I?ll be happy to sell you a block or two or three. Am located just north of Baltimore. As noted, any 51-54 five main block will do. I'm in Kenya til the end of February, but will be happy to help you after that.

I have installed easily dozens of fuel pumps from Terrill Machine with zero troubles, The one in my own 51 is probably 15 years in service now and over 30K miles.

My experience is that folks who mix up "helpful" cocktails of various aditives in their fuel end up with unintended consequences of melted rubber parts. All of my driving is done in cars 50 years old and older and they do just great with no additives. Regular use seems to be the best medicine.

Ouch, just checked your photos: the engine has been rung before as the oil rings are not the original type, and the top rings are very loose in their lands. Now I really recommend boring and new pistons.

If you have the broken top ring disease, you will find that the ring lands have worn out too wide and that the bores are probably bellmouthed in the first half inch or so. Really recommend boring and new pistons and chrome rings.

I once spent a long time comparing a 48 and a 51 chassis side by side with an eye toward the suspension geometry. I was suprised to find that all the angles and arms lengths were the same, even though they changed from lever shocks to airplane type. I was seeking to find why the later cars have a far better feel and much less bump steer. Eventually I found that in 51 they lengthened the outer tie rods so that they were the same overall length as the lower control arms. Presto, no bump steer as the steering arms operate in the same plane as the lower control arm.

Further measurements suggest that you can install the entire draglink and tie rods from a later car on a bathtub with zero modifications, tho I have not had the chance to do so yet. This would be about a 45 minute job. Otherwise, I am a big fan of Packard's original geometry.

The other big change for 51 and later was the wider rear spring leaves that gave a good deal more roll resistance and lateral stability. I have installed a rear roll bar on a 48 Custom with very pleasant results. Don't know if I would be in a rush to put in a four link without a careful geometry workup.

I can probably come up with a drag link assy if you want to try it.

That's 1.5 x 3" x .093 tubing that happened to be sitting around from a pickup truck project. With the extra piece in the middle it hardly flexes. There are pieces of angle welded onto the ends that fit into the sliders. That keeps it from shifting left and right or from flipping--also the reason the reinforcement is on the bottom.

I had two engine jobs on a 51 and a 54 to do at once. Have removed engines with and without transmissions and usually with cherrypickers. They can't hardly reach in far enough without removing the bumper, and with the l-8s the arm usually fouls the engine as one attempts to lift it high enough to clear the grill. Not to mention that when they are loaded they don't roll well.

The new system is a tubing bridge that fits into the sliders on the lift.

The radiator and front splasher are removed. and I cut out the top bar of the radiator cradle (to be welded back later). All of the usual wires and linkages are removed. I take out the six bolts that hold the rear crossmember and let that drop down til it catches in the frame. I mount my lifter slightly to the rear of the center of the engine. With the trans attached, the back hangs quite low as you lift and makes it easy to get the whole thing out without fouling the tunnel. Of course the lift only moves up and down so the car was pushed slowly backward as the lifting took place little by little. This worked astonishingly easy compared to other methods.

I greatly prefer to remove the trans with the engine as they invariably need at least a reseal job and it is tedious to unbolt them from the engine in the car. Effortless to do so on the ground.

The time saving was wonderful as there was so much less to remove. On the second install which was a 51 Patty, the engine/trans went from sitting on the floor to sitting on its mounts in the car in 15 minutes with no rushing.

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9 inches? What is that thing doing in there? Stock 320 would be a 10.5, and the 352 got an 11" Even the old 288s had a 10 inch. 9 inch would be OK for a Nash Statesman.

Seriously tho, can't imagine what that thing is doing in there. I have never had any problems with the stock sizes even in a 56 Clipper with a 3.31 axle.

I'm kind of doubting if a 12 inch will fit, but don't know.

It is no problem to redrill if done accurately, and no need to fill the old holes unless the new disc rides over them.

Over the river and through the woods, Packard still provide reliable and comfortable transportation even under trying circumstances. The old girl did just fine coming home in the "big" snowstorm last night, and again whilst exploring this morning.

Hope you all had a great Christmas, and I wish you a very fine New Year. Ross

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Just a distaff view: get a set of electric lifts from a streetrod supplier and put them in. You will end up spending far less money and time, and 15 years from now when the cylinder/tubes/hoses/pump would need redoing again, you will just be smiling.

"original" is too ephemeral and subjective a concept to be worth the trouble in a mass produced sedan. But it is, after all, your dime. I am pretty sure you could buy a good 54 driver sedan for the cost of a complete power window redo at normal shop rates. Just an opinion.

I am a huge fan of the MSD-5 also and have used them very happily on quite a number of Studes and Packs; easy starting and a consistent strong spark right through the rpm range.