Re: 1942 or later Eight timing indicator

Posted by Tim Cole On 2020/4/8 10:50:13

You can make up a temporary pointer out any junk you have lying around and bolt it to the engine for timing. Of course you have to put the flywheel in place and make a corresponding mark with a paint pen, tape, or whatever. The problem is who knows how much those old dampers oscillate? That's why the timing marks are on the flywheel.

1937 is an easy one. The later pre-war cars require doing it from underneath the fender. And the one piece splash aprons suck. Especially on side mount cars. You might try using a mirror in a dark garage. I've done that. Of course you need to bring the motor around and make sure the timing marks are cleaned off. They used a lead based heavy duty paint so I never used heavy solvents, only soap and water when the paint was still there.

Another trick is to make a jumper wire for the ignition and connect the main harness to the battery terminal of the voltage regulator, start the engine and remove the starter. That gives more access to the sighting hole. Cover the starter cable with a piece of heater hose to prevent a fire.

Packard timing can be arduous but no worse than dealing with 1/4-26 and 5/16-16 fasteners on the earlier cars.