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Hello,

I'm looking for a cylinder head for my 1937er 8Cylinder.
who can help?

Greetings Mike Schmith

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Mike,

The head in the photos looks like it's a 120 and Aluminium(Or Aluminum, if you prefer) Because Aluminum heads are hard to come by, being prone to corrosion and warping, you're most likely to end up with a cast iron head instead. If there is little response to your query you should try the major Packards parts vendors Kanter or Max Merritt who should have a head or two laying around.

A while ago I picked up 2 Aluminum 120 heads and ended up giving them away recently. I don't know what condition they were, they were a "barn find", laying in the boot(trunk) of a Packard for many years so suspect they were removed a long time ago because of the aforementioned problems.

I doubt it's worth persuing these heads,
1) Because of the potential problems they have.
2) Shipping cost to Germany from Australia would be exorbitant! You'd need to be under sedation when you learn the cost!

Nevertheless, if you're interested ,I can enquire with the present owner.

Hi, thanks for your answer.

were there problems with the aluminum heads?
would it be better to use a cast steel head?

Greetings Mike

Here is my 2 cents worth: There is no difference in performance between the two materials. Aluminum is easier to cast and machine as well as repair. Aluminum is about half the weight and also better at dissipating heat so you can run higher compression on the same grade of gas without pinging (pre-detonation). Most modern engines use aluminum for that reason. For you I doubt any of the above applies so you could use a cast iron head in place of the aluminum with no negatives as you are getting one that is already made and the car's cooling system was designed to run fine with the cast iron head already.
You will want to deck (plane) whichever head you get so be sure this has not already been done so you have sufficient valve clearance. This is done by knowing the original head thickness versus the one you are buying. (I have seen a work-around by using two head gaskets but do not recommend it.)
If you do get another aluminum head you will want a composite head gasket as the cast iron block and the head will expand/contract through the heat cycle at different rates.
Also on the aluminum head you can get corrosion occurring at the sparkplugs' thread due to the dissimilar metals, but you will likely not see that as we do not run these as much as new cars. It can be avoided by using a small amount of never seize lube on those threads, whichever you use, some on the studs before assembly is good too so the studs don't corrode to the head making the next guy's disassembly a bit easier!
Bob J.

Hi Bob,

thanks for your advices I will also check the valves.
I'll see if I can find a head.

Greetings Mike

I have a couple aluminum heads available for your 37 120 520-336-0057 Mike/Tucson Packard

Hi Mike,

Thank you very much, I wrote you an email. Greetings Mike

It would be quite surprising to see an aluminum head on a 120 - the quality of the castings was extremely poor. Packard tried this for a couple years, 35-36, then back to cast iron forever after. Gee, I wonder why...
If at all possible, fit a cast iron head to your car. They are NOT hard to find.

Not exactly forever after! There was the 1954 359 with an aluminum head and mine is still the original and in good condition for the most part.