Methinks that there's gotta be some sort of switch that will interchange with the '56 T/L limit switches. I've been eyeballing some 4X4 transfer case switches that look very similar, but the thread is different. If I could find some that will work, but you have to either solder the wires on, or do like I would do, and put a connector on them, would anyone be interested?

John, I'll sell ya some beer, it's called "Caribbean Lager", made with genuine Packard rust flakes. Kinda like "Goldschlager", (even though that's a liqueur, I know) only with a Vintage texture and taste. Guaranteed to have a 50+ year aging process!

And Happy Birthday to Tom (Packin31)!!

Something new for you guy's: You already know my difficulties with harmonic balancers, so this last weekend, I decided to try and find out the source of my oil leak. I now have a new timing cover seal on the front cover, and I don't have a leak there. So, I was thinking that since it's high up on the engine, it must be either the valve cover or the valley pan. I took the car to the car wash, cleaned off the engine with degreaser and a nice high pressure wash, and decided to drive it for a while to see if I could locate the source....

So, after driving at highway speeds for about an hour, I arrived at a friends house for a BBQ. I got out, popped the hood, and guess what? about 1/2 a quart was on the top of the engine! (I figure this by the dipstick reading) I start looking around, the valve cover's dry, the valley pan is drenched, and then I notice it: the oil filler tube....

Now, I had to shorten my oil filler tube about 3" to clear the supercharger, but this shouldn't matter. (And it did this before I cut the tube and put on the S/C) I pulled the tube out, and siliconed up the bottom end of it where it goes in the block. (the sides, NOT the end where the oil goes through!!) then drove it home.... Same thing when I got home, oil all over the tube!!

This has got me wondering, and looking pretty hard, then it hits me like lightening! The tube, is on the passenger side of the engine... the tube has NO baffle of any kind to restrict oil from flowing UP through the tube, it's just a straight tube. I found the old oil filler tube from the 374 that came out of the Pat, and low and behold, it has a baffle! So, when you have a straight tube above a spinning timing chain that's throwing oil UP the tube, you get one heck of a mess that's taken me quite a while to figure out what was causing it.

My reason for posting this is, if you notice oil on the valley pan area, take a flashlight and look down the oil filler tube, if you can see all the way through, there's the cause of your mess. OR, you can take your dipstick and stick it down there, if it goes down more than the height of your tube, you might need to find the baffled version. I don't know if this is a running change from '55 to '56, but my '55 Hash engine didn't have a baffle, while the '56 Packard engine did. One thing is for sure, I don't have any oil consumption anymore, and it was all because of that dang tube!

No, the "new" one went on rather difficult, and had to be tapped on, then I used the crank bolt to "pull 'er home".

Well, this originally happened before I put the supercharger on, so I doubt that it's the cause. And besides, it's no more pull on the crank than the factory AC would be. I'm thinking I'm going the Jack Vines way and use a custom 302 Ford balancer on the 374. With everything that keeps coming up for this 374, I'll be lucky to get out with less than $10,000 in it!

That's a sigh of relief, gentlemen. I was kinda worried that it was possible that there were differences between the engines. As for that A/C setup, I had the opportunity to view the factory A/C pulley setup while I was out in Vegas last year. The balancers are the same, but the pulley is cast iron and has two different size grooves in it, one for the power steering, and one for the A/C. Heavy SOB, too.

I've got a project for all you V8 owners: Go look at your balancers on the front of your engines, whether they be parts engines or whatever, and tell me if they have any balance holes drilled into them. The reason why I'm asking this is that my key on the crankshaft of the Pat failed me again about two weeks ago, and I had to pull everything off. I noticed that the key way had taken quite a beating, (on the balancer, NOT the crank, thank God!) and decided to swap out the balancer from my 374 onto the 320. Here's where it gets interesting, the balancer that came off my 320 had two holes drilled in the side, right near the timing mark. The one that came off my 374, had no holes anywhere, and was painted cream, like the '55 Senior cars. What I'd like to know is, which one is correct? The parts manual only shows one choice, p/n 440715. Now, if there's two different versions, which I can verify, which one is correct for which engine? I'd really like to hear all your comments on this, as I don't know which one is correct for my 320, but I do notice that it runs a whole lot smoother now that it did before. (I plan on taking the balancer and flywheel in when I have the rotating assembly balanced, so everything's perfect) I'll try to get a pic of the one with the holes later tonight.

That's the $200 '55-'57 Chevy repo. I presently have an original '55-'57 Chevy one on there now, saving the new one for emergencies. If you buy one, make sure you get the CAR version, not the truck. The truck will not work at all.

Thanks a lot, Tom. That's my plan, to look stock but have a "sleeper"

This weekend, I did another modification to the Pat, I went from 1955 looks to 1956 looks. Too bad the grille's broken on the driver's side, and the piece is missing. I still think it looks better than with that '55 grille and bumper on it.

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