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My apologies, 1stElim, for assuming you were a rod/custom guy. Saw the line about '60s Fords on your opening post, assumed you were considering such a V-8.

As mentioned in my first reply, the four extra main bearings in the 1940-50 356 were superfluous, but included because Packard's competitors would pounce on that. The 356 was otherwise an enlarged 282 (One-Twenty) with the Wilcox Rich hydraulic valve lifters Cadillac had since '36. Since the 288/327 introduced for '48 was only a revision of the '35 257 (identical bore/stroke as the Olds inline 8), '36-'47 282, Ross is right, the nine mains in the 327 were a marketing gambit, a dated one, since the entire industry other than Packard and Pontiac, who both stuck with inline L-heads through '54, was by the early '50s focused on ohv V-8s.

No, no, no. Do not two tone that jaunty club coupe. No Packards junior or senior 1935-40 were two-toned. Look at their bodies. To do so screams yahoo.

Color. I spent three weeks agonizing whether to paint my originally black '40 Packard Blue, Blackhawk gray luminescent, or Sea Cloud gray. The first won simply as i was not long out of college, all this was new to me, and i wanted the most Packard a Packard possible. In retrospect, had i picked Blackhawk gray, i might've had it longer'n 1974-83. Esp. were it a sporty club coupe. Note yours is in Phoenixville, PA, not far from the College Hill/Easton my pictured 120 from; cylinder head on the rear floor, three pistons and rods in the trunk, heater, no radio.

With rebuilt engine, new wiring harness, painted, drove it from Easton to my old greater NYC, then down to Colonial Williamsburg, Charlotte, I-40 to Barstow, CA, somehow to I-5 north, picked up 680N to Walnut Creek in Feb.,'76 w/ $300 to my name in travelers' checks in five and a half days.

Sold as you see it above in '83 because side view, rear 3/4 had that generic look like a '38 Buick, whose hood louvers Packard copied after that year Buick ended Packard's consecutive 1935-37 Gallop Poll Most Beautiful Car. Packard regained that title for 1939, but don't know who won 1940-47 and would like to. Doubt Packard won in '40 because of GM's racy new C bodies, certainly not '41 when Packard was box office poison, their new Clipper not introduced 'til April, '41, used car inventories traditionally lowest that month their hedge. Ford did the same with their reskinned Falcon in '64.

Color can make or break a car. Take your time, study Packard's 1940 paint chart. If you share my preference for understatement, get the basic bale hood ornament, black walls and one of those grays, a light gray interior for contrast, nothing else beyond OD. You rarely saw fog/driving lights on cars of any price in the day. I was young, so had those, and the fold down rear trunk guard.

You lease heavy equipment or are an excavator? After selling to a local early middle-aged exec, he divorced a couple years later, it wound up owned by a wonderful couple, Lelio and Georgia Giorgi, Lelio an effusive gent whose company dug the Moscone Center, the biggest excavation in San Francisco history. Lelio raved about the car whenever i saw him and his charming wife at some show with it. He'd always compliment me on how well and thoroughly i'd had it rebuilt, how strong it ran, a cut above most concoursmobiles.

However, he liked the earlier Art Deco looks of a '36 LaSalle, so sold "my"/his '40 120 to buy a '36 LaSalle sedan Neil Young had tired of.

But after driving the LaSalle, he realized it wasn't in the same road car league, not as finely engineered as the Packard, so bought another '40 120 sedan, Inverness green, which was nice, but as Lelio volunteered, not nearly as good as mine had been. Georgia always laughed, reminded me how Lelio kicked himself for selling my Packard and buying Young's LaSalle, which as you know was only a gussied Oldsmobile straight eight.

Skip Laguna maroon. It's common and blah. Like Niagara gray you may as well leave it in primer. Whatever you do, no Cuban tan, Miami sand. Hohum, done to death.

Retorque the head and manifold engine warm a couple times after rebuilding. Don't overdo the manifold nuts. You want it able to expand and contract. Make sure the manifold heat control valve free and adjusted per shop manual. Fresh grease in the distributor cup so your shaft doesn't wear.

You'll win the race.

I have several 58-70 Mercury cars...well, maybe 20.

I'll be looking for a 5 main 327 and a 288 head.

While a junior may have never come with Tu-tone, I think it would look good. Inverness body with Wilshire fenders. However, No worries on a junior with tu-tone....and a good reason for that. A color chip chart for 40 Packard is in my possession. I prefer to use stock original colors on my cars. The same strategy will go for a Packard.

Sounds like a fun trip!

The pieces of equipment I mentioned are things I own as a useful hobby. For work, I own a transmission shop.

I'd love to win the race. It's a win just to be there, a bigger win to finish without trouble. Receiving money for winning is probably not in the cards.

Either of those greens are good colors. But not together. Packard never two-toned any of their cars from 1935-40. Of course, junior/senior 120/160/180 shared every piece of sheet metal 1940-42, other than the 120" wb '42 junior Clippers, which have a seven-inch shorter front clip. They are identical cowl back, as are the 1940-42 old/traditional bodied Six, which wheelbase five inches shorter, that entire length chopped out of the front clip.

As suggested, don't reinvent the wheel. Packard designed your club coupe, came up with a palette of sophisticated colors, and having two-tones through 1934, knew what they were doing. There are no body breaks 1935-40 so two-toning such cars always looks like some guy who doesn't know what he's doing or have any knowledge of the cars, the times, just wants an "old timey" car. Trust us on this.

Five-main 327 per Ross, and 288 head, with overdrive, that'll be a jaunty yet elegant road car. Break a leg.

BTW, when the Cad-LaSalle gearboxes blew apart in Don Garlitts' Chrysler hemi 426 top fuel 1,000 hp rail dragsters in the '60s, hence scatter shields, he switched to the '39 Packard R6 junior transmission --not even the 1940-early '48 R9 or late '48-'54 R11 -- and problem solved, so unsure why you're using a T83. Since you're adding overdrive, seems easier to install the slightly simplified, more plentiful, therefore less expensive R11 complete unit. Again, Jeff Adkins, Moose Motors, lifelong Packard wrench, has some of these, (707) 792-9985, packardguy54@sbcglobal.net. Jeff has all the mechanical and electrical parts 1935-56, knows every bolt and lock washer on your car. Mike Grimes at Merritt, Mike Chirco at Tucson Packard, whose numbers, emails i gave above, also have everything you'll ever need, as does John Ulrich, whose first Packard was a '40 120, which all these years later he still owns, along w/ an equally sharp '32 Light Eight roadster,julrichpackard.com.

Please tell these four gents that Mike, '47 Super Clipper, Walnut Creek, CA, referred you. And as MalOz Down Under will ask, please add your "new" Packard to the Vehicle Registry here.

T-83? I thought it was T-85. Either way, I bought a 3 speed with R11 to use.

Pardon, misread. But since T-85 first gear unsynchronized, can't see an advantage over Packard's own complete R11 transmission with R11 overdrive. Imagine some finagling to use T-85, while complete R11 a bolt-in proposition.

Meanwhile, heed Ross's advice regarding cylinder head. If a straight edge shows it necessary, just kiss the head; lightly surface, no more. Ross knows all these engines.

Noted an earlier post from you asking about air conditioning. Have never fathomed having a vintage/older car and burdening the engine with more power-robbing accessories, esp. when you're looking for a power edge. So dress lightly in the heat, open the cowl vent, vent windows, roll down the windows. You'll survive.

Someone's gotta win, why not you?

Which transmission did Packard use? I thought BW built the trans for Packard. The trans w/OD I purchased is from a 51 Packard.

Yes, I will survive. I grew up near Fort Lauderdale, Florida and never owned a vehicle with AC. Today, I feel like AC sometimes. Yes, I'd like more power when I need more power. While I'm cruising, I won't need more power until I turn on the AC. Packard offered AC in 1940. I'd like to see pictures of their unit.

If you'd like, watch my videos. My transmission shop has more machining capabilities than most. Mills, lathes, surface grinders, cylindrical grinders, drill presses, tool and cutter grinders, seat and guide machine and a shaper....along with lots of precision measuring tools.

Someone will win. There are people with a lot of practice and equipment for scoring advantage. It is called scoring factor. For cars 1953 and down a multiplier is used to give a handicap to the score. For example, a 1940 car has a scoring factor of .850. So, if their actual scoring penalty is 1 minutes and 40 seconds, or simplified to 100 seconds, it is multiplied by the .850 to receive a corrected score of 85 seconds. Any car '54 and up is scored as the total 100 seconds. If a 54 or newer car had a better actual score of say 86 seconds, despite having a better score by 14 seconds, the scoring factor would make the 1940 car win. The overall winner this year drove a 1916 Hudson which has a scoring factor of .660. Plus, these guys are really good at rallying.

Packards up to 1950 had a single engine mount at the front below the water pump and a pair on the transmission. As I believe was mentioned earlier in this thread, unfortunately you'll need one from a 1949-1950 as the 1951 does not have the mounts on the sides. The casting has the place for them but they are not drilled or tapped.

As far as I know, Packard made their own transmissions and licensed the overdrive part.

300lbs is a significant amount of material.
What is it about a 356 that makes it 300 lbs heavier than a 327? Is it the block?
Can the longer stroke 356 crank be put into a 327 9 main block? If so, that would make a good combination. Big cubes and lighter weight.

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Borg Warner was supplying Packard with something, not sure if it was complete units. I had an ad for Borg with a 22nd series convertible on it touting their relationship