---------------------------------------------------------------- Dec 2007 As many of you may remember, I've got this here Ex-R3 engine (#B112) that ended up being hogged out to a full 3 & 3/4" bore. This (as I understand it) was done by Jon Myer at the behest of Lionel Stone. While it bears the R3#, it also wears an R2 Avanti number and the story I got was that it probably was either a trade-in to Paxton or someone took it to them after the fact to have it R3-ized. Whatever the case, it was so marked by the time Myer worked on it. I don't know if they sonic tested it first, but it got hogged out to 3 & 3/4" and fitted with extensively reworked heads and intake manifold and was then sentenced to serve in a 3 TON TRUCK! Serve it did, until it pumped it's oil overboard when an oil gage hose broke on a X-country run. (BTW, this works out to 321cu.in.) Repaired, it continued to serve in that big truck until - in the hands of a subsequent owner - it's camshaft nose broke while running. Thru a series of crazy dealings, I ended up with the truck - thinking (as did it's previous owner) that the truck was using a standard 289. It was only after I had it home for a time that I realized how modified the engine was and that it used AMC 304 pistons instead of something issued by Studebaker. I sold the truck, but kept the engine. It's gonna end up in my 58 wagon. It's been all repaired and rebuilt and awaits it's new duty station. BTW, thinking I might duplicate this engine, I bought another set of 304 pistons and had another set of rods reworked to go with the slugs. I also had a full-flo 259 sonic tested by a performance shop in Fresno. The shop owner was a bit befuddled that I asked him to do the sonic testing. He said that while he DID have the gear to do it, no one had requested such service in YEARS! And he had to special order a unique battery for his tester to be able to use it after so many years. I was a bit surprized to hear that no one was asking for such service nowdays, but this guy assured me that no one does anymore! He DID charge me a hundred bucks to do the testing. And hey.... this is in CALIFORNIA and he was the ONLY shop in the very valley where American Graffiti was portrayed that anyone knew of that might offer this service! ===== I can't recall what the specs were and I can't find the reciept at the moment. It was on that reciept that he wrote the results. He DID seem to think that there was enough meat to take it out to 3.75". I know I have the figures here someplace, but I took the guy's assessment as assurance that it was "good to go". I'd have proceeded with the work except that he wanted significantly more than a local machine shop that I usually use. Chris, the pistons need to be decked a bit to fit. Other'n that, the rods get opened up on the little end to accept the pins for a press fit. The pinch bolt is done away with. The wrist pin is offset, so care has to be taken to orient it correctly on left bank and right bank rods. Alan, you had a hand in it? Interesting. After Stone siezed it up on a X-country run (oil pressure indicator hose was brittle), he got it fixed and drove it some more. Then Stone sold it to a central valley Stude nut and that fella built a super-stout field welding shop on the truck and used it as his mobile shop. When the camshaft broke, I innocently supplied him with some parts to fix it and his machine shop convinced him to do a total overhaul. Of course, try as they might, the machine shop couldn't seem to find the right pistons for THIS particular 289! The guy gave up trying to fix it and traded the truck on a motor home that his wife wanted. She literally insisted that his Studebaker fixation (he had several Stude cars too) was the Devils work and he needed to cleanse himself of his personal interests so they could buy a motorhome and practice ministry on the road. Niether he nor I had any idea that the engine was anything special until I got to pokin' around in it's innards when I got it home. The machine shop had redone the heads and pickled them nicely. I couldn't believe my eyes the first time I unwrapped one of them and saw the huge valves and pretty port work! The machine shop lost one of the piston/rod assemblies, so I had my shop duplicate 9 rods altogether and bought two sets of pistons and rings. The block was in good enough shape to go back with the standard 304 slugs. Myer stocks the overbore head gaskets, BTW. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Feb 2008 I'll reiterate that I HAVE one of these overbored engines that John Myer did for Lionel Stone some years back. It's been freshly fitted with a new set of AMC 304 pistons (They're 3.75" diameter) as was done originally. My math skills put it at 321cu.in. - give or take a bit. Stock 289 crank, rods with a modified upper end and AMC304 slugs. BTW, this mod also requires that the pistons be decked a bit. This particular engine started life in an R2 Avanti. Then it ended up in Granitellis shop and (purportedly) was used as a core to make an R3 for resale. It wears an RS number AS WELL AS #B112. It sports reworked heads (R1 type) with R3 valves. Incredibly, the engine ended up serving in a Stude 3ton truck. It worked for a living for quite some years before it's cam broke. On disassembling it for redo, I discovered that one of the AMC pistons had a crack across it's crown. I've assumed it was because of the lugging that it's last owner habitually tormented it with. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Miscreant adrift in the BerStuda Triangle 1957 Transtar 1/2ton 1960 Larkvertible V8 1958 Provincial wagon 1953 Commander coupe