What about the 25K 105mph V8 Patrician?

Posted by 55PackardGuy On 2011/4/3 23:31:26

104.737 mph average (with stops) for 25,000 miles with an early 352 V8 and Twin Ultramatic transmission. Pretty impressive shakedown run, eh?

But there doesn't seem to be a lot of documentation on what the internals looked like after the run, and nothing about whether the lifters clattered, or low oil pressure, or a damaged transmission from overheating that I have seen.

I'd like to know how an engine that supposedly had "teething" problems apparently performed so well in such a test run.

Granted, 25,000 miles is not all that much in the life of a car, even in those days, but to live all 25K at over 100 mph average speed? That's quite an accomplishment.

Accounts I've seen of the test give minimal information on the hour by hour progress, how many stops, what was changed out during the run, (anything other than tires and oil would seem to be cheating) etc.

Just thinking someone might know more, and/or have an explanation of how this test apparently failed to point out later problems such as valve spring problems, lifter noise, low oil pressure, transmission failures, etc. that have all been cited as "demons" haunting the '55 V8 cars.

Many now insist that without a different oil pump setup, you can't even run a Packard V8 of any year at high sustained highway speeds, even if it's a low mileage car or one rebuilt with the upgrades Packard made to the oil pump and transmission.

It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Anyone suspect that these engines might have been pretty much designed and put together well--right from the beginning--in spite of the hoopla about defects?