Re: 49 Packard 288 engine

Posted by David Grubbs On 2012/9/7 11:09:49

I used several heavy duty putty knives, 1" wide and ground to a sharp taper. Using the engine hoist to put a slight lifting pressure on the head, I would tap (carefully) one knife between the head bolts, starting on one end, and alternating between the left and right side. The head popped loose in about three minutes. The trick is to use heavy gauge putty knives, no larger than 1" wide and sharpened and use about four or five of them. Just don't get crazy with the hammer - a ball peen one is plenty. I rebuilt my 288 with the rods, cam, harmonic balancer and crank from a 327, making it into a 327. The pistons are the same on both engines. Course this assumes that your 327 is a five main engine.