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Expanding a little bit more, the R11 ignition cutout period lasts for the amount of time it takes for the solenoid to lose electrical power and let the spring retract the plunger into the case and open a set of contacts that were allowed to close when the plunger was extended.

Published literature on another OD says an average duration lasts for 4 or 5 sparks at the average driving speed (whatever that was when the article was written) but in any case it can only last a matter of a few milliseconds. Any less and the torque might not relax enough for the spring to pull the plunger out quickly resulting in the second problem that any longer and the engine would die.

OK, once I get used to the OD, I will quit worrying about it somehow messing with my ignition.
I have a need to measure things, and know what's going on, so I will run this tach for a while. I don't want my packard to look like a race car, but I do want to see what kind of revs I am running in different situations, so I found this small tach. I put a rubber sleeve on the column and used a hose clamp to attach in a way that I can remove it later on. This way I can also see the difference in RPMs when the OD is active.

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Re-torqued the cyl head this morning. On sunday I noticed a smidge of water at the base of the cyl head up front near the water pump. -I loosened the radiator cap to release pressure on the coolant system after seeing that. When re-torquing today, I loosened each bolt 1/8 to 1/4 turn and then re-torqued to 62 fl-lbs. This was also the advice the engine builder gave me. Fingers crossed that everything holds!

Tobs, interested in the tach you show on your Clipper. Most all I have seen are 0 to 8,000 RPM and the 0 to 4,000 scale is more suited to our Packards. Also, is it a 6-volt unit? Thanks - JWL

tach at summit

I think I got it at Summit a few years ago. It is alas 12v only, and I chose it because it was small and also I didn't want a tach that read to 9000rpm.

Can't say I ever head of the practice of first loosening a head fastener as a prelude to retorqueing, but it surely can't hurt anything and as I think about it, it might actually be a preferred practice, especially if you didn't back off enough to relieve ALL the prior torque but just the last fraction of it so in essence you were again just creeping up to the final value. I'd say it certainly should be done if the threads weren't cleaned before installation, or were painted prior to this point.

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Thanks. You got me to thinking. I have a vintage Sun 0 - 8000 tach and a small 12V battery. Maybe I can make something work in my 115C. Hmmmm...

JWL

John, The 12v battery is an option and probably not much draw from the tach so depending on battery size it shouldn't need to be charged often. As another option, if the tach draws less than 4 amps I wonder how something like this voltage converter would work.

I have been playing around with a couple of different units to see about running the 12v solenoid valves on my AC so I could eliminate the extra battery setup. So far this one from China is doing a good job.ebay.com/itm/262460697599 There are others available that are US sourced and may be the same item but more $$.

I tried to get a front end alignment today, and event though the local tire shop named "Cakmak" was recommended, they took one look at the rear wheel arches, and refused to go further...
I have appointment next week at another shop. I described what happened at the first place, and they said they would try...
Years ago when I last aligned the car with the whole "mirror and laser thing" I was able to get the mirrors clamped on the wheels, and the measurement worked. You just have to angle the mirrors so that you can roll the car back and forth just enough before they hit the wheel wells....Hope the next shop will align the car

Sounds like the shop is trying to set it up as they do for 4-wheel alignments on modern front wheel drive cars. Much easier if you can find a shop with the old style alignment bed designed for rear wheel drive cars. Perhaps you'd be more successful with shops that deals with trucks.