Howdy there,

I was considering doing an engine swap with my car a few years ago but with Ford drivetrain. I was convinced by the guys here on this forum to give the straight 8 a chance, and I am very glad I did. It is a pretty solid engine that required very little work to get running.

As others have suggested; take the head off and check to make sure the valves are moving their full motion, freely. I see very little reason why that engine shouldn't fire up for you.

Here is the thread I posted a few years ago:https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=6939&viewmode=flat&order=ASC&type=&mode=0&start=0

Good Luck!

I am still planning on going but, I will more than likely be going without my car. After doing the math I found I have only put a little more than 100 miles on her. Definitely a little uncomfortable making the 150, or so, mile trip up and back. She is running and stopping pretty well right now, but I would hate to have something go wrong on the way up there. I have had my fair share of problems with only traveling a little over 100 miles and to do that in one trip is a little daunting.

Hope everyone has a safe trip to Salado, and I look forward to meeting y'all!

Hey Guys!

I went to a local car show at a Texaco gas station last night. I had a great time and the car performed admirably. The brake issue I was dealing with is a thing of the past as they seem to be working better than they ever have. There were no issues even with the slow, stop and go "crawl", around the paring lot trying to find a spot to park. Of course I was the only Packard in attendance and got quite a bit of recognition because of that. The highlight of the night was a couple who came by and told me they used to live near the Packard plant in Detroit! it was neat for them to see a product of that plant in Texas, and it was really cool to meet people from that area here in San Antonio.

After the show, stopped at Sonic for some grub and then headed home. The only hiccup of the venture came when leaving Sonic. The engine didn't want to fire up and it seemed to act flooded. So, took the air cleaner off and tried again... Success! This car is truly a joy to drive, so glad I bought a Packard!

Hey Guys!

I finally got my brakes working pretty well. I did a "bench bleed" of my master cylinder, but with it on the car. Hooked up a couple of plastic hoses from the outlets into the reservoir and pumped the brakes many many times. I also received help from my brother when it came time to bleed my brakes. Let's just say his legs are a lot stronger than my Mom's. I don't think my Mom was able to push the full travel of the pedal and that was probably a large factor.

Something I noticed is that the pedal feels much easier to push in than it used to. I guess that could have been a result of the twisted brake hose. Anyways, It's great to have my car back, she's so much fun to drive!

Thank y'all for your help; it is much appreciated,

I've been interested in using one of the mechanical temperature gauges and have had the same concern about the best location to read the temp. I'm very interested in any findings you make.

Howdy there,

It's been awhile since I've gotten to go out and work on my car. Inclement weather among other things kept me from getting this brake issue diagnosed further. Just went out today and did as you said Ross, cranked all the star wheels till the drums wouldn't budge and gave the brake pedal a try. Unfortunately the pedal still travels too much. A couple of days ago I had a helper push in on the brake pedal so I could check the rear drums. It took pushing all the way in with both feet to get the rear drums to the point that I couldn't move them by hand.

Quote:

The bore, as listed on mpbrakes site, is 1" inch.

OK,

New brake hose, same problems, not surprising. But... I started thinking about the events that unfolded to get me to this point, and I came up with a hypothesis:

The twisted brake hose was acting like a one way valve not allowing brake fluid to flow back to the master the way it was supposed to. This forced me to "release" fluid from one of the wheel cylinders to get the drum back on. After I had finished inspecting the linings, un-twistising the hose, and getting everything back together, I bled the brakes. This pushed all of that nasty, brown, water filled fluid out.

Now... As O_D says, water is more dense than brake fluid. Since my master cylinder is angled downwards, water would have settled towards the end that feeds my rear brakes. I didn't take my master cylinder apart when I cleaned it, so who knows what the bore could look like further down. Possibly something like my old rear wheel cylinders (rusty/pitted).

If water rich brake fluid is more dense, then there would be a better seal with that as opposed to say clean brake fluid. Correct? That's why with the old fluid my pedal was firm and the brakes seemed to work fine, and with the new fluid the pedal is soft. Does this sound like a reasonable cause to my problems?

Thank you,

Here are a couple photos of the rear brakes prior to any mileage; with the Raybestos wheel cylinders that I had to replace. Ross

-Garrett

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Very nice work on your fuel pump. Quite the stark contrast from what it looked like before.

Hey guys,

Okay I'm very confused and at a loss. I've looked up the rear brake hose for my car at Napa, O'reilly, and Autozone. Each website has the length of the hose listed at 17.625" inches. However, the actual physical size of each of those hoses is 16.5" inches. WHAT GIVES!?!?!

The measurement of the hose I had on my car is over 17.5" inches; as the sites have indicated. The hose I have was supplied by Kanter. What part number's do you all have that work? I pulled the NAPA part number from the parts X-Ref.


Thank you,