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Some of you out there may hate me for this but i have a 52 hard top with a 5 main 327 with a 2bbl carb and I am planning on building it up to modern power levels. I have a 288 to donate its longer rods after polishing the beams, and i plan on getting custom pistons with a modern ring set, porting and polishing the ports a custom steel header and possibly Hillborn injection converted to EFI. I want to run a T-5 5 speed on an adapter, aluminum drive shaft and a 9 inch ford rear with a 3.75 gear and a posi, and i plan to handle the spark with a custom Jpe Hunt mag. My questions are how do light weight valve train components effect flat head motors, such as titanium valves retainers ect. Also does any one have a source for new cam blanks? I am not a big fan of regrinds and i would be willing to spring for a custom billet piece if i could find a source. I have been kicking around the idea of turbo charging as well at a moderate boost level (7-8 psi though i would love to see 14) but i don't know if the stock crank and rods can handle it.If i am not mistaken this engine produces around 150 hp and i would love to see mine make close to 375 with out a custom block or crank anything else i can work with. am i dreaming or can i make this a reality?

G'day packard 1984,
First to PackardInfo, been following your posts over the last couple of days and wanted to comment at the appropriate time which I think is now. Although my Packard is stock I don't turn my back on those who, for whatever reason, wish to modify theirs. From the out and out purist to the out of sight modifier/customiser I believe each one of us has his own place. 'Cause it helps my outlook to have been influenced by hot rodding and drag racing some 40 years ago. The PackardInfo Site although heavily weighted to originality does cater for all as your thread in this particular Forum, Modification, attests to. Accordingly I look forward to seeing more about your ideas and about putting them into practice. It may be appropriate to start a Project Blog in that particular Forum to track and document the progress of your Packard for yourself and others. Remember plenty of pictures are always a good means of communicating, so put 'em up! And lastly, a little hobby horse of mine, could you please include your '52 Hardtop in the Packard Owner's Registry here on PackardInfo?

Thanks for the encouragement as much of a love i have for Packards i have an equal love for Hudson 6's and these two communities usually frown on extensive modifications, but i'm glad to find support. Ill have to upload some pictures of my 52 in the fairly sad state its in (it's been in storage for the past 4 years while i did some work for Uncle Sam) and I'll post pics and topics on my project as I go along.

Yes, a turbocharged and fuel injected Packard 327" I8 can be built to produce 375 horsepower.

Quote:

We don't know. Can you? To make it a reality, you need $20,000 in a separate engine building account. Until you've got the money in hand, you're just bench racing.

Here are a just a few real world costs for what you're asking:

1. Cleaning and precision machining of main bores, cylinders, rods, crankshaft, decking block and head. $1,500.

2. Custom stainless exhaust header, Hilborn injection converted to EFI, two turbochargers, computer controller, professional tuning - $10,000.

3. Custom forged pistons and rings - $1,500.

4. Custom billet roller camshaft, lifters, springs retainers, valves - $3,000.

There are also bearings, gaskets, assembly, fuel pump and lines, oil pump; and so it goes.

jack vines

Dear 1984:

If what you want is more power per cubic inch then the objective is really "how to cram as much air into the combustion chamber as possible". You are correct in trying assisted intake or turbo/super charging. You can also add nitrous for momentary superpower.

However, better buy a broom and a dustpan because these motors were built for standard service not racing.

One other item is that the flathead motor is restricted as far as available valve lift. Overhead motors can have lots of valve lift whereas L heads will smash into the cylinder head. Thus, super/turbo charging is the only efficient means to increase the charge.

Hope this helps.

Thank you everyone for your input! ARP has pretty much any stud i would need for the mains or the head and I plan on breaking out the Bridgeport and making billet mains or at the very least a girdle. Pistons run about 100-120 a piece from Arias and i'm getting info on custom rods because the stockers don't have much hope of making it. A port and relieve job is one of the first things on my list and I am pretty much stuck with a reground cam it would cost close to 2k for just the billet cam and that's not even covering the lifters. My estimates are closer to 10 grand complete as I have a 4-71 to use that i got in trade for some work and I'm a competent enough welder to make my own header and intake. Finally I really think i may bite the bullet and get an Edmunds reproduction head from Empire motors if for no other reason that being able to modify it for what ever valve or piston i want to run. I feel that if the ford V8 can be made to produce close to 300 HP on pump gas i should be able to be at 375 with more cubes and a way less restrictive exhaust.

I don't know if you have seen this before or not. It is a supercharged Packard straight 8 that was dropped into a rat rod. Pretty neat setup.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQcqO-BLMV0&context=C36cf947ADOEgsToPDskIrhakuyKSqurpnBG2KbuMA

G'day all, especially Packard 1984. IMHO I doubt that it would be possible to extract a reliable 250 hp from a 327 Motor. The 1954 359 motors were 212 SAE stock and 275 SAE factory supercharged. This is a Gross HP and did not include many accessories. I have a 327, 9 main Mayfair motor in my 38 120, which also runs an R6 overdrive with dashboard kickdown. The 1954 engine was rated rated at 185 hp with a four barrel carb. I have bored it 62.5 thou and run International truck pistons. I also run a shaved 9 to one head and a Holley 600 carb. The car is a 1601D and runs 190kph by the GPS in a non headwind situation ( the speedo goes around to the sero stop and stays there when the speed gets serious).
I would suggest that you could get some shit scarey stuff from your 5 main by investing in 50's Hot Rod technology rather than nibbling around the edges with Titanium retainers etc.
Sounds like a good project anyway and good luck. The curse of sidevalves has always been the exhaust valve temperatures. Do something about that and we could be back in the game. double-click on the picture for a better view. Best Regards Peter Toet

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Quote:Not unless Big Nick gives them to you at below cost. The last custom I8 forged pistons I had made some time back were $1500 and the cost has gone way up since then. The problem is the compression height is too tall and none of their standard forging blanks will work.

jack vines

There are 2 ways around the piston issue, you can get a slightly longer 288 rod or as i plan on doing get custom billets (the stockers would fail way before 370 hp) i dont know the cost yet but I have been emailing a Crower tech to give him the details to get a quote. When I get a price I'll let everyone here know.