OHV Swap into 59

I'm going to put a 63 OHV six with the three speed overdrive transmission into the 59 Lark and if any one has done this swap what are some of the tricky bits?

I see the throttle linkages will have to be changed but any help will save me reinventing the wheel. I will if I have to but any prior knowledge will speed up the process.

Thanks in advance,

Wiz.

Reply to
Wizard of Oz
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I put a 63 in a 59 two door lark. I removed the throttle linkage that bolts to the firewall and it is a direct bolt in to the 59! I also used the mounts from the 63 for the front mounts. That was it! I used the same transmission that the car came with. After I sold it, the next owner put an overdrive in. Turns out it wasn't needed as the car had a 3.07 rear end. When we did an economy club run that was a 50 mile loop, Randy drove that 59 with the od engaged and used one gallon of gas!

So if you have the 63 car there, grab the throttle linkage that bolts to the firewall and the front mounts. If my memory is correct, the left mount is ok but the right mount is the different one. It was over

15 years ago I did the swap, but Randy Goble still has the car.

Good Luck Wiz

Bob M Tucson AZ

Reply to
bob m

Reply to
Transtar60

What I have is a 62 with a 63 engine that I'll be putting in the 59 2 door sedan. The only thing that looks different is the linkage will have to bolt to the fire wall on the passenger side so I'm assuming that I will have to put some holes in the fire wall to mount it. Is that correct as I have not looked under the hood of the 59 yet? I am aware of the engine mount being different so I will keep it.

How about the exhaust? does the flange bolt up or is the header pipe longer on the OHV to clear the oil filter?

Wiz.

Reply to
Wizard of Oz

The exhaust that was in the 59 bolted up fine without any modification. I do not remember if I drilled any holes but it did match up when I bolted it to the firewall. I attached the linkage after the engine was in the car. Speedometer cable was ok and I used the 59 generator. If you have the alternator on the 63 as you should, you may want to use the 59 generator just to avoid the wiring changes. I used the 59 radiator and did not have any problems with that. It really was an easy swap that just took an afternoon.

Bob M Tucson AZ

Reply to
bob m

I have an alternator already on the 59 and the 63 engine is in a 62 so it's running a generator. It's not that the flathead is bad it's just I wanted a better engine, I know some might debate that, but I wanted to keep it light and I didn't want to put a V8 in it yet.

I have a 3.54 Dana 23 in the 59 and the a 27 with 4.1 that was with the OD trans. I will put the 27 in because the gearing with overdrive will be better and give me something in between 2nd and 3rd what I have now and some thing over that for fourth. I would like to keep the 23 in for a while so the swap will go as follows. First will be the overdrive trans. After all bugs have been sorted the OHV engine will be next. If it can handle the 3.54 it will stay but if not the 4.1 will go in. It might just be that the 27 will be the easiest to work with for the long run.

Wiz.

Reply to
Wizard of Oz

I had a 62 2 door hardtop with the six and od. It had the 4.10 and that was the best overall combination for city and highway driving. Having both the flathead and OHV, you will be happy with the OHV for peppy performance and the ease of driving without the V8 weight. My 59 with od was comfortable on the highway at 70 but the 62 with the OHV had reserve on tap at that speed.Changing brakes and springs and all the other V8 stuff, it is probably better to get a V8 car and leave the six as it is. IMHO. Use the alternator you already have wired into the 59. Are you going to put A/C in the car or does it already have it?

My folks bought new a 59 six no O/D and put A/C in the car in 1962. It did get a little tired after 8 years but the OHV will handle a sanyo with ease.

Bob M Tucson AZ

Reply to
bob m

I have not been involved in putting an OHV six in place of a flathead in many years. I remember the biggest problem being firewall clearance. I think that the firewall had to be "adjusted." The Larks went to a new design firewall/cowl section for 1961. I think this was done partly to make room for the OHV six.

Reply to
studegary

With the motor mounts from the later car, I did not have to do any adjustment to the firewall. The motor mounts do help with the placement of the engine if you use the later cars mount that came with the OHV engine.

Bob M

Reply to
bob m

I might put A/C in the car some time after it's sorted because driving in So Cal can be uncomfortable in summer with out it.

I have already done the front disc brake conversion and will do the rear soon but as you mentioned getting a V8 car for running a V8 would be easier in the long run.

Having a light and agile car with the right amount of torque and horse power is what I'm after. The six will eventually have a turbo to bring it up to

200-250 HP and more torque than that. At that point a 5 speed will have to take the place of the T90 or with the parts I have I could put the larger V8 T86 style OD trans in. I would say that with the power to weight ratio it would be more fun than a V8 car.

Wiz.

Reply to
Wizard of Oz

If all you're looking for is a little more pep, than you will be doing yourself a great favor to just install a 259 instead. If you are trying to have some fun with a turbo, then by all means go for it. I have to tell you the flat 6 will accept and respond to a turbo well also. I did a turbo on a flat 6 which I still have in the barn. It was great fun and ran over 115 mph before the hose blew off the bonnet. I used a turbo from an Audi 5000 and it seemed perfectly matched to the Stude 6. The intake manifold was homemade to accept a small 4bbl carb. I am going to resurrect the project with an automatic trans due to the fact that the 6 clutch did not handle the torque put out by the turbo. I was running 14 psi of boost and shifting at about 5000 rpm's so that may have contributed to the demise of the clutch too. Good luck.

Reply to
salstude

I have enjoyed the 259 engines in Studebakers in the past and it's my favorite Stude engine but because I have a light car to start with I want to try to keep it that way, and yes, I do want to play with the turbo. There is nothing wrong with the flathead six that is in the car, it's only done 32k miles, but I like taking advantage of the OHV's over 20% hp increase by just bolting it in. Plus a lot of the techniques used for the Stude V8 can be applied to the OHV six more so than the flathead. Along with the fact when it comes to spending money on engines I have to draw the line at some point. The FH six might have had the turbo, and still might, but now I have, what I believe is, a better engine to work with. It is an engine that has not been exploited to it's full potential because of a some early teething problems and short production run. 3 years as opposed to 20 for the flathead. The Champion engine has proved it's self as a great engine I just wanted to try the OHV and see what it can do.

Keep me informed of your turbo project.

Wiz.

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Reply to
Wizard of Oz

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