Found this on 'The HAMB' which is all hot rod stuff. Not many packards show up on this website (once in a while), but here are some sketches made by a young Dick Teague. Their forum does have a lot of fabrication information.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/?p=16807

Have a good one! Tobs

Hi guys, in a few weeks I hope to have my engine finished, and in it will go with the (new to me) OD trans.
I remember reading in the shop manual that the OD solenoid should be removed before removing/installing the trans.
Do I really need to do this? I'd rather leave in on and not mess with taking it out.
I plan on puting the engine and trans together outside the vehicle and dropping the whole thing in as a unit.
It's a 53 clipper with 327.
Thanks for the advice.
Tobs

I had my 2bbl rebuilt by daytona, and it is the best looking part on the whole car. I think they even used all new screws and brass fittings. Hope to actually have an engine to put under it soon.

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I've decided to use the original 327 head, so I should be at 8.1:1 CR. That should be nice and safe.
The car was originally a three speed non OD, so it already has the 3.90 rear axle ratio. Not like I want to make land speed records, but cruising at 60mph or so will be comfortable. That is pretty much the minimum speed on the autobahn, and even the back road traffic moves at 100kmh(62mph). -I have other vehicles when I want to go fast
My engine builder keeps getting 'urgent projects' to do and delaying my build....it's getting frustrating.

Hi Gary, and welcome to packardinfo. Your intake manifold does look pretty nasty indeed. Soak the nuts holding the manifolds on the block for a day or two with your favorite penetrating oil before removing, but the studs and nuts are usually in good shape and won't break. (Hope you have good luck like I have had in the past)
There are 2 nuts near the center of the manifold that hold it to the block, they are a pain to reach, but the others are pretty easy to remove.
My intake manifold was also rotted similar to yours. 2bbl 327 or 288 intakes are cheap and plentiful. You might try ross or flackmaster for a good used example. Or post a wanted add in the forsale forum here.
IF the heat deflector in the ex manifold is stuck or also corroded, you might want to get both in/ex manifolds.

You then can take both (new) manifolds to a machine shop and have them mill the mating surfaces true so everything seals nicely afterwards.

Oh, the three bolts holding the two manifolds together may/will be worse for wear. Soak them liberally, and be prepared that they give you trouble. Removing the two manifolds as a unit is usually an easy job though.
Best regards, and glad to have you on the forum.
Mike

It just occured to me, on the side of the carb that faces the motorblock there are two screws/plugs that you can open to see into the primary and secondary bowls. I don't know if when you open them fuel should come out or not, since this is not covered in the manual for the WCFB.
Perhaps somebody with more experience can advise on that. It would be easier than removing the top of the carb to measure the float height.
-safer to be running rich than to lean anyway

Plug Gap .028" and from the pertronix website, you can add .005 with the pertronix if you also have their High Output coil. You May want to start at stock spec and Take care of the soot, then go back and see if the extra .005 helps anything.
Check float level in the carb also before you mess with the jets. Too high a float level will also richen your mixture. Also choke oppening all the way? believe it or not, the bi-metallic choke coil can get old.

Happy fourth everybody!

I brought sparklers to work today to light with my German colleagues.

Here 'unification' is celebrated, and in The US independence is celebrated.

-Tobs

I'll let Gregors 'skeleton out of the closet' Cyl number 5 is not building any compression. Even with 2 teaspoons of motor oil in the cyl there was no compression, so looks like a valve is hanging, or bent. We poured a mix of acetone and ATF into the cyl to try and free things up, and will let it sit for a day or two.
Feels like what happened to my engine a few years ago, but I hope the rings are not broken.
So, cyl is soaking in snake oil for a while, and will try a compression test again in a few days.....
Doesn't look too good. Cyl head will come off next if penetrating oil doesn't help....

cross your fingers for gregor it is only a stuck valve.

A few specifics to help. It is a delco distributor and he has converted to 12v negative ground.
From The pertronix catalog this kit1183 also fits 1955-56 Packard with delco.
Are the S8 and V8 delco distributors internally the same?

The 1183 is what I have in my S8 with 12v neg gnd.

Anybody else have experience? Gregor don't believe me.