Egge is well-known in the old car hobby -- they're one of the few vendors making pistons for a lot of the really old stuff. However there have also been anecdotal complaints of short piston life, cracking on the skirts, etc. with their pistons. A good machine shop which has dealt with old stuff and used Egge pistons before might be someone to consult -- see what their experience has been since the internet isn't the best place to get experienced advice. Most of us on here have only been through a few engine rebuilds, while a machine shop that works with a lot of the old stuff has seen thousands.

Everything is as it should be. The Patrician 400 came standard with Ultramatic for '52. There is no script. The shifter handle is correct. And yes, the toe board in my '52 Patrician also has the hole where a clutch pedal would go (mine is a power brake car), though it was covered as HH56 guessed, with an asphaltic mastic type material.

The 327 should have the "high compression" cylinder head on cars equipped with Ultramatic, which could have also been installed by a dealer looking to boost power on the standard trans cars. The Patrician engine was a nine main bearing version of the straight 8, and it was only available with the high-compression head for '52 because Ultramatic was standard. I'm sure there were cases of folks having a dealer retrofit a standard 3-speed to the Patrician (the Ultramatic acceleration is best described as leisurely), and someone perhaps could've bribed the factory into deleting the Ultramatic, but if that were the case I'd be hard pressed to think someone would then convert the car back to Ultramatic.

Costco in my area is offering Battery Tender (Deltran) Brand 3A maintenance and storage chargers that do 6/12v for $39.99 at the moment. There's no telling how long they'll be there, it's Costco after all, but I've had good luck with these chargers. I'd avoid any kind of fast charger, there's some concern out there that regularly charging a battery at higher amperage rates (over 10% capacity) can eventually warp the plates. And ultimately it's the battery life you're trying to improve by keeping a charge on it. But that's up to you - in my experience it's hard to get by with just one charger. Fast chargers are great in certain circumstances, and many have a boost mode that will let you jump start a "dead" car. When parking my classics, I hook them up to a tender. But the faster charger gets good use too!

Quote:

Where did it come from? Science. Lead acid batteries perform best when they are kept at or near their full charge level, both from a lifespan and a capacity perspective. Lifespan as in the number of years a battery can go before needing to be replaced, capacity as in the amount of current a battery can deliver over time while being discharged. The main enemy of SLI lead-acid batteries is the formation of lead sulfate, which can mostly be prevented by fully recharging a battery after a discharge cycle. This has been well documented by peer-reviewed research journals.

So here are a few reasons to support the use of low-current automatic battery maintenance and storage chargers:

1) Rarely do the batteries in our cars see full charges under operation (mechanical voltage regulators aren't perfect), so recharging batteries after use can help extend their lives by reducing sulfation.

2) The self discharge rate of SLI lead-acid batteries is around 3% per month. While it'll likely still have enough cranking amps to turn the engine over come spring, the battery is only at 82% charged after six months of storage. Forcing a 30-amp generator to operate at 100% for an extended period to bring the battery back up to full charge results in wear and tear most of us would rather avoid. Vehicle manufacturers recommend charging a discharged battery with a proper charger rather than forcing the alternator to do it for this same reason. That discharge cycle also invites the formation of lead sulfate, so again keeping the battery at full charge helps prolong its life.

3) It's cheap insurance and helps ensure your car is ready to go when you are. Plus operating a 6-volt car, where the systems are more sensitive to a voltage drops, is much easier when you're starting with a full 6.3 volts.

Battery tenders aren't a lie, their use and value has been proven by rigorous scientific research. Your anecdotal experience may have shown you that they're unnecessary, but others have had different experiences.

The battery charging discussion goes hand in hand with the discussion of fitting battery disconnect switches. Just because my car hasn't caught fire spontaneously in my garage doesn't mean I shouldn't disconnect the battery when I'm not using the car. Why not guard against a known threat, even if it's a remote possibility? Again, it's cheap insurance.

But ultimately we're off-topic here. The original poster didn't ask whether or not he should charge his battery, he asked how to do it without having to gain direct access.

Make a pigtail that exits under the running board and then whenever you park the car for the night/week/month/winter attach a battery tender-type charger to it. In fact Battery Tender brand battery maintainer chargers come with a ring terminal pigtail that may be long enough out of the box. That way you don't have to resort to putting a fast charger on the battery. Modern maintainer chargers such as the Battery Tender brand are intended to be plugged in for long periods of storage, so there's no harm in leaving the charger plugged in. However, you will still need to make sure to check the battery water on occasion as many of these new chargers have an exercise mode that will cycle the battery a bit.

See attached photo for an example.

Attach file:

---

  (28.38 KB)

I stand corrected. Thanks. I've edited the post so as not to mislead.

EDIT: It's most likely bypass, which is what Packard did on all of the post-war straight-eights. All the oil gets filtered (eventually), but it dumps back to the pan. You could conceivably make a full-flow filter by re-routing lines, but I don't know why you would want to - you'd run the risk of starving the bearings and valves of oil if the cartridge clogs, and the max oil pressure is in the 40 psi range, so I'd be uncomfortable with dropping that pressure from the pump down any more than it already is by inserting a full-flow filter in between.

I recently did a used oil analysis on my '52 Patrician and they found the oil was clean and in good condition after 1500 miles, so you're probably fine.

Okay, so first things first: that engine and carb (which is probably a Carter WDO or WGD, 118-68 is the casting number on the metering rod cover, not the carb number) -- they're from a late 1940's or early 1950's car. Given how modern the engine setup is, relatively, this shouldn't be a problem AT ALL, electric fuel pump or not.

While it certainly is possible that you're percolating fuel from the bowl, you likely have a fuel delivery issue or possibly an ignition problem. You need to do some analysis to help us out here. When you can't get the car to start, does the accelerator pump squirt when you actuate the throttle? Can you get more than two good squirts? If so, you've still got fuel in the float at bowl and fuel starvation isn't your problem. Check spark. Check accelerator pump delivery when you know the bowl should be full.

I would assert that it could just as easily be a flooding condition as it could be a lack of fuel problem or electrical issue. But whatever it is, you certainly have a problem. With good fresh gas, a carburetor in good condition, strong compression, and good ignition, the engine should light off with just a few revs of the starter, hot or cold. Even on the hottest days, when operated at slow speeds, when operated at high seeds, with high amounts of engine heat, whatever, I've never had trouble getting the '36 Eight I'm most familiar with to start. And I'm in California where E10 is the only gasoline available. My '52 Patrician has a 327 but a very similar setup to your 288 and it also has never had that issue, so blaming external causes like the general quality of fuel may not carry much weight - we're all using the same gas, and others aren't having that issue...so it's probably something to do with your car.

These cars were very well engineered and were quite reliable when they were new. Find out what's not right and put it back the way it's supposed to be. If there's an insulator that's supposed to be between the carb and manifold, put it back. If the choke is supposed to be set 1 notch rich, set it there. It's impossible to properly diagnose an issue without a solid foundation. Have you done a full tuneup per the Packard specs?

Finding a good mechanic is hard, no matter what. The only good way to do it is via word of mouth. I sympathize with Mike because there aren't many options when it comes to shops who'll deal with older cars correctly. Most of us do our own basic maintenance for that reason.

True, almost anybody with some sense can do a lube, oil, and filter change, but when it comes to slightly more complicated (though still simple by today's standards) maintenance tasks, it's harder to find someone who A) will do the job correctly, and B) won't charge through the nose to do it.

What you may need to find is a shade tree mechanic or a local club member to help you out. I've moonlighted lately for few local guys out here in Van Nuys when something is beyond the realm of their current capabilities. Ask around locally in the South Bay and see who the locals recommend.

I've seen some old cars at D&D Shell Service in Hawthorne, and I know there's a retired mechanic also in Hawthorne that has done some work for Studebaker Drivers Club members.

I've had good luck with Lares. Not cheap, but my time is worth more than what they charge, especially when it comes to the frustration of potentially having to do the job twice if I were to try to rebuild components myself. And the major plus is that they warranty their rebuilt components for as long as you own your car.

Each of the three main components comes in at around 220 a piece for a rebuild, most requiring you to send in your component to have it rebuilt.

If you can, I'd recommend purchasing the return & rebuild service through RockAuto...you'll save some money that way, and that's what they recommended to me when I called them originally.