Do the hydraulic lifters remove out the top of their bores, but the tappet bodies remove through the bottom?

Your clothespin trick is a good idea! I will borrow that.

Why can't the valve springs be removed without taking the head off? I understand the head has to come off if you want to remove the valves completely. It seems like you could remove the springs/retainers so as to allow you to move the valves freely up and down in their guides with your fingers. I would hope that holding the valve by the stem in the extreme 'open' position would give you enough clearance to remove the hydraulic lifter assembly. Not the case?

I'm trying to get the cam out to address the broken tappets. Next steps were going to be remove the nut on the cam to remove the cam gear, then remove the cam retainer, then fix the lifters in their 'up' position as best as I could while gently pulling the cam out.

Am I missing a step(s)?

I have the below valve spring compressor:

http://www.sears.com/kd-tools-universal-overhead-valve-spring-compressor/p-00994097000P

But I suspect I need one like this...

http://www.sears.com/kd-tools-valve-spring-compressor/p-00999884000P

Then by your description (since I'm not removing the head), I would remove the valve springs, and retainers/clips so the valve stems would 'hang there' while I remove the lifters one by one as I'm able to pull the camshaft forward, correct?

I've removed the damper and the timing cover from the 48 356. Timing chain has some slop. Maybe it's fine, maybe not: I'm no expert. See the video below and advise your thoughts?

Second: is it advisable to keep the cam gear installed on the end and use the gear as a 'handle' of sorts to help pull the camshaft out, once I remove the retaining bolts and retainer behind it? It's a pretty long cam... I can see there's a tanged 'washer' behind the retaining nut, with one tang bent against one flat side of the nut so as to make it impossible to remove the nut without bending it back. Tang is pretty resistant to bending thus far, but I paused because I realized perhaps it would be better to leave the gear in place for now...thoughts?

Third and last: I should be able to remove the cam without compressing any of the valve springs, correct? Or will the valve stems/springs and hydraulic lifters/followers get in the way of removal?

Thanks all.

Cheers

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Perfect! Thanks for the heads up on that. Now all I need to do is get a socket or wrench big enough to turn that nut off the end of the cam. This will be the second fastener on this car bigger than any tool I have to work with it. I'm sure it won't be the last.

A few days ago, I got really curious: anyone know how the factory installed harmonic dampers on these engines originally? Was there some big machine that pressed them on? The thought of such machinery really got me interested, especially considering the tricks we employ now to help with the task (like your suggestion of dry ice packing on the crank snout Dave).

Yes, you're right, this is a good time to do all of that. I have already pulled out and cleaned the brass coolant distribution tube which is in good condition. Noticed a few of the forward holes in the tube closest to #1, 2 and 3 cylinders have oversize distributing holes compared to the others - maybe on purpose?

Does anyone know if the 356 has a threaded drain plug for draining the cooling jackets anywhere? If I have to remove the freeze plugs for this, then I'll probably wait.

I pulled the damper off because I have at least two hydraulic lifter bodies that have cracked/broken feet. Who knows how they got that way: perhaps the lifters stuck at some point. Pulling the cam out to address this issue. While I'm doing that, I'll examine the timing chain for slack. Seems like it has some.

Does anyone happen to know offhand what size socket/open-end wrench fits the camshaft gear retaining nut? It's bigger than 1 1/4" but smaller than 1 3/4" - maybe 1 1/2"? My mics are on the blink right now.

When in doubt, go bigger.

This 7-ton reversible puller brand "EverTough" sourced at my local O'Reilly's through their Tool Loan program worked perfectly.

Spread of this puller was 7", which is what was needed. Only ended up using two jaws which hooked right inside the rounded edge and wedged just right.

Puller came off with astounding ease. You know the cars from the '60s with "over-powered steering" that allows you to turn the wheel with a pinky? Yeah, like that. Didn't even break a sweat. Such a difference compared to pulling off my MoPar dampers. Those things were on ridiculously tight compared to this.

Interesting that the keyway key came out IN the damper. Mite try re-installing the damper with the key left in position like that unless others advise me against it.

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Craig, getting antsy that I can't find a puller that will work - about ready to give you a holler to borrow yours.

Wondering how similar your V8 damper is to mine? Took this straight up & down shot to compare. Can your puller hook on to the outer rim? Biggest challenge I've had so far with those 'jaws' is getting them to hook onto something solid. The rounded outer edge makes them slip off.

Dave - is the puller you used on your 356 like Craig's? This was the one I was trying to use but the spread wasn't wide enough:

http://www.autozone.com/loan-a-tools/jaw-attachment-puller/oem-2-or-3-jaw-gear-puller/516519_0_0/

Surprised there isn't a universal tool closer to the factory design available. Did a lot of web searching and saw that Kent Moore puller but can't even find where one is available to try.

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Thanks O_D. I tried using a 3-jaw puller and didn't have much success. Maybe it wasn't large enough. The jaws kept slipping off. Just so I'm clear what I'm supposed to be pulling on, would people please review the picture below and advise me where the jaws of a puller are supposed to be hooking? The factory manual looks like the jaws of the damper puller are hooking IN the groove, but I the image isn't super duper clear so just want to be sure.

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Thanks Craig. I'll research this a little more to see if there are some other options close by to me. I appreciate it!

I've done a search and found other posts on the site about damper pullers.

What's the best type of damper puller that people have found is a ready-to-buy solution for pulling the friction-disk damper off the crank snout of my 48 Custom's 356 engine?

I have no welding skills nor equipment, so making my own puller from bar stock is out. Is there a modern puller available that is similar to the factory Packard puller, or one that will do the same job? The more specialized tools I've picked up from AutoZone's Loan-A-Tool program might have been fine for my Dodge, but I feel the need to be a lot more protective and diligent of the Packard parts.

Thanks everyone.