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

I have a barn fresh 48 convertible that I am just getting started on and I have a question about identifying the engine.

The head says PACKARD, above that cast in the head is "389721 288" (the 288 is in slightly larger text than the 389721). The 389721 may be 388721. There is also a cast number on the leading edge of the head by cylinder #1 that reads "82749". There is some heavy surface rust so reading these was a challenge.

Is this a 288 or did they use the same head on the 327?

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The heads between the 288 and 327's are interchangable. Look on the drivers side of the block near the back. There will be an engine serial number stamped there. It would start with a letter followed by numbers. The will identify the engine year, size, and type.

Just post the number here, and we can help you decode it.

No, it couldn't be that easy.

No numbers on the drivers side of the engine, stamped or cast, unless they're tucked in behind the starter.

They're are some more cast numbers low on the passenger side but I'll have to get it up on the lift to read those.

Are there any external differences that would pinpoint the 327 or 288? Or did they use the same block for both sizes?

Look right under where the water temp sender is. There should be a flat area and the number should be stamped there. You may need to hit it with a wire brush to clean off some of the rust, and they run a piece of chalk over it to clearly see the number. The numbers are small almost look like they were stamped by hand with a hammer and a letter die.

Here is what it looked like on my car when I first found it. Here I just cleaned it quickly with a hand held wire brush, and ran some chalk over it that I borrowed from my kids.

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A flat area, like a raised pad? No, nothing there.

After cleaning, it looks like there may have been something there, but then again it may just be the rust pits playing tricks on me.

Is there anything else that would pinpint one or the other?

As I said before the stamping is very light (shallow), so you would need to clean it with a brush and rub it with some chalk to make it easier to read.

If you do not have a raised as shown in the picture posted above then I have no idea where it is, as that is where I would expect it to be on all 288 and 327 blocks.

Unless you have a factory replacement block that was never stamped. But I have never heard of one of those. Others may want to chime in on that.

From the Model Info pages here, this is what it descibes as the 1948 identification scheme:

"Packard engine numbers were stamped on a white-painted boss on the upper left-hand side of the cylinder block. A vehicle number was also stamped on a plate attached to the left top side of the cowl and was the same as a Body/Style Number, since it identified the model or style. A Body Number was provided and was also stamped on the plate attached to the left top side of the cowl, below the hood. The Body/Style Number appeared as the first four digits of the Packard serial number, followed by the engine number. Engine numbers for six-cylinder taxis and exported sixes were G-1 501 to G-1 0000. Engine numbers for the Standard/Deluxe Eights were G-200001 to G-303000 for 1948 (Series 2200) models and continuing through G-350000 for 1949 (Series 2200-9) models. Engine numbers for Super Eights were G-400001 to G-432000 for 1948 (Series 2200) models and continuing through G-475000 for 1949 (Series 2200-9) models. Engine numbers for Custom Eights were G-600001 to G-612000 for 1948 (Series 2200) models and continuing through G-650000 for 1949 (Series 2200-9) models. "

I hope this helps.

I have two of the 22nd series convertibles. All convertibles for this series were either Customs or Super eights. The custom had the 356 engine and the Super had the 327 engines. Packard suggested the use of the 288 head on the 327 to increase the compression ratio. So the head is not adequate for ID. The 22nd and 23rd series engines had the serial numbers on the drivers side of the block just below the head. the pad is located almost in the center of the block from back to front. The numbers listed by BigKev are correct.

The serial number tells you if the car was sold as a 48 or 49. is the number is suffixed by a -9, the car was sold as a 49. They did the same trick for the 23rd series cars and used a -5 for the 1950 cars.

Let me know if I can help in any way. I love these cars.

Just to offer a slight correction on 49Packard's comment on the differentiation between a 49 22nd series and a 50 23rd series, the -9- or -5- wasn't suffixed, it was inserted between the body type (e.g. 2252) and the production number (eg. 2XXX). Thus a 1948 Custom 8 sedan would be 2252-XXXX, but a 1949 but 22nd series car would be 2252-9-XXXX, and similarly for the 23rd series.

Sorry. My intent was that is was suffixed to the model number. Which of course is just before the serial number.
Sorry for the confusion.

Just looking for some more clarification. In this tread tpow asked the question "Are there any external differences that would pinpoint the 327 or 288? Or did they use the same block for both sizes?"

So are the 288 and 327 blocks the same casting? Does anyone have any info on that? Thanks.