After hemming and hawing about it I've decided that it's definitely time to send my 1955 Patrician to its next owner.

The Good

1. 1 year old repaint. Beautiful job, removed all of the dents and dings.
2. Comes with a brand new exhaust system (not installed)
3. Original interior
4. Previously Owned by Fed & Dan Kanter
5. Pertronix ignition installed
6. Electric fuel pump as a backup installed as well
7. Operational torsion level
8. Ultramatic is is good working order
9. Optima battery included

The Bad

1. Engine will need to be rebuilt - it runs, but even with new lifters and rods its ticking.
2. Active oil leak at the oil filter outlet that I'm working to resolve.
3. Due to items 1 & 2 it should be trailered to you

Additional pictures available upon request.

Asking $9,000

Car is in the Salt Lake City area

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Totally agree with you and if it weren't for the potential relocation before mid-year the car would already be scheduled for Jack.

But I may have to accept that I may just end up having to ship the car clear across the country again lol

*sigh*

So if it's not one thing it's another. Long story short turns out my engine probably needs to be rebuilt.

I personally don't have the tools to perform this and the cost of obtaining the parts and the tools comes exceptionally close to the cost of paying someone else to do it.

While I've always wanted to rebuild an engine I just don't have the confidence that I can remove and re-install it safely or without issue.

I've contacted Jack Vines since he's just 800 miles north of me, however, my only concern is lead time. Since Jack is in high demand (understandably so) he's at least 6 months out.

Normally this wouldn't be a concern but there is a high likelihood that I will need to relocate within that timeframe, and it probably won't be this side of the Mississippi.

Therefore I'm researching shops in the Salt Lake valley.

There are quite a few, which isn't surprising, but many won't touch a Packard - also not surprising. I did die a little inside when someone said "Packard? V8? That's just like the Ford 239 right?"

I'll post updates as I figure things out.

I'll move updates to this to my rarely updated project blog lol

Looks like Jack is recommending a rebuild, & the cost isn't much greater than me buying the kit and tools and performing it myself. And at just under 800 miles away I could either drive or trailer it there myself.

We're in synch Owen - I actually shot him a note just waiting to hear back

Sounds like I'll need to do more diagnostics. I just for the life of me can't figure out why:

1. The new lifters are ticking already
2. Oil pressure at the front is barely registering on the manual gauge but a little over midway on the dash gauge
3. The black oily water out the back

I'm gonna have to pull the plugs and see what they look like and while I'm at it run a compression test.

Whatever I do I just don't want to under repair or over repair. Though pulling the engine to do a rebuild would give me the opportunity to redo all the wiring in the engine bay and clean up a few other things so...silver lining?

Thanks for the suggestion.

I'm wondering if this means my engine needs to be torn down and if so if I should attempt to rebuild it myself or just farm it out.

Oh brilliant! I'll have to pick up a set of those. Didn't know such a thing existed. This time I was able to use a bit more elbow grease to get it undone and run the test.

Any input on the results of the test of ~30 PSI cold and ~10 PSI warm. From what I've been able to read it's too low. Even revving it up to driving speed it barely hit 40 PSI.

One more picture. Looks like oil in the exhaust.

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