Hello All---Hope you are well. I pulled the 289 from my 57 hawk about 6 months ago for a complete rebuild. It was a bigger job than I thought and not without problems. But it did fire up and run ok--not great. I started it with the old distributor even though I have a billet Pertronix unit I am going to use. Unfortunately, the front seal leaked. I used a modern seal from Phil Harris at Fairborn Studebaker so it would not leak. So much for the best laid plans. I believe I did not get enough sealant on the front of the seal, so probably my fault. So, I took the front of the engine back apart and reinstalled with a new seal using more care the 2nd time. I also made a special alignment tool to be sure that the seal was on center. No leaks so far after 15 minutes of running--I'll cross my fingers.
I have run the engine for a total of about 40 minutes or so. The first time I shut if down after 15 minutes or so because I felt like it was running a little too hot. I put a brand new temperature gauge in, and it only read 150 degrees. I used a point and shoot temperature sensor to read temperature at the thermostat housing and got 220 degrees, so I decided to turn the engine off. I later checked the mechanical gauge in a pot of boiling water and it read about 150 degrees when the water just started to boil. I guess the gauge is defective. I took the thermostat out of the car and ran it the next time with no thermostat. It took longer to heat up this time and after about 15 minutes of running it was showing 190 at the thermostat housing using the infrared hand held sensor. The other mechanical gauge was reading about 145 degrees or so. ( note: The mechanical gauge was inserted into the upper radiator hose upside down so the water was in good contact with the sensor ). If I had to do this again I would put the gauge in the block. I shut the engine down. I have some general questions---I was reading 750 to 800 degrees at the middle of the exhaust manifolds. Is it common for exhaust manifolds on a 289 to get that hot??? I was running at 2200 rpm the whole time because of breaking in the cam. I also varied the rpm's from 2000 to 2500 during the cam break in. So basically the cam break in was done in three sessions. After running the car for 20 minutes , I let it cool down and checked all the valve clearances---they had not changed at all from the original settings ( I think .025 but I'm going on my poor memory ). My main concern is temperature---that 750 degrees bothers me. I used Amsoil break in oil for the first two runs. Then I checked the valves. I drained all the oil out and refilled the engine with new oil for the last run. The oil looks ok to me and I have not picked up anything with the magnet yet. Your input is appreciated.. BassMan
I have run the engine for a total of about 40 minutes or so. The first time I shut if down after 15 minutes or so because I felt like it was running a little too hot. I put a brand new temperature gauge in, and it only read 150 degrees. I used a point and shoot temperature sensor to read temperature at the thermostat housing and got 220 degrees, so I decided to turn the engine off. I later checked the mechanical gauge in a pot of boiling water and it read about 150 degrees when the water just started to boil. I guess the gauge is defective. I took the thermostat out of the car and ran it the next time with no thermostat. It took longer to heat up this time and after about 15 minutes of running it was showing 190 at the thermostat housing using the infrared hand held sensor. The other mechanical gauge was reading about 145 degrees or so. ( note: The mechanical gauge was inserted into the upper radiator hose upside down so the water was in good contact with the sensor ). If I had to do this again I would put the gauge in the block. I shut the engine down. I have some general questions---I was reading 750 to 800 degrees at the middle of the exhaust manifolds. Is it common for exhaust manifolds on a 289 to get that hot??? I was running at 2200 rpm the whole time because of breaking in the cam. I also varied the rpm's from 2000 to 2500 during the cam break in. So basically the cam break in was done in three sessions. After running the car for 20 minutes , I let it cool down and checked all the valve clearances---they had not changed at all from the original settings ( I think .025 but I'm going on my poor memory ). My main concern is temperature---that 750 degrees bothers me. I used Amsoil break in oil for the first two runs. Then I checked the valves. I drained all the oil out and refilled the engine with new oil for the last run. The oil looks ok to me and I have not picked up anything with the magnet yet. Your input is appreciated.. BassMan
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