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The gunk was about 1/8 inch think or even a little bit more... Still not too bad? wow. New engine will breathe great with open lungs...
One valve in the picture I already cleaned. The rest are as removed.

I've seen valves that looked like they were dipped in cement. Before unleaded gas, valves piston tops and spark plugs got a white or gray deposit from the lead additives. Or black deposits from oil burning on old worn engines. Not to mention thick black sludge in the valve chamber and oil pan.

Your valves are rather clean, for an engine with 80,000 miles on it.

Today's engines with fuel injection, unleaded gas and improved oil do not get nearly as dirty as the old timers.

Just to mention, pay close attention to the condition of the fit of the exhaust valves in their guides. These are often worn and will lead to premature burning. New guides are relatively cheap and not too hard to install. The intakes are usually OK.

If I lived in Germany and wanted to cruise the Autobahn at an easy 140 kph, save the engine and save some fuel, I would look for an overdrive transmission. A thought.

On your present transmission: the wear on your bronze shifting dogs and the jumping out of gear is related: There are preloaded bearings on the mainshaft, and they have lost their preload. You can check this by grabbing the gear just to the rear of the front shifting collar. You should not be able to rock it at all. Let us know what you find and I will try to take a picture of how to regain the preload.

Regarding the transmission. I just checked, and I can move the gear right behind the front shifting collar a little bit. The clutch shaft has a little side to side free play also.

First driving out the counter shaft, then removing the clutch shaft, then the tail shaft seems like a big job. Is the preload adjustable, or does it require complete trans tear down?

An OD trans is on the wish list, but a ways down. Crusing at 90-100kmh was what I had been doing.

The ex valves on my (new)'51 288 actually looked better than my old '54 327.
-going on vacation in a few hours. Merry Christmass!

Wow, time flies. Yesterday was a momentus day in my packard's story. I moved the project to a garage much closer to me so I can work on the car more often, and I finally picked up the rebuilt engine from the machine shop. Thanks Gregor for helping me with towing and workshop space!
The engine builder took more than a week for tear down and rebuild, so this is one expensive engine! (OK, the shop was also working on an Alvis race car from the 1920's which made my engine rebuild look cheap) Anyway, new engine and OD trans will be going in after some grey paint in about a week or so. That should be it for running gear for a while, and then on to the rockers and wheel wells.
Am excited to get back onto this project, but think it will still be next summer before she is on the road.

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"I love deadlines, I love the whooshing sound they make as they go flying by" who was that Fletch?

Trying to get one evening per week, and one day a weekend dedicated to the packard. Mostly organizing and setting up shop the last weeks, but made some progress.

Anyway, anytime I say something is going to take a week, I am dreaming....Finally got the engine cleaned and painted this week in a grey that is well, grey....I didn't want to import paint from Bill Hirsch or Kanter, so it is close but not perfect.
Got the thermostadt and water pump mounted and painted it all up, also got 2 spray cans mixed locally to paint the firewall before I put in the engine and trans....So the front clip will also come off. That is something I have actually wanted to do for some time.... A while ago I had painted the firewall black, but seeing how most other builds are being done motivated me to paint the firewall the correct color. I think it makes the underhood aura much better
Also ordered a pilot bearing, ex hanger and fuel filter from kanter. Some misc parts needed before putting engine and trans in...
It is a great feeling bolting together two clean, smooth painted parts when you can remember how they used to look all rusty and dirty. I should write a hai-ku or poem about it. Lol.

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Starting to look a little more complete, fuel pump cleaned and mounted, oil filter and lines also cleaned and mounted, fan and pully, trans painted engine color. Distributor installed and bracket for generator. Threads cleaned and thread sealer or loc-tite applied as needed....mating surfaces also cleaned up nice...
One thing crossed my mind when I found today this gasket in the set I got from Kanter.....When I installed the water pump a few days ago, I thought(remember thinking) wow the passage where the water goes through is just like a hole about 1/2 inch in diameter and not a channel like I remember....Is there a gasket included in the set that doesnt have the 'channel' in it, but only a hole? (perhaps for another year or inside the pump?) Did I install the wrong gasket? Should this one be between my block and water pump? grrr.

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Perhaps they sent you a gasket for an earlier pump.

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All in all, a limerick seems to offer more potential. We await your efforts in this field......

Today was a holiday here in Germany, so a good packard day. Had a friend helping out, which makes things go a lot faster and easier with 2 people. Manifolds and vac lines installed, generator installed, and put the correct gasket between the water pump and block. I think the gasket I used the first time is used inside the pump...The gasket kits cover more than one model of 8 cly packard engine so there are more gaskets there than one will need for one engine.
Got the clutch and trans ready to go, now just waiting for my pilot bearing to get here, and can join them all together.

Also got the car located in my bay in the garage, and removed the front clip. Unfortunately three bolts broke when removing the passenger fender, so they will get drilled out soon. The drivers side I was more cautious and used oil, hammers and wirebrushes before applying torque. They came off without drama.

Undecided if I should bolt the carb on now, or leave it off untill the engine is in the car...The cardboard block off plate should keep anything from falling in the engine, but I guess the carb would be a little bit more secure against errant nuts or bolts....

No progress on the packard poetry...I'm away from tools and packards this weekend, perhaps I'l find some time for pen and paper

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