Packard desaxe engines....how many degrees?

Posted by Peter Packard On 2014/1/14 6:14:35

G'day all, have been into Packards since 1966. I started stripping them down in 1967 and on assembly noticed that the piston split was assembled toward the camshaft..against common practice. I read that this was because Packard had followed the "de-saxe" engineering principle and slightly offset the crank..the theory was and is that the engine is less likely to stall when idling slowly. I can understand that this would not be highly publicised as Packard could keep this little "edge" to itself. Does anyone have any Packard dialogue on the subject. i recall reading in an SAE Paper about 40 years ago of this "wrinkle". It was also used by Standard Motors of England. Anyone out there any the wiser? PT