Full Flow engine - or not???

[Ralphie]

You "good ol' boys" will probably laugh your jaws off because of this question, but I just read the term I am about to ask about in the "classifieds" section, and my curiousity is killing me.
I am also out travelling, so I don't have any of my Studebaker literature here to look it up in.

Therefore:
What is a full flow engine? - E.g "259 V-8 Full flow engine..."?
Is there something not being a full flow engine for the same range of Studebakers?
And so on..?...[:I]
If this is an incredibly stupid question, I'll just shield myself with the "fact" that I am from the country next to the country where they speak kind of like the cook in the "Muppet show"
Thanks nevertheless.


Stay young - Live life with ROCK'N ROOOOOOLL!!!

1953 Starliner("hot rod" project)
1953 Regal Commander Starlight Coupe(original).

[Chucks Stude]

All Stude V-8's up untill 1962, were partial flow engines. The oil filter was on the top of the engine, and only part of the oil was filtered. I never had a problem with one with this design. In 1962, Studebaker redid the molds for their V-8's and made them full flow, with the oil filter underneath the engine. I also understand that they made the cylinder walls thinner, and the water-jackets larger, to aid in cooling. So, if one want to bore a V-8 Stude a long way(60 or 80 thou or more), they are better off with a 55 or 56 engine, that has a lot more in the cylinder walls, and than convert that engine to full-flow, using some of the tech info in the Bob Johnston Web site.

[Mike Van Veghten]

Partially true.
Yes, the term "full flow" has only the added filter as a true part of the oiling system, vs. the filter on top which only filters some of the oil..some of the time.

As for the cylinder walls being thinner, not nesessarily true. Number 7 is somewhat thinner in the back of the cylinder so the oil passage has a place to go. Could they have done it better...sure, but that's the way it is.
Of the hand full of full flow blocks I've sonic checked...so far...only that rear section of #7 is thin. #5 has shown to be a little thin in the rear also for some reason, but not as bad as #7.
As for the overbore sizes..., .060(2)" is doable (from the original bore size) on all Stude blocks. .080", is starting to get thin into the backs of #5 & #7, but naturally asperated, no problem.
.125" is doable but the block needs to be hand picked, and not doable on all full flow blocks.... That's how the 304's came about.

Mike

[BobPalma]

The block redesign to accommodate a modern, full-flow oil filter under the engine was driven by under-hood space requirements for the new Avanti. There was "no way" they could fit all the equipment under the hood of the Avanti, especially when supercharged, and have an oil filter on top of the engine, under the hood.

It would have been stupid to cast a second V-8 block for Avantis only, so the entire V-8 line benefitted from Avanti development. The change was made mid-year, though, so that's why you see some 1962 V-8 cars with a partial-flow oil filter on top, others with a full-flow oil filter underneath, and still others (early ones only) with no oil filter at all, because it was optional on early, partial-flow-oil-filter engines. BP

[Transtar60]

And some truck V8's with a block off plate where the full flow filter mount would go, and the partial flow filter setup mounted on top.
My 7E7's 259 V8 was set up that way(built May 1962).


3E38
4E2
4E28
5E13
7E7
8E7
8E12
8E28

59 Lark
etc

[Ralphie]

Thank you, guys! You have supplied me with a lot of good info.
Very educational indeed:-)