Packard Forum Index » Modification Discussion

You should consider contacting some of the folks in the local Packard Club:
The Packard Club-

Heart of Texas Packards
735 Ware St.
San Antonio, TX 78221
Jim George
(210)922-1300

They would love to get some younger folks into the club, and there is a wealth of information stored in those gray haired heads. If you have a clutch pedal, you have a standard, with a column shift. One of my young friends here in MT went for a ride with me in my 51 200, and he couldn't figure out how I knew which gear the car was in, so don't feel bad.

On the distributor, Packard used both Autolite and Delco. See if you can find a label on the generator so you can match them. But I don't think it makes any difference. Check with your local starter/generator shop, I know Dallas Generator in downtown Dallas usually has some on the shelf. The distributor was used on many different makes of cars.

Good luck - take lots of digital photos before you start taking anything apart, and label the parts and bag them! Speaking from the voice of experience here - I got my first Packard when I was 15.

Just my two cents... a stock 288 Thunderbolt engine made 135 hp and 230 lb/ft of torque when it was NEW. A Chevy 302, which was originally designed as a race engine so GM could go to the Trans-Am series, makes 290 hp and 290 lb/ft of torque if set up properly. I don't think it will have a problem dragging that old Packard around, even if it has rotten wheel bearings and no oil in the diff. As far as the cost to play, I'm in the middle of a similar project, and the cost to re-do a Packard L8 the right way is hovering around $7000 in 2012 monopoly money. And that's just parts and machine shop labor, not including R&R and setup afterward. You could do a whole hell of a lot with a used small block, an unwanted GM trans and a Packard chassis for 7 large. Just food for thought.

I looked into conversions and such retaining the stock engine, but I found it to be cost prohibitive. I have a similar thread here on the initial research for such a project. I've decided to use the 200 4R I got for the conversion and pair it with a 307 out of a 69 Nova, which is basically a hogged out 283 that makes 200 hp with a 2 barrel carb and no headaches. I would recommend something similar, and like you I want to avoid bastardizing the car so I can dump tens of thousands of dollars into the original drivetrain parts and eventually reinstall them. I love riding around behind that 3 foot straight 8 and burbling power boat-like Ultramatic, but I'm stealing rides on worn-out parts. The small block and matching trans conversion is a temporary, keep driving it solution. I hope you have good luck with whatever direction you decide to go. Nothing turns heads like a Packard, no matter what shape it's in.

There is one on Craigslist from Spokane Washington with a 350 V8 in it. Could probably pick their brain on what needed to be done to mount it in there.

portland.craigslist.org/grg/cto/3346434451.html