Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

Mal,

It would be interesting to know a little more about your speedster project. I am guessing the rationale is to use up a collection of parts that are not sufficient to build a complete car.

But the idea of building a car with sporting pretensions using truck sized components and huge unsprung weight is intriguing. Still Packard had a go at this with the 626 & 734 speedsters.

However regardless of whether you use the 1929 or 1936 engine they both are best at no more than about 2000 rpm. If the car is to have a sporty feel it would be better to be able to rev feely at much more than this. I doubt that either engine could be modified to do this without wrecking it.

If you make it as light as possible with a high ratio diff it will go well enough and look good.

I hope you keeps us posted on the project through to completion.

David, I plan to use the chassis and mechanicals of a 626 sedan with a tourer cowl and big 8 bonnet and built a simple speedster body styled on the Jesse Vincent speedster he used on the Proving Grounds. The cowl will be positioned further back on the chassis to allow for the longer bonnet and to give a seating position further back nearer the rear wheels to get the speedster aspect ratio better. This is to be more a show/fun car rather than a racer, so I do not intend to be revving it out. I plan to put an overdrive in which will lower the crusing RPM to around 2000. Currently with the 4.38 diff, tyre diameter of 32.5 inches, at 60mph she will be doing 2717 RPM. With the 0.72 OD engaged this will drop to 1956. This will give the speedster long legs for cruising.
I have been considering speedster/"hotrod" looks and like the inlet/exhaust manifold that Dan posted as I had considered making up a twin carb manifold. That is another reason why I have been considering a later series std 8 engine, as it may respond better to twin carbs etc. Before diving in boots and all, I wanted some opinions on the engine differences from the knowledgeable people on this forum. Tim has been very helpful in his explanation of the differences between 1929 and 1936. I have previously restored 3 other cars and have fitted an overdrive to my 1928 REO Wolverine with a boattail body and she can cruise at 55-60 mph all day with a 215 cubic inch 6 cylinder motor. Hence my reasoning that a 1929 Packard 320 cubic inch 8 cylinder motor with a lightweight body should cruise pretty well with an overdrive.
I have also fitted an overdrive to my 1936 120B convertible coupe and it is so smooth to drive at 60mph with the lower revs. Cheers Mal

I would suggest that a 36 Trans with synchro on Second and Top, or even better still an R6 from a 39 Super, which will bolt up to the 320 motor, would be better than the 6th Series trans. The Sixth Series ( and earlier) trans are quite strong but there is a considerable amount of expertise required to achieve silent changes, particularly when performing upshifts going up a grade. My 5th Series 533 motor has had 120 thou removed from the head, is bored out 60 thou and I fitted a 4.33 diff ratio in 1977. It was rated at 85 hp (Gross ) and is probably around 90hp (Gross) now. I have considerable experience with Dynos and the motor probably produces around 40 hp at the rear wheels but cruises very well at 55 mph with a ton of trailer and antique bikes attached( being mindful of poured bearings).
My point of this meandering is that you are never going to pull serious rear wheel horsepower out of the 29 or even 36 motor. I would be concentrating on the "look' of the Speedster rather than outright performance. It is very much a Packard or Rolls Royce presence and "potential" which produces the excitement.
I have recently taken delivery of a very nice 38 Twelve with a "restored" motor and it goes exceptionally well. Except that my 38-120 with a souped up 327 could and does "blow it into the weeds" in performance terms. I would expect that a vehicle engine around Eighty years old would like a "quiet" life .....Go for the "look"
Best regards Peter Toet

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Thanks for your comments, Peter. I agree with you as I have never expected to have a performance vehicle. It is mostly about the looks and the cruising, however, being able to fit a motor that 'looks' the same as original but with 40 more HP, with a lightweight body, should give the 626 a little more pep. I am mindful of poured bearings, my 1928 REO has them and I have drvien that car for over 20 years since rebuilding that motor and I cruise at 60mph with the overdrive. I agree that the early transmissions such as the 1929 can be tricky to change but I have a lot of experience with 'boxes without synchro. If I could fit a 120B tranmission that would be great as I have a couple spare and they shift very well. Could be a bit tricky fitting a 120 transmission to the 320 engine bell housing. Just looking at the possible combinations and also interested in other suggestions. Would love to find out more about the twin carb manifold. Cheers Mal

Mal,
Thanks for the explanation, an interesting project. I hope you keep us posted.
David

The 39 Super has a "120" trans and fits directly to the 320 motor with the "one year only" bell housing. I'm not certain about how much adjustment is required to fit the 120 OD into the 6th Series chassis. I am intending to fit an R6 to my 1605 Project (38 Super,7 pass Tourer) one day, so I shall find out then. PT

Rather than cutting, why not make a spacer and delete the head gasket? The technology in those days was for thick gaskets, but with a non-pressure cooling system a spacer shouldn't leak. I got a call once about a 6th series car with a spark knock problem. Once it got warm it would ping like crazy unless the spark was retarded. They said they timed it using the the flywheel and said it had over 100psi compression. The 6th series manual calls for 85psi. So I suspected something was done to the cylinder head.

Hi Mal,your project sound very interesting.My intake and exhaust manifold are on my 29 633 coupe. The engine has run but not with the new manifolds yet. It is made to fit a couple of strombergs of flathead ford carbs, which is what I'm useing. It was not to hard to make,just some tubing and some flat plate,a drillpress jig saw and a welder.I'm not going for big horsepower( although a few more wouldn't hurt)just a 50s hotrod look.I'm planing on 35 inch radial tires and an overdrive. I'm a little confused,how could Peter Packard take 120 thou off his 533 head but others say 45 thou is the limit.Heres a few pics.

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how could Peter Packard take 120 thou off his 533 head but others say 45 thou is the limit.

Depends very much on what the original compression ratio was.

On the 5th Series ( 4.85 to 1 Comp ratio) I put plasticine onto the valve heads and rotated the engine to gauge the valve to head clearance. I was able to easily take 100 thou from the head ( probably around 6 to 1 comp now). I did the same with my 38 Six. I also took 100 thou from the low comp (10mm plugs) 288 head which I fitted to my 38 Richards with the 54 327 motor. I am not happy with the early head on the 54 motor and am going to fit a 54- 327 ( AT) head, the first time that I have to remove the head.
I would never touch a Twelve or 384 Super head unless I really had to as they not readily available. I have a few spares of the others laying around.