Re: Randy Berger's 1956 Caribbean

Posted by BH On 2007/12/16 0:29:33

Owen -

Interesting that you bring up the intake screen.

My father (who was a mechanic in a Packard dealership) taught me, as part of the oil change ritual, to take a piece of coat hanger wire and sweep the bottom of the pan for sludge and "tickle" the floating pickup to make sure it wasn't stuck. I wasn't quite sure what he he was after by the latter, but I always did it.

He never had any problem with the oil pump or lifter noise in the nearly 75K that he put on his Exec, which he purchased brand-new in '56. I've not had the chance to perform an autopsy on that engine, but I strongly suspect that his car had the late design pump and camshaft thrust plate and spacer.

Makes me wonder now if there was also problem with that floating pickup getting stuck in the high position - even if only occasionally.