Hmm, if chevy 10 spline 1 1/8 inch fits, I may just get the plastic plug. will make things a little quicker in the garage, and more tools in the toolbox Thanks for the packardinfo!

Ah, another question. Are clutch alignment tools (The plastic pin that normally comes with a clutch kit) available, or a standard-size readily available thing? I'd like to get one of these for re-assembly down the line to make things easier.
Oh, and yeah, i mis-used 'tin' as 'thin strip of metal' Steel is right. you got me.

Another question, shouldn't these tin strips on the flywheel be bent over the bolts so that they don't loosen up? Regards, Mike

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On saturday we got the engine totally apart and halfway cleaned up and redy to go to the machine shop for bore and hone. We found a piece of ring behind the number 8 exhaust valve, in the pocket behind the valve, and #8 exhaust valve was also bent. The rings on #8 cyl were also broken as well as the ring land. That would all explain the 0 value for the compression....Bottom half of the engine (mains and con rods) all looked nice, so it was a 'top end' problem that put me out of business for a while. The bare block can just about be moved by two strong guys, it's pretty heavy.
Anybody know what the '12' painted on the block refers to? That makes me curious. It's actually a 54 327 solid lifter block, if that makes any difference, and seemed to be painted a cream color, unless that is primer under the grey paint...Hope the bulk of the dirty work is getting near an end, well on the engine at least... Pics up in a minute....

Do the 1953 288 and 327 Intake manifolds interchange? My intake has '327' cast into the first runner, which makes me think they are different. Anybody with first hand experience on this, or proficient enough with the engine/chassis numbers to understand this list?
I could work at Autozone hahah, ugh, 'It's not in the computer, I dunno'

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Kurt my friend who is helping me with this project is a professional welder, and said it could 'possibly' be welded. He hasn't seen the part/crack yet though... I will at least clean the manifold up and show it to a few people here, and see what they think. I don't think JB weld would hold up in an exhaust manifold either.
If I understand correctly the difference between brazing and welding, then brazing is at a lower temperature and would just fill the crack (like solder, or on a radiator tank), where as welding really is welding, which is much more structural and would require a lot more temp and energy....

Thanks a lot for the offer Turbo! I have a 327 CID 5 Main, I'll ask my friend Kurt since he is a professional welder what he thinks about welding it...and look at usps prices. (Manifold weights 10 kilo, 22 pounds or so...

He who looks for trouble finds it....Started cleaning up the in and exhaust manifolds for clean, derust and paint...and found a crack in the intake manifold on the engine side of the heat riser(hot box) whatever you want to call it. The flap had been working, and the spring I had replaced a while back, so the door was working, but it looked like there was years of sedimentary rock built up in that cavity that either froze, or expanded from heat and broke the manifold....
So, getting a 25 pound manifold over here isn't going to be too cheap. What are my other choices? Fill the cavity with something and block off the heat riser in the warmed up position? Install a thin plate between the intake and exhaust manifolds? If the car takes a few minutes more to warm up, well then that's how it's gonna be.... Can I block off jst half, and still keep the warming function to the half that is still whole?
Thanks 'packies'

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'Kurtl und Georgie' pulled the engine a few days ago, and it will soon be cleaned, bored and honed...Back at home I've been cleaning, derusting and painting parts that come off the car. Hope to get a few hours on saturday to make some forward progress...

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I guess a blog update is in order, gone are the days of small jobs on the packard. I miss driving the old girl, but am seeing progress in the repairs. After valve and cylinder problems putting the engine out of commision, I towed the packard to Kurt's (54 pacific) shop and we are taking care of the rust in the rear wheel arches, rocker panels, underbody is getting stripped and treated with rust converter, then painted (Branthox nitro fest) and will get a coat of underbody protection wax (UBS 220). Kurt is the welder and sheet metal guy, and his cousin is a bmw mechanic. Georgie will be doing the mechanics, engine rebuild, and changing out a bunch of seals so I am not leaking oil from axle/trans/steering etc... and I do the dirty work stripping the underbody and pay for the parts
Here are a few pics of the rust being cut out. The car was already patched with a half way decent repair that was rusting out already....
I've been working with a putty knife, wire brushes and grinding disks getting the bitumen rustproofing off the bottom of the car the last few weekends. What dirty work. I look a coal miner at the end of the day!
The chassis of Kurts 54 is there along with an NSU that is being worked on. We removed the engine from the NSU by dropping it out the bottom of the car, picking up the car and sliding the engine out on the floor. Can't do that with a packard!
Now trying to find place around Munich that will bore and hone my engine block at a reasonable price (best quote so far 600 euro!)

Here's something I've been wondering. When I took the head off, there were no washers between the head and the nuts. Are they only needed when the chrome acorn nuts are used?
Hope to splurge and get me the chrome/stainless acorn nuts to get some bling bling on the car when all this is done.
Tired after two full days of working on the packard!

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