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Hi,
Soon, I will be picking up a 120 with a 282. I'd like to add some more pep to the car and don't mind doing an engine swap to something with more cubes. If I rebuild an engine including a few mods to enhance HP, I'd prefer to start with a bigger engine.

In another thread, it was mentioned the 356 is larger in external dimensions making it a very involved swap in place of a 282.

Next choice for more cubes is the 327. The 288 and 327 came out the same time. Question is, are the 288/327 the same external dimension as the 282? There was some factory service info about Packard having a kit to replace a 282 with a 288.

If the 282 and the 288/327 are of the same architecture, are parts between them swapable? Purpose of this question is to determine how to increase compression. Would the smaller cube engine's cylinder head have a smaller combustion chamber and swap onto the bigger cube engine?

Mostly I've been into 60's Ford cars where there are lots of designs and parts to swap things around for more pep. There are lots of books and info available. Is there any info on Packard engine design, parts interchangeability or even performance mods? Are there any shops that not just rebuild a Packard engine stock, but have experience in modifications?

thanks,
Mark

I have a 1937 120 with a 327 cu in 9 main engine out of a 53 Patrician. As the transmission is still from the 37 and its mounts on the frame are still used, all revisions came forward. This did allow the existing accelerator linkage to work, however the fan and its location required extensive rework of the rad, the hoses, and its location within the same rad shell due to the longer engine. Mine also has custom motor mounts to coincide with the ones used in '53.
It is a great mill and has no problem with 65 MPH traffic, but it took a lot of work to get it all working well.
I expect that that is fine with you, so it is simply a case of deciding what you want to run and determining what needs to be customized to get what you want. I suggest trying to make any revisions such that it could be undone by the next owner and to store any original components so they are available if a resale is ever done, and that may occur after you are no longer around as these cars have already outlived a few of their owners, we are simply caretakers.
Bob J.

Here is the factory info on swapping a 39 320 engine with a 5 main 1948 327 which would be identical in size to the 288 engine. While the 282 is not the same size engine as a 320 I suspect the major points to the install as far as body and frame changes will be very similar between the two engines. There are some other articles in the Service Index on changing engines. In the 35-37 junior category is one regarding installing a later engine in a 120 and another article in the 41-7 section on installing the newer engine in a prewar RHD car also mentions body changes that are needed. An article in the 48-50 section covers replacing a 356 with the 327 which might also provide some info.

Blocks made for 51 and later production had motor mounts on the side rather than in the front so the old front mount items from the 282 would need to be reused and possibly they or the block might need to be modified to bolt the mount onto the newer block. Some holes used for accessory or transmission linkage attachment on the side of the block in some pre 51 models are also missing on the later blocks. There are other bolt on items that might also need to be reused or modified.

On youtube, I found a guy that mentioned by putting a 288 head on a 327 will take the compression from 7 to about 9:1. That seems to be reasonable and appropriate for today's pump gas.
Looking at some other info, there is a 257. Was that a smaller cube version of a 282? Would the 257 have a head with a smaller chamber that could be swapped onto the 282 to increase compression?
If the 282 could be spruced up a bit, then making changes to install an externally bigger engine might not be so desired.
According to the 35-54 engine chart, the 257 looks like a one-year production.

thanks,
Mark

Here is a chart showing the different ratios that can be obtained by swapping heads between the later engines. As far as I know the later heads will not fit the 282 block so any simple ratio change on that engine might not be possible. Others will correct me if I am wrong and the heads do fit.

thanks for the chart. I wonder if there is a chart for 282?

If you put a tape measure across the top of a cylinder head it would read:
282 __________inches
288/327 __________inches
356 __________inches

HH56, how did you find that chart? I've been looking for other downloads and not sure where to find them.

Quote:

I doubt such a chart exists as I’m not aware of any other heads that fit the 282 other than one from another 282.

The 257 was the first year of the 120 engine and had 6.5:1 compression. If you slapped that head on a 282 you would have (roughly)
282/257 x 6.5 = 7.1 CR.

As mentioned before, all 288-327-356-359heads are the same length, take the same head gasket etc. Those engines are roughly 1 1/2 inches longer than the 257 -282 family of engines.

High compression on a flathead turns into a two edged sword after about 8-something to one. Being a flathead, you begin to lose transfer area from the valves over to the cylinder and breathing can suffer. Sure, you can relieve the block, but then compression drops again.

You can mill .060 off the 282 head with no probs. Don't know what CR that will give you.