They were not.

Also, if I remember the stamping font/size was different. Also I have a faint memory of a star/asterisk also on another example I saw.

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Maybe that is the number I was referring to and just didn't remember the N at the front. On the one I was thinking of there was a discussion early in the forum -- maybe not long after the serial numbers were posted when the owner asked for help in understanding his number.

Yes, that is a service replacement motor with a DMV assigned number.

I know of a 40 or 41 that ended up with a 327 in it that was a service replacement motor per the instructions of making 327 available for earlier cars. The car was in Southern Calif and it also had a N######CAL motor number.

Packards last official engine letter was M for 54 so I am wondering if your N engines might have been service engines and had a unique numbering system dictated by California DMV when an engine was changed or was in some kind of special use vehicle. As I recall, some years back someone else had a strange prewar number no one could understand. Believe that one was without a first letter but had the CAL added along with some other numbers. Think consensus was it must have been an assigned number by DMV.

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I was considering buying this vehicle when it was last for sale. It's a 400.

Pretty much all these cars have/had rot in the rear fenders, even the nicer ones (and this one is pretty nice). My suspicion is someone welded on donor panels for that area, then later got into a fender bender. The alternate possible answer involves pounds of Bondo.

Unable to decode engine number N320874 (actually stamped N320874CAL) but other than the CAL, it seems like a proper engine number and it's correct because I own it. It was in a 1951 300 Packard parts car that was used for stock car racing. Until recently I also owned engine number N349042CAL which I have since sold and it too does not decode.

Were these molded originally? I'm not sure that they were.

I had the same problem. I just went to a machine shop that deals with large trucks. SOP for them to sleeve axle ends on trucks to fit standard size kingpins. Those large rigs beat the heck out of their front ends.
Had it done in two days due to shop load, may take longer/shorter depending on who you find. Check your local yellow pages/search engine for machine shops in your area and call them with your needs. It will mean removal of the parts to transport them to the shop.
Like it has been mentioned already, NO play is allowed in the axle or by the time you get to the OD of your tire it will wobble uncontrollably and affect all aspects of steering, braking, and tracking along with ruined (and expensive) tires.
Bob J.

Measure twice cut once, or in this case....measure once and hit twice. I measured the installed depth of the seal, and the position of the sealing surface on the axle, and then decided to give drive the seal 1/2 inch deeper. Now it should all line up.
I installed the shims and paper gaskets, and made a tool like in the shop manual to measure the endplay....I'll get to that soon and remove shim(s) as needed. I'm gettin' back into the groove.