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I am in the process of tearing down and rebuilding a 1929 standard Eight Engine. I have a couple of questions that I need help with:

1. How is the cam removed from the aluminum crankcase? I have removed the 6 cam bearing retaining pins along with the front cam bearing plate (located behind the cam drive sprocket). I have tried pulling it forward (out the front of the engine) but a couple of cam lobes come up against their respective cam bearings and all movement stops. I suspect when new the bearings and cam slide out together but perhaps years of dirt / corrosion are locking things up. Suggestions?

2. How is the distributor / oil pump drive gear timed to the mating gear on the camshaft? I believe each of these bevel gears has 17 teeth and I don't see any timing marks on any of them. During assembly, the distributor drive gear is held in place with a cast aluminum bushing that in turn is held down by the cylinder block so any re-timing of the gears means a big tear up. I know there is some timing adjustment that can be done by rotating the distributor, but it seems if the gears are too far out, the distributor will be in some wildly incorrect orientation. Does the distributor drive shaft with its slightly off-center drive slot want to be oriented in a particular way with cylinder #1 at TDC? I'm puzzled.

G'day 29wrench,
to PackardInfo, but sorry I can't help with your questions.

However, I invite you to include your '29 Standard Eight in PackardInfo's Packard Vehicle Registry.

I hope you are familiar with rebuilding engines of that vintage as a complete professional rebuild will run about $30k and very few parts are available from vendors.

Sorry can't answer your questions, but if no one else knows, I can ask around and see if I can get an answer.

for including your '29 Standard Eight Runabout in the Registry.

On my 1932 I took distributer gear out which is timed by matching the dots on the cam and gear. At that point I was able to pull the cam out.
I had to make new cam bearing out of brass since I couldn't find replacements. Rings can be measured and ordered from Hastings by size. I had about $6k in it farming out the babbit and some of the normal automotive machine shop items. If you turn the crank, you have to remove the weights.

Thanks for the advice. I share your experience with part availability. My local Packard dealership unfortunately closed long ago and parts procurement has been a challenging activity all of its own.

I am headed for having new babbit poured for the rods since they are in pretty rough shape and with them I'll probably be headed for a touch up on the crank. Also have top ring reversal wear steps in the cylinder bores so over sized pistons are in my future. And, it all adds up!

Not 100% sure I'm following your distributor timing experience. What do you mean by matching the dots on the cam and gear? Are you referring to the dots on the cam sprocket and the crank sprocket? Those I can easily see matching up but the two bevel gears (one on the cam and one on the distributor drive) are the ones that have no marks in my engine and at least 17 different engagement options.

I did all of this so long ago I am struggling to remember the detail so hopefully, someone will correct any errors.
Timing the distributor.
Before disassembly turn the engine to TDC with # 1 cylinder on the compression stroke and note the direction of the rotor and distributor clamp location, then reassemble the cam gear and distributor drive shaft so the rotor and distributor are in the same position. Tighten the distributor clamp after rotating the distributor so that the points are just starting to open using a static timing light across the points and clamp. Final running adjustment is done by ear, a strobe light cannot be used because the timing mark is on the flywheel and only visible with the starter motor removed. Not one of Packard's better features!

For parts as well as engine experience contact John Ulrich, Richmond/Oakland, CA. John's long owned a '32 Light Eight roadster, which uses a 319-ci engine similar to yours.
Please tell him a '47 Super Clipper in Walnut Creek sent you. John specializes in older models and does not scalp people.

julrichpackard.com/