Re: 359 intake/exhaust
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Home away from home
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Have you considered just doing a V-8 swap at this point? 🤔
"Packard" and "Performance" share little aside from their first letter. Really the only thing able to put down remotely impressive numbers would be a 55-56 manual Clipper Custom, which are/were actually quite competitive in performance with the Corvette and T-bird, but even those are slow compared to today's cars. The 55 T-bird has a 0-60 of around 8.9 sec whereas my 5000 lb Toyota Highlander Hybrid crossover barely in the mid 200's HP puts down 7.3 sec. A contemporary road test put the 55 Custom with UM at 11.9 sec since flooring it in an UM will keep you in converter drive probably through the whole run, wasting lots of power. I'm sure a manual would be quicker in the right hands. Obviously the point here is that the flathead 8 engines are even weaker and less responsive. I just make sure you know what you're (not really) getting into in terms of performance gains. Though good, powerful engines for their time, these were not meant to be performance engines nor performance cars.
Posted on: 12/29 12:54
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1955 400 | Registry | Project Blog
1955 Clipper Deluxe | Registry | Project Blog 1955 Clipper Super Panama | Registry |
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Re: 359 intake/exhaust
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Home away from home
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First, be sure your engine and transmission are performing as they should now.
*Be certain that the manifold heat valve isn't stuck shut or partway shut.* Adding the different intake probably wouldn't make much difference as a stand alone modification, and it might have a negative effect. The only likely benefit would be modest, and only at or near wide open throttle at higher engine speeds. Raising compression will improve performance and economy. I'd look into that before changing the intake. It's usually worthwhile to look for any un-needed weight the car may be carrying, and get rid of it, and be sure the brakes aren't dragging, that the tires are appropriate for the car, that the intake and exhaust are unrestricted, etc. A well-tuned engine that is in good condition ought to give good performance at low and intermediate speeds. Older Packards usually had enough torque to get the car moving briskly. Flatheads can run out of breath at highway speeds, especially at higher elevations and in hot weather. Improving that usually requires an holistic approach, which can get pricey, especially if you step outside the Ford/Chevrolet boundaries.
Posted on: 12/29 15:08
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