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The fuel pump on my '47 Super Clipper has two insulator sleeves in the bolt holes, an approx. 1/8" gasket between pump and engine block and two non metal washers all presumably to insulate the pump from heat. The bolts are drilled for safety wire to keep the bolts tight since the specified torque on the bolts to hold the pump in place is quite low. My question is; the fibre non metal washers are broken so in the absence of the washers would it be acceptable to use lock washers on the bolts and snug them up at a higher ft/lbs.? I have no idea where to find new washers of the type used except that Max Merrit has a kit. At $15 I think this is exorbitant and besides I don't need the sleeves. I would prefer a less expensive alternative, possibly a hard nylon washer etc.. Any ideas or should I just install lock washers with more torque on the bolts and not worry about the insulator washers?

My own feeling is that the little bit of possible "squish" of the thick gasket between the pump and block may be enough to make lock washers questionable. Since the concept was to insulate the pump from the bolts, I'd probably go to the hardware store and buy, as you suggest, some nylon flat washers, and then safety-wire the bolts again. The fiber sleeves around the bolt shanks are probably equally important; my 48 356 had the entire original setup and never had vapor lock even when stopped in traffic on blistering hot days so I'd want to keep as much of the factory-engineered insulating of the pump as possible.

McMaster-Carrhttp://www.mcmaster.com/ has the washers Just search for phenolic washers. They also have a plastic sleeve material but not like the original. US Plastics carries that.http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=23765&clickid=redirect

Thanks once again to you both. I agree that I would like to keep all the fine engineering Packard intended and I have never had a vapour lock with this car even in slow parades on hot days.

Dave, kind of curious, what are your typical highest summer temperatures and humidity? And is your fuel also generally 10% ethanol?

Dave, Summer temperatures vary widely due to my proximity to magnificent Lake Superior. Inland as few as 10 miles from lakeshore can often be as much as 10C degrees warmer or colder. While we rarely get many consecutive afternoon daytime temperatures in the 30C (86F). range in July to mid August evenings are almost never this warm. I have central air conditioning in my house and might run it once or twice a summer for a few hours and some years not at all. I never travel down to the lakeshore without a jacket in the evening no matter what the daytime temps have been as a cool breeze can come in off the lake at anytime. Inland however temperatures can be much less variable between day and night and can range up into the high 30's for days at a time. Humidity is not a problem, although locals who have never travel south do complain, and summers while short are usually very pleasant. My experiences driving the Packard in truly hot weather is very rare so vapour lock has never been an issue even in the July 1 parade.
Ethanol in gas is supposed to be 5% by 2010. In southern Ontario I do believe there are some E85 pumps but not here in the north.
One more question about the fuel pump if I may. Should I use any type of sealant on the gasket between the block and pump?

Clipper47, I would say that if your engine block and fuel pump mounting surfaces are clean and straight that gasket cement/sealer is not needed. You may want to stick the gasket to the pump to make it easier to install the pump. An old trick we used to do this was to apply a thin film of grease to temporarily hold the gasket in place. This is an insulating gasket, not the thinner gasket paper that is more commonly used on other cars.

(o{I}o)

John, Thanks. The Then and Now Auto kit came with a paper gasket. Should I use this between the pump and insulator , insulator and block or not use it? I ask because oil leaking past the gasket has been a problem.
BTW I hope that you took lots of photos of the Salado meet to post here? Was it a good show?

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Dave, the Salado Meet was, in my opinion, the best one of the three I have attended. I sent Kev a CD with photos of all the Packards on display (less Henry's chassis, a '51 Patrician, and a 52 200). I'll explain this and talk about the Meet in a short posting in the Shows and Events section.

(o{I}o)

I live in southern Ontario near Toronto. Toronto summer temps typically in the 70s to 80s. Humidity can be high due to the proximity of the lake, if there is no breeze.

In August we usually get a couple of weeks of temps in the 90s with high humidity. Occasionally, we may get temps over 100 but not every year. 100+ temps are not exactly rare but seem to be a cause for newspaper headlines nonetheless.

Basically the same climate as the upper midwest, Great Lakes states. Like Chicago, upstate New York, Cleveland etc.

Thunder Bay more like the upper peninsula of Michigan.