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Been taking stuff off my 51 Patrician so I can get it running.
Down to where I can see and reach everything. Been putting marvel in it every chance I get. Did a compression check on it today: 90,30,20,20 30,20,20, 45. Not too encouraging. Took manifolds off - lots of marvel ran out. My take on it is stuck valves? Started to take side covers off, but no one else around to spin engine so I can see what's moving or not.

Worst case scenario? Next step. This car needs EVERYTHING. Wondering whether to cut my losses and button it up and move on. Any advice would be welcome.

On a side note. as i was cleaning up the block, I found a broken ring on the oil pan flange - outside the engine. also not a good harbinger.....Engine is still intact - head still on.

Well, I thought I might get a few responses, but nothing, So I'm gonna pull the head off and see what I have to work with. If the motor is junk, I might look for some sort of transplant. I can't justify spending up to 2500 on an engine rebuild and a similar amount for an Ultramatic ( if it is junk too). Is there any way to tell if the Ultra is bad without having a running 8 in it. Really want to keep it all Packard, but 5-6 grand for drive train seems like a lot. Was supposed to be a 68,000 mile car, just in questionable storage.....Starting to wonder what has been done to it, if anything. All previous owners have passed away
.

Might as well take the head off now.

Friend of mine did a similar 54 Clipper straight eight. He took the head off the old car and found several valves seized up. He freed up the valves and had them ground, replaced the rings, honed the cylinders, and I think he replaced the timing chain and possibly the bearings and some other parts. Did not have to rebore or replace pistons.

The bill for parts and machine work (valves) came to less than $1000 and it runs like a dream. He did the whole job without taking the engine out of the car.

Rusty, thanks for the tip, although I'm not sure how I'd go about grinding the seats in block. I suppose once the head is off, and appropriate amount of PB blaster or some such penetrating oil could free up the valves. Tap each with a rubber mallet, or one of those shot filled nylon hammers. Where does the piston need to be to assure both valves are to be shut? Top of stroke? Bottom. Sorry guys. I could work all day on Big block and small block MoPars, but a straight 8 is still a mystery to me. As is just about anything overhead cam....I really don't want to give up on this project. Limited funds, poor work area, unsupportive friends.... At least the wife still sees potential.

I have no fear rebuilding it - just fear of bankruptcy, lol

And no trans shop in my area has even heard of an Ultramatic..

At this point, the only way you are going to know what kind of condition the jugs and valves are in is to pull the head, rotate the engine and check each cylinder for wear or wall damage. I would remove the valve covers and check for an accumulation of sludge in the valve train area which CAN be an indicator of engine condition such as infrequent oil changes, crankcase blow-by and even high mileage but then again, non-detergent oil can contribute to sludge over a period of time too. Removing the head should simply end all speculation as to what direction to go in.

Yes, each cylinder will need to be at the top of it's compression stroke in order to see if both valves are closed. Once the valve covers are removed, start at number #1 piston and make sure it is on the correct stroke by aligning the timing mark on the crankshaft damper with the pointer on the timing chain cover. Grasping each lifter one at the time between your thumb and index finger, try to rotate each one back and forth. Both should spin easily with no resistance. You should also be able to move both lifters slightly up and down. If you can rotate the intake valve lifter and move it up and down but can't do the same to the exhaust lifter then it's on the exhaust stroke and you will need to turn the crank a full revolution to bring it up on the compression stroke. Now you can check each cylinder in firing order sequence by rotating the engine in a clockwise direction as sitting in the drivers seat 1-6-2-5-8-3-7-4

Mark - Rusty and Gator offer good advice. I would just add that you also remove the oil pan to check bearings and clean the oil pick-up screen and the pan. Also with the pan removed you can be a more liberal with cleaning the valve tappet area should it need it.

(o{}o)

The Packard owner I mentioned is an auto mechanic, the valves and valve seats were ground with the engine in the car. I don't know if the guy from the machine shop came to his house or if he towed the car to the machine shop to grind the valve seats and if necessary, knurl or replace the valve guides. The valves themselves, you could take to the machine shop in a shoe box.

If I were taking the engine apart I would put each valve, valve spring, keeper etc in a Zip lock bag and label it (#1 intake valve) etc.

You will need a special valve spring compressor to remove the valves from a flathead.

You can tap the valves with a ball peen hammer as long as you use the round end and hit exactly in the middle. Do not hit the edge you will bend the valve.

The spring should make it "snap" down with a light tap if you spray oil or penetrating oil around the valve stem.

You should know that before about 1960 engines were not expected to last the life of a car. They were made to be rebuilt or repaired, in the car or out. Doing a ring and valve job with the engine in the car was a common overhaul procedure in Packard's day.

Good to see another '51 Packard having some attention paid to it, especially a Patrician.

You'll find the full Workshop Manual is available here online. Very helpful and will assist you in getting the engine working again (provided there is no catastrophic problem with it). You can do most tasks with the engine in place, right up to fitting new bearings, pistons and rings etc with oil pan removed. Initially free up any stuck valves/lifters, assess again and if the engine appears viable you could slip the head back on 'temporarily' and re-test compression. With a squirt of oil in each bore, a healthy reading would show perhaps just ring wear and/or poorly seated valves as being the problem. You could initially just lap the valves in if they didn't need seat/valve refacing.

Lets hope the readings improve from your initial ones. They could do so if engine has been sitting for a very long time.

First thing to do if and when you get it started is attach an oil pressure gauge to ensure pressure is reasonable. As mentioned the oil strainer gauze on pick-up can be blocked so cleaning that is advisable.

There are quite a few Ultramatic experts on this forum so when the time comes you can expect help! Sufficient to say that Ultramatics are quite reliable, and parts including full rebuild kits are available. Removing the oil pan enables a quick assessment of what could be wrong. The usual indicators like pieces of lining, metal filings or shards, loads of sludge, colour of fluid, etc would tell a story. Manual (here online) is excellent. If it doesn't work there are many ways to isolate a problem, including doing a series of pressure tests etc. Manual has good detail. Best of luck with the investigations.

Thanks for all the tips guys. I will attack the head on Monday. I see a tightening sequence for the head nuts. Is the loosening just reverse order? Nothing in manual.