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The last time I had Carb iceing was when I was driving my 75 Mercury Monarch through Montana in January. That was 6 years ago and it was 25 degrees below zero. I am not talking climate change V-8 I am talking driving change. No one who drives a fifties Packard would do so in sub zero weather and probably not in anything below 50 degrees. The heat riser is a thing of the past unless you drive in North Dakota in your Packard in the Winter. Even North Dakota has warmed up. The guy who asked about his stuck heat riser lived in North Carolina I beleive. Does he need his heat riser working? I moved to TN where it is warm. NC is next door. Just modifying Packards for the better! There engineers were not the sharpest on every item.

Heat riser valves were still in use up until about 1990 on GM vehicles but the name changed to "Early Fuel Evaporation (EFE) Valve" in the mid-1970s.

To burn efficiently, gasoline must be atomized, but condensation of the fuel vapor can occur in the intake on a cold engine - even above freezing. The idea behind the valve is to warm up the intake to prevent this, reducing HC emmissions and improving fuel economy. However slight that may be, but every bit adds up.

Up here in the Great Lakes area, I notice a difference in performance with the manifold heat valve after a cold-start in my V8 Packards as well as other SBC-equipped cars I've owned. Mind you, I don't race or hotrod 'em - just like to drive 'em.

Parts availability not withstanding, retaining/maintaining the valve or doing away with it seems like matter of personal preference.

I guess if you buy a car with a frozen heat riser valve, it can be a bit of work to get it free, but fortunately I've not had that problem. On my 34 Eight I just give it a little graphite lube every so often, and most parts can be found or easily made. On my 56 Caribbean I left it off when I redid the exhaust system and have regretted the decision ever since, the cold performance for the first 2 or 3 minutes leaves a bit to be desired. If I had one that was inoperative, at the very least we should make sure its in the open position.

The carbs of yester year have to be modified and enrichened to run with todays gas. The fuel of today burns faster and hotter than it did in the 50's with less Octane. Actually the octane cooled it. Does someone who knows how to do it draw up the octane molecule picture. Once the heat riser is shit canned then step up fast idle on choke and this will give a little extra time for a warm up. I would advise never step up choke setting as the excess raw fuel washes oil and lube off cylinder walls causing un-needed wear. Another trick is to step up T-Stat temp to at least 180 as the gas atomizes better with hotter cast iron but hates the restricted exhaust. P.S. brain surgeons weigh in.

Finally I get the right parts. My advice is if any of you buy Packard parts go to Max Merritt first. They are the most expensive but save you in the long run. My machinist bought EGGE cam bearings and main bearings. The cam bearings were wrong and the thrust bearing was way to tight on the mains. I called Fred at M M and I bought NORS bearings. These bastards were old. I took some scotch bright and cleaned them up. They looked sweet then. First the cam bearings were right now and were installed. I cleaned all the lifter shells and installed and lubed with motor oil. I then cleaned the lifters and dropped them in their respective holes. I cleaned the dust off Valves and installed and then cleaned springs and retainers. What I do is pick up valve and collapse spring enough to get in. I do all 16. Then just like hiking up your best girl's mini skirt for a veiw I spring collapse them and insert keepers one at a time. Seeing how "NONE" of you smarty pants knew where the new lifters came from I'll tell you. Old Bob machines them from NOS Cadillac V-8 lifters used in M-2 Tanks in WWII. They take exactly 1 hour to break in and quite rattling when new. Just like the old Packard book say's. Check out pic's Oh' I built my engine stand when I was 22 years old, 25 years ago. It is indexed at 45 degree lock points. The head is all on tappered roller bearings. I can lay a motor on any angle. Don't get me started on the girl in the mini skirt.

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Now for the crank. I told you, I lightly scotch brighted the main bearings and dropped in the bottom half. I also formed the rear main seal using a press and a peice of PVC 2 3/4 inch OD coupling and the rear main bearing shell. Press the rope into the slot. Pull it out and install in block. Read the book how to trim. Ok, I put crank in and set all mains and tighten one at a time by hand. I like Clevitte 77 bearing grease for my assembly lube. I put wrench on front front and spin crank. I then start to torque at 30 LBS increments and spin test all the way to 95 lbs. I had the crank ground tight as I was shooting for .001 to .0015 clearence. I plasti-gauged all nine and hit from .0015 to .002. Everything is good here and tomarrow we will install the rods and pistons. Remember I had the rotating mass balanced and we are looking for 7000 RPM runs here. Just kidding.
Being a true drag racing fan, I hope you all feel the world lost a cool guy and champ Saturday when Scott Kalitta was killed in qualifing in New Jersey. I have been to about 25 different NHRA events since 1982 and These guys Are my hero's.

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