Re: straight 8 engine

Posted by su8overdrive On 2012/9/27 13:57:40

As always, Peter speaks the unvarnished truth. These are not rpm engines, but cammed for effortless tractability on the winding two-lane "highways" of the day. A friend had a beautifully rebuilt '35 Eight Model 1201 coupe-roadster with such an engine, everything according to Hoyle, or East Grand. It also had the ridiculous 4.69:1 rear axle. I drove the car a spell and it was a paragon of smoothness, refinement, as you'd expect. Once we took it to a Packard meet and he cruised for a couple miles on the freeway at 65, even touching 70. It was testimony to Packard engineering that even at those speeds, the sound from under the hood was a loud, confident hum, not harsh roar.

I assumed it had a 4.41 axle. When i discovered it was nearly the same stump puller as the earlier L-29 Cord (4.7:1 in high) i was horrified. The first-generation Cords were infamous for being saddled with an absolute top speed of only 78mph, despite their racy looks, and they have lower, reduced frontal area compared with a Packard. This is the absolute limit for a razor-tuned MG-TA/B/C with a tail wind.
Back in the '30s there was the expression, "Going like 60," which meant you were really peeling the wind.

Absolutely. Listen to Peter. Scout out a 4.1 rear cog, and/or an aftermarket overdrive. There's an informative article about gearing, long stroke engines, bearings, Down to the Interstate in Ships: Modern Speed in Vintage Iron,
in the late, great Special Interest Autos, Issue #144, Nov/Dec., '94, which may still be available through Hemmings.

Remember, the 319.2 engine came out in the late 1920s,
was never as husky as Packard's 384, not that that similarly five-inch-stroked mill likes high rpm any better.

My knowledge of the 319 engine is entirely second-hand, but if you keep road speed down and/or install taller final drive, keep oil and water in it, and don't insist on driving it in modern traffic and expecting it to perform with no more fuss than a late-model Camry or Taurus, it'll reward you with smooth running for years. This last adviso is something well remembered by drivers of ALL Packards, and vintage/Classic cars in general. In the day,
people pulled over at roadside stands, had a cup of coffee,
and never suffered the hellish traffic inevitable with today's domestic population of nearly a third of a BILLION.

Even in my '47 Super Clipper, despite its nine-mained, hydraulic-liftered 356 being rebuilt, balanced and having 7.5:1 compression, i set the period 4,500-rpm Stewart-Warner tachometer's redline at 2,500, rarely exceeding this other than momentarily during acceleration.