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Last evening I opened up the valve chamber on my '51 Patrician and got a rather pleasant surprise. But I thought I'd better show some pictures of the area in case someone can spot something I missed.

In 1994 I bought a '79 Lincoln Continental which had oil pressure problems. When I removed the valve covers from that it looked like the valve covers had been filled with "black cottage cheese". So almost anything I could find behind the valve covers of the Packard would feel like good news.

I've also posted some before and after pictures of the engine on my blog "The 1951 Patrician of Jim L in OR"

So PLEASE if you see anything that needs attention, let me know!

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I'm going to try re-posting this as I could really use some guidance here. Also, I want to clean the bay up after I remove the valves and lifters. I was thinking about using something like Carb Cleaner but don't want to do any damage. So PLEASE someone let me know if they see any problems in the pictures and what I should use to clean the bay up.

Thanks in advance -

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I see the pictures didn't copy so I'll reinsert them.

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As far as solvency goes I think that carb or brake Cleaners would be a good choice, but in so doing especially if you're doing to spray it you're likely going to distribute some of the grime and sludge elsewhere so you're going to have to follow up that cleanup with another very thorough cleanup from the underside. Plugging the oil return holes in the valve chamber will mimimize some of that but you'll still likely get sludge and grime into the cavities of the cam followers, at the least. Were it mine, I'd remove the valves, springs and hydraulic units, plug the top of the cam followers with tape or a cork or similar, ditto for the oil return holes, and use lint-free rags wet with solvent. And just to be safe, I'd follow up that up with a cleaning from the underside. The risk of course is that some of the grime and sludge may get into places where it can then creep into cam, rod and main bearing surfaces, cam lobes, etc.

Judging from the appearance of the ports & valves, the motor needs a complete inspection and likely freshening. If the goal is just to make it run, perhaps not but all of those little parts inside may not be long for this world.
I love old cars, I love old cars...

Thank you O_D for the prompt reply and for keeping me from messing up what I believe to be a pretty good engine. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing and it seems that before I posted this, I was a real danger.

I looked at the pictures I sent and I want to point out that the shiny surfaces are not wet but glazed - which probably makes the problem worse. I had planned to use corks for the drain holes but the cam followers and the oil feeder lines sailed right over my head. That sludge might get into the rod and main bearings sailed right after. MY reason for the corks was to keep the little things like valve spring locks from falling into the engine. I honestly thought that cleaning out the oil pan afterwards would be all I needed to worry about.

So, I'll buy more corks. I can see already that this project has grown larger than I had originally thought it would - and I'm only on the engine! I did plan on dropping the pan and cleaning that out. When I have solvent in the pan, I think I'll try using a magnet for trolling for small pieces of metal.

Once the pan is down and out, I'll take some pictures of the underside - even if it looks good to me - and post them so that everyone can look for things that I probably will miss.

Thanks again O_D for your help. It is definitely appreciated.

There is the old saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it", so I myself I would take the plugs out crank it over looking to see if all valves look like they are working correctly and put the covers back on.
But that's just me.
Wes

Thank you 64avanti for your help with this. You've helped me focus on how careful I need to be so that I don't do more harm than good. I'm going to post pictures of the valves (once they are out) for comments on how good they are and if any need to be replaced. I'll also take pictures of the valve seats for help in looking for places that need attention. If problems are found I might need to track down someone who can do a valve job in my garage.

Thanks again. You and O_D have kept me from possibly doing more harm than good. It is appreciated.

Hi Wes. I was wondering if someone would suggest doing that as when I first looked inside the valve chamber I thought it was is pretty good shape.

I have turned the engine over through 4 cycles at least once a month and many times more often so I can say they all open and close and have no slop or wiggle room once they are open. I'm not sure about the need for a "valve job" as I figure that will be easier to know once the valves are removed. Good thing I didn't throw out the valve rack I made out of a piece of 4X4. I do plan on cleaning the lifters and doing a leak down test to make sure they're all playing the game.

So thank you once again for helping with this. As I said earlier, I know just enough to be dangerous.

Well now that I look at it again, I would say go ahead and pull the valves remove the hyd. lifters ( I would do this one at a time.) and get some valve grinding compound and a hand valve grinder (You may get some strange looks at some parts stores, because they only know of one kind of grinder.) Just a little dab of valve grinding compound and seat the valves, you should see a nice ring all the way around the valve, then just wipe up whats left of the valve grinding compound. If you see a gap in the ring on the valve that usually means that valve is bent. Don't forget to plug the holes around the valves and there are holes behind the valves also. Clean the Hyd. Lifters, press check them and you should be good to go. From what I've read dirt is the biggest cause of Hyd. Lifters not woking correctly.
Hope this helps.
Wes

Thanks Wes, it does indeed and what you've suggested is exactly what I'm going to do. I'm hoping that H-B has the hand valve grinder you mention and I'll be back for advice on how to use it I'm sure.

According to the paperwork that came with the car, it was last registered in 1994 and there were notes about a compression check which was nothing to write home about except it points to the old L-head curse of sticking valves. As I mentioned earlier, they all appear to be working as they should. If the tremendous good luck I've had with my first two Packards holds, I should have her moving under her own power by Labor Day. I was going to say "The Fourth of July" but after a little experience with these things I now know better.

It also looks like I better go get another bag of corks.