Maybe, and maybe not. The car is low mileage and has been a junker for a very long time. I doubt that the aft end of the transmission ever saw the light of day after assembly. I could be wrong, though. Regardless, the sawzall will reveal what's there.

As we discussed in our conversation, I'm still on tap for a trip Out West to the second-to-last resting place for my '54 Henney hulk. Once I cut the floor out, I'll send pictures and you tell me what you want from what's there.


This will be the foundation for my How I Spent My Juneteenth paper this year.

I would submit for consideration that "NEW" does not necessarily mean "new".


Caveat emptor when shopping at the Caveat Emporium.

Because it's frightfully easy to do, I'd pull the t-stat and reassemble it and run it for a bit. I'm of the opinion that, if the cooling system is okay, then it wouldn't come to temp. No engine I have ever run would without a t-stat. If it doesn't get hot, then I think you could rule out the cooling system and investigate something else, like a blown head gasket.

Weasel Word: "about"


I can see the difference in the material in the block and crank for the difference in main bearing count. That kind of thinking is why I presumed that a RB block would be heavier than a B block, but I'm taking that guy's word for it.


I still covet that antique scale.

I hate to say this, but I'm going to say it anyway. If a person wants to know what some thing weighs, said person needs to cause the thing in question to be weighed. I think that this is referred to as Scientific Method. Numbers that are modified with the word "about" are useless. I remember wanting to know what a B-block Chrysler block weighed. All the information I could Google started with "about." So, since I had a stripped engine block, I cleared a path through the house and dragged the damned thing on a hand truck to the balance-beam bath scale. The platform was large enough to stand the block on it on end, so I did and moved the wee weight gizmos about until I came up with 231.25 pounds, and I felt pretty confident that I was as accurate as can be.


Later, I bought a book on performance builds for that engine family, and the author observed that a B-block weighed 230 pounds. Being within .5% of my findings, I took it with confidence when he said that the RB block weighs the same, and he gave the reason. Obviously, he had done the research.


My conclusion, based on the vague ranges given by Packard, would be to take a loose engine and weigh the thing to come up with a figure accurate to a pound or two. That would be a definitive answer. Not having a scale that would accommodate that, it would likely have to be done in pieces.


As a young draftsperson/designer for a design build commercial contractor 40-odd years ago, I had the chance to do the preliminary measurements on a turn-of-last-century warehouse. In the loading area and built into the floor was a lovely 19th century Toledo scale large enough to work with something the size of a modern pallet jack's wheel stance. Nicely sculpted, good workable design, steel with brass trim, it has a large circular dial which was easy to read and its needle was sitting exactly on 0, and it was a 5000 pound capacity. Knowing what I had weighed myself at a few days before, I stepped on it, and the needle rolled up a bit and landed on a number I considered to be accurate. I always wondered what became of that device as it would be a lovely addition to any large auto shop with people working there who like to collect data for the curious-minded. It would be perfect to set this 1954 327 engine/trans combo on and read the dial.


Just a thought . . . .

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Good point!!! I second this notion.


e/t/a: Here's the link for Vintage with the Packard starter:

https://vintageautogarage.com/packard-1935-1938-gear-reduction-starter-12-volts-9160-080gr/


"Fits: Packard 1935-1954. Model 115, 120, 120B, 120C, 1601, 1602 Straight 8"


So I don't know if it fits the later monoblocs as well.

1929 626 sedan.


I removed it - scam ad.

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There's a facepalm here if I weren't so damned polite.


There would have been a food and water dish if there were a cat. It took me a year to meet Mitzi the shop cat at a friend's place, but I knew she was around from Day One.


I may have to go back and read Ross's Fun Thread.

He has two. One is a flatbed, and he extolled the virtues of ease-of-loading, et cetera.


He does nice work!!!


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