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Well....it isn't easy wrestling with that L8 head on my 51 400 but I came out ok with the exception of some lost skin off my knuckles and a bruise here and there.....I was wore out ! I have to torque everything this afternoon. Ran out of daylight to finish last night.

Anyway.....the head gasket was totally blown out between the third and fourth cylinders going from front to rear. That is the exact place where the compression was blowing out around the head nut as I had mentioned back in a previous post. I did find that my #8 cylinder spark plug was totally fouled out with what appeared to be oily sludge. Is this indicative of a ring issue ? All the other plugs were dark but not fouled. Is this indicative of a ring issue in that cylinder ? I'm not sure that I have the right plugs either. Any recommendations for a quality plug to use in this 327 ?

I also found that there was no thermostat in the water neck either. Anyone have a compatible part number to get at a local parts house ?

I am excited to get this back on the road since it's been over a month since limping it home.

As usual, all replies, info and ribbing is encouraged ! LOL

HotRod

Spark plugs: Autolite 303 for non-resistor, 308 for resistor.

Head gasket failure is almost always between cylinders resulting in two cylinders with little or no compression. Did you examine the bore condition and measure the bore wear before putting the head back on? Oily plug fouling can be from excessive ring wear, sooty black plugs can be from too rich a mixture, sticking choke, wrong plug, degraded ignition, and probably not helped by the lack of a thermostat.

Thanks for that info Owen and, no, I did not check bore wear. The gasket that I pulled off was fairly new and shiney which leads me to believe that it was a matter of no follow up torque after initial torque. I suspected the same thing with the lack of thermostat and mixture but thought I had it dialed in pretty good, before I knew I had an impending head gasket failure. It may have already started to go from when I took it to Salado.

Anyway.....I'll take the water neck to the parts house with me to see If I can find a suitable thermostat. I need to replace a couple of the hoses too.

HotRod

Do you have the wire retainer ring for the thermostat? If not, you are going to have to get one of those from Max or Kanter before putting in the thermostat.

Check the Parts X-Ref here are several different Thermostats are listed that will work.

Regards,

I'll bet 5 minutes with a pair of pliers and a piece of coathanger will make that retainer nicely. I may not qualify to be a Patina Cowboy but when it comes to Packards, I am a certified Eastern Bottomfeeder.

Thanks for the tip BigKev............

Have coat hanger....will travel......that's what I'm talkin about.....I know all about being a bottomfeeder....LOL

Now.....what thermostat are we recommending for fit and temp ? Didn't read BigKev's instructions.....I've got the T-stat info.....Thanks BigKev !

HotRod

Hey HotRod!

Glad to hear you FINALLY got that head gasket changed out...LOL! Maybe now we can meet up at a show and talk Packards.

The thermostat I am using is from Autozone. Is it a 180 degree, which it shows as being the OE recommended temp. Not sure how long I am going to keep that one on there, seeing as how it is hitting nearly 100 degrees here everyday, and humid to boot.

Here is the link to those thermostats:
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/parts/1952-Packard-200/Thermostat/_/N-j3k31Z8gctr?filterByKeyWord=thermostat&fromString=search

P.S.

Ross's Suggestion of using a coat hanger is the way to go. You can bend yourself something that looks and functions just as good as what you would be paying $10 for. Oh, and I also upgraded to that thermostat housing you sent me, mine was restrictive, and leaking,

Thank you & good luck,

-GearRat

LOL ! How the heck are ya GearRat ?! Did you get your DL yet ? LOL Need to get that Packard of yours tagged and titled so WE can meet up and talk Packards.......

Going by the parts house on the way home to get what I need. If I can get everything done, I MIGHT be able to make the cruise in at the local Chili's ! It will be close..........

Everything is going good for the time being. It has been a waiting game to get the funding for my tires, but I think I will be able to get them at the end of this week. I have been driving myself crazy thinking about the car, and the things that might go wrong. That is why I tackled that thermostat housing yesterday. Now I am worried because my master cylinder is leaking, I just can't catch a break with these BRAKES!...lol.

No DL yet, but once the car is up and running I will be chompin' at the bit to get it. There is a show going on here in San Antonio on June 30th, It is a first annual BBQ cook off & car show benefiting Combat Marine Outdoors. I really want to make it to that, especially for the grub!

Good luck, hope you make it to the cruise in!

-GearRat

If you can find a parts store with a printed Stant catalogue you can size up the numbers for a 160 degree thermostat. I know I have put at least one of them up on this site somewhere, but that was for the wide mouth. You can fit that to the small mouth using a bench grinder.

As for the cylinder head, take it to a machine shop and have them check the decking. If it looks like it has been milled already it may be junk. The limit on milling for the Eight is .045 according to one noted expert. Too much cylinder pressure will blow gaskets.

Also you can make tools to lift the head from bolts or old spark plugs. They look like T-handles and screw into the spark plug holes.