1400 parts per million ZDDP is .14%. That's almost a trace amount. I don't know if the stuff is any good, but my suspicion is that it's just a cheap anti-wear agent the same way tetra ethyl lead was a cheap anti-knock compound.

This whole ZDDP thing came about because supposedly the Cadillac V-8 has a bronze oil pump gear and they were falling apart. Well, why not plastic then. How about paper? That is no way to build an engine and if the oil pressure is anything above spec - 30 psi - then that could blow the darn thing up as well.

I think the same result could be had by using Lucas or any of the other additives like Rislone (which Packard authorized).

As for flat tappets most motors today use them, along with aluminum bearings and all sorts of cheap materials and chinsy designs that fall apart on occasion. If tappet wear is a big concern then don't replace valve springs. Old weaker springs will work fine as long as the motor isn't being revved like crazy.

Dear Rod:

Very good idea. Those old automatic chokes run too rich which is bad for the motor.

A good way to free up the throttle is with Kroil. It is amazing on cables. Put it on and let it soak for a week. You can get Kroil via the junknet.

Dear Jetjay:

I assume you are referring to the senior cars.

According to Turnquist the Dietrich designs were used through 1937. In 1931 they carried Dietrich plates which disappeared in 1932 on bodies built by Murray. The series ran through 1934. From 1932 through 1934 an Individual Custom by Dietrich supplemented the catalogue. These are the V-windshield Dietrichs.

For 1935 through 1937 the bodies were Dietrich designs which may or may not carry a body plate.

Ray Dietrich was treated like shxt by Packard and other employers because he was decent guy. However, he also wasn't much of a suck up. At Chrysler he was dealing with vipers. Corporations are like gangsters; they single out people for maltreatment because they fear each other and a scapegoat makes their situation less threatening. Just like what goes on in world politics. Psycho.

Dear CaptainBristol:

That's a terrible way to go about fixing a car.

Please note the Packard manual is explicit in stating that ammeter wires should be checked for tightness whenever there is a question as to electrical system performance and whenever repairs are made.

Note as well that the gauges originally used anti-shake washers which tend to disappear with service because it takes patience to reinstall them. So check them out at least once per year.

The early stuff through 03 used battery ignition and buzz coils.

The four cylinder stuff started using battery and buzz coils to start and magneto to run. You started on the batteries and switched to magneto after the motor was running.

Now you might wonder - how hard is it to start that big Model 30 and it's 465 cubic inches using the hand crank?

The answer is: With a little practice, they crank right over. I always liked showing off my muscle by ignoring the add on starter motors that are so often fitted to those cars. In fact one time I just finished one of those things and made a bet with one of the student helpers that it would crank over by hand in two turns. It did despite that it was towed in and I had never heard it run.

I'm not a big brass era car guy, but cranking over the big Packards by hand is really alot of fun. I never drove them except around the block for a test. And if you really want to show off get a 443 and if you just crack the priming cups you should be able to crank that big Custom 8 by hand as well.

Given the request for comments, I'll throw my two cents in.

Today's highest cost prime movers use full flow plus bypass. The bypass is a multi-stage filter. They also use pre-cleaners in addition to primary and second stage air filtration.

If you can find a good engineering library you can check out editions of the "Handbook of Petroleum Engineering". They contain filtration studies some of which concluded that diesel locomotives were ruined after three months without filtration.

For these Packards there are a couple of very important considerations.

One is that when these cars sit parked for more than a week the settlement effect is virtually the same as full flow filtration. When they sit for a month the results are way down in the microns.

Secondly, the floating pick up is very effective. Modern cars don't have floating pick ups any more because of full flow filters.

After that the air filter is actually more important than the oil filter. And that is according to the Packard company. I remember an old timer who fitted an oversized paper filter to his original 902 and it ran for years and years without a rebuild. For any car without the optional oil bath cleaner I would follow his lead.

Finally, emission controls and unleaded gas have cleaned up the crankcase which is why modern engines run so long without blowing up. In fact, motor builders have to engineer failure into modern engines so that they have to be replaced. A million miles on an engine is entirely possible given changes in the computer program cells and sturdier parts.

Maybe this will make you feel better:

Bob Turnquist totalled two Packards.

Also, on one of the CCCA caravans a boat trailer got loose and wiped out a 903 Dual Cowl. On another, winds tipped over a tractor trailer with four cars in it (another Turnquist car). Then there was one fellow whose restored 48 Lincoln Continental fell off the trailer on the highway.

I knew one guy who was stopped by the state police in the middle of the highway in his 36 Packard convertible coupe. While they were screwing with him a truck rear ended the Packard.

Hope this helps.

Your question was taxing my memory, but then I remembered the cross reference on this site shows Wix 51080. This is a good number, but be careful about the gasket. If your old gasket is stuck to the lid and not leaking then don't touch it and keep the new one as a spare. Torque the bolt to 15-18 ftlbs. Over tightening any oil filter is not good.

Now that filter is a joke. The reason it saves sludge is because it acts as a condensation trap for vapors that should be drawn out through the siphon tube.

Bypass filtration is used in expensive heavy duty diesel motors to superclean the oil in addition to full flow filtration. That setup uses a three stage process. In the old days the original Pure-Oil-Later used the same concept, but without full flow primary, PCV, good air filtration, and computer controlled emissions, the system was worthless as well

Realistically you are probably just as well off plugging the line and sending the full secondary oil flow to the tappets.

Try putting the hose into the cylinder head outlet with both hoses disconnected. If it backs up there is something wrong with the water jacket. If it doesn't back up then put the lower hose on and fill to level with the cylinder head outlet. Start the motor. If it doesn't spout water then there is a pumping problem.

Perhaps the water jacket was repaired incorrectly. Water enters the jacket through a slot in the front, then flows around the oil temperature regulator, then through 9 holes in the jacket plate one parallel for each main bearing. If the holes are not the right size - problem. I don't have one but I think 1/2 inch diameter. No holes, no flow. Holes too big - overheating in the rear cylinders. The holes should be located for bottom to top flow. The rear of the jacket should not be open.

Now once I was dealing with a 37 Buick Limited that would blow the water pump gaskets. It had no flow because the radiator was clogged and so it built up pressure. In the file was a receipt for radiator work - $45. Well that is not my idea of a good cleaning. $450 get's a good cleaning by virtue of rodding and sometimes things just don't work out except with a new core.

And I assume the temperature gauge is buried. The only spec on that pump is clearance between impeller and housing .025 -.045, and end play .005-.010. For the pump not to work at all would require a completely wrong impeller. Or a missing set screw.

That heater story is a hoot. I always shut those things off unless the car is going somewhere in the middle of winter. There is nothing worse than having it leak inside the car. And those old firewalls are like a furnance anyway.

One problem with those cars is the original ground cable. The front of the motor is a long way from the starter and it causes resistance as the motor ages. Run the proper sized ground cable to the start bolt. The flat head Cadillacs are notorious for this kind of problem.