Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Finally got the last two bolts off the center studs. Still have no idea how i will torque them, except to get them really tight as there seems no way to get anything other than a box wrench on them.

Pulling the manifolds off, I note that the intake manifolds where they meet the block are somewhat longer than (proud of) the exhaust manifolds - I have a picture attached, but i think it must be something like 3/16th or greater. I can see where an exhaust leak has developed in the ports directly behind the carb, but the gasket is intact, the leak having burnt the face of the gasket and your can follow the leak then down the side of the block.

Should I take this to a machine shop as a unit and have the intake ground to make everything flush, or is this normal?

Also, anyone who has done this, how did you torque the center-most two bolts during re-assembly?

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Yup, not an uncommon finding after decades of use. Have them surfaced flush as an assembly.

If you can, try to get the metal sandwich gaskets, some would say they are a bit more forgiving than the modern composite gaskets though you can get a satisfactory job with either.

I took the two manifolds apart to find significant cracks at the hot spot where the two manifolds attach together. I understand manifolds are hard to weld, can this be repaired?

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They can possibly be welded by any automotive machine shop but probably better to try to locate a replacement.

Sure it can be repaired but doing cast iron repair on parts that have cycles of extreme heating and cooling is a bit of a specialty and can be very expensive. Often its only done when there is no alternative.

That said, looking at your crack I'd be tempted to drill a small hole at the end to stop it from growing and use something like furnace cement to stop the leak. Other than some labor possibly lost there isn't much downside to giving it a try.

PS - your question "can it be repaired" reminds me of a real old time welding shop around here back when I was in high school. It was a big old dirt-floored rambling barn and the big banner sign over the door gave the owner's name of course, and his slogan "We weld anything but aluminum heads and broken hearts".

I now have the head off. As I thought, the engine has been recently gone through as everything is clean and really showing no wear - pistons, valves, etc. Maybe a few thousand miles on the rebuild. Nice brass head gasket came off fully intact, i wonder if i should re-use it instead of the new one?

I started this to repair a noisy hydralic lifter. (I have a '52 250, which has the 200 engine with hydralic lifters - it has the "H" on the block) I believe I can remove the valves and bring the hydralic take up assembly out through the lifter chamber, leaving the tappet body in the engine, replacing just the hydralic assembly. In doing so, I shouldn't need to do a take-up adjustment as i am not planning on resurfacing the valves, they just don't need it.

Is this correct, or will I need to pull the cam shaft and drop the entire assembly out the bottom of the block?

They can definitely be welded by someone who specializes in welding cast iron. There were several recommended to me in my part of Oregon, so I'm sure it's no problem in L.A.

Definitely get the original metal manifold gaskets from Olson's Gaskets in Washington. Cost a little more than composite. This is the bag they arrived in for my 356.

Before you haul the manifolds to a rebuilder to surface as a unit, be sure their machine is wide enough to handle a Packard exhaust manifold.

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I was able to source a good used intake manifold at not too much money, so i will use that. In disassmebling, I actually think my exhaust leak was at the manifold between the third and fourth cylinders as i could see carbon marks. The gaskets were good, so I assume it might have been due t improper torquing, which, given the access issues, does not surprise me.

I am more concerned with whether I can pull the hydralic take up assemply out through the side of the block, or i need to pull the entire lifter assembly out through the bottom. I'll know in a day or two, once I pull a valve and see what access I have. I just don't know if the hydralic assembly will come out of the tappet body or if thy are somehow made into one unit with a keeper or something. It looks like they readily come apart from the lifter body.

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With the head off and the valve removed, the hydraulic assembly just lifts out. More details are likely here on this site in the service manual.

Your new lifter looks like one of the reproductions, so funny that they've been arround so long as to now show up used! I have a set in my 1954 Patrician and they are still quiet after starting it up for the first time in over thirty years.

This is actually just a picture of the lifter from the Merritt site (so I believe they are selling the repops). I have not pulled mine yet, but I do believe they will be repops as well. I would like to use the originals with the bigger walls, but not very available any more at an affordable price and i should only need to replace one.

The service manual (at least the one I have) does not address the removal of the lifters well at all. It tells how to rebuild them and how to check them, but just basically says they drop out the bottom when you remove the cam.