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hi there guys back again with a small issue,I have a customers Packard in for over heating issues I wanted to check the timing I could not see any marks due to rust etc, so I have taken the lower cover off the bottom of the bell housing to access the fly wheel. I have clean the rust off and all I have found is a centre punch mark which I painted yellow reassembled and checked the timing now I can see the mark. normally theses have numbers or marks, my question is is this mark at tdc or is this set to 8 degrees or there abouts hope you can help cheers Dave

As no one else has responded, let me see if I can be at least somewhat helpful. I don't know if 1939 Six is the same as 1938, but for 1938 the timing marks are on the flywheel and viewed thru an inspection hole window below the starter motor. Timing should be set to 4-6? (2-3 graduations) before the UPDC1 mark. There is an illustration in the shop manual.

thanks for reply,for some reason there are no tdc or numbers on the flywheel just a centre punch dot,which i don't know if its at 8 before tic or tdc, with out taking the head off to check the piston height for tdc,i rebuilt a 1938 6 cylinder christmas and that had the marks strange

The '39 shop manual is on line here and you should have graduations and lettering on your flywheel. Perhaps it needs a little cleaning? Perhaps the flywheel was replaced with a later one when the marks were moved to the damper? Perhaps worth a closer look?

thanks for your input i have wire brushed with a drill until shinny,there is something odd with this,no numbers or id,i am removing the head today checking with a dial gauge to find TDC i will let you know my findings

i am removing the head today checking with a dial gauge to find TDC i

Seems a bit drastic. You can set the timing quite accurately "by ear"; just open the passenger window, find a quiet stretch of road with a modest upgrade, and while climbing the grade in high gear with heavy throttle, incrementally keep advancing the timing until you hear just a hint of spark knock or preignition. This can provide more optimized timing than using the original timing specification because it will compensate for changes in compression ratio (cylinder head being resurfaced?) and the octane of the fuel in use.

If you continue to have overheating issues after this process, you can eliminate retarded timing as a cause.

well hear goes went to work removed the head check the timing 10 degrees out on the dot punch mark meant nothing at all, found head gasket was blown as well<gut feeling it was>new gasket fitted timing done different car now and not hot,thanks for your input always appreciated cheers Dave

Not unexpected I guess, blown headgasket is found in the large majority of overheating cases. It must have had some other symptoms as well, throwing condensate from the tailpipe, engine missing on cold startup, oily film on top of coolant, etc.