Re: 1936 Packard 120B Business Coupe engine rebuild

Posted by su8overdrive On 2012/7/24 5:47:17

Egge Machine in southern California, Terrel Machine in DeLeon, Texas, have good, helpful reputations. You should be able to Google contact info. Max Merritt in Greenfield, Indiana, outside Indianapolis, was always a square shooter.
Steve at Just Packards, Napa, CA 1 (707) 254-2046 has probably done as many One Twenty engines well as anyone since 1955. Call him, he'll know. Tell him a black '47 Super Clipper in Walnut Creek, CA referred you.

BTW, skip the chromed acorn head nuts. Those are tacky and for the birds. Packard, Chrysler and some others may've so fitted the odd show car engine, so to this day you get monkey see/monkey do. You've got a nifty little car as is.

Remember to set the valves a trace loose, .007/.009 and .010/.012 intake and exhaust go/no go gauge, so you can still hear a trace of tappet sound. When Packard instructed .007 and .010, every good-sized city had a Packard dealer/garage, labor was cheap, and inaudible idle was a the mark of refinement. Better a trace of tappet clicking than a burnt valve.

Don't listen to the old wives' tales---use chrome rings. They'll seat.

Remove and inspect or replace your water distribution tube, reproductions are available if needed.
When your block's being machined, make certain you have it boiled out and flush the hell out of it.

Retorque the head warm, assuming iron head, after a few miles, then again after a couple hundred more, once more at a thousand.

In the day, checking head and manifold torque was part of a complete tune up.

Make certain your manifold heat control valve is free, not frozen. Lube the shaft with a mixture of kerosene and graphite. The graphite will remain.

Remember to reinstall the Bakelite spacer under your carburetor.

I've a feeling one or more of our Down Under Packardites can also guide you.