Chapter 3 Things Heat Up

About this same time period I had arranged to buy a rust free 1964 GT Hawk from a friend in Ohio. I hadn't picked the car up yet and it was taking up valuable storage space. After loading the car into the trailer, the seller and I stopped for lunch and as car guys are wont to do, began talking about automobilia.

 

Nels is a big Studebaker fan and has several significant cars and engines in his collection. On my first visit to Nels' shop not only had he shown me the Hawk which I bought, but many other cars as well. The one that stood out in my mind was a Daytona that had been the cover story for Hot Rod magazine in 1964. Nels was just beginning to restore the car on that first visit. On this occasion I asked how the project was faring. What I heard was an incredible story about the original R3 engine being separated from the car by Andy Granatelli's shop. In its place was a highly modified engine with a special crankshaft, cam and pistons.

Nels went on to tell how he had found the original engine and purchased it, then started a search for the car. Obviously, he found and procured said vehicle and reunited it with the rare hardware with which it was born.  And this set into motion events that would bring the Hawk, that nasty block, and genuine Granatelli ingenuity together.

My curiosity aroused, I asked what the modified engine had been. As the story goes, the Granatelli's had been on a quest for the same thing I was now, displacement. Their answer was to build the longest stroke crankshaft ever attempted in a Studebaker V8 block. By using a stock Studebaker forged crankshaft for a 289cid engine and welding massive amounts of material on the rod throws, they were then able to move the rod journals outward over 5/16's of an inch. The normal stroke on a 289 was 3.625". The story had it this crankshaft boasted a tremendous stroke of 4.250"!!

How did they do it? Did it work? What were the other changes required to the engine to accomodate this? The questions were popping up faster than I could register the answers.

At that time, Nels explained he couldn't really answer my questions as he had yet to tear the modified motor down. He was busy with the restoration of the car and its original engine. As best I could I calmed myself enough to get a commitment that I would get first word and first shot at the internal rotating assembly when he had time to take the engine apart. And then, it could all be for naught. Many myths surround the goings and comings of experimental parts and engines. Plus, 48 years had elapsed since the motor was built. It might all just be a story.

 

Several months passed. Then word from Nels. He was going to tear the engine down and peek inside. Questions were sent and pictures came back. More questions asked and more pictures and measurements returned. It was true. A monster stroke Studebaker crankshaft had been built. Nels promised he would bring the parts to South Bend for the annual swap meet held in the Spring.

 

 

Then, a major catastrophe. In February was working on my sawmill in preparation for cutting lumber for Lisa, my wife's, and my dream house. I found myself alone and on fire. Gasoline had sprayed out of the carb on the sawmill engine hitting me in the chest and then ignited. In trying to put myself out I staggered through the old gasoling I had emptied from the fuel tank on the mill. It was pretty ugly. Two weeks in the burn unit and enough pain to last the rest of my life. But, I kept telling myself, "If you get out of here, you are going to South Bend in May." And thanks to a lot of prayers and hard work, I did.

 

Despite my wife and family's objections I went to the South Bend meet. Sure enough, Nels had the rotating assembly wrapped in towels to keep the grease and oil from staining his upholstery. We carried the parts in to Ted Harbit's tables inside, laid everything out, and the discussion and dissection began.

 

The rod journals were moved out far enough that steel plates had to be welded to the counterweights to balance it.

 

The modified engine couldn't have run very long. The ink confirming the bob weight needed for balance was still visible.

 

The bearing journals we perfect with the rod journals were 0.002" under Studebaker spec and the mains were dead on. No scratches or blemishes to be seen.

 

How did they swing that huge stroke in a Studebaker block?  Our initial thought was the obvious reduced base circle cam.  It was a full 1/4" smaller than an R2 cam we compared it to.  And dwarfed by the roller cam I had gotten for the project.

On further inspection, that cam had been destroyed by the lifters, presumably, by the excess valve spring pressure they tried to run.

Nels wanted to keep the R3 rods used in the rotating assembly, so I returned home with the crankshaft, pistons, cam and lifters on top of the world.

That brings us back to that nasty block, race candidate number 1.