I trust the neoprene seal as much as the OEM rope. If the motor is in the car, the neoprene is certainly the only way to go.

I used a piece of coat-hanger wire, about .100" thick for a spacer. Bent two pieces into half moon shape and slipped it in alongside the seal and bottomed out in the cavity. It is only there to keep the seal centered in the recess. Once you look at one, you'd see it is highly unlikely to slip. Much less likely than a rope seal, due to the design and fact that it does not cling to the crank for the first 100 miles or so, as the rope does.

A kajillion GM vehicles in the 1980s to 1990s can't be wrong. The seal doesn't know if its in a Cadillac or a Packard, and preforms equally well in either.

A caution: the above pic has the seal installed backward. The lip must face the motor.

I agree OEM rope seals are usually good for many miles & years of service. But they are getting hard to find. About 10 years ago I rebuilt a 352 and could not find an OEM seal, so used a repro. After about 15,000 miles it began leaking like a sieve. When removed, it looked like a mop string.

I tried hard to install another rope seal, as I'd heard many folks say was easy. I could not even come close to installing it in the upper half of the block. The crank would not drop down far enough due to the tranny shaft.

I had neither time nor desire to remove the tranny and/or motor, especially since I was scheduled to leave in a week to drive the car on a 4500 mile round trip, Kentucky to Washington, to the Studebaker International Meet. So I looked at modern, neoprene seals, and found one close enough, which someone posted above. With a little ingenuity, it fit perfectly and when I arrived in Washington, my 56J was drier underneath than most any Stude there. I drove that car about 25,000 miles with the seal in place, then sold it. AFAIK, the car is alive and well in the northeast, still with the seal in place.

I have had the same type seal in the other 56J now for over 15,000 miles and recently had the oil pan off. I could have easily replaced the seal then, but it was still working good as ever so I left it alone.

In sum, if anyone can install a rope seal with engine in car, my hat is off to you. I can assure anyone that, properly installed, the above neoprene seal will fit the bill nicely. Most important, it is a snap to install with the motor in the car.

I worked on one cylinder at a time, and used a rope through the spark plug hole to hold the valves in place. Removed the spring, then discarded a .030" spacer, then swapped the old OEM type black seal for a softer, more modern red seal with spring re-enforcer.
With the rope in place, the valves would still drop down about 1/4". I checked each valve carefully for sticking, and they all spun freely and moved up and down easily.

I still like your idea of the special cleaner CD2 Black, and will try to find it locally. It can't hurt.

Since the noise was not there before I swapped the heads, cam, lifters and timing chain, I am thinking its something related to the swap, but am out of ideas as to what.

I am just gonna drive it, but stay local for now. Hopefully it will get bad enough to give itself up, whatever the gremlin is.

Thanks Again,
Joe

The timing chain is NOS, less than 500 miles on it still. No discernible vibration or loss of power with the noise. Sitting in the garage with the motor turning 3000-3500 RPM, it almost sounds like a fuel pump knock, but I run an electric pump only. Definitely coming from the front area of the motor, toward driver side.
Thanks,
Joe

Well that did not fix it even a little. I did discover it will make the noise sitting still, at 3000-3500 RPM.

Packard V8 I misunderstood. I agree, that's a good way to isolate the cylinders. But for now, I am going back to the earlier plan, drive it till something breaks, then we will know what the problem was. Meanwhile, I will go ahead and assemble a fresh shorty block in the next few months.

Forgot to mention, new timing chain when I swapped the heads (OEM type), but re-used the gears, since they looked OK.

I still say the Packard V8 can be finicky sometimes :)

Thanks Again Folks

Thanks Tom & Packard V8 for the good food for thought.

A few problems with cylinder isolation by removing plug wires: It is silent at idle, and the tic only begins at around 2000 RPM under light throttle, in gear (car moving). Also, I have pacemaker, and the manufacturer specifically cautions against electrical interference, i.e. airport scanners, and I presume plug wires, especially if one accidentally "bites" me :)

In re-checking the math on spring clearance: they are factory set to 1.750" seated length. Coil bind is @1.250", so with .398" valve lift for intake and .388" for exhaust, that leaves .102" and .112" before coil bind. My setting them to around 1.700" left .052" and .062" before coil bind. Modern cam manufacturers recommend a minimum of .060", so re-doing the math may just have revealed the problem.

I am on my way out to the garage, to remove a .030" shim from each spring on that head. Will post results later.

Thanks Again,
Joe

In recent thread about "Finicky" Packard V8s, I mentioned a noise in the 56J's motor that sounded like a wrist pin, on the driver's side. It began after I swapped heads, cam, lifters, and several rockers.
Before swapping the heads, I had checked valve spring pressure on the replacement heads, and they were all weak. So I compensated a little by spacing them to around 1.700" seated length. OEM is 1.750" and, doing the math, there should still be plenty of clearance when the valves are opened.

The heads were rebuilt 8-10 years ago by an experienced machinist, now deceased. He sleeved the valve guides, installed hardened exhaust seats, and replaced valves as needed. He had mentioned the weak springs, but I told him not to worry about them since I am not a hot-rodder. His work was always second to none.

Following the wrist pin notion I removed driver side head and oil pan, replaced #1 piston & rod (not needed), and six rod bearings (badly needed). I also checked crank end play. In retrospect. I really found nothing that "put a finger on" the source of the noise.

Today, the noise is still there, exactly as before. It does not sound like a lifter, but having ruled out the bottom end, that only leaves the valve train. It could be: a loose valve seat; valve sticking in the guide; spring bind; rocker sticking on the shaft; push rod; lifter, or cam profile. Presence under light load would seem to indicate the problem is toward the combustion chamber, i.e. loose seat, or valve sticking in guide, but I am tired of guessing. IN hind sight, I wish I'd disassembled & inspected that head when I last took it off.

At this point I am frustrated and refuse to turn another bolt till I can accurately diagnose the problem. Current plan, run it till it blows. My AAA is paid up, and I have plenty of motor parts. In over half a million miles, I have never had to have a Studebaker towed, but might be headed toward the first time.

It is most pronounced under light throttle in 1st and 2nd gear. It may be present at higher RPM and load, but other noises drown it out.

Hi Jack,
As mentioned above, the ring grooves are OK, as is wear on the piston skirt, and inside the cylinders. There is barely any ring groove at the top of any of the cylinders.

Based on the one I removed, I'd have no qualms re-using these pistons, with .003" OS pins.

I kinda like seeing how long the old stuff will last. Its easier to just re-new everything, and often just as cheap dollar-wise. But I'd rather go this route when feasible, since it can be a testament to the old iron.

At any rate, 90,000 miles on the rod bearings is sub-standard in my book. Since #7 & 8 are still OK, it points to oil circulation. I ran this motor with an OEM oil pump the first 75,000 of those miles, and only swapped the Olds pump in about 15,000 miles ago. I bet if the Olds pump had been installed from mile one, those bearings woulda faired better.

As for the original tick, I'm gonna bet the rod was bent. Will know in a month or so, since I plan on buttoning the motor back up in the next few days. When the weather clears up, the car will be back on the road. No need for a seasonal shutdown here in the mild climate of Kentucky.
Thanks,
Joe

At about 200 miles on a recent heads' swap on the 56J motor a light tick began, at 2000-2500 RPM, under light load, most likely on #1 cylinder. After another 250 miles it was only getting worse, so I tore it down again.

I recalled stuffing about 6' of 1/4" rope through the spark plug hole in #1, to lock the motor in order to loosen the crank dampener bolt. So I hypothesized a broken piston or wrist pin lock ring. The motor has .030" OS pistons, so in preparation I bought an NOS .030" BonaLite piston from MM.

Upon tear down, the piston & lock ring look OK, but a light scar (barely catches the fingernail)is in the cylinder wall, that lines up with the lower edge of the wrist pin. With piston & pin intact, I cannot determine the source of that scar, but know it was not there when I swapped the heads. I now can only guess the rod may be bent, and causing the pin to shift back and forth slightly with each revolution. At any rate, I went ahead and swapped that piston & rod out.

When removing the piston, I found the rod bearing worn into the brass. I checked the others, and #1 thru #6 were the same, with only #7 & 8 still OK. The mains are all still OK, which seems odd, since every other Packard V8 I've torn down, the rods & 3 middle mains wore out together. (This motor has a little over 90,000 miles on last rebuild.)

With #1 piston removed, the pin free-floated back & forth in the piston and rod. In replacing the the other pistons' rod bearings, I discovered the pins all flopped back and forth.

The pistons have at least 150,000 miles on them, and were initially installed during a rebuild in the late 1960s. I re-used them for the last rebuild. They are not BonaLites, but look near identical to them. Other than the pin holes, they are still very serviceable, i.e. ring grooves OK. If I could find a set of .003" OS pins, I'd probably re-use them for the next short block build.

I have enough 352 stuff to assemble 2 good motors, but prefer to keep the original motor in this car if practical.

Either way, looks like I need to plan on a short block in the next 10,000-20,000 miles. Meanwhile will not plan on any long trips.

The reason I asked about oversize pins is because they may be an economical alternative to new pistons, when the old pistons are otherwise OK.

Also, its easier to ream the existent rod bushing to oversize than remove the old bushing, then install a new bushing, then ream the new bushing to standard size.

I foresee a 352 rebuild in the next six months, so getting my ducks in line. Will address the needed rebuild in another thread.