One other question about the extra sleeve for the thermo people. Will the extra mass slow down heat transfer to the choke tube enough that the choke would maybe not work well--too slow on opening because of delayed heat or not closing fast enough because of residual when engine turned off for a period. Don't know how much extra it would take to mess things up. Might be a consideration because of bulletins that sometimes recommended a change of a notch richer or leaner on choke for some reason or another.

Unless you are an experienced mechanic it is best to take the car to an auto machine shop or mechanic with the required valve grinding tools.

The work can be done with the engine in the car.

Traditionally, piston rings are replaced at the same time. This is know as a "ring and valve job".

It is possible the valves are just stuck. This is common on Packard engines that have sat unused for years. The solution is to take off the head, and free up the valves. The valves and seats may be in perfect shape. In this case no machine shop work is necessary.

Believe I read it was referred to as nylon metalasse with an accent mark. According to a dictionary means a fabric woven in such a way as to look padded or quilted but is not. It can have accent threads of contrasting materials which is what I always thought the metalasse meant--so learned something.

One thing that strikes me interesting in so many of Mal's posts is the phenomenal luck getting parts.

Who would have thought in a country 10K miles away, where an old out of production foreign car is a rare sight that you could pop over to a local bearing supply house or repair shop or whatever you need shop and find a part or someone who even knows what you are talking about--let alone those who know how to work on an old item on a routine basis--speedometer cable or shocks for example. I don't think we can even do that here in 99% of the country.

Did you guys buy up and corner the market on 75 year old parts and that's why we can't find things?

Ah, yes, pretty much as I expected when told, "towards the end of summer," but if they're right when I get 'em I can put up with some delay. Mine aren't in that bad shape anyway, except for the driver's door which is pretty much wrecked. Mostly stains that I've tried to get out using most of the conventional methods and wisdom with varying degrees of success. From the sample materials that they sent it appears that they may have done Trim code 60 ('55) before. I'll start hounding them in my usual tactful, diplomatic fashion around the end of August.

Just out of idle curiosity does anyone know the correct terminology for the cloth with the metallic thread designs in it?

Measure carefully what you have or need. If memory serves, there were a couple of discussions recently about wheels. Apparently 54 is a transition year for wheel & bolt patterns and model interchangeability between years is not necessarily what would be expected.

Steve, I have 15" Packard rims and tires available. Let me know if interested.

If I remember correctly (which is getting more doubtful as years go by) the bottom of the V8 tubes is actually pinched partially closed, perhaps (or not) part of the swedging process.

It took me 2 years and one incorrect run of material to get the correct fabric for my 56 Caribbean from SMS. Dozens of promises on delivery dates were not kept; yet when it did finally arrive the quality was OK (not great) but otherwsie it did match the original material very accurately.

I'd guess they don't sell "kits" because you never know what you'll need, other than a valve-grind gasket set, until you diassenble and assess the condition. You may or may not need valves, or springs, or guides, or lifters, or keepers, etc. Maybe even seat inserts (a machine shop job). But I believe that any and all required parts are available. If you need to change the guides, it can be a challenging task with the block in the car. The job can be done with the manifolds on the engine, though it makes it easier if they are removed. Access other than from above is via the right front inner fender. Don't forget to plug the oil return holes in the valve chambers or more surely than not one or more of the valve keepers will fall thru into the oil pan. No matter which vendor you buy valves from (unless they're OEM), they'll almost certainly be made by Egge.

If you're not familiar with valve work on this type of engine, I'd suggest you read up thoroughly on the subject before getting started, there are often many decisions to be made along the way and experience is the best teacher to making these decisions. Send me a PM with your email if you'd like a copy of a little primer on valve work that I had published recently. It's not a step-by-step, just some commentary on things to consider.

The tools you'll need depend on how much of the valve train requires service. At the least you'll need a torque wrench (for retorquing the head), a valve spring compressor, and valve-grinding compound and one of the many types of tools to lap the valve and seat. Better would be to have the valves (assuming enough metal margin is left) resurfaced by a machine shop, and borrow a power seat refacer (if the guides are not excessively worn). If you need to change the guides, you'll need a drift to pound them down and a chisel to break them off unless you first remove the cam and lifters. It may also make sense at the same time to take a look at the timing chain/sprockets.