Re: Ping In 359 Engine

Posted by Tim Cole On 2014/4/25 19:17:19

Hi Don:

I dealt with a pinging 359 that was always running above the middle of the temperature gauge. I installed a premium 160F thermostat with two 1/8 bleed holes to prevent water pump cavitation.

On that motor I would definitely consider milling the pistons to reduce compression. If the motor has been bored oversize the compression will be even higher.

For your car I would send the distributor to a rebuilder with a Sun Distributor Machine to assure the timing isn't floating around.

Another thing, those radiators are inadequate. Given the car doesn't ping in cold weather I would look into an oversized radiator core.

The timing marks are essential and unfortunately Packard did a lousy job stamping those dampers. I used to spend hours on some cars taking paint off and carefully highlighting the dampers to do the timing. The cars always ran better. Don't let anybody tell you they can time a car with their ear. That is baloney.

Finally who knows how far off those old carburetors are running. A five gas analysis might help isolate a lean condition especially if the car is put on a dyno. Using a scope of the dyno is even better because if the car is running lean it will show on the waveform. If only one or two cylinders are pinging that will show up as well. However, nobody uses scopes anymore except me and I'm in Detroit doing secret stuff.

Hope this helps.