Jack_Vines

Greetings, All, At present on eBay, a re-seller is, in my opinion, mis-representing his product, as "Set of cast made in U.S.A. pistons for Packard 352 8-cyl 1955-56 - pistons new set - cast pistons brand new Made to better than O.E.' specs. These are brand new stock - not 'old' inventory. $499.00" After some direct on the telephone questioning, the seller confirmed these are Egge Mfg pistons, (BTW, available directly from Egge for $302.00). I told him in the considerable experience of the Packard V8 community, Egge pistons are in no way, shape, form or fashion "made to better than O.E. specs." Several friends on the Golden Hawk list agree that they have to be set up with much more than the O.E. piston clearance not to run hot. They do not have the O.E. cast-in steel expansion strut and the carefully controlled thicknesses of various sections. We should thank Egge for making them available, definitely preferrable to having nothing, but know what you are buying. Just thought you would want to know. thnx, jv

Hi, Craig, Joke, right? Who would name a town Pahrump? (And such a town existed, who would admit to living there?) thnx, jv.

Hi, Jerry, Are you sure you it is not the centrifugal advance causing the the timing mark move when you rev the engine? Vacuum advance is mostly a cruise mode function. To differentiate, if the vacuum advance is operative at idle, the timing will briefly retard when the throttle is opened and vacuum drops. If it is the centrifugal advance, timing will advance if the throttle is quickly opens and the engine revs up. thnx, jv.

Hi, Randy, You are correct in that the crank has to clear 360 degrees. The cam-to-crank clearance is only one. A longer stroke does hit the block at the pan rails and hits the oil pan at the bottom of its swing. I am putting a 4" billet crank in my Hawk project. Using Oliver billet rods helps a bit, as they use cap screws instead of bolts and nuts. This gives a few more thou of clearance on the cam and pan rail areas. thnx, jv.

Wanted: Packard V8 performance parts, 374" blocks and pistons, forged crankshafts. PackardV8@comcast.net

Hi, Gary, With my steel machinist rule, the center-cam-to-center-crank measures 5.0257" The other Packard V8 guy says 4 19/64" (4.296875") + 1/2 the rear cam bearing (1.4675"/2) comes out to 5.01625" Packard used a lot of even decimals in designing the V8. My guess is it says 5.0" on the blueprint. Just asking, why do you need this dimension? thnx, jv.

FWIW, that Classic Boat ad for the Packard Marine V8 is many years old. If memory serves, they sold it long ago and haven't changed the web site.

good guy and good parts, but ONE V8 head gasket for $21? What are you gonna do with one head gasket?

1. Stainless steel adjustable roller rocker arms and hardened rocker shafts for the V8 in a choice of 1.6, 1.65 or 1.7 ratio 2. Stainless steel exhaust headers like those used on the Z06/LS7 Corvette, with a built-in divider for the center exhaust ports. 3. Hi-po quality main, rod and cam bearings at SBC prices. 4. Late-56 oil pumps made by Melling 5. Edelbrock Air Gap intake manifold. 6. Comp Cams Street Roller tappet camshaft and a compatable thermoplastic distributor gear.

Have you had crank gear key failures? With the light spring pressures and gentle ramps Packard used on their valve train, the key wasn't highly stressed. I have never seen one fail.

Now available - Packard V8 Cam Retainer Plate and Cam Spacer. Toward the end of V8 production, Packard redesigned these pieces to raise oil pressure and stop lifter noise. If you are rebuilding a 1955-early 56 V8, you MUST replace the originals with these two pieces, however, until now, they were No-Longer-Available. We made some for our engines on a CNC mill in A2 Heat Treated Tool Steel. As a favor to club members, we will make the set available for $75, shipping included. They will be the most beautifully finished part on your engine. Packard V8 Ltd. 3227 E. 28th Avenue, Spokane, WA 99223 We prefer PayPal to PackardV8@comcast.net or cashier's check or money order made out to Jack Vines. Thanks Jack Vines

Greetings, All, I am looking for a source of engineering drawings or blueprints for the Packard V8. Any leads would be appreciated. thnx, jv.

Greetings, All, Just bought a porportedly original air conditioning compressor, bracket and idler for a 1955 Packard. Does anyone have for sale the third crankshaft pulley which drives the A/C? Secondly, does anyone have any first or second-hand knowlege of the Lehigh v-twin cylinder compressor? It looks impressive, seems sturdy and is, of course, heavier than the hubs of hell. Is it rebuildable? If rebuilt, will it function well enough to be worth the expense? thnx, jv.

Hi, Kendall, Thanks for the update. Looks like a chronic failure mode here. FWIW, since Eric mentioned it, I checked our the Ford Racing harmonic balancer. It is larger than the smaller diameter of the Packard balancer, as well as not having the taper. It would hit the cast timing marker tab on the front cover. thnx, jv.

Greetings, All, Just wanted some input from you all. On the last three Packard V8s I have disassembled, the cast iron harmonic balancer was cracked along the hub keyway. Two of these three had the outer ring loose on the rubber band. Question - is everyone else finding this to be a problem? I am in the process of modifying a late-model balancer, with new pulleys with the correct offset for the Packard. It may turn out to be less expensive than just rebonding the loose outer ring, much less worrying about the cracked hubs. If this project can come in somewhere around the $250 range, is anyone else interested? thnx, jv.

How about as long as we are going to do it, lets put in a divider for the center port. More than 40 years ago, we built four tube headers for the Cadillac, Oldsmobile and Studebaker V8s. They were absolutely necessary with long duration racing camshafts. The dividers were part of the header and fit back up into the center exhaust port. They were made just a 1/8th-inch oversize, so they could be file-fitted to ported heads. While you are at it, make a set to fit the 1956 Golden Hawk. More Studebaker owners are into performance than are Packard owners. thnx, jv

Happy holidays, all, Am working on re-manning and modifying the Packard V8 oil pumps. Have gotten modifications worked out for the first design, which externally vents overpressure oil. However, from what I have read, the second design, the one which recycles overpressure oil internally instead of dumping it out into the pan, is the way to go. Anyone out there have a good, ore even a core second design Packard or Hash oil pump for sale? thnx, jv.

I serviced a few of the Stokes marine conversions back in the early '60s and know for a fact they were just standard passenger car engines with the marine exhaust manifolds and transmission. They were NOT 412" or anything weird. Just another urban legend.