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Identifying Engine Rods


Packard Don

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I'm organizing my shop in the "rod department" after a recent relocation and see that few, if any, of the part numbers on the rods match anything in the parts books so any help, advice, comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

Looking for 333834 for a 1940 110 engine, found 330613 which I know came from it

Unidentified 3886410 5ea (seems to have too many digits) that I believe came from a 1948 288

Unidentified 389845 1ea

Looking for 389647 for a 1952 Patrician, found 389646 which I know came from it

Thank you in advance!

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Not that I can recall but it would appear there were only 4 different rods used. From parts book, the 2206 etc 356 super eight engine has it's own rod and is mentioned in the bulletin as to that identification. The 5406 etc 359 engine also has its own rod. It would appear from parts manual there are two other choices for the remaining 48-54 engines. The bulletin mentions one of those for the eight so if you have any that don't fit into any of the known categories that would narrow the field down a bit.

post-43944-143142705741_thumb.jpg

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Thank you again, it is all most helpful. I'll check out the attachment when I'm back in civilization as I barely have a connection here at my shop. AT&T doesn't work well here at best and certainly doesn't like my steel building!

The one set (partial set as I have only five that I could locate) that has been perplexing me the most has a split piston rod tightener/adjuster and I don't recall any of my Packards ever having such a thing but perhaps I never noticed or have simply forgotten. It's been decades since I worked on any of them and am just now getting back to it.

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The only GM engines I have are from '65 and '71 or '72 Cadillac with much larger pistons, all accounted for. The pistons on the rods in question are 3½". The only engine I parted out was a 1948 288 from which I sold several rods back in the '70s and these do not match the photos in the parts book but I don't know where else they may have come from. Perhaps some enterprising person figured out that a GM rod would fit so replaced them. The casting number is 3886410 but I forgot to look to see if I misread because it has too many digits but if it does, then they are likely not Packard even though they probably came from one.

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I had another look today to verify the forging number on the mystery rods and now see that not only is it correct with seven digits (the third should be 3, not 8) but also it is followed by GM and another number, 142 so they are clearly GM. The center-to-center dimension is about 6.5" and the pistons, which are not split like the others I have for Packard, are 3.5". They also appear to be of a bit lighter construction. The mystery is still where they came from so they must have been in the 288 engine that I had. I never worked on any GM cars other than the two much larger bore Cadillacs!

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