I always hated those cat whisker things on the front fenders and have always wondered what the car would look like with veritcal catwalks rather than the horizontal bars.

I think with the ceramic filter the inside of the element is full when the motor is running and the little air pocket is not in the flow path. If you try to blow through the element you can't, but if you blow through the output side you can. You know fuel is moving because the pump is pushing 2 qts per minute.

I like those little ceramic things because it's a piece of nifty engineering that doesn't have a use anymore.

The only reason to do this would be the power loss from driving the pump or to cool the motor when parked. However, the radiator on those cars is very chinsy and too much flow could have the car overheating.

If efficiency is the objective then the route to pursue is computer controlled fuel injection. For that you need to adapt a CKP, turn the distributor into a CMP, drill the manifold for injectors, add a knock sensor, oxygen sensor, MAP and/or MAF, and TPS.

I'm already tired. The only problem is that the motor will blow up from too much horsepower. Modern car makers have finally figured out how to keep people having to buy new cars: build motors that produce lots of horsepower.

I see it all the time. 361 cubic inches, 350 horsepower, 800 ftlbs of torque, motor is shot by 150,000 miles even with the benefits from clean burning emission controls. And that is in a motor with reinforced main bearing webs.

If the valves are sticking after being serviced the inside of the guides are corroded and varnish collects within pits which then creates little wedges that close off clearances once the motor cools.

On the subject of the cylinder head I think that is an interesting issue given that engineers were fully aware that the L-head motor is subject to pre-ignition. I assume because the compression stroke creates a front that is not evenly distributed and causes diesel type combustion. The L-head motor is much more suseptible to piston noise than OHV motors.

That these rebuilt motors do it more as they age points to hot spots in the aluminum cylinder head probably from corrosion. Or perhaps the carburetors are worn and the Economizers are closing off too much under moderate throttle. I drove a 359 once that had an NOS carburetor and it did not ping.

The 356 head swap is academic, but a better solution would be to use lower compression pistons. A good machinist can turn .060 off the top in a mill. All that is required is the right specification. .060 is about one compression unit for a cylinder head. Of course for a motor rebuild the piston specification could be had from the manufacturer.

I was dealing with one of these pinging things and heard all about distributor curves and what not from now deceased experts, but I never bought it. Fortunately for the case I was handling the detonation was from over heating. The owner agrued with me that if the gauge is no solidly on Hot the motor is not overheating, even though it was spewing coolant out the over flow in the shop.

So I just fitted a 160 thermostat with out telling him what I was doing. He came in and started yelling at me that I wasn't installing the thing the right way. The car didn't have seat belts and I told him to drive it a fast as he wanted.

The transmission cooler lines are also referred to as the "lube line". They are the oil return line from the torque converter and are low pressure. Thus putting a full flow oil filter in line will not affect pressures.

Many modern vehicles have such filters in addition to the pick up filter as standard equipment. The ultramatic filter is just a screen.

So 210016 is no good?

Check it out. It was used on both senior and junior cars.

Let's see, common to both senior and junior.

Off the top of my head, 210016 10th through 54th series - 22 years - WWII inclusive.

Well, not really. I thought it about during dinner and looked up the numbers.

However, I think the pedal pad is a better answer given that - excluding 1950 - it was used through 1956 and was introduced in the late 6th series or 27 years

Glossy leathers (or laquered hides) have pretty much gone the way of chrome, but they can still be had. The early cars pretty much all used glossy leather. As did Rolls-Royce. Non-laquered glossy stuff is still available from a subsidiary of Bridge of Weir. It's not as shiny as the patent stuff but is a very nice product.

Personally, I like the glossy leather even if it is not nearly as durable. I like the looks.

Actually the shift terminolgy for the transmission goes Low - 2nd - Intermediate or 3rd - Direct or High.

Packard specifically stated to start the car in second and really did not talk about the Low gear at all. They also called it first gear in other places but Low is the correct term.

You only need Low in the Speedster or in cars with the 3.56 rear end gears. Turnquist had those in his 840 Roadster and you really had to start out in Low. The 145 hp speedsters did a little better and could start in second but it wasn't a good idea.

That is probably correct. Or at least they would do anything to make a sale. I recall a 56 400 floating around New Jersey with twin 4bbls and a factory stick shift. It probably had the Carribean hood as well, but I don't recall.