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

Looking at rebuild kits for Packard 245. The way it reads the same kit for the 48-50 288 and 327 is the same for the 245??

Hey John,
Long time, no speaky! Hope all is well at your end... re your pump question, can't answer the comparability query with the other motors, but when I overhauled my 245, I checked out the water pump question(s) fairly extensively and it seemed there were a lot of old pumps out there whose tolerances had eroded past the point of pumping to spec. That pump has been reproed and the NEW replacement is only $150. I elected to go with one of those and so far, knock on wood, it has performed very well, quiet, no leaks. And with the modern re-cored rad, she sure stays cool, even in this heat. Just my two bits worth.... Chris.

Surprised they'd repo these 6 cylinder water pumps. I wonder if your water pump would have been a '39 early or '39 later design?

I don't know the exact details on a six pump but I too was surprised a new repro pump was available for the 356 engine.

I asked the Packard guys at Kanter about this since the 356 was not in the scheme of things, a large production engine. If I remember correctly the answer was the water pump bodies themselves were essentially identical on all the common or mass produced inline engines from the mid 30s thru the 50 models. Not sure if that statement holds for the pre 1940 senior super eight engines though.

Anyway, the reason they were available for low volume engines was the only significant difference between pumps had to do with the size of the fan hub and the distance it was pressed onto the shaft. A single common repro pump could thus be used by only pressing on the correct size hub and setting it the proper distance for the particular year and engine.

I didn't check the earlier series but in the 22nd-23rd series all except the 356 engine used the same water pump and same seal repair kit. That would include the 245 Six, the 288 Eight, and the 327 Super Eight.

The parts list shows two different seal kit numbers for all 22nd and 23rd series cars which would include the later 245 for taxis and export but one of the entries might be a typo because it also shows the same part number for a prewar door glass.

Quote: John, I can dig up the link from which I purchased the pump for my car, but I'm certain it was advertised as a '38/'39 245 Six waterpump. That would probably have it being the 'early' design, yes/no?? Chris.

Yes, the only difference I can see is the early design used a set screw to hold the bearing and later they changed to a clip to hold the bearing.