Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Were there ever any industrial or marine ( boat ) uses for the Packard V8 engine, or was it only used in cars ?

I know that some boat manufactures used Packard V8 engines. But I am not sure if they were built different from Packard for them.

One of the V8 guys on here with far more knowledge than myself should be able to provide you better information.

This was discussed in a couple forums past, but not much headway was made - except to note that a marine conversion was done on some Packard V8 engines by the Stokes Marine Co. of Michigan, which found their way into some Chris Craft boats.

One of our members has a 320-cid version of the Packard V8 that was designed for use in Hash cars, but had been used to run an irrigation pump, IIRC. I cannot tell you however, if it was offered as a bona fide industrial application, however. It now powers a '56 Patrician that he uses for daily transportation - until the hi-performance 374-cid mill he's working on is ready to go.

Meanwhile, somwhere out west, a fella is installing a highly modified Packard V8 in a Chevy Vega for a run on the Bonneville Salt Flats.

The V8 Legend Lives On...

Brian, you're partially right about me. The engine in my Patrician is out of a '55 Hudson, and one of my spare V8's is a 320, also a Hash engine, that was used as an irrigation engine. And the irrigation engine suffered extreme valve recession due to the fact it was run on propane. It is NOT, however, an "original" industrial engine. As of today, I presently own 2 320's and 2 374's. Only ONE runs! LOL!

Stokes Marine (and no doubt others) bought surplus Packard V8 engines (J.C. Whitney had them available new in crates for years) and marinized them themselves, thus they were unlike the IM-356 and IM-245 Packard marine engines which were built for marine use by Packard. A Stokes version Packard V8 marine engine is on display, at the Packard Proving Grounds I believe, along with several true Packard marine engines based on the 245 and 356 engines. In addition to being available with a variety of gear reductions via hydraulic gear boxes, the Packard IM-245 and IM-356 engines were also available in counter-rotating pairs which makes for some interesting internal changes, and also available in several different voltages. They also used updraft carburetion. Bob Neil's two books have a very considerable amount of information on the various Packard-built marine and aircraft engines.

Thank you very much, BigKev, BH, Turbopackman, Owen_Dyneto for all of that detailed info.

Hello,

I just found this forum and am hoping y'all can help me identify this Packard motor.

It came with a Chris Craft project I bought - the previous owner was planning on repowering the boat with this Packard Stokes marine conversion.

I know nothing about these motors and am not planning on using it in this boat. I am curious as to its origins (specs, year, etc.) as I know nothing more than that it is a Packard V8 with a Stokes marine conversion.

I can post more photos as needed.

Any input would be much appreciated.

thanks,
matt

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It looks like a 352" Packard V8 which Studebaker sold as surplus through the late '50s. Stokes Marine sold many conversions. Internally, it is the same as all Packard 352" engines. The usual Egge, Kanter, Packard International, Max Merritt sources have all the hard parts, albiet at a price.

If you are interested, I have two completely rebuilt 352" V8s on the test stand ready for purchase. Contact me off list at PackardV8@comcast.net

thnx, jack vines