Sunday, January 20, 2013

Chapter 6 Divide and Conquer

  Studebaker and many other manufacturers used a partial flow filtration in the late 50's up until midyear 1962.  At that point, with manufacturers making the change to full flow filtration, Studebaker also produced their blocks as full flow.  Race block #0001, as a 1959 product, was a partial flow.  To take advantage of full filtration required some modifications to the block oiling gallies.  Since we were making changes anyway, why not explore other improvements?


  Fairborn Studebaker can modify blocks to function as full flow as seen above.  This is accomplished by interrupting the oil circuit as it comes up through the block to the main galley running parallel to the cam.  The oil is routed out of the block, filtered and returned above a plug installed just above the detour and continues on its merry way just like it would have when stock.


  Rather than use two flex lines, I went with pipe connections.  I moved the return to an enlarged, unused oil galley which elimnates two 90degree turns that the oil must navigate.
  While we were making modifications, why not make other improvements to the Studebaker oil circuits?  In researching the reliability of Studebakers I had noticed the majority of bearing failures were in the front of the block.  Applying some logic, my hypothesis was that oil to those bearings had already travelled through the entire block, picking up heat along the way.  The problem was compounded if the bearings the oil passed by in its journey were worn and allowed more oil to bleed off.  So, a reduced flow of heated lubricants would be more than enough to create a greater possibility of oil related issues.  To address this it seemed only natural to provide a source of clean cooled oil at the front of the block feeding front to back to the point where it would meet the normal oil flow coming back to front.


  Fortunately Studebaker has a fitting on the front of the block connected directly to the main oil galleys.  To regulate oil pressure Studebaker had placed a pressure bypass circuit on the front of the block which had a piston backed by a spring.  When the pressure in the oil galley exceeds the pressure of the spring, the piston compresses the spring and uncovers a port whis bleeds the excess pressure back into the pan.  This in itself was an issue as the oil returned to the pan had also been run through the block picking up heat.  A pressure relief in the oil pump itself would take less effort to drive and the bypassed oil wasn't heated up.

  Removing the contents of the pressure bypass bore and plugging the return port allows use of the bypass to bring fresh oil to the front of the engine.  Boring the bypass bore to 1/2" made it possible to have the oil divided equally to the front and rear of the block.  The oil circuit was now routed from the oil pump, out of the block to a filter and oil cooler, then divided into two equal flows - one to the front of the main galley and one to the rear of the main galley.

  Inside the block all of the oil passages were opened up 1/16" over stock.  So 3/8" passages were taken out to 7/16", 1/2" to 9/16" and so on.  This was a twofold benefit.  The galleys were cleared of all rust and gunk which had accumulated plus it is possible to deliver a larger flow if a bearing clearance begins to open up and still have adequate oil to bearings downstream.

  The emphasis and concentration would shift, but there is much more to do on the oiling front

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