Yup, the head is a '48.
Ain't it swell.

Tobs, that's my theory as well.
There was some oil spatter from a leaky valve cover.
That would be ideal if it all went that route, but I suspect a good deal of water went down the exhaust/intake ports.
I'm thinking I should probably remove the manifolds again and shoot some PB blaster down into the block through the ports.

I'm still going to run the compression test (good idea no matter what). I don't have a 10mm adapter for my gauge, am going to try a small engine place here in town and possibly the farm stores to source one. Although, if I shoot the pen n oil, there goes the dry test....

We'll start small and go from there....

Hi All,
We had great weather here over the weekend, so I started work again on the 300.

As you recall from "The Big Coolant Disaster" I had an exhaust manifold stud that popped out and coolant spilled out.

Well I just put the manifolds back on and decided to drop the oil pan to clean things out. I removed the oil drain plug and coolant poured out, followed by the oil that was sitting on top.

I am at a loss. I've never had coolant in the oil before.
How did it get there from it leaking out the exhaust manifold stud hole? The engine hasn't turned over since this ordeal began. Coolant in the oil was not something I was expecting.

Yes, I'd love to see what/where it looks like.

Hi all,

Just rebuilt the carb on my '51 300. (Carter WGD 767S)
Whoever "worked" on it last had the float in upside down!
No wonder I've had so many problems!

Anyway I digress...

I can't find the alignment mark on the thermostatic housing cover. Anyone have a pic of where it's supposed to be and what it looks like? I assume if the lettering is pointing up, it's where you would guess the "center" is. Is it an arrow, a line, painted on?

Thanks
-Dave

I know this is an old thread, but I thought I would share my experience on my '51 300.

The Previous owner told me "Don't shut it off at the fuel pump, or you'll be stuck there" I drove this car home about 400 miles. I didn't turn it off at the pump, but did when I went into the convenience store (out of habit). And sure enough, I had to sit there for 2.5 hours until it cooled down.

After reading all the vapor lock/ percolation threads, I started to hunt down the problem. The P.O. had already installed an electric pusher pump to unsuccessfully combat the issue. I then proceeded to insulate all the fuel lines and add heat shields and everything I could think of to combat the problem. No. Luck.

Finally I said to myself "this can't be the problem, what else could be affected by heat?" Well as it turns out my first guess was right. THE PRIMARY IGNITION COIL!

Autozone just happened to have the coil in-stock. I stuck it in and the problem went away forever. It never was vapor lock at all. Moral of the story is; How old is your ignition coil?

Well, the new stud is in.
Thanks to everyone for your help!
I ended up using a heli-coil and high-temp thread sealant.

Special thanks to Fred for the help, I'm sorry I didn't order this time from you, Max M. is about 40 minutes from my house and I like to keep business local to help the local economy whenever I can. I do have A list of stuff I will be getting from you next year though.

I've sent the manifolds in to have them blasted to a relatively new business in town, Hot Rods and Chrome. I was very ecstatic to see that they have their own spray booth.
They said middle of the week expected turn-around for about 20-25 bucks. Not a bad deal. That also lets the thread sealant cure for it's full 72 hours. I think I'm also going to have the manifold faces milled. I'm assuming the best way to do this is line them up as best as possible and have them milled together as one piece?

I did do the grease on the tap trick and it worked like a charm. I cleaned and re-greased about every 3/4 turn.

One interesting thing I noticed is that the manifold gaskets were put on inside-out. In the Packard manual it said the steel indented side faced the manifold and the asbestos went toward the block. Mine was reverse. The new gaskets I ordered don't have a steel side and I'm not sure which end goes in and which goes out.

I also ordered new valve cover gaskets. and found more butchery. Someone re-used the gaskets and used black RTV to fill the gaps. That was a fun clean-up. Another question, what's the purpose of the vent pipe on the rear valve cover?

Is this stuff documented anywhere?
I had a devil of a time finding anything on it.

So just grab the broken piece with some needle nose and pull it out?

it must have been very brittle. I just barely grazed it and it broke off flush with the top of the manifold.