Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Greetings, V8rs,

I was sold a flywheel which, "guaranteed, it came off a Studebaker or a Packard V8, cause that's all Dad had." It doesn't seem to fit either. Would appreciate some help identifying this flywheel:

15.5" diameter
184 teeth
2.5" center hole
4.5" bolt circle
2.125" c/c
43# weight
drilled for two different clutch covers


thnx, jack vines

Checked my Hollander (16th edition), sorry to say it only gives interchanges by application, no dimensions or specifications. Plus it only covers the range of 1928 thru 1948. Good luck, maybe someone else can help.

Any chance Dad had a Chevy powered Studebaker?

15.5" is too large for Chevrolet, as a Packard straight eight flywheel will barely fit in a T56 Chevy housing, and it's 1" smaller than the Packard V8. (This is manual trans we're talking here, NOT auto, at least on Packards). My guess is Ford, as the 184 teeth give it away as an FE series flywheel. The good news is, I was thinking of having one of these cut down and redrilled to fit a Packard, along with a Packard ring gear salvaged from an Ultramatic flexplate on the V8's. Alas, not enough time to complete all the projects!

Hi, Eric,

The same thought had occurred to me. It would require enlarging the center hole, drilling six new bolt holes, which are not symmetric pattern, turning down the exterior diameter and shrinking on the ring gear. The sucker weighs 43#, which would give one hell of a launch.

I'll check to determine if the dimension from the crankshaft flange face to the clutch face is close enough to the Packard V8 dimension to match up.

thnx, jack vines.

The one I had, which may or may not be for an FE, had the correct center hole, but the bolt holes were off, and the diameter was large enough that it barely fit into the extended bell portion of the block. It's when the center hole fit that I thought of having it redrilled and cut down to fit the Packard V8. Now, I wish I knew where it went so I can measure it and see if I can figure out what it fit.

Hi, Eric,

The center hole on this one is only 2.5" instead of the Packard V8 3.125". If it had fit the crank, it would already be back from the machine shop and on an engine. I am building a 374" for my Studebaker 3/4t, so a lot of flywheel would be good to have there.

Asking for your input on this truck engine, I am boring a 352" to 374", with good, used stock pistons, using the '55 camshaft which has shorter timing and '55 heads, which have smaller intake valves and a combustion chamber slightly better squish and low speed burn characteristics than the '56 cam and heads. Should pull well and have as good fuel economy as is possible with a 374" in a truck. What do you think?

thnx, jack vines

I would have used all '56 stuff in it, heads, cam, all of it. You can't beat the stock torque of the 374!