My 1950 Packard has a removable panel in the fender splash panel that allows access to the valves through the right front wheel well. That panel was difficult to remove mainly because it interfered with the manifolds, heater, and power booster. The bolts were not too bad to remove because this is a California car. The right front wheel had to be removed also. Now that I have everything off the engine I can figure out how to remove the access panel with less effort, probably by first removing the power brake booster bracket.

Without that access panel a mechanic would have to use drastic means such as cutting a hole in the fender splash shield. I have seen that technique used on other side-valve engine cars not as well designed as the Packard.

Best of luck with this Packard. I need to tell you I was scammed by a Packard seller on Ebay recently. He sold another similar Packard earlier this year which was also a scam job.

Here is what I should have done differently:
1. Go inspect the car or pay someone locally to inspect it for you before making a payment.
2. Check the engine condition (oil pressure verified with another gage, temperature after a hard drive, compression, funny noises, leaks, etc.).
3. Drive the car!! On mine the brakes did not work at all and it was advertized as a "roadworthy running car that stops as it should."
4. Make sure the seller did not overlook photographing all the bad parts of the car (rust, dings, bad chrome, mickey mouse wiring, holes in the upholstery, missing parts,etc.). My scammer took really creative photos only of the good parts.
5. Don't believe what he tells you or what is advertized.
6. Verify the engine number, etc.
7. Make sure the seller has a title and it is in his name.
8. If he advertizes manuals, spare parts, etc make sure you visually see that they exist.
9. Do not trust Ebay's buyer protection plan. It is set up for a crook to have lots of ways to use the arbitrary and impossibly short 30 day deadline to avoid letting you collect.
10. Check for negative feedback and do not trust anyone with little history.

I paid top dollar (about double what it should have been worth) for what seemed like a car I could jump in and use. I have been working on it solid for 2 months and have spent more than the car is worth trying to make it as advertized. I was stupid but hopefully someone else can be helped by my experience,

My scammer lived in Las Vegas and has relatives in California that participated. He is dropped from Ebay now so he probably changed his name and is still out there. Good luck.

Thanks to everyone who gave me good advice. The valve adjustment was very quick and easy because of the following "improvements" over the factory method:
1. Mechanic sat on a stool under the right fender with the car hoisted to a convenient position.
2. Engine was cold. we used .009 on intakes and .015 on the exhaust valves to compensate for thermal expansion, based on hot vs cold settings for a Hudson flathead engine.
3. Right side removable access panel, right front wheel, exhaust system, radiator, cylinder head, fuel pump, and crankcase breather are all removed from the car.
4. I helped the mechanic by cranking the engine to TDC, watching which valves open, and telling him what cylinder to adjust. We ran the entire process twice to be sure.

The entire adjustment process took only about 30 minutes! However tearing the car apart for access and putting it back together is about a 2 week job!!! I hope I do not need frequent valve adjustments.

Thanks again Packard owners.

I am finishing a ring and valve job on my 1950 288, 2300 series Deluxe Touring Sedan. The factory book says to set the valve lash with the engine hot and running. They must be out of their minds! The valve adjustment is difficult with the engine cold and the exhaust pipe off the car. Hot and running must be nearly impossible, so I plan to use a cold setting and compensate for the thermal expansion of the valves. After running for I while I plan to check the valve lash hot, on the few valves that are easily accessible.

The exhaust valves are most critical. Using valve lash values developed for a Hudson engine the Packard should be set about 0.015 clearance on the exhaust valves cold. Does anyone have experience with the cold valve lash on a Packard? I feel I am not the first Packard owner in all the world's history who wants to use cold settings to avoid the burn injuries to the arms and oil in the face.

I second all the comments about Ebay. I was recently scammed by a crook on my Ebay purchase of a 1950 Packard, for which I paid top dollar. I rationalized that it was not risky because Ebay offered a free buyer protection plan. I can tell you that the Ebay buyer protection plan is nearly worthless!! They have an arbitrary cutoff of 30 days after the purchase is made to submit a claim. This time limit was totally eaten up by the following:
1. Time between when I sent payment and the check cleared
2. Time for the sller to arrange for shipping
3. Time to ship the car to me
4. Time to finally get the title so I could register and insure the car for driving
5. Time to fix all the items that made the car illegal to drive
6. Time to fix the brakes so I could drive the car

I drove the car for the first time a week after the 30 days ran out and then immediately discoved the engine had major problems. I immediately filed a claim with Ebay and they blew me off.

This particular Clipper on Ebay looked good to me also until I looked at all the photos. It seems to have a decent paint job, but there are many costly items awaiting the new owner. The worst I can see is hidden rust damage based on the rust holes visible in the photos. The next concern is how it runs (like my Packard) which you generally cannot tell until you drive it. This car is a partial "basket case" and generally there are missing parts no matter how good the seller is.
It would probably be cheaper to buy a car that does not have any obvious issues.

When I got the Packard I replaced the 10mm plugs trying to make it run better. When I recently pulled the head some of the plugs were almost finger loose! The tiny 12 ft-lb of torque is not enough to keep a preload on the plug. I noticed the short threads also, just wanting to be stripped. A 14mm plug would be more rugged and reliable and that is why I plan to swap to the slightly newer head with the bigger plugs.

By the way I managed to pull the oil pan and checked the bore condition before I pull the engine. The bore is standard 3.500" with a taper of .004 to .014 depending on the cylinder. Most are .010 taper. According the the Packard book this is marginally OK to just replace the rings (for minimal driving this may be a good choice right now). Does anyone have experience putting rings in an engine with this much bore taper? How long do you think it might last?

I have a spare engine that on Friday was pulled from a 1950 Packard that was being cut up for scrap. This spare engine is numbered H276066. Can you identify this one for me?

Here are the numbers off my Packard:

Vehicle # off cowl plate: 2362-21959 (Note - this is a new repro cowl plate so it may not be correct. All the other spots on the plate for a stamped number are blank)

Large embossed number off cowl: < 960648 >

Body number below large stamped number on cowl: 2362-21959

Also 2 days ago I was able to obtain a spare engine and transmission. This spare engine number is H276066. I am guessing it is a slightly later engined than my original because it has the 14mm spark plugs in the head. The spare engine was in a 1950 Packard, which was being cut up for scrap (another sad sad tale). Any information would be appreciated.

I found the engine number on the left rear of the block. It is H264097. Can anyone tell me what this means?

I just yesterday pulled the head off and measured the bore and stroke. It is 3.50 bore and 3.75 stroke. That seems to confirm the 288 engine.

My 1950 series 2300 Packard engine is a disaster! The 288 engine runs rough, is down on power, and has low compression. This is what I get for trusting a Packard owner on an Ebay ad that was full of lies. This scam artist "ironofdetroit" sold me a "running, roadworthy Packard with a 327 engine" for top dollar, and instead it has a 288 engine that needs an overhaul! Now we pulled the head and the cylinders are badly scored, probably from broken rings.
The Packard has an automatic transmission. Do I remove the engine and transmission together or separately? Are there other tips or tricks that I need to know about regarding removing the engine? Thanks in advance.