I only put the Lucas in the tired automatics, otherwise nothing, I add nothing to the engine oil; I find now that my cars are all switched to Rotella and have some time with it they are running better than they have in twenty years.

Your 52 will be pleased as punch to run on regular without ethanol. Avoid mixing up cocktails of additives as it seems some combinations are hard on the fuel system components.

In all but 40 years of driving Packards, and twenty years of wrenching on them full time I have settled on the following regimen for the "collector cars" I drive regularly (my newest car is a 63), and they all seem to like it right well.

Rotella 20W-50 oil
Type "F" trans fluid plus Lucas if the trans is a "groaner".
Standard brake fluid to be changed every 2 years or so.

Your idea to establish a baseline is a good one, and once you have gone through the car, you will find that it requires very little attention.

I'll be happy to send you some bearings gratis, but I am awfully doubting I have any .030s. Try and get that crankpin measurement sometime today. I have plenty of extra rods too if you need one.

Shimming bearings was standard procedure to get a little more life out of a tired engine when you didn't want to grind the crank to undersize. I have often done it on my own cars.

That rod bearing has been spinning and has probably mucked up the rod and cap. You could try putting another bearing in and hope for the best but...that begs the question of why it spun in the first place; a plugged passage or low oil pressure because of a loose main bearing.

On my monitor, I think that bearing is saying .030, which means 30 thousandths undersize. In which case, that crankpin will measure 2.220". or if that was a main it would be 2.716 if memory serves.

See if you can get a caliper up in there--even a cheap one from horrible freight will do.

You have bought a great driving and very reliable car. Congrats. Particularly like the attractive and seldom seen Twilight Taupe and Sunset Red combo.

No snake oil necessary, but you might want to bump up to Rotella 20-50.

The 288 and 327 pumps are the same, no need to change. Check the thickness of the gasket under the pump cover. Sometimes they are supplied really thick, should be .005 or less.

But I agree, 35psi at 40 mph is not bad. There are many running around happily with a lot less.

Yes, you can get the pan off. Remove the lower bell housing, drop the idler arm, and she will just go. As I wandered through your post I kinda thought rod. You will need to jack your crankshaft gently upward in order to use plastigage on the mains, but it will be worth your time to know the whole story. Check all the rods too. Rod noises are usually worse under no load or on the overrun as there is little compression pressure to hold the piston and rod down. If you just need a couple of shells to tighten her up let me know and I'll send them you. When I do rebuilds where I'm installing new bearings, I always sort through the old ones and save those which are still perfect(that is not scratched and less than .0003 thinner than new)--and use them in my own cars. I have a whole box of em.

They do interchange physically, but are not listed as interchange because the plumbing was done differently. I am running a 47 pump on my roadster with 51 engine as I did not want the vacuum pump. The basic operating arm and mounting is all the same.

Put a 51 Packard next to a 51 Buick, Olds, Chrysler or Lincoln and it looks quite sleek and modern. I feel the center section of the grill is rather lame. but not as lame as the festering pimple school of taillight design favored by GM. IMHO.

The mounting holes in the pump are much larger than the bolts that go through them. This space was taken up by little insulator bushings to cut down heat transfer. In additiion, there were insulating washers under the washers on the bolts. Often, all of this stuff is missing.

When the bushings are missing, I cut a strip of thin gasket paper and roll it around a bolt to make a tube and then stick it in the fuel pump flange. I make the insulating washers from a couple of disks of gasket paper cut with a punch.

Without the bushings it is possible to put the pump on either crooked or too high or low.