Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Finally got the engine out of my 55 Clipper and torn down. This engine was rebuilt prior to being laid up and supposedly, never run after it was rebuilt. Unfortunately, it had been sitting for a number of years and had water ingress in the engine. I was able to completely disassemble the engine and it looks like I can salvage just about everything, but I did have some damage. It has .030 over pistons, and the bores look like they should clean up pretty easily with a quick honing. Mains, and rods look good and the cam bearings look good as well.
The front lip of the oil pan was bent and rusted away pretty bad and I broke a tooth on the cam gear as I was freeing up the frozen lifters, so I'm looking for an oil pan and camshaft timing gear for 352 V8. Hopefully, someone in this group has these used parts and is willing to part with them for a reasonable price.
I will need to purchase a complete engine gasket set, and possibly new lifters, along with a couple of other items.
I do have a couple of questions from those who have rebuilt one, or more, of these V8's. Is the rear camshaft seal part of the freeze plug set, or a separate item? What type of assembly lube is recommended today. I haven't rebuilt an engine in years, and back then I used both STP and "white lube", but I know there has to be something better now.
Thanks,
John

Lubriplate 105.

Cam..gerry. Pac SW. Mike del. New Kanter. Max merritt.

If it helps:

NOS Johnson lifters - $10
Used cam gear - $25
Reground camshaft - $125 exchange

We use the black moly grease on all our cam lobes, lifters, pushrods and rocker arms. Just a light swipe of engine oil on main and rod bearings.

If your lifters were stuck, check the pushrods carefully. Some may have been bent in the fracas.

While the engine is apart, do your due diligence on the Oldsmobile oil pump conversion. The kit is still $215. I have standard and high volume pumps available also.

Jack Vines

Try Lester Harris @ (775) 267-2559

Jack,
Still in the tear-down process. As I stated, the engine was supposedly rebuilt when it was laid up, and some internals support that claim. There is no carbon or discoloration whatsoever on the pistons, but there is substantial pitting on the wrist-pins and some pitting on the camshaft lobes. Working with a limited budget (retired and on fixed income) so trying to do things in stages.
Do you know the standard wrist-pin size? Mine measure .98 diameter and 3.25 in length. I'm not sure what brand of piston was put in after the .030 bore since there seem to be no identifying markings on them.

OEM factory piston pins are 0.9803 x 3-1/4". All the motor specs are in the 1955 service Counsellor which you can review yourself. Go to Literature and Manuals, select 1955, and open Vol. 29. No. 1.

Thanks Owen. Anyone have a recommendation for wrist pin vendors? Also need full gasket set and freeze plugs. Have ordered a bunch of catalogs but they haven't arrived yet, and I'm trying to research online but not having much luck finding everything. Forum searches help some, but a lot of references are pretty old vendors, some of whom are no longer online. Also checked the X-ref but no info for the above items.
Thanks,
John

If it helps your budget, I've got used wrist pins on the shelf, as well as some partial gasket sets.

When considering the reground camshaft, the '55 and '56 cams are different.

For a very mild restoration, one can usually get by with the original valve springs and retainers. However, few 63-year-old springs check within specs. The OEM retainers are too soft for performance use and were replaced with harder retainers late in '56 production.

jack vines

Egge machine...santa re springs. CA..kanter..max merritt.

If you go oversize..other makes. Dodge .for one will work.

You might want to price out your gaskets with Olsons Gaskets in Oregon.