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I've got a lead on a 1949 four door parts car,but the seller has no idea what engine is in its engine bay as he is selling it for someone else.The 288s are clearly marked on the head,but how can one tell if it's a 327 or 356 right off the bat? What are the differences? We are at least two hours away from one another so it will all have to be by picture,thus my questions.Thanks.

My plans are (If I buy it) to strip it of anything valuable as much as possible,and then sell the body for scrap,or simply keep it to practice metal and paint work on it,etc.

Thank you all very much in advance.

Don't rely on identifying the head, they frequently get swapped. But does this, from the Packard Literature and Manuals section of the Website, help?

There are external differences to distinguish a 356 or a 9-main 327 and 359 from the 288 and 5-main bearing 327s but when in doubt, just locate the engine # and look it up. As Mal says, cylinder heads were often replaced with others.

One quick way to visually identify a 356 is the location of distributor. On a 356 it is centered in the block directly under a core or freeze plug. On the 288/327 the distributor is slightly forward of center and just in front of the middle core plug but not under it. To identify between the 288/327 5 main engines believe the only external clue is via the motor number.

Thank you all.I'll pass it along to him.Great info there,guys. :)

He just got back to me and gave me a "V92" for what he found on the block.That can't be it,right? Where would the engine's serial number be located?
He does say it will turn with a battery,so that's a good sign.

The link I included earlier provides details of where to find engine numbers, here it is again.

packardinfo.com/xoops/html/downloads/PackardEngineSerials.pdf

I'm curious where or on what component the V92 was found. Didn't realize Packard ever used a V on anything except maybe a paint code so maybe that is the paint and trim code -- except that wouldn't be found on the block.

Okay,he just sent me pictures -- Someone stuck a Detroit Diesel in it.Based on the pictures,someone did a marvelous job stuffing it in there,but I was hoping for the 356cu. I wonder if he'll take $300 for the chrome (grill,bumpers,etc) pieces? Although I don't really have the space for it,I was hoping to get that car and learn and practice sheet metal work as well as learn paint skills.

I wonder what the owner was trying to achieve by putting that engine in there? Anyone know about this mysterious "V92" Detroit Diesel engine?