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Greetings Packard Fans

I decided to take some time to share my Packard project with everyone. It's a 1948 Custom Eight Convertible that belongs to a customer in Sweden. The car was bought on ebay back in October 2011. In December 2011 I picked the car up at a small classic car dealer in Sanford Maine and transported it to my shop in Eastern Pennsylvania. My task is to get the car running, driving, and stopping properly, along with anything else that's needed to pass the Swedish safety inspection. I had been working on the car on and off for the last year and a half and unfortunately, the project has fallen way behind schedule. I'm close to crisis mode now, as it absolutely has to be done by September.

As far as I know, the car was sold new in California, and spent the majority of it's on-the-road years in the Los Angeles area. It's west coast life left the body very solid with only minor holes in the floor and trunk. In the late eighties it was shipped to New England when the owner moved to New Hampshire. I think it was driven for another year or so before it got parked for good in 1989 or 1990. This may have been done because the car stopped running due to some stuck valves. The history becomes murky at this point. At some point the head and valves were removed and the car ended up sitting in a damp barn or garage for years. Racoons destroyed the interior and rust attacked all unprotected surfaces. The Packard changed hands some time after 2003. I'm not sure if that was before or after the engine was taken apart. The car sat again until the new owner decided that he wasn't going to be able to fix the car, so he consigned it to the dealer in Maine.

I've had a liking for the 22nd and 23rd series Packards ever since I went with a friend to look at one for sale back in the mid-nineties, so I was eager to take on the project. As with most projects, it turned out to be a lot more work than I and the new owner bargained for. This is the first 1940's car that I've ever done any serious work on. My area of expertise is mid-sixties to early-eighties full-size Chrysler products, along with many 1980's and 90's cars of most makes, so I'm quite a bit out of my normal zone on this one. My understanding is that this is a pretty rare and potentially valuable car. I've seen a good number of the Super Eight 22nd and 23rd series convertibles for sale on ebay, but this is the only Custom Eight that I have spotted on there. The final goal is a nice car that shows well at casual car shows. The Swedes like to drive their classics, so they generally aren't into trailer queens and concourse cars. The work that I do should look nice, but doesn't need to be perfect or exactly like it left the factory.

It's going to take some time for my project blog to catch up with my actual progress on the car. I'll try my best to get some more updates done every night or two.

I hope you enjoy my journey into the past as I get the Packard started on it's path to a new and better life.


December 2011, Transport and initial inspection:

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Jeff,
1) for taking the time to do this Blog, 2) especially since it's not your car, and 3) doing a catch up on the work you've performed so far, that'll be a task in itself! I'm sure you'll receive plenty of advise and help along the way should you need it. And I, for one, will be following along with interest.

I have 1948 2262 with excellent running 288 engine.Complete chassis NO BODY. its for sale or trade. 30 miles west of nashville tn.

Thanks Mal, I've been enjoying your Wade's workshop thread. I followed a link you posted the other day that took me to the time you were working on a 356. I picked up some good pointers that I'll put to use on this car. I tried to register the car on Friday but something went awry when I submitted it. I'll have to do it again, but this time I won't use AOL as my browser, and it should be ok. There seem to be a few compatibility issues with AOL on the site.


Thanks for the offer Packard V8, but I have my engine all together now and should be good to go.


Jeff

Fast forward to springtime 2012. My lift was occupied all winter by a truck that I had bought for myself, which created a backlog of work on customer's daily drivers. Now with all that out of the way it was finally time to get the Packard into the shop. First on the list was to get the drivetrain out to assess the condition of the engine. The toughest part of the engine removal process was getting the transmission out of the car. It looks like it comes right out until you discover how long the input shaft is. When the trans bottoms out in the center of the X frame, there's still and inch or two of input shaft sticking into the bell housing. I ended up tipping the rear of the engine way down so the trans would go under the frame.

Disassembling the engine was straightforward, though I have to say it's quite a workout to remove the 38 head studs. We had been told that the car stuck a few valves, but I wasn't expecting to find three of the lifter bodies blown apart. Some of the cam lobes were chewed up, so a reconditioned cam was put on the shopping list, along with a timing set, all new bearings, rings, valve springs and a few other items. The car came with 8 new and 8 reconditioned valves, along with a gasket set. Going by the book, the engine could have used a re-bore with new pistons, but the new owner decided that we should be ok with just the new rings. It would have cost at least another $1300 for the parts and additional machine work. There was also some major damage to one of the valve seats, and it would have to be replaced. This meant that I was going to have to find a shop who had a machine that could handle the big Packard engine. I found that a machine shop only 15 minutes from me could handle the job, so I loaded up the block and brought it over. When I arrived at the shop I saw an older Packard engine that had recently been dropped off for repair. The block and crank were checked for cracks and found to be ok. To get the machine work done I would need new exhaust guides and I would need 16 good lifter bodies to go with the new cam. This is where the waiting game began. I ordered five used lifters from Kanter which took a couple weeks to arrive, then I sent all the lifters to Egge Machine to be reground. It would be many months before I would see my lifters again.

May to June 2012. Engine removal and disassembly.

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Ouch and ouch on those cam & lifter parts!

Great work overall. I like your technique of using the 4-post lift to get the hood off as it allows single handing. I wish I had the room for one.

Craig

Kind of a strange failure isn't it? Don't remember mention of shattered tappets before -- just worn ones. Would wonder what led to that type damage.

"I tried to register the car on Friday but something went awry when I submitted it. I'll have to do it again, but this time I won't use AOL as my browser, and it should be ok. There seem to be a few compatibility issues with AOL on the site."
Jeff,

Interesting to know, I'll file that away for future reference to pass on to others who might have a similar setup. BigKev too would be interested, Kev?

And glad that you gained a leg up from the Wade's Workshop Blog!

I agree that those lifters are an unusual failure, especially the one that has two sections broken off. All I can think of is that it was able to rotate after the first chunk broke off, then the other side got whacked when the lobe came around again. I never personally talked to the previous owner, so I didn't get the whole story on the car, just second hand info from the dealer that handled the sale. Those lifter bodies became a real hassle and ended up costing a fortune. I wish I had known then that you could get them from Terrill Machine.

Jeff

Thanks Craig,

I started working in the used car business back in 2005 and I was using a floor jack and jackstands for all the work I did on the cars. That got old real quick. I think I bought the lift after about four months of struggling with the stands. Electric lifts are fairly cheap these days, but as you said, the main problem is that they take up a lot of space and you need at least twelve feet of ceiling height for it to fit.

Jeff