Re: PackardDon

Posted by DavidPackard On 2022/3/10 13:13:34

Don:

I also have no experience on V-8 Packards, but the lack of experience hasn’t stopped me from pontificating in the past, so here’s my 2 cents. Being able to rotate the distributor housing freely at the same time of having limited or no vertical movement suggests an obstruction at the lower pilot.

First possible cause: This obstruction may be nothing more than a well-aged oil residue. If this is the cause I would try to get some chemical cleaner into the area between the two pilot diameters. The cut-away in the shop manual suggests a gasket is used (much like the SBC) that would impede getting a lot of cleaner into the suspected area, but if there is just enough vertical movement to defeat the gasket it’s worth a shot. If you have a few ‘air wedges’ perhaps those could be used to put sustained upward force on the problem while the chemical is doing its magic.

Second possible cause: In the cut-away drawing it looks like the distributor might (emphasis on might) wear a grove in the block (you wouldn’t need a lot of wear to create the difficulty lifting the distributor housing), and if this is the case the wear would be out-board away from the camshaft. Pushing the distributor ‘top’ out-board before you try lifting might (again emphasis on might) allow the lower pilot of the distributor housing to disengage from whatever is holding it. I might try a few soft blows with a rubber mallet to convince the top of the distributor to move. Lifting and striking lightly might help if this is the cause of the problem.

dp