a dowel pin revealed it would turn easily enough. So I drag my engine hoist over it, and lifted it up to a comfortable working level. Found a starter and a bellhousing, and mounted them so I could crank it. It cranked kind of slow but didn't seem to have any tight spots.
So, having gone this far, might as well see if it will run, right? Found a coil, and cleaned the points with sandpaper. Shot a little gas into the 4-barrel manifold (no carb on it), and it fired, but seemed to lack compression. Out with the plugs, which were all pretty full of combustion deposits. Cleaned them a bit, and gave each cylinder six squirts of oil from an oil can. Cranked it over a couple of revolutions with the plugs out, to spread the oil onto the rings. Put the plugs back in, gave it another shot of gas, and vroom! It sure danced around on the chain holding it up. And made a huge smoke show. There was a blue haze around the place for a quarter hour. No mosquitoes, though.
So I got an old but good Rochester4-jet carb off the shelf, and bolted that on, and put a short length of pipe in the fuel inlet so I could fill it from my gasoline squirt bottle. Lowered it, this time, so the oil pan was on the ground. Started it once more, and it seems to run pretty well. Sounded like it was hitting on all eight, or at least most of them. New plugs and a valve adjustment would certainly help. Oil pressure was over 40 psi, which is a little low for a cold engine. Incidentally, a Studebaker oil pressure gauge will screw right onto the fitting on the end of the little oil pressure flex hose. That is real handy to know.
So then I had to spend the next 4 hours with the tractor; using the loader bucket as a hoist to shift engines and junk around in the barn to make room. It was well after dark when I got done, but now there is actually spare room in the barn!
I don't know if I would use this engine as-is, except maybe as a temporary expedient, but ti would be a fine candidate for freshening up. Can't have too many 289s.
A pry bar between the ring gear teeth and a dowel pin revealed it would turn easily enough. So I drag my engine hoist over it, and lifted it up to a comfortable working level. Found a starter and a bellhousing, and mounted them so I could crank it. It cranked kind of slow but didn't seem to have any tight spots.
So, having gone this far, might as well see if it will run, right? Found a coil, and cleaned the points with sandpaper. Shot a little gas into the 4-barrel manifold (no carb on it), and it fired, but seemed to lack compression. Out with the plugs, which were all pretty full of combustion deposits. Cleaned them a bit, and gave each cylinder six squirts of oil from an oil can. Cranked it over a couple of revolutions with the plugs out, to spread the oil onto the rings. Put the plugs back in, gave it another shot of gas, and vroom! It sure danced around on the chain holding it up. And made a huge smoke show. There was a blue haze around the place for a quarter hour. No mosquitoes, though.
So I got an old but good Rochester4-jet carb off the shelf, and bolted that on, and put a short length of pipe in the fuel inlet so I could fill it from my gasoline squirt bottle. Lowered it, this time, so the oil pan was on the ground. Started it once more, and it seems to run pretty well. Sounded like it was hitting on all eight, or at least most of them. New plugs and a valve adjustment would certainly help. Oil pressure was over 40 psi, which is a little low for a cold engine. Incidentally, a Studebaker oil pressure gauge will screw right onto the fitting on the end of the little oil pressure flex hose. That is real handy to know.
So then I had to spend the next 4 hours with the tractor; using the loader bucket as a hoist to shift engines and junk around in the barn to make room. It was well after dark when I got done, but now there is actually spare room in the barn!
I don't know if I would use this engine as-is, except maybe as a temporary expedient, but ti would be a fine candidate for freshening up. Can't have too many 289s.
We've got to quit saying, 
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