Re: saved a 56 packard on its way to be scrapped!!!

Posted by BH On 2011/2/16 16:07:27

Quote:

IMHO, the Packard V8 was no worse than any V8 of the period; all engines have their own set of quirks.

Biggest "problem" was that, by 1954-55, Packard was playing catch-up with engine development, but there simply wasn't enough time left to resolve latent issues.

Biggest "complaint" about the Packard V8 has been lifter noise, which if neglected can lead to catastrophic failure.

Packard was working on this issue, first with a new design lifter (a route which several other manufacturers would travel) and then trying to manipulate oil pressure/feed to the lifters. Later, there was concern over air in the oil, thinking it was coming from the relief valve in the oil pump body. (Behind the scenes, there was some concern that the pressure relief valve itself might be sticking.)

Actually, this was not Packard's first experience with noisy hydraulic lifters. If you dig back through service newsletters, you'll find they were fighting that very issue with straight eights during the 1940s - namely, 1939-47 Super 8s. Filter plumbing was reworked to improve oil delivery to the lifters. Then, there was some problem with the oil pressure regulator valve sticking. In 1948, the factory came up with a higher-volume oil pump, as a retrofit, to offset opening-up of bearing clearances on Super 8s. That same pump would be used on production 1948-50 Custom 8s.

Getting back to the Packard V8, years after Packard had effectively vanished, it was found that the air was entering the oil stream due to excessive wear of the pump body and driving shaft.

Having discussed the V8 oiling issue at-length in the public light of the internet over the course of several years, and as an owner of several of these cars, I now believe that with proper correction of that wear and a few other tweaks to the OE oil pump (and repairs to any collateral damage), the Packard V8 should be fully adequate for the purposes for which it was intended.

I plan on putting it to the test with a '56 Pat that I intend to use as a fair weather daily driver - Twin Ultramatic, pushbutton shift, vacuum pump and wipers, Treadle-Vac brakes, and anything else that's the stuff of urban legend!