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So I made up my mind to change my water pump since the radiator is out and now I have a new problem. I have been operating under the assumption that I have a 288 motor but today I noticed the head is stamped 356. I don't know if the head was changed or the whole motor. I looked where the engine number should be and I can't see it. It looks like there is a heat shield mounted near the starter that may be hiding the number but I can't remove it without loosening the head bolts. Anyway is there a way beside the number to tell the difference between the motors?

On the 356 Engine the distributor is mounted dead center in the length of the block. On the 288 and 327 it is mounted quite a decent offset towards the front.

If indeed you have the 288, you will want to get rid of that 356 head as it will give you very low compression and steal a lot of performance and economy.

If the number is not on the smooth pad just below the head above the starter did you also check around the area of the distributor? On pre 51 blocks number could have been stamped on the rough casting at either side of the distributor. The roughness of the block and with sometimes very faint stampings covered with dirt and grease, the numbers can be hard to see.

Here is a photo of one position but while still in the general area, location seemed to have varied a bit between years. When you find the number check out the engine serial number listhttps://www.packardinfo.com/xoops/html/downloads/PackardEngineSerials.pdf to find the exact engine.

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Thank You Gentlemen. The distributor is, indeed mounted in the middle so I'm led to believe it is in fact a 356. I am still unable to locate a number and it appears I will at least need to remove the starter to try to see it. If it is near the distributor I can't see it. It may have been painted over. I'll find it eventually, at least in the mean time I'll go by the distributor location and assume it is a 356. There are what I assume are date codes, 11 10 48 on the head and 10 24 48 on the block.

Thanks again

Don Rounds

Of the various places used over the years to stamp the motor number, none would require removal of the starter motor to see. Suggest you look again, either on the block in the vicinity of the distributor, or just below the cylinder head temperature sensor.

I didn't think the 288/327/359 and 356 head bolt patterns were the same?

Roundsy,

Looks like you might have a "hot-rodded" Packard! Looking at your 1950 Eight Touring Sedan entry in the Registry, see that it was previously owned by "a mechanic and owner of a Packard restoration shop". He would have been well placed to do the swap.

I spoke of removing the starter because there is some sort of heat shield mounted behind it blocking the view of the motor. I will continue to search for the number wherever it may be. I think I have established that it is a 356 with the help of the folks here and also a nice fellow at Kanter that told me the larger motor has 6 bolts in the oil pump while others have 4. I need to get a better look near the distributor and maybe scrape a little stuff off.

While I know the old guy that worked on Packards owned this car for many years I did not realize what he did to it for fun. Makes it more of a challenge for sure. I hope all that extra horsepower is worth it!

Mal made the connection to trigger my memory, many of us Packard folk in the NJ/NY/CT area knew Dan Malumphy thru the Eastern Packard Club. He was well known for his tinkering and modifying his cars and I do now recall this one with the 356 and power steering.