Tim;

I believe the crankshaft sprocket and the camshaft sprocket marks will align at #1 TDC (many engines do), but from a technical perspective the system does not demand that relationship. The goal is to correctly phase the crank and cam shafts, and the sprocket marks are used for that task. If the engine happens to be #1 TDC then OK that's good information, but the sprocket marks take precedence.

The shop manual section that details the procedure to check camshaft timing could/should be followed. That would be a second independent check to confirm you have correctly installed the timing chain. When I install a timing chain, or timing belt I will frequently misalign by one tooth and try to figure-out if I could tell the difference, and then put it back where it belongs once I know the difference one tooth makes. I will also roll the engine two revolutions several times to verify the alignment marks 'come back together. Remember one tooth 'off' is a sizable offset that should be obvious. Unlike modern interference engines you can't do any real damage if the cam timing is incorrect during some timing mark experimentation.

I also believe the shop manual procedure is there as a diagnostic check to absolve of indict a loose timing chain without the expense of pulling the timing cover. Other than the cold versus warm requirement the timing check could be conducted as routine maintenance during lash adjustment.

I guess I would need to know if the valve lash was set before or after the oil pump and distributor were installed during the initial assembly of the engine. I could easily be talked into the engine was parked at the static timing position (something like 6 deg BTDC) until the distributor was installed so the ignition timing could be set. Then spin the engine a couple of turns while the valve lash was set.

In closing Ross is absolutely correct, only the sprocket marks matter when setting the phasing between the crank and cam shafts.

dp

Somehow the first section of this thread got disconnected from the later postings by rblum, Ross, and Ernie. I'll resume posting on the original thread.

Let me also congratulate Chris on his '39.

Many hours after Ernie the '54 Cavalier stuck its nose out of the garage and toured eastern Scottsdale in search of the equestrians, but alas I couldn't find any. Even the large facility that I pointed out a few weeks ago was completely empty. I guess Ernie scared all of the wild life away. . At mid-day it was getting quite warm, so I cut the trip a little short.

For those that have seen the Arizona wild fires on the evening news, the largest 'Bush' fire was supposedly started by a vehicle fire at the intersection of State Route 87 and the Bush Highway (hence the name). That would be about 9 miles from the town of Fountain Hills. That resulted in SR 87 being shut-down from that intersection all the way to Payson, some 50 miles. Closure of SR 87 leaves the folks in Payson three choices, 150 mile trip through Camp Verde, 225 miles through Globe, or stay home until the road opens. Or make a full day of it and drive to Winslow to stand on the corner.

The YouTube video portion of my posting of 6/6 will give some idea of the terrain in that area of the state . . . I got off SR 87 at the Bush Highway . . . few roads, but lots of helicopters and bombers recently. I saw a Sikorsky Skycrane S-64 (likely Erickson Air Crane) a few days ago, flying towards Mesa, perhaps returning home. The only good news is the close proximity of dams and lakes on the Salt River, which would be the Eastern boundary of the fire zone. Perhaps as close as 20 miles between 'suck-up' and release for the helicopters. The 'bombers' frequently will 'home base' at the Mesa AeroDrome, home of the local chapter of the Commemorative Air Force. An excellent place to get a good drink of red Coolaid, and jet fuel, which the helicopters will also need every few missions. Last Sunday, when the fire was much closer to home, the smoke cloud dominated the horizon and the odor of 'fire' was quite strong. Lucky for us, but bad luck for others, the wind was blowing the other way!

dp

John;
At least one vote has been cast that the cars left the factory all of one flavor, but in the intervening 70 + years just about anything could have been done to your car.

Back to the differences between the two distributors.

AutoLite:

Vacuum chamber linkage is external.

When vacuum is applied distributor rotates. Breaker plate does not rotate within housing.

Hand pressure should be able to rotate the distributor. Rotate in the direction that vacuum would pull the linkage.

Wire from coil attaches to a screw external to the distributor

Delco:

Vacuum chamber linkage is internal.

When vacuum is applied there is no external movement. The breaker plate rotates, not the housing.

Distributor is rigid, hand pressure will not rotate.

Wire from coil attaches to a binding post and is held with a nut. There is an insulator that supports the binding post as it passes through the casing.

I'm not completely sure about the differences between the breaker sets, but I believe they are:

AutoLite: The breaker set has a distinct 'boomerang' shape. The pivot point, hold down screw, and adjustment screw are not aligned.

Delco: The breaker set is much straighter. The pivot point, hold down screw, and adjustment screw are almost aligned.

Download the 46-48 Repair and Tune-up Manual on this site for details and artwork.

Please post a photo with the cap and rotor removed.

dp

John;

I'm assuming you can't see the tag on the distributor, or the tag is gone.

The 'tell' on the distributor is the vacuum chamber. The AutoLite chamber rotates the entire distributor housing, while the Delco chamber rotates the breaker plate only. Pop the cap off and look to see if the vacuum chamber arm attaches to the breaker plate . . . if it does it's a Delco. Or pull a vacuum on the chamber and determine if the entire distributor housing rotates . . . if it does it's an AutoLite.

Also it's my understanding a car was produced with either all Delco equipment, or all AutoLite equipment. The senior members may confirm the all of one, or all of the other assumption. If that's true the AutoLite voltage regulator is mounted with screws above and below the regulator, while the Delco screws are to the left and right of the regulator cover. Easy to check, and will give you some insight on how the car was equipped 'as born'.

The only exception to the vacuum chamber 'rule' that I know of is the mid-fifties Chevy 'stovebolt' six. That was a Delco unit that the vacuum chamber rotated the entire housing.

dp

54packpac;
I agree with Howard. I've always viewed this grommet block as a tether keeping the wires from constantly hitting, not so much another wire, but a stationary steel guide. Other than the 'Nail Head' Buick, seems that wires were routed with a two goals in mind, that is, inhibit continuous rubbing on metal surfaces . . . especially exhaust manifolds, and inhibit 'bunching' of the wires. Given the success of the 'Nail Head', and many others that routed ignition leads in tubing, I suspect the 'bunching' goal was cosmetic

I believe on a Packard there were also separators (known as Spark Plug Cable Spacers) on the plug side of the 'grommet block'. Two per car, different part numbers for the 48-52 cars, versus the 53-54 cars. The ones that were on my '54 had transformed themselves from a black semi-flexible item to black 'I'll pulverize if you touch me' substance. I replaced them with strips of 1/8 inch black rubber, ? by 2 ? inch, with ? inch holes ? inch on centers. I didn't split the rubber to accommodate the installation of the spacer after the fact. The cables were routed through the 'block' and 'spacer' during in situ fabrication of the wire set.

Being obsessed with minutia I also let the distributor cap dictate which hole in the block the lead passes, and then let the crossing occur beyond the block. That produces zero crossing between the short run between the distributor and the block, which looks quite sanitary. Plate 84 & 87s suggests my OCD was not embraced by the Packard engineering staff.

dp

Peter;

Somewhere in my Model A paperwork is a plot of how much lead is 'consumed' per unit time by the anti-freeze. If I remember correctly the data differentiates between various concentrations of the anti-freeze. I was messing around cars for 50 years before I ran into that data, and always thought that anti-freeze was superior in every way over water . . . not so. I know I used a 2/3 mix in a brand new BrassWorks radiator and that item disassembled itself in about 7 years. Since then I'm using a 1/3 mix.

I've also searched the web for some technical information on Water Wetter but haven't found anything yet.

Is freezing an issue in Canberra ?

dp

I was out with Brand X this morning and finally encountered the ladies riding the horses again. I first spotted them on the 26Apr20 exercise of the '54 Cavalier. I had forgotten what they had said the breed was, and spent a good amount of time on the web trying to figure out what they might be. Today I asked the same question, with all of the apologies about memory including playing the age card. The answer is 'Gypsy Vanner' an original Irish/British breed that has only been in the USA for about 25 years. Today they were returning from putting the horses through some exercise including jumps! I must put that on the list of things to video. Ask the lady that owns one or two.

dp

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On Memorial Day Sunday I took the '54 Cavalier for a bit of exercise. My goal was to take a few photos of the car at Saguaro Lake. That's about 20 miles northeast of home. Seems the state had just lifted virus related restrictions, and the lake was packed. Being content with the drive alone I bailed-out on the photo-op.

I've posted a video of the drive on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjjPqzyY25g or search "Packard Trips" on YouTube.

dp

The last time I looked into this BJ was 10% in both directions. Example: For a hammer price of 10K, the new owner pays 11K, previous owner receives 9K. I suspect there is a sales tax complication that likely applies in each state, that is, if the new owner registers the car in the same state that the auction is held there will likely be a transaction tax levied.

dp

John:
Right, Yes

See photos.

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