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My 1922 Packard 126 Single Six Tourer has been running badly this season and has been getting water into a cylinder. I have had the head removed and there is a crack in the block, running through the valve seat and down the bore on number 3 cylinder. This can be repaired, either by welding and machining, or better by welding and then boring it out and fitting a dry liner, but we are not sure whether the block has enough metal there to stand machining to take a liner - advice please! A good alternative would be to get a new block, but I guess that there aren't any available - does anyone know of a suitable block which I could buy? The haed was also cracked, but on the outside of the water jacket, so it was weeping water - this CAN be mended by welding, so I don't need a head, but one would still be useful!
Tricky Dickie

Sorry to hear about the crack, perhaps the result of low coolant, adding cold water to an overheated engine, or perhaps a clogged water distribution tube. Though I'm not familiar with them, there are several methods used by engine rebuilders to measure the remaining thickness of cylinder walls. And of course a measurement of the current bore and comparison to the original spec will tell you how much it's been bored already.

Hi Richard:

From your note I infer this problem came without warning and that the car had anti-freeze in it. So it simply cracked without overheating or freezing?

If that is the case the block may be worn out. Or it was overbored. Generally .045 is the service limit. I've seen .060 over on Packard 8's along with heating problems. Going .080 over without sleeves is going to cause real problems.

I've been told the V-12 will crack at .080 over and I replaced a 56 Carribean motor that had cracked at .080 over.

Thanks guys. The crack can be seen in the attached photo. The car had antifreeze in it and has not been overheated during the year I have owned it. The antifreeze "found" the crack and seemed to make things worse. The idea would be to weld the crack, then bore the cylinder and fit a dry liner if there is enough metal to take it! Otherwise, we will just have to rely on modern welding to make it right, unless anyone knows of a block which is available.
Tricky Dickie

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It is called sonic testing and is commonly done on racing engines. There should be a local auto machine shop that can do this test.

In the 1920s an engine might be rebored and rebuilt at least once during its working life. The cylinders were made thick enough that they could be bored up to 1/8" oversize.

We don't know if your cylinders have been bored in the past but chances are, the cylinder can be bored far enough to fit a sleeve.

Any machine shop or welding shop that can weld your block properly, will be able to tell you if it can be done safely.

Richard,

We may have a block. Can you send me the engine number and a few pictures for comparison.

Thanks
James

James, the car is away at the repair shop at present, so I can't send engine pictures at the moment, but the engine number is 26576. It is the 268 cu in engine, as made by Packard from 1922 onwards until about 1930 I think.
Richard

I will see what I can come up with


Thanks
James

Richard,

The engine in your 1922 First Series Six is the same as that in the 2nd Series Six only. The six cylinder engine was discontinued after the 1928 5th Series. The engines from 3rd to 5th Series may be able to be fitted to the 126 but I don't know what if any modifications would be needed.
Ideally you need a 1st or 2nd Series engine block & head to avoid possible complications.

David

Thanks to all who have advised. I am hopeful that Bob Davis in OZ will have an engine for me. The other alternative is to have the block professionally repaired by a specialist firm. There is one outfit here in the UK (Surelock Castings Repairs Ltd) which reckons to be able to fix such problems and guarantees the result, so there is always a way to keep going!
Regards
Richard