wrong - the "later style bearings are hard to find" is wrong wrong wrong. They are not "hard to find"! They are IMPOSSIBLE to find !

That is why a little intelligent and competent machine-work is necessary to fit today's "inserts" to pre-war "senior" Packard rods.

For those who are not familiar with Packard connecting rods, they are BIG and HEAVY. They generate MUCH more severe forces on the "big end" bearing then a modern car.

Unfortunately, Packard motor engineers got it into their head that a provision for "side-play" was important, so that is why the rod bearings look like "thrust-loaded" MAIN bearings, meaning they have a flange. Of course that flange is necessary to take up "end play" on a rotating crankshaft, but a waste of time on con rods.

To fill in the space where the flange used to be, we just brazed some bronze "tits" around where the flange used to be, to take up the end play. In case no-one noticed, there are about twenty billion million thousand trillion cars and trucks running around with insert bearings, that have NO flanges and plenty of oil pressure....!

I hear someone is thinking of re-producing authentic flanged rod bearings just the way Packard and Federal Mogul made them in the 1930's. Sounds great ! I get real nervous when I hear some well-meanig machinist, who wasnt able to find from the bearing charts a modern insert that WILL fit, went ahead and bored a Packard rod out so far that he had to cut into the rod bolts. NOT a good idea. Sets up a stress concentration. Very naughty !

Oh - let me explain - the SAE ASTM tech. standard for the thickness of the insert "shell" changed at some point just before during the 2nd world war. The Packard / Federal Mogul insert shells were THINNER. In theory, good idea, better heat and shock transfer into the rod itself. In practice, leaves us with rods that dont have enough "meat" to go crazy with a Sun rod hone....!

Now, where was I...oh yes...way-too-short mini dresses. Now THERE is a subject that wont bore you guys...!

You think I have a dim view of poured babbit in Packard connecting rods? If you want to see a dim view of poured babbit in Packard connecting rods, suggest you read the engineering reports on them. Plenty of reproductions of these reports floating around. My favorite is one that GMC did, comparing the early 1930's Buicks to pre "insert" Packards.

Interesting story behind this - General Motors was smart enough to figure out they could get by with the cheaper "poured babbit" ( and did so clear into the early 1950's on Chevies and Buicks !) IF they kept the babbit layer VERY VERY thin. The thinner the babbit, the less likely it is to start pounding out (and, of course, the less likely the crank-shaft will survive once the babbit starts to come un-glued).

Packard engineers tried VERY hard to make poured babbit rod bearings work as highways improved and cruising speeds rapidly rose. They went to all kinds of expensive "fixes" that didn't solve the problem. Ever seen the beautifully machined "finned" rods on the early 1930's Eights and Super Eights ? The full flow oil filters ? The full flow oil coolers ? NOTHING worked to save poured babbit rod bearings.

The "sintered copper lead" precision insert type rod bearing on all senior Packards from 1935 production on (until "senior" production ended with the destruction of "senior" production facilities in 1939) was the correct answer then, and remains so today.

As bad as poured babbit bearings were, once road speeds started increasing (reflecting the vastly suprior highways of the early 1930's) poured babbit in 1935 or later Packard con rods is a DISASTER. Again, the thicker the babbit bearing layer, the faster it will "pound out", destroying the crank-shaft.

So - the answer to your post is - don't blame me. I was never a Pacakrd or GMC or Federal Mogul bearing engineer. Blame THEM for the various technical papers that confirm why NO automotive motor ANYWHERE on the planet today (and that includes cars, trucks, boats, piston aircraft, etc.) would think of using this fragile form of rod bearing.

nope - he dosn't have a valid point about modern radials. Some kinds of wheels, both "collector", and even some modern, have a problem giving a good "seal" with tube-less tires. There are readily avail RADIAL tubes for just about any size you need (my '38 V-12 came with "modern" style "drop center" steel welded discs, so I personally dont have this problem).

He does have a valid point about staying under 50 mph. That is, IF his car wasnt properly over-hauled.

The limiting factor is the "poured babbit" rod bearings. As I noted elsewhere, road tests when the car was new, confirmed if you drive a poured-babbit bearing equipped Packard of ANY engine much over 45 mph for any length of time, you will be lucky to get two thousand miles out of it before the rod bearings fail and damage the crank-shaft. Once the crank-shaft is damaged, it is a MAJOR operation, in ANY "senior" Packard engine of 1939 or earlier vintage, to "grind" the crank-shaft.

There is a reason why Packard (and most others) went to modern "precision insert" type bearings for 1935 and later production. There is a reason why no responsible engine overhauler will use poured-babbit for connecting rod bearing material if he knows the owner intends to actually operate the motor beyond driving from a trailer, across the grass a few hundred feet OR LESS, at a car show.

Now, once you properly equip a '34 Packard of ANY engine size with quality "insert" type rod bearings, you can drive it at any speed that amuses you, for as long as you like. Packard proved that in a famous 25,000 mi. extreme speed test in late '34.

And if you really want to enjoy the superb "handling", VERY competent power brakes, and general "feel" of a pre-war Senior Packard, get it a "high" (low numerically) final drive ratio.

I cant imagine anyone trying present-day "repro" bias tires, unless all they want is something to keep the wheels off the grass at car shows. Even a short drive with modern "repros" gives you a false experience - really screws up the car and prevents you from feeling the "Packard Magic".

Anyone who DOSNT know there is a "Packard Magic" feel, is missing a lot - dosnt understand why Packard out-sold Cadillac in the super-luxury super-car field - just as an example, TEN Packard Twelves were delivered for the 1938 model year for every single Cad. V-16.

all right...all right..I confess...that is the special lever that operates the device that switches back between the V-12 and the "straight twelve" (now you know why so many people come up at auto shows and ask "didn't they make a straight twelve..."...? )

I disagree - the tires you refer to, at least in my case, have a history of poor quality. First of all, in order to get them "round" enough to eliminate "wheel tramp", I had to find a place with the old "tire rounding knife" equipment, and wound up losing over 3/32 in tread before we got them round.

In service, I found them totally unsatisfactory in several respects. First, their tread and side-wall design caused them to "hunt" and "track" any road surface irregularity.

Secondly, because they are of a primitive "bias" design, they "run hot", meaning, normal operation causes them to generate heat internally. At anything over a steady 50 mph they got REALLY hot, even at 32 psi. I had repeated cord and tread separation on several versions of their tires.

Some years ago, I finally gave up and went to radials. It was amazing. I remember how Packards drove during the "bias" tire era. They steered straight, did not "hunt", and I sure as heck drove my Packards fast . SOMETHING is wrong with today's bias "repro" tires.

Bottom line - get some radials. You can get modern radials that LOOK like the old bias tires in terms of white-wall design.

You people are confusing me with your talk of "rims" and "wheels". Hopefully, some of you guys can get me straightned out - I really honestly THOUGHT I knew something about automotive and light truck wheel technology.

It is my understanding that the entire American auto industry buys their wheels from MOTOR RIM AND WHEEL or BUDD. I am not aware of ANY American auto manufacturer who EVER made their own wheels.

It is my understanding that NO American car has used a wheel with a separate "rim" on their wheels since the introduction of the "drop center" steel wheel in the mid 1930's (the wheel's rim is welded and/or rivited to the wheel's "disk" and thus are not a "service" part). I should qualify this by noting that early 1930's Packards could be ordered with spoke wheels, but I KNOW they will not fit post-war Packards. In any event, my recollection is the spokes were WELDED, so you couldn't get the rims off the wheels.

Straighten me out, guys !

Hey - Big Kev - I think we've met !

Hey..man..I wouldnt say that you are U - G - L - Y.....(but then again...)

See - Turbo - how little you know about twelve cylinder cars and what we do to them at my special shop....I bet you thought that was the hand-shifter for one of the several over-drive units that are avail.

W R O N G

That is a Packard-installed factory "option". The Packard Motor Car Company felt SO badly about the vastly superior performance of its V-12's, that, for people with compassion for the feelings of the eight cyl. Packards, you could buy a special "cylinder disconnect" lever, as this one is equipped with.

See...you "throw" that little lever, and it dis-connects ten of the twelve cylinders, so that you eight cyl. Packard guys can keep up with it, and not feel so bad.......

Love those photos. No question - Stalin loved his Packards. Would have loved to have seen the expression on the Chief Engineer when "Uncle Joe" first told him "say..buddy...I really like that '42 Packard..how about making some knock-offs"......?"

Can you IMAGINE this whole damn fool ZIS business...? During a war, when the country is invaded and in danger of becoming extinct, and hundreds of thousands, if not millions of his people are being murdered by an invading agressor, and Stalin devotes resources to this....!

Oh, by the way, that data plate indicates that car was built in Moscow.

Here's an interesting side-note about trying to understand Russians and books about them... ! Who knows why there are no garages in Russia ?

Here's why I am suspicious of ANYTHING written about Russia, that uses Russian sources for info....!

Oh, sure, if you operated an automobile in Russia during the communist years, you could take it to any number of places for repair. But no garages. Seriously !

Here's why. The FRENCH language was the language of Russian "society" up to the communist take over. I read someplace that the Czar's kids spoke Russian badly, as a SECOND language to the household's use of French (this is understandable, as French, not English, was then the international language of diplomacy.) Good communists showed how "loyal" they were to the "new equality" under communism, by not using "imperialist" words!

Now - the Russian communists CLAIM Russians invented EVERYTHING - if you can read cyrillic, you can see that the Russian word for "telephone"..is in fact..TELEPHONE...as is the Russian word for "automobile"..yup....AUTOMOBILE.

Oh oh....comes the Russian Communist Revolution, and all things "capitalist" and "imperialst" are suspect. You do NOT want to be using French if you are pretending to be a good communist in communist Russia ! With all the paranoia, a one-way ticket to Lubianka Prison would be likely.

Now...what to do about those places called "garages" during the Czarist days, where you take those Russian cars in Russia, to be repaired...?

They were quickly changed to say, (in cyrillic, of course! ), M T S. Now...what is MTS ? Well...THAT's what they substitued for the word "garage". THAT is what good communists ( if they wanted to remain live good communists) started calling all their garages...!

I love to tease my Russian friends about their CLAIM that THEY invented all that technology. Ha ha..joke is on them-what greater example of their "problem" with precision of speech, then their having to give up the word "garage"...a WESTERN European word, and MANUFACTURING a goofy combination of words CLEARLY not Russian, in order not to use the hated French word "garage"....

MTS ? Stands for " MACHINE TRACTOR ( REPAIR ) STATION !