Engine: Was it rebuilt?

[alanottawa]

I have my 289 c.i. engine out of my 1957 Studebaker President to replace broken exhaust manifold and many gaskets that leaked. Engine is not original to this car, and leak-down test gives good numbers on all cylinders so I am disinclined to open it up (and it ran great except for leaking everything). I see stamped pairing numbers on the connecting rods and bearing caps. Is that a sure sign that it was previously rebuilt? It seems unlikely that factory original would need such numbers.

[r1lark]

I see stamped pairing numbers on the connecting rods and bearing caps. Is that a sure sign that it was previously rebuilt? It seems unlikely that factory original would need such numbers.

The Studebaker V8s and 6 cylinders I have had apart all had those numbers. Some of the engines I was pretty sure had not been apart before. Plus, the number size/shape/depth of stamping is all too consistent (at least in the ones I've seen) to have been stamped by different rebuilders.

My take on this.........we will see what others have to say.

[Bud]

Every Studebaker engine that I have disassembled has the rod number stamped on both the rod and the cap from the factory so there is no reason for a rebuilder to re stamp the numbers unless a rod was replaced during the rebuilding process. Bud

[BRUCESTUDE]

I did the same treatment on a '51 V8 with a 60K original miles; pulled the engine, power washed it, and replaced all the gaskets except head gaskets (I left the heads on). After reassembly and painting it looked great, and since I removed the core plugs and power washed the block it ran cooler too.

[StudeRich]

True that the Rods would be Factory Numbered so that each Piston Rod and Cap assembly can be put back correctly, however, the Intermediate Main Bearing Caps are not numbered with "Stamped" in Numbers.

Cap numbers 2, 3 and 4 have RAISED cast-in Numbers, since they would otherwise be interchangeable which you do NOT want to happen!

Be sure to scrape and thoroughly Flush those water jackets with all 6 Core Plugs out and replace with New Brass 1 1/2 Inch Convex Disc. Type Plugs as original.

Available from Studebaker Vendors at: http://studebakervendors.com

[doofus]

If your really curious pull a rod cap and check the brand of rod bearing.seems very few Stude engines were ever re- built using other brands of bearings. most shops wont go to the trouble of sourcing O E bearings for an overhaul, especially shops doing quicky in frame builds. Luck Doofus

[JoeHall]

If it ran good, had good compression, and leak down was within specs, I'd reseal it and ease on down the road. Just for peace of mind, I'd pull the rod bearings on #1 and #2 cylinders and inspect the upper halves closely. Also, pull the cap on #3 main bearing and inspect the lower half closely. Those bearings wear out the quickest, so if they are within spec, no worries whatsoever about running it as is.

[Jeffry Cassel]

If it ain't broke ,don't fix it. If you send the engine serial no. and the car serial no. to Studebaker Nat'l Museum they'll give you the original nos. for your car. Studebakers came with nos. stamped on rods and rod caps. I would replace seals and frost plugs , clean it up, make it pretty and drive it. They are very durable; I have never broken one. If you pull the bearing caps , you will see that they are not pristine. Then you have to pull the crank and send it to Bubba and Billy Bob at the local machine shop. They'll over grind it ( or under) leaving you with clearances you don't like. Then you buy a crank and more bearings . then you replace rings but Bubba says you needto bore it .030. Then they do that and you buy new pistons. You square the block ( if you're still believing Bubba at this point) Mill the heads ,put in new valves and hardened seats. Now you have 5K in a moter that ran fine to start with. Happens every day.

[JoeHall]

If it ain't broke ,don't fix it. If you send the engine serial no. and the car serial no. to Studebaker Nat'l Museum they'll give you the original nos. for your car. Studebakers came with nos. stamped on rods and rod caps. I would replace seals and frost plugs , clean it up, make it pretty and drive it. They are very durable; I have never broken one. If you pull the bearing caps , you will see that they are not pristine. Then you have to pull the crank and send it to Bubba and Billy Bob at the local machine shop. They'll over grind it ( or under) leaving you with clearances you don't like. Then you buy a crank and more bearings . then you replace rings but Bubba says you needto bore it .030. Then they do that and you buy new pistons. You square the block ( if you're still believing Bubba at this point) Mill the heads ,put in new valves and hardened seats. Now you have 5K in a moter that ran fine to start with. Happens every day.

Agree, if it ain't broke don't fix it. But a competent inspection of a few key points will determine if anything needs fixing sooner than later. I have never, "broke" a Stude V8 motor either, but have worn out a few. Heck, I have even rebuilt them, then wore them out again, as with the last 352 and 289 rebuilds. LOL

[swvalcon]

Numbers stamped on the rods you will find on almost every engine build by anyone. Now if you find two rods with the same number in the same block you know it was worked on. You can on most engines move the rods around anyway you want as long as you don't swap sides. Unless you move the pistons around so you have the front to the front than anything goes.

[3x2stude]

I have torn down 4, 259 / 289 motors for the sake of salvaging the parts for building motors. All have had the rods stamped. A motor I am ready to assemble had a bad rod so a while ago I bought an NOS rod from SI and of coarse it was un-numbered. I stamped it for the sake of it being numbered like it's brothers. Maybe someone, some day, will disassemble it and wonder why the text is different. .

My '61, 2-barrel, 4-speed Hawk has miles unknown as the speedo has never worked since I bought it but it runs strong, only smokes on starting if left not run for a couple of weeks, has good oil pressure cold and hot. It does have more oil leaks than the EXON Valdez so if I did not have so many other irons in the fire it would get resealed and only inspected as other have previously stated above.

Later,

JK