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Congratulations! I bet a new wire harness will make a huge difference in starting the car
I can't see 32 degrees being an issue for a car to start. You are making a lot of progress!

It took a couple hours of trying to finally get the Clipper running again.

With a known good distributor & Rochester carb, things just didn't want to cooperate and I was fearing the worst, that is an improperly timed cam. You have to call it good at some point & I was pretty upset that I had not check the timing chain & gears when I had the heads off!
The cap, points and firing order were reviewed, the timing set again and it seemed like the carb just would not cooperate..
I went through the carb again, cleaned & blew everything out and after trying to start it again, discovered the the accelerator pump just wouldn't to the trick. :( The fun never begins!
Off to the trunk I went for the shiny, fresh and original Carter carb. I filled the bowl with fuel and va-room!
Things warmed up, settled down & with the carb adjusted, I headed down the road :) She really
wants to run, though I took it pretty easy!
For the first time in recent memory, I don't HATE this car. With 20 miles on her, it seems pretty obvious that she will be a real runner!
She is finally in storage and is taking a nap while my enthusiasm is on the ol' charger just in the nick of time!

Original Carter Carb; Was it this one?

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Given a modicum of tropical weather today, I decided do a little exploratory surgery on the old 320.
The heads came off last fall and showed that all 16 valves were making adequate seals, though one valve keeper was working it's way loose and could have created some inopportune excitement at some point.
From the outside of the block, there was some shmutz evident on the right rear core plug and some digging with a screw driver revealed a rust hole. This repair was on borrowed time!
Also on the outside of the block was the "Utica"#, AA2126. Whatever that means.
Digging into the short block revealed a double ridge on several of the cylinders, so this block is beyond a quick hone with knurled buckets. :( Looking at the bottom of the pistons revealed that each was marked with the number 708 and I am gonna take a wag that this is the weight of each piston?
Moving on, I pulled a couple of rod bearings and main bearings. The bearings showed much less wear that I would have ever guessed, though there was a little scoring on one of the rod bearings & matching throw. The bearings are marked with what I expect is the date of manufacture, being 3 55.
Over all, the excessive blow by might have been caused by long term sitting and a little resulting rust. Maybe a leaky carb at some point having washed down the cylinders? It is also possible that that the valves were freshened up at some point but there was no evidence of this ever being done. The cam & lifters would be serviceable and possibly the crank, though it would need to be measured.
All in all, this is not forward progress, although it gives a small feeling of accomplishment this winter.

The "AA" prefix to the Utica engine number means it was built for use with a standard transmission. The engine sequence in the "A" series is 1126.

Got the 'Ol girl home this week & have started on the punch list.
Re-torqued heads,switched out all the locks with a set that actually matches, lubed all the window mechanisms.
The speedo swap went well, I was able to do the install by just removing the gauge itself. If I were 20 years younger & 40 lbs lighter, it would have been almost a snap!
Just need to finish up the water pump tonight.

64avantiQuote:

Most times, it's just easier to remove the front seat when working on something under the dash. Been there, done that!

Craig

My new water pump has about 2 hours running time on it and sounds like bowling balls in a cement mixer. I have contacted the rebuilder and will return it but our club has it's Spring Dust-off this weekend & I am determined to see it will make the 120 mile round trip. Hey, there is always AAA but the show must go on!
There is a big lean bog in the carb & at this point, I suspect the fuel pump. A Ford Y block sourced pump is on the way & I will try a pump with the combo Vacuum pump to power my wipers as I have the Melling oil pump conversion- any experience out there with this solution?
Wish me luck!

I do wish you luck and a safe trip. With that description, anything sounding like bowling balls would have me worrying about something seizing or worse, breaking and a fan going thru the hood or radiator.

As to the Ford fuel pump, I believe there are several that are running a TBird version quite successfully. Don't remember which years but don't recall hearing of any difficulties in installation or changing the plumbing. I am not entirely sure if the manifold portion to the wiper was left intact and the fuel pump source only went to the balance valve in place of the crankcase pump or if the wiper vacuum was rerouted to go thru the pump first and balance valve eliminated as per the pre 55 cars.

What a blast to drive, this car is growing on me!
The crowd at the dust off enjoyed the car & there was a fair amount of discussion of all things Packard. Oldsmobile John took it for a spin and was pretty impressed. Fortunately the water pump cooperated this weekend but will come off tonight.
The tires take a little getting used to, being unbelted bias.
They make all kinds of neat sounds when on freeway ramps:)
No way I'll get 10K out of them.
The carb bog was remedied with about 5 more degrees of timing and runs great, it has some real spunk with the 3 on the tree.
So far the engine has about 300 miles on it and is starting to loosen up.