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

As I recall, it's real simple. Remove the two bolts from the idler arm opn the RH frame rail, pull the center of the linkage down and you'll have plenty of room. NOthing is disturbed, no need to realign front end.

Pull it/not pull it was answered for me back in high School. My brother and I inherited our Grandmothers '69 Impala that developed a leaky rear main. We had a couple of weeks of discussions about dropping the pan or pulling the engine. I won with pulling the engine. With the two of us we had it out in an hour. IMHO, that saved us six hours of cussing while crawling under that damn thing and having oil drip down our necks.

I wasn't too many years later I made an engine tilter to keep them balanced and we decided the transmission should always come with it. After a few times, the job really isn't that hard, if you have the right tools.

The typical Packard pan also had a tendency to stretch or distort the area around the holes when bolts were tightened. Depress the hole area down with a ball peen hammer or similar to ensure the flat area between holes can provide good pressure to the gasket. Would be a good idea to use a straightedge along the length and ensure a nice flat surface for the gasket to seal against before you reinstall it.

Removing the oil pan for cleaning annually was a Packard maintenance recommendation for many years. You can be sure they didn't intend that their service folks pull the engine each year just to clean the pan. It's been quite a long time since I last pulled the oil pan on a 51-54 but I doubt it took more than 1 hour once the car was on jackstands.

Though quarters can be a bit cramped, you can also replace main and rod bearings, rear seal, remove/install rods and pistons, etc. all without removing the engine.

Got it. Thanks to everyone.