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Yea I think my distributor may be 'a tooth' off, as you say.

Dave, You say 'oil pump' in your comments.
Do you mean "Distributor"? (I did drop the pan last fall and cleaned the oil intake float, but didn't mess with the oil pump).

Maybe I could do it (distributor) myself, but I am afraid I am 'gun shy' of doing engine work for the 1st time w/o back-up. You guy have been doing this for years. Not me. (I did buy a distributor wrench though, neat gadget.)

I also did a search of "distributor install" on PInfo Forums and learned some things from 4 or 5 discussion in the last 18 months. When you loosen the distributor bolts and pull it out, is there any part that might fall down into the oil pan? I am afraid of messing something up out of ignorance.

DanL

The oil pump on the Packard straight eight is what has the distributor and oil pump drive gear on it. You have to pull the oil pump out to get it to move over a "tooth". As for anything falling off and into the pan, I don't think that's possible, since the lower shaft of the distributor is pinned to the distributor.

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Dave, We did a lot of safety wiring on aircraft in the Navy and I was a QC inspector for part of my time. The wire is supposed to keep the bolts from loosening up. The wire on the bolts in your pictures would keep the bolts from falling out but they could still loosen some. The wire should be run thru a hole that is as close to perpendicular to the direction of the next bolt in the string as possible then wrapped around the bolt head in a counter clockwise direction for a right handed bolt (not over the top) Then twisted tightly and then run to the other bolt pulled tight and wrapped around the next bolt head in the same manner.

The pictures look great and the work you are doing is superb. Your restoration is inspiring. Keep the pictures coming.

I posted the safety wire pics because I thought they were probably the originals. The car only had 40K miles on it. Of course the wires could have been changed. Thanks for you input.

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Dave I think most mechanics will agree that it is not a good idea to try and reuse old rings. The cylinder taper is good and should only require a hone job. As for the rings, unless you are able ( and you are not) to replace the rings in the same cylinder in exactly the same orientation they will not re seat. Rings ,when new, are not square and flat to the cylinder wall. The rings are cut so the top edge of the ring contacts the cylinder but the bottom does not. Kind of like a sharp knife edge. As the engine brake in for for first 500 or so miles the rings and cylinder wear together and form a tight seal. The old rings are already worn square on the outer edge and will not re seal again. You will probably end up with much smoke forever out the tail pipe.

Rod and main bearings with the clearance you noted in my opinion can be reused. Inspect the crank for scoring. It is very important that if you reuse old bearings that you be very careful not to mix them up from one through to the next. You should not use, for instance the bearings from #1 cylinder in the rod from say #3 cylinder on say #5 journal. Again all these things are worn differently and may not last as long if mixed up. Replacing bearings after one has failed and wrecked the crank is a huge job as you already know. If they are already mixed up my opinion is through them away and replace them with new.

I have never reused the old bearings or the old rings no matter how good they look or mike out.

Dave,
I read the rest of your posts. You have overhauled more engines than me. I've only done 4 myself. I'm sorry if I came across as the big authority on the matter. I remember talking with older guys when I was young and was told "rebuilt engines never go as far as the factory originals. I never bought that myself. I always felt that if something wore out or broke prematurely it wsan't done right to begin with.

Bob1951;
Thanks for your input. I agree with most of your analysis. I have only used one set of used rings in a low mileage Packard. It, the last I knew, was running fine and not using any oil between changes. It only had an additional 20K miles at that time. It has since been sold and I've lost track of it. Hopefully, it continues to serve the new owner.


Again I do appreciate your input. Please continue to follow my progress and offer input.

Here is one pic of the floor boards I ordered. I'll try to get another one or two later.

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I finally found time to scan the build sheet from my gray convertible. It was wedged between the filler neck and the tank vent. It's weathered. But legible. I haven't decoded it yet. If you know for sure what all the numbers and abbreviations are for, let me know. Thanks.

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I was very interested to see the -9 on your build sheet indicating 22nd series manufactured in 1949. My build sheet shows 2352 without a -5 which pretty much clinches the suspicion that my '1950' Packard is really an unsold 1949 model that was re-dataplated. I pried the build sheet out from the gas filler this morning and as you can see it's barely legible but fortunately the build sheet from the top of the glove box is easily readable. Here's what I think some of the codes on your sheet stand for:

2279-9 - Model/Year
W - Paint Code (Saratoga Beige?)
OD - Manual Transmission w/Overdrive
WSW - White Side Walls
FAHD - Fresh Air Heater/Defroster?
RV - Radio w/Vacuum Antenna? (Mine shows RADVA)
226 - Trim Code (Dark Red Imitation Leather)

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