Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

I was compiling my renewal form for membership to The Packard Club, they asked for numbers on the firewall and engine. My cars firewall number is 5477-2854 and the engine number is 2354. Does this mean that I do not have matching numbers for this car?

No, it means you need bifocals. The 3 is an 8. Or are you looking at the raised casting numbers/dating the block at February 3, 1954?
Actually, the engine number is a six digit number, preceded by a prefix, see the engine number cross reference in the literature/manual section for engine series for your car.

The engine number and vehicle number do not match prior to the V8 models in 55-56..

For your 54 Pacific (5477) the only way to tell if it still has the correct engine would be that the engine number would start M6xxxxx. M for 54 and 6 for the 359 nine main bearing engine. Even if the numbers show it is the correct engine, unless you also have original dealer delivered or new car registration paperwork, you still cannot be sure it is the actual engine that came with the car.

There is also a small tag on the engine side of the firewall near the top drivers side center placed there by the body builder (referred to here on the forum as the Briggs number). It may match the vehicle number on the door pillar but since bodies were not necessarily put on the line in sequential order, the second set of numbers after the dash (2854) may be off by a few from those on the door pillar.

The large embossed number on the firewall near the heater area referred to as the theft proof number or body ID number is the only permanent number on the car. There are only a few sporadic remaining existing records that have been found showing the number assigned to a particular car. One of the forum members has amassed a fairly large amount of data for those numbers and I'm sure he would appreciate knowing yours along with the other numbers found so he could add to his database.

We used bifocals and they are definitely a 3 and an 8

If the only motor number stamped on the pad above the starter is 2354 possibly it could be a service engine. To the best of my knowledge there are no records showing how Packard ID'd service engines.

Because there were many states that used the motor number as the official registration number during that time, there has been anecdotal evidence that various states assigned their own unique numbering systems when an engine was replaced and the original motor number was no longer present..

Thanks Howard,
Please excuse my lack of knowledge, what is meant by a service engine?

Service engines were complete engine assys (minus bolt ons such as manifolds, pulleys, electrical etc) that a dealership could order complete just like a new part and install if the original engine was destroyed or would otherwise cost more to repair than the new engine.

After Packard was out of business Studebaker moved several of the service engines offering them to dealers at low prices to get them out of warehouses. When those (and Studebaker) were gone, if another engine was needed the junkyard was the option. The junkyard is probably the reason you see so many cars now with the wrong year or size engine installed.

"numbers matching" is a misunderstood and often misused term. It refers to a vehicle that has the original engine, frame and transmission; the ones that were in it when it left the factory.

Prior to 1955 v-8's Packard did not have the vehicle serial number on anything except the vehicle number plate on the firewall or door post. The firewall plate or "patent plate" was attached to the firewall with 4 small screws and could be removed, switched or replaced literally in a minute. Thus there is nothing for the firewall or door post serial number to match with. In the 30's the firewall plate # was very close to the number on the steering box, maybe 50 or 100 numbers away and thus nothing to match.
GM muscle cars which did have the car serial n umber on the engine block and transmission case.

Another abused term is "barn find" which seems to apply to any unrestored older vehicle that has just been discovered , even if it was "discovered" in the owners single car garage attached to his house. A desirable car is worth the same whether it is discovered in a barn or sitting on your front lawn. A piece of junk is still a piece of junk no matter where it was found