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No, at least mine doesn't. And I'm kind of glad it doesn't because I don't have to deal with collapsed lifters. But there is definitely some valvetrain noise going on. Not much, but I think I can dial it in and make it even smoother.

Did a small project the other day. The headlight rings on my parts car were nearly perfect so I wanted to switch them out. The rings that came on the Panama weren't terrible, but they had some pitting:



The upper tabs were missing from both of the donor headlight rings. I found a tab from one of the original rings in the box of random pieces that came in the trunk of the Panama. I used that as a pattern to make another tab from a stainless steel bracket:



Then I glued the tab I made and the old tab onto the new rings with JB Weld:



After letting it cure overnight I popped both the rings on with no issue. They are rock solid and should do fine. I'm not sure if the JB Weld will hold up if I have to take them back off, but at least for now they are working.

Just my , I think if you wind up needing to repair it again drilling a couple of holes in the flat wide surface of the clip will let some of the JB Weld squeeze thru the holes and sort of lock the clip to the ring. Clip would be able to take more shear or pull force which is kind of what the clip needs to withstand.

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I think that's a great idea. If I were to do it again I would recommend doing this. Hopefully I never have to remove them again, but if I do then that'll be the test of how well the JB Weld does on a flat surface.

It's been a crazy busy week, so my wife and I took some time for a lunch date. First up was washing the car for the first time in 6 months. Looks much better



I'm loving the new interior






Beautiful and sunny, high 60's today. So windows down and cruise through town and the country






Ate at a local joint called the Red Horse Diner. A cool place that used to be an old service station, from what I understand. Has some old restored fuel pumps outside. The inside is covered top to bottom in signs, neon, and memorabilia



Birds of a feather. Another local with a hopped up SS parked next to us. Lots of people inspected the cars on their way out the front door.

Got the yearly oil and filter change done today. In the past I used Shell Rotella 15W-40, but talking with the guys at NAPA apparently both Rotella and Chevron's Delo no longer have zinc in them. I'm not sure how accurate that is because info is hard to come by, but these guys all have classics and muscle cars and generally know their stuff. Anyways I decided to try something new with Valvoline's VR1 line, which is made for classic car and does have zinc. Not sure that zinc is that critical to our engines, but I figured why not try it out.



My biggest concern was that it would drop oil pressure running a lighter oil. It didn't. Fully warmed up the pressure sits at ~32-35psi @ 55mph, 20psi at idle in neutral, and 15psi at idle in gear. Engine seems a bit quieter but I'm probably just imagining that.

Did a solid 15 mile drive to check everything. 30mph winds made it interesting. I need to do some work to the steering system. But nice views of the valley.

Had the Panama out a few times today. Lunch date with my wife along with a nice drive. Filled up with gas on the way home. Took it back out this afternoon to pick up kids from school. It has been running a bit rough at idle today, which I thought odd. I put in 8oz of Marvel Mystery Oil into the fuel tank because I have a valve or two that try to stick.

Leaving the parking lot after picking up kids, the car left a HUGE cloud of blue smoke. Massive. It was very heavy for a good hundred years or so, then tapered off. Eventually send to go away.

I've had some blue smoke on take off very occasionally, but it's normally a very small amount. Nothing like today. Obviously rings are a possibility, but could valves cause the same?

-Kevin

What about the engine sucking in nearly pure MMO?

Not sure for flatheads on valves. If anything it would be the intake valves since the engine is pulling a vacuum on the intake stroke.

The V8's have a rubber boot on the intake stems. IDK if the flathead engines have anything similar.

BTW, the oil pressure comment earlier is the same as I saw on my V8 going from 15W40 to 10W30. Packard recommended 10W30 in 1956 and I don't see much reason to go heavier than that except to compensate for a worn engine. Obviously the relief valve on your oil pump should limit pressure regardless of oil weight.

Although I understand that some have had retrofit stem seals, there is no rubber in the engines from the factory.

As of 2017, Shell Rotella T4 Triple Protection 15W40 has 1200 PPM zinc. Personally I doubt they would change the formula and keep the name. 🤔

By the way, there's no such thing as motor oil "not having zinc" in it unless you have a century old unopened can. All modern motor oils have a baseline of about 800 PPM zinc. For example, your basic Pennzoil 10W30 has 900 PPM.
http://www.pqiadata.org/Pennzoil10W30.html

VR1 per their website has 1400 which is about the most you'd want to run in anything normal as too much ZDDP will cause unwanted chemical reactions. Though extreme applications (racing) you might see 2000 PPM, those engines obviously have a MUCH shorter MTBO.

I see no problem running either VR1 or Rotella in a postwar Packard. VR1 is probably a bit better, but not because it has more zinc, because it's specifically formulated for gas engines. Though unless you change your oil on a mileage (vs yearly) basis, it probably barely matters.

Just my

BTW, check out this article. Tells you everything you need to know. 😃
https://forums.aaca.org/topic/294134-engine-oil-recommendations/?do=findComment&comment=1612046