Thread: help IDing a V8 studebaker motor

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ok weeg & the rest of you studey lovers, I need some help IDing the motor in the sons 55 studey wagon. Its a V8 and on the valve covers I can bearly read a name that starts w/"B" has a couple of other letters then "RC"then some more letters. The valve cover has 4 studs sticking out of it & it has a weird Bendix-Stromberg carb on it and the dist. cap looks like an 60's model Chevy cap. SOOOOOOOOOOO can anyone tell what the hell we got here (other then a studebaker w/a motor in it ) just so I know what we're dealing with. Since we havent decided wether to keep it in stock form or drop the chevy V8 we got in it. Thanks for any info folks.....joe

OOOOOOo yea the kid wouldnt hardly let me help him strip the inside out to clean it, he told "Its my car dad & I want to do it", SOOOOOOOO whyyyyyyy not. Hell at least I stayed cleaner then he did even though I did help a little....joe

Steel crank, solid lifters, 7.5 to 1 compression, gear drive cam. Rebuild it, put some of the new bigger valve heads on it and strap on an air compressor and go.

Dean

Joe...
You want to be different, right?
(After all, you are messin' with a Studebaker <g>)...
Do yourself a favor and stick with the Stude engine.
You can get a lot of speed parts for it (but not through the normal Summit/Jegs channels)...
These engines are tough....
You can turbo boost them way up there and make ton's of power...
Or you can keep it mild and drive 'em anywhere....
There are a few here that can steer you right into your parts...just ask.
Jeff

Dave Levesque in Marion, Illinois also does port and polished, big valve heads for Stude's... He has them up regularly on Ebay under the Ebay name Doug100.
His regular e-mail address is: DJLevesque@webtv.net
(Dave also makes a GM trans adapter to a Stude engine. There are one or two others who do these adapters also.

'Nash' Solanki in Georgia also does gorgeous Stude heads....
I can get his e-mail address if you need it.

Stude engines are a bit more expensive to rebuild, parts wise... But they are so cool in a Stude!
Jeff

keep the info coming folks, the more ya give me, the more I'm going to learn. we may keep the studey motor in it but not for sure, just depends on the cost of things because the kid wants to do it on his own. so if it fires up & sounds ok we may just keep it , BUT if its locked up it'll be chevy-ized untill such time & IF he wants the stude motor back in. Right now its showing 123,000 on the odometer, so you tell me how long can & do they run....THANKS FOR ALL THE INFO SO FAR FOLKS, I knew there was a reason why I came here other then "THE PEOPLE"........joe

Without trying to sound like a smartass, and speaking as a multiple Stude owner ( with Stude power and SBC power) I can tell you that the long term personal satisfaction of building a Stude motor will far outlast a small block.
So will the Stude engine.
The blocks have more nickel in them (read that harder)...
He heads don't need hardened seats (waste of money)
The crank is forged.
The cam is gear driven.

Sure, the parts may cost a tad more, but if you decide to stay Stude powered, give me a call and I can get you some deals on the parts.

Jeff

Originally posted by deepnhock
Without trying to sound like a smartass, and speaking as a multiple Stude owner ( with Stude power and SBC power) I can tell you that the long term personal satisfaction of building a Stude motor will far outlast a small block.
So will the Stude engine.
The blocks have more nickel in them (read that harder)...
He heads don't need hardened seats (waste of money)
The crank is forged.
The cam is gear driven.

Sure, the parts may cost a tad more, but if you decide to stay Stude powered, give me a call and I can get you some deals on the parts.

Jeff

hey jeff, thats what I'm looking for, INFO , & no you weren't being a smartass telling me these things & any help would be appreciated, because I have NOOOOOO IDEA what I'm getting into since this is really my first stab at a studebaker. But then I have always walked to a different beat of the drum, I love the odd cars & trucks, hell the place we got the studey from had a 50-51 Henry-J I would like to have also, but I need to finish the ones I have, then maybe I'll start a new project....joe

Joe, I have to agree with Jeff. I would have stuck with a studebaker engine also if I had a commander and a running engine in it. The champion 6 just didn't trip my trigger. So, she got a cheby.

Dean

I'm LISTENING TO ALL OF THIS, and have told the son and he says lets go for it. So it looks like you folks have help the son decide on what he want to try to do. so keep it coming, any sercets I should know or any that can be told....... Also what kind of automatic tranny is in this thing 2 or 3 speed, kind of hard to tell since the shift indicator gone & w/the tranny shifter STIFF ! !....thanks again folks....joe

Originally posted by deepnhock
Dave Levesque in Marion, Illinois also does port and polished, big valve heads for Stude's... He has them up regularly on Ebay under the Ebay name Doug100.
His regular e-mail address is: DJLevesque@webtv.net
(Dave also makes a GM trans adapter to a Stude engine. There are one or two others who do these adapters also.

'Nash' Solanki in Georgia also does gorgeous Stude heads....
I can get his e-mail address if you need it.

Stude engines are a bit more expensive to rebuild, parts wise... But they are so cool in a Stude!
Jeff

well if Dave does good job work then I'll just get ahold of him since he's about 120miles south of me (I can drive there)... so folks its time for me to gather my info on parts supply houses to see it everything can be gotten, like carb kits & gaskets for thr motor.....joe

For studebaker engine parts, go fast know how and a nice guy to boot, call Ted Harbit at 765-948-5051. He will have EVERYTHING that you will need to go fast. His 50 Studebaker that is running a 289 runs in the 10's in the quarter mile. Check it out here:
http://www.stude.com/Ted/

If I where to build a studebaker engine, I wouldn't go to anyone else. 10.43 seconds at 132.55mph in the quarter mile in a 50 year old car ain't all that bad!!!!

Dean

look up the studebaker drivers club on the net i used to own a 63 1/2 ton longbed i drove it for 6 years but it got too rusty but when i sold it to a drivers club member still running with 250.000 miles i got back what i paid for it. i want to get another one but i am a poor ford owner right now since i cant afford 2600.00 for a low hp low torque 390 truck motor it will be a long time before i can afford another stude pickup i almost cried when i sold my truck i will always love studebakers

I found that my feeler gauges didn't go up to .026 for the valves.
I then discovered that a hacksaw blade was exactly the right thickness!
_ this was about 30 years ago, so ymmv!

(56 coupe, with motor and pieces from '55)
regards
Jay

Jay, If you don't have exactly the right number, you can also combine blades to get a desired thickness. Such as a .012 and a .014 will give you .026. I used to do that when one of my blades got twisted up. I think "someone" thought it would make a good screwdriver!

Pat