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I am also curious about the one large adjustable pushrod ball. Does the corresponding rocker arm have a larger pushrod socket than the rest of the rockers???

Well, I think Howard was right, "Lead Foot Special". I got into the engine a little today and here is what I have going on thus far.

1. #7 push rod larger ball than rest. Rocker is the same cavity as the others. Odd......

2. large mouse nest in the intake and Right head.

3. #6 Cylinder valve stuck open 1/4 stroke.

4. Lots of loose dirt and crud in #6 and 8 cylinder

5. Solid lifters across the board with adjustable push Rods

6. Cam shaft Shot, huge crater in couple lobes.

7. with Calipers, cylinders look .20 over, will verify with telescope gauges later.

8. Pistons, Jahns racing Pistons!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will dig in a bit more tomorrow. So far, no markings on any bearings.

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Do you suppose that cam was metal sprayed or welded up for
performance? If those pistons clean up, perhaps they might be useful for a block that has not been bored.

Quote:

It never ceases to amaze me the places that mice can and do find to nest in. One thing for sure, Mama Mouse didn't have to worry about cats!

Jim

Back at it, I will report in tonight

other then then the shape of the top of the piston and the skirt as well, I can't really see the point of them. I guess they are forged?

It will be interesting to see if whoever built this up found themselves a forged crankshaft; easy to recognize, open versus closed eyes on the rod throws. Other than that and perhaps future use of the pistons I suspect you've found yourself a boat anchor, though doing a post-mortem on engines is always interesting.

Ok, the postmortem is complete.

Initial cause of engine failure Dropped a intake valve in cylinder #7 Crunching a chunk out of the cam lob with the solid lifter.

Secondary, blown head gasket with water severely oxidizing the aluminum piston and welding it to the cylinder. This piston is frozen solid.

Piston walls show very little wear and are not grooved in the least. Bottom mic'ed at 4.125

Crank has mild grooving as the babbiting was worn through the mains and down to the brass.

Valve stems mic'ed to spec and less than .004 wiggle, should not have to oversize.

Engine headed off to Kaley's tomorrow to be cleaned, and worked up. Heads will be cleaned and hardened seats inserted. Cam will be repaired, Kaley's has the blanks for the 374 and does a lot of Packard work for the local restoration shops. Crank Ground.

On hold on ordering parts until I get the Engine back. So for now, back to the Frame, T/L bars due in tomorrow, still waiting on the Sandblaster. Oh Well, the garage needs a good cleaning, I need to go find my wife.

Another interesting side note, I just cleaned up and mic'ed a set of the valves. They are stock dimensions and dead nuts on dimensions. I will take them to the shop too and see if they may be useful unless we have to oversize the guides. The interesting thing is, these valves are not stock Packard script, they are Eaton valves.

Very interesting find. It's one of the more highly modified I've seen, but not the only one to come to a bad end via valve failure.

As to the valve problem which probably killed the engine just before it was about to run the main bearings; did the head come off the valve or did the keeper pull through the retainer? Have you file-tested the retainers to determine if they are the hardened version? FWIW, don't put it back together with soft retainers.

When you say Quote:FWIW, the '56 352" and 374" cams are the same P/N. Do they have actual unmachined cam blanks or do you mean they have the cam master to regrind your existing core?

Do you plan to run the engine with solid lifters? Any idea as the cam manufacturer and timing specifications?

There are several possibilities, from mild to full race. I have an Iskenderian 505C with 320 degrees duration and it won't idle under 1800 RPM and doesn't start pulling until 3500 RPMs. You'll definitely want to confirm the grind before putting any money into spray-welding and regrinding it. Are there any numbers stamped on the front or rear?

If you are going to use the adjustable pushrods and want to replace that odd one, Smith Brothers, in Bend, OR, http://www.pushrods.net/ was the original manufacturer and supplied them to Iskenderian.

One has never experienced frustration until he tries to set clearances with adjustable pushrods. They require four hands, one wrench for the pushrod, one wrench for the lock nut, one wrench for the adjuster and one hand for the feeler gauge. On the rear cylinder on each bank, there just isn't room for two bodies to be in position to do the job.

jack vines