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When idling, my motor makes a chattering or rattling noise.This is a 1948 Deluxe Eight with the 288 engine, sixteen thousand original miles. Oil changed and pan cleaned. Fuel pump and carb rebuilt. I am using regular nonethanol gas.After the rebuilds everything was reset but the car was making this noise when I got it. I don't think the car is tuned correctly but my availability of mechanics for repair is slim. Any ideas on what this noise could be ?

HI Fred; can you give us some more info. eg is the motor running evenly as in able to have a coin on edge on its cylinder head? etc. First thought is timing chain.
I like the styling of your car.

You could not balance a nickel on this engine, although I had always heard you could. It does "shake a little". I had attributed that to aging or hardening motor mounts. Could the timing chain be loose? I like the styling too ,but a lot of folks don't. Every where I have been, folks have really liked the old girl.You just don't see many antiques on the roads around north Florida, let alone a Packard.

Check that the fan belt, water pump and generator are not the cause of your rattle. Make sure everything there is bolted together properly. You could also take off the fan belt and run the engine for a minute to see if your rattle goes away.

Tob's idea is a very good one. Water pumps will make a lot of noise. It is highly unlikely the timing chain needs attention at that mileage. The other thought would be valve tap. That would be from poor adjustment of the mechanical lifters as an eight would not normally have hydraulics,

Not sure if it would cause the chatter you describe but I suspect that some of the rocking could come from motor mounts. When overhauling the cooling system of our '47, I could clearly see the front mount and it was badly worn. Replaced it and that helped but still was not totally still. Closer inspection showed both the side mounts, some call them stabilizers, were broke. There is still another on the tranny but since it is very stable now, I am not worried about it.

Good Morning all...When we received our 1949 288 Deluxe, 'Miss Prudence',she sounded like a threshing machine. It turned out that the valves were set too loose. We set them per the book and the old girl has been quiet sense. If I remember correctly, 7 thousands on the intake and 10 thousands on the exhaust. Others can confirm.

First jack up the front end and put stands under the left and right of the front end. Second,remove the hatch that is part of the inner fender. Third, remove the two valve covers and see what you have for clearance. Ernie

If you could post a video, that would be very helpful.
Wes

Thanks for all the input. I believe Ernie is right about the valve settings. The engine mounts also need to be checked. I made a video with my phone and I will try and post it.