Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Quote:

Yes, the OEM pistons have the same compression height, but no, the same OEM rod does NOT fit both. The 350" has a 3.48" stroke and the 400 has a 3.75" stroke and thus uses a .135" shorter rod.

FWIW. Keith Black catalogs pistons with correct compression heights to use 350" rods with 400" cranks and 400" pistons with 350" cranks.

thnx, jack vines

I was not considering OEM rods wheather Chev or Packard or any other make.

I was considering custom made rods like the Olivers u mentioned BUT used in conjunction with off-the-shelf 350 chev pistons for the 352 Packard V8 and 400 chev pistons for the 374 Packard V8. Not custom made pistons.

Use the Chev pistons with Oliver or any other custom made rod in the 352 and 374 engines. Since both Chev 350 and Chev 400 pistons have the same compression hieght then ONE custom made rod with Chev pistons should fit BOTH 352 and 374 Packard V8 applications.

** this post edited for clarity **.

Ah, yes,
Quote: with the added information in parenthesis, now I understand your hypothesis.

BTW, that custom rod would be 7.315" long.

thnx, jack vines

Yes Jack. Thank u for clearing that up. I'll use your correction to edit the post i made.

HUMMM Interesting. i didn't tink 'bout the lowly 'ol little block chebby in that light. HEY Jack! if this will work like this, Then forged, hyper's or cast pistons could be used! and at a fraction of the cost of aftermarket pistos for packards! AND the little blocks should be a lot lighter! What you think?

Custom forged pistons + stock rods = $800
Custom forged 7.315" rods + catalog forged SBC pistons = $2000

Speed costs money. How fast can you afford to go?

thnx, jack vines

How about just custom rods equal to or slightly stronger than Packard rods and off-the-shelf chevy pistons????

How fast do i want to go. In my car about 4000-4200 rpm at the max. Usualy in the 2700-3500 rpm range. That's about 70 - 90 mph. I'm not racing, definately do NOT need forged pistons.

The custom rods only need to be as good as or slightly stronger than OEM Packard rods. The custom rods do not need to be strong enuf for a dual engine nitro burning dragster.

Would that drop the price from $2k to maybe $1700 ????

jv ASKED: "Speed costs money. How fast can you afford to go?"

I nor many other Packard owners do NOT need more speed. The stock 352 or 374 is just fine for all aspects of Interstate performance.

MY question is why have PARTS FLEXIBILITY limitations????

If i understand the current attempt by one of the major vendors correctly then the pistons will be only available in SETS. Only available in std thru .030 oversize.

BUT, if custom Rods are available for the Packard V8 to allow the use of off-the-shelf chevy pistons then that opens a very wide range of possibilities for engine building and maintenace and cost savings AND SOLVES THE ROD BEARING AVAILABILity pROBLEM.

No???

Guess I've missed something, I wasn't aware of any rod bearing availability problem, please bring me up to date.

See 2nd post by JV here:
https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=1307&forum=3&post_id=10571#forumpost10571


I believe price is also an issue.