Packard Forum Index » General

A 51 ambulance is probably a manual 3 speed. A 55 V8 would be a 352. A Chev 350 would have no more power and possibly less.

Get that engine running right and you will have all the power you need. Don't assume there is anything wrong with it until an old time mechanic checks it over.

See if it will turn over and has compression. Pour some oil down the cylinders and see if it will turn over. Disconnect the fuel line first, the tank is probably full of old stinky gas. That stuff will gum up your engine so bad a safecracker couldn't free it up so don't take a chance. Use a motorboat gas tank.

If 45 years experience means anything, 9 chances out of 10 that engine will run with minimal work and expense. Usually all you need to do is clean the points, and possibly clean out the carb.

Quote:

You don't have to baby an Ultramatic, just don't drive it like a 12yo jacked up on Mt. Dew.

Quote:

Not necessarily, it could be a 320.

Quote:

Exactly. People are so quick to say "junk it and put a Chevy in it" because they lack the understanding of anything that doesn't have a bowtie on it. It's these Chevy idiots that makes me hate GM so much, so closed minded and suffer from a superiority complex with an ego to match. A 302 Ford or a 318 Mopar would be a better swap than a Chevy anyday. Heck, you could put in a 225 slant six and have 100 times the engine that a 350 Chevy could ever be.

I would keep the Packard V8 too. History (how it was repowered when the new engine came out) is way cooler than "yeah the old Packard motor looked bad so i just dropped a 350 in" I hear that all the time, and i will never repower anything with a chevy motor.

If the V8 is bad, I like the slant six idea, its unique, for one, and two, those old 225 /6's are bullet proof durable and make good torque.

Too heavy for a slant 6, how about a Jaguar V12 with Packard 12 emblems on the valve covers?

BY ALL MEANS KEEP THE PACKARD V-8. That would be an awesome car to behold. How do you plan on doing the inside as it was or ???????

To me a Packard body with any other engine than a Packard isn't a Packard any more. It's not like Packard made lousy engines as a habit.