Re: engine number

Posted by HH56 On 2012/2/25 21:52:22

The meaning of the 39 "A" suffix is proving elusive at the moment. I don't find it in the literature I have but am missing tech bulletins if they used them in addition to the service letters then. Hopefully someone else can answer. If it were a 38 engine, A would be a cast iron camshaft & B would be steel --each needing to replace a different gear somewhere else if camshaft replaced. If a 40, A would mean a different type clutch plate only. B would be a different complete clutch assy substituted -- all due to shortages of one thing or another.

I have said it before -- my hat's off to the mechanics working for Packard back then. Trying to keep track of various changes they would need to know in order to service a vehicle properly must have been mind boggling. Between suffixes, symbols, and dabs of colored paint here and there designating some important change, not always meaning the same thing year to year or sometimes even model to model, it's a wonder any of them kept their sanity.