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Was the 359 a version of the 288/327 engine family or was it made up from the old 356 engine block?

John

"Was the 359 a version of the 288/327 engine family"

Short answer - Yes!

Longer answer is by early 50s the 356 was completely obsolete and tooling mostly gone so the 359 was a bored and stroked 9 main 327. Other 359 differences from the 288/327 engines were an aluminum head and higher compression, different cam and larger intake valves.

Howard, a much more comprehensive and informative answer.

Must have a lot of room to swing a longer stroke crank in the bottom of the block for the 359.... Thanks, I figured it was part of the 288/327 family, but I thought maybe they adapted some of the 356 parts into it.

John

Howard, what do you mean " the 356 was completely obsolete "? Short history lesson if you don't mind.
Wes

In the world of Packard replacement parts stocking Packard "obsoleted" the 356 engines in about 1951 and quit making replacement engines, even the parts catalog mentions that the 9 main bearing 327 was their recommended replacement for the 356's that were no longer available

The 356 was a magnificent engine but expensive to make

Quote:

By obsolete, Caribbeandude explains what I tried to say very well. In some articles it was mentioned that when 356 engine production stopped with the 23rd series some tooling was scrapped and no more could be built. Other than what was left over or run up for service engine use that was the end so "obsoleted".

By July 1953 Packard was unable to supply 356 service engines for 42-50 Customs with standard trans. They printed information on what parts were needed and instructions for replacing engines on those earlier models with a 9 main 327. Since they specifically mentioned engines for standard trans cars it could make one believe they might still have had a few engines equipped for use with 23rd series Ultras.

With the introduction of the 23rd series Super Deluxe, sales of the Custom 8 pretty much fell off a cliff (no small surprise!) and it proved very difficult to sell off the remaining inventory of finished cars. With a view towards writing down inventory and costs Packard continued to sell (about 1528 units) 356-based marine engines (designated IM-356) thru 1951 and perhaps into 1952 and that was the grand finale of the 356 engine. That production no doubt pretty much ate up remaining inventory of 356 components. They did pretty much the same with the tooling and inventory of the six but in both industrial (ID-245) and marine (IM-245) versions, production totaling about 7000 of the former and about 1800 of the latter. This is all well-covered in Robert Neal's "Master Motor Builders".

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The 356 didn't come out till 1940? Seems odd it was obsolete in only 10 years.......
I guess they were trying to save money where they could and the hp was not that much different between the 327 (155hp, 1951) and the 356 (160 hp, 1950). And the 327 managed even more hp (185) in its last years.

John