F-D Zernia Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 For Everyone, I started my Weasel engine two weeks ago and would like to share the process. A few things went wrong but nothing catastrophic. The distributor and starter were tested on the bench with fresh points, cap and coil. ( I’m still working on the best coil to use ) I found an excellent explanation on points ignitions on YouTube. The site is Uncle Tony’s Garage. He is a vintage Mopar drag race guy but very entertaining. And the information is spot on. I did break in on a run stand that we built to simulate frame dimensions of the hull. Engine is a fresh rebuild .30 over and mounted with radiator, transmission and I only wired the ignition and starter. This way nothing in the wiring can cause trouble. The engine builder sent a seasoned employee to complete the initial start and tappet break in. The oil gallery’s were primed with 2 quarts of break in oil with ZDP. This was injected in the oil pressure gauge line with a can that used compressed air to move the oil through the hose. As the oil was being pushed through I slowly turned the crankshaft by hand using the driveshaft yoke on the transmission. This primed everything including the oil pump. Then another 3 quarts were poured in the crankcase. The engine turned over good but would not light. We did get it started but it ran with a miss. Ran 10 minutes turned it off and address a leak on the valve cover. Got the 20 minutes at 2000 RPM for cam break in but it wasn’t right. Later I found the problem. The firing order in the TM9-772 page 160 is incorrect. This order works for a Studebaker car but the car rotor rotation is counterclockwise. With the addition of the Weasel distributor support my rotation changed to clockwise. I moved the wires and it runs properly. The correct firing order is 1-5-3-6-2-4 with distributor rotation clockwise. Something’s I did differently. My carburetor is a new universal carb from a vendor in Daytona, Florida. The customer service is outstanding and everything was explained before I purchased. The wrong throttle arm was sent and when I called to say my linkage didn’t fit well the new part was immediately sent. I will send more information after driving the Weasel before completely endorsing it. I have pictures to send but they keep loading inverted. I will post them later. I will post more as time goes on. I did find more vendors for parts in the Studebaker community. When this started for us we joined the Studebaker Drivers Club and this Forum. The Studebaker members are a wealth of information and curious of Weasels. It has been beneficial and I will pass information on from this group too. I have learned the Studebaker cars are all 6 volt and the distributor points are not the same. Plug wires are longer. And we are aware of water pumps and carburetors. Good night all Fred 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-D Zernia Posted September 23, 2023 Author Share Posted September 23, 2023 this was a great find. Dave Yamulla is marketing a new exhaust pipe. It is a good fit. I only adjusted for one bolt on the oil pump housing. It barely touched. My old pipe was dented to clear that bolt too. Now the indentation is not as great. Fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Tipton Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 Congrats on getting it running Fred! I was fortunate to get a nice header with my project....but those look nice too. Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OZM29C Posted September 25, 2023 Share Posted September 25, 2023 @F-D ZerniaBZ on your first engine start.👍 It is a real shot of motivation to hear an engine start for the first time. Make sure your engine header pipe is as close to OEM as you can possibly make it. It is such a tight/close fit once the engine is lowered down in the hull. One last thing, you were talking about shared commonality between the Studebaker Cars and the Weasel, the Weasel oil dip stick (gauge) is indeed different to the civilian equivalent. Totally interchangeable but the level markings differ markedly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-D Zernia Posted October 2, 2023 Author Share Posted October 2, 2023 John, thanks for the heads up on the dip stick for a car. You are correct. I bought a gently used dip stick and as you said the marks are not the same. I did not realize that was the case. I bought it because the breather cap is so good. Things from the Studebaker vendors that I have purchased new I will share. Some I believe to be a good find. Shown here are replacement parts for the exhaust manifold. On the left is the often troublesome exhaust heat riser parts. In the Studebaker car world this seems to be a concern. I see people testing if it is working or not. It can be the cause of an ill running engine. On the right is the stud kit for the exhaust header. Note the brass fine thread nuts rather than steel. Also available are the brass nuts to fasten the exhaust manifold to the block. These can also double as carburetor bolts in some places. These are from; StudebakerParts.Com Other parts I purchased from this vendor would be, intake / exhaust manifold gasket, the original style. The lock bolts for the piston wrist pins, there are 2 different ones to choose from. The NOS connecting rods for shell bearings. If you check the website and look at the listing for engine parts there are quite a number of helpful items. Keep in mind there will be more than one family of straight six engines. Be specific. Ours is the Champion flat head. There is also a big six and 1960’s Champion overhead valve. Fred 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Tipton Posted October 2, 2023 Share Posted October 2, 2023 I bought most of my rebuild parts from them. Will be assembling that engine very soon and will report mack on my progress and the components. Looking good Fred! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-D Zernia Posted October 8, 2023 Author Share Posted October 8, 2023 Another thing we did was purchase a new drain plug for the oil pan. This I found in stock at a vendor called; Studebaker Intl. in Indiana. I was able to drill it on center and use hot melt glue to secure the magnet in the hole. Originally I tried to drill the magnet but it was extremely hard and eventually split in two pieces. That is when I decided to glue them in the drilled hole. Now it is similar to the drain plug on the final drive and transmission. It is a powerful magnet and difficult to keep on center when installing. It tried to stick to the sides of the drain hole. I think it might be difficult to line it up through the access hole in the bottom of the hull during maintenance. It may be less work to change oil through the fill pipe with a suction device. Visible in one picture the magnet is coated with oil that includes small steel particles from the original break in. I expect this to be from the tappets and cylinder walls. No big pieces were found as of yet. Fred 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-D Zernia Posted December 10, 2023 Author Share Posted December 10, 2023 I fixed leaks and had the starter freshened. There was a water leak on a head bolt and timing cover bolt. Of coarse plenty had to be removed to fix them. Removed the head and re did everything I used a Permatex liquid paste high temp Teflon product to fix water leaks. One valve cover had a small dent and could not seal so there was an oil leak too. That I straightened. I’m still learning about the carburetor adjustments. We bought a new universal carburetor that I think will be good for starting out. IMG_3274.mov IMG_3274.mov IMG_3276.mov All is good now. In the next few weeks we should be installing after I get a little more wiring figured out. For a radiator I bought a new one that is made for an International farm tractor. My original is not good enough to use and pricey to fix proper. The tractor radiator is very close in dimension and mounting brackets could be welded to the sides. I expect this one to be less trouble for now. Fred 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-D Zernia Posted December 10, 2023 Author Share Posted December 10, 2023 Sorry for the double videos. I didn’t know how to edit it out. this works well. I used a paint stick to highlight the timing marks. Then on the front pulley made two marks that correspond with the flywheel marks. I use the pulley marks most for timing and only verify the setting with the original. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Tipton Posted December 15, 2023 Share Posted December 15, 2023 Congrats. These Champion 6 motors run so sweet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronny68 Posted December 15, 2023 Share Posted December 15, 2023 (edited) On 12/10/2023 at 9:56 PM, F-D Zernia said: Sorry for the double videos. I didn’t know how to edit it out. this works well. I used a paint stick to highlight the timing marks. Then on the front pulley made two marks that correspond with the flywheel marks. I use the pulley marks most for timing and only verify the setting with the original. What size and brand of fan belts did you use? Edited December 16, 2023 by Ronny68 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-D Zernia Posted December 17, 2023 Author Share Posted December 17, 2023 these are the belts my vendor found for me. There were belts on my engine and a spare set tucked away. The Mitsubushi belts were a perfect match. It is tight getting the generator belt on but no different than the original. Fred 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronny68 Posted December 17, 2023 Share Posted December 17, 2023 16 hours ago, F-D Zernia said: these are the belts my vendor found for me. There were belts on my engine and a spare set tucked away. The Mitsubushi belts were a perfect match. It is tight getting the generator belt on but no different than the original. Fred Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-D Zernia Posted December 21, 2023 Author Share Posted December 21, 2023 This is the product I used along with the recommended primer, to fix the coolant leaks on the head bolts and timing cover. I did replace the head gasket as well. The manual calls for white lead which is not a readily available product any more. The machine shop that rebuilt the engine recommends the Permatex. After this change the leaks seem to be under control. I hope this can help someone else so a head gasket or timing cover will be sealed on the first try. Fred 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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