Packard Forum Index » General

Rub the serial number with a piece of chalk, and then wipe it off. The chalk with help to make the number easy to read.

Now, if it is an 'N'. Then perhaps it was indeed a service replacement motor that was made post 1954 production. I am sure that they had to have spare engines for service purposes after 1954 (1954 being the last production year for the straight 8, and also being a Mxxxxxx motor year). So I wonder if these service engine were made post the 1954 production run, that they were given an 'N' stamping to carry forward the lettering system. The is just conjecture on my part.

Yeah, this is pretty much what I was trying to say in my very first post starting this thread. I agree with you!

I took some clear pictures of the number, which I shall post here, and also two shots of my current messed-up oil pan for your comments:

Note that the block casting bears the date 12 7 48. Is is reasonable to assume that they had '48 castings still around after the last of the "M" series? I suspect they could have, but you may have a better idea of this.

I'm sending these pics to Kanter to help them find me the right pan.
Thanks for all your help!
Dennis

Attach file:

---

  (265.60 KB)


  (240.87 KB)


  (161.77 KB)


  (142.63 KB)

Interesting that the number was "hand" stamped. All the 51-54 production block I have seen were machine stamped. This has got to be a service replacement engine/block. Perhaps it was issued in '55 and they just carried on the letter sequence, hence the 'N'.

But I guess that doesnt explain the block casting date. Weird.

The only machine stamp appears to be the CE denoting what was inside. I would surmise they had general service engines available at the warehouse in each size and ordered appropriately from those until stock ran out. There was an instruction on putting a postwar engine into pre 17th series so probably no pre war engines were available. They were probably un-numbered with production serial on paper only. Year of mfg was apparently not important as long as cust was OK and size was close.

There is a Stude bulletin to that point on the V8 engines stating they had a number of 55 production 320 and 352 service engines suitable for use in all 55 and 56 that were available at a discount if the dealer and customer wanted to take advantage of the reduced price. There was another later bulletin saying that a new batch of service S8s were made available but the previous 4 engine choices had been reduced to 2. From that, I would bet that the letter and even size was not that important in a replacement engine.

Logically, until proven otherwise, to me the N is for new and CAL is for Calif where the dealership was since that was the abbreviation used then. The number is probably what was on the production paperwork. If the car was registered under the motor number, I am sure there would have been some detailed instructions & procedures. Too bad we don't seem to have any old timers left who might remember procedures but guess remembering that stuff would not be very important to a 90 or 100 year old.

What you say all makes good sense to me. I may have been on the right track about this being a service or crate engine, but as you pointed out, the "CE" does not apparently indicate that. It signifies the larger oil pan, and later version camshaft, per the service bulletin you referred to above.

I can add that the car is currently registered with Calif DMV under this engine number, without the "CE" but with the "CAL", so that the VIN is "N235361CAL". Since my uncle John got it out of a wrecking yard, it has a "salvaged" title, and the registration only dates back to when he got it back into the computer in the mid-'70s. He knew that it did not have the original engine, but had no further details on when or where it was changed.

His assumption always was that the car spent its life in Northern California, since it was sold in Roseville, near Sacramento, and wound up in the salvage yard in Pittsburg, CA, on the San Francisco Bay. We are located in San Jose, about 50 miles South of SF.

I have no earlier papers, since those apparently did not survive the salvage yard. Uncle John would have given me anything if he had it. He was a member of Packards International, but I have not kept that membership up myself.

Kanter probably has enough to go on now, to get me a good oil pan. I am anxious to get her back together and on the road! She is a good highway car, with the 3 speed overdrive, and likes to cruise at 65 mph, no sweat!! Smooth!!

Thanks for your help and advice, and I am glad to be a member and to bring you guys this little mystery to work on. If anyone has any further insights, keep posting.
I will take the info I have, and go ahead and put my Packard into the registry. I'll let you know when she is back in operation.
Dennis

For the Webmaster:
I think I completed entering my car in the registry. Do I need to wait to see it appear until it gets reviewed?
I got thru the entire entry pages and thought I was done.
I will wait till tomorrow before trying again.
Thanks,

Quote:

Side by side, it's a 683CID V16 now, I needed more power...

I'm also guessing that the "N" means "New", and not '54 since it is a '48 casting. I'm also guessing that "CAL" is the guy who stamped the numbers, short for "Calvin". Maybe Hobbes was his mechanic who installed it.

Hey, it's as good a theory as any!

It should be instant, unless you were adding it when I was in the process of making changes to code about 2 hours ago. In that case it make now have been saved.

Dennis,

Can't see your '39 in the Packard Owner's Registry so it seems you were doing your entry while Kev was doing his code changes. Remember too, when you've finished adding all the details just click on the Add to Registry button.

And Kev, I wondered what had happened to the Registry earlier today when I couldn't find it. Started going into withdrawal!