This week is a busy one catching up on the four day week last week. I have to travel to Windsor this week to install a new water pump on a 1948 Chevy. In the shop I will be installing new exhaust manifold gaskets on an old Range Rover, finishing the cafe racer, and finishing up a few paint touchups on the shop truck before putting it up for sale. I will also be trying to finish the doors for the1930 roadster. I hope to finish my first how to video on pounding out the roadster doors. These doors had up to an inch of bondo in places.
Getting a 259 Studebaker to Run Correctly
I spent half of Monday and most of Tuesday getting the 259 to Run correctly at cruise speed. It would idle great, wide open throttle great, but cruised like it had a drunken hamster on the wheel.
Problem with reengineering engine parts is the r&d portion. So I turned the intake from a 180 degree design to an open design. I did this because my balance tester told me the right side of the carb was working better than the left. I knew it was not the carb it had to be my manifold design. I opened up the intake so all cylinders could draw from either side of the carburetor. This did the trick and I dropped jetting towards lean two sizes.
This made it run much better but it still was a bit rough at cruise speed. I had a idea it was the mechanical advance in the distributor. I robbed the distributor from the 1960 Champ. Installed it with a new set of points. Success it runs fantastic.

1956 Studebaker Transtar Ready For Delivery
Shop truck gets some repairs
So the last cruise Cheryl and I went to the rear brakes started to hang just enough to get hot. I used early Cadillac calipers so I could retain my parking brake. Seems the slides on the calipers weren’t doing their job. So I pulled it all down lube the slides and adjusted the ebrake.
I removed the whitewalls to change the look of the truck.
Next I am putting a cooling fan on tranny cooler so the gauge will stop moving up to the something is wrong area.
I am thinking of selling the shop truck and build something else.

Tuning an Edelbrock Carburetor
So the Studebaker 259 has an Edelbrock 650 carb sitting on top of a once 2 barrel manifold now milled into a 4 barrel. Edelbrock carbs are easy to tune unless you read their complicated manual.

I ended up with the heaviest piston springs and the second to richest primary rods and jets. I adjusted timing and air adjustment screws to highest vacuum. I backed timing off 2 degrees. Truck runs great.

Cafe Racer gets new handlebars
What is happening in the shop this week.
I am going to try and post daily for a while. This week I am tuning the Edelbrock on the Studebaker pickup, on my slick 60,s I am removing the wide whitewalls, fixing the rear disc brake slides, and installing a larger tranny cooler. I am continuing to build a cafe racer from a Suzuki GS850, building a Model A roadster on a 32 frame, and getting ready to restore another old Honda SL350 motorcycle.