Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Agreed. Buy the time you source all the 359 specific parts and do all machining required (assuming the 327 casting can be bored out that far without issue), it would have been cheaper to source a complete 359. Also because the 359 specific parts are "one year only" they are far harder to locate. Where as most of the parts between the 327 motors and even some of the 288 parts are interchangeable.

For comparison:

A '54 359 9 Bearing motor, Hydraulic Lifter (found in the 400 series cars) with a 4bl carb is rated at 212 hp.

A '54 327 5 Bearing Motor, Hydraulic Lifter (found in the 300 series cars) with a 4bl carb is rated 180 hp.

A '54 327 5 Bearing Motor, Solid Lifter (found in the Clipper Deluxe and Supers) with a 2bl carb is rated 165 hp.

In '53, the Senors came with a 327 9 Bearing, Hydraulic Lifter which was also 180 HP.

In the flathead days it was common practice at Chrysler corp to make different size engines by putting different crankshaft AND connecting rods in the same block. To increase the stroke it is not only necessary to have a longer stroke crankshaft, but shorter connecting rods as well. Either that or pistons with the pin in a different location. The usual practice was to use the same pistons but specify different rods.

I don't know how Packard handled this but either the rods or the pistons will need to be changed.

Rusty that is essentially the difference between the 288 and 327 motors. They both use the exact same piston.

"A '54 359 9 Bearing motor, Hydraulic Lifter (found in the 400 series cars) with a 4bl carb is rated at 212 hp."

AND

"In '53, the Senors came with a 327 9 Bearing, Hydraulic Lifter which was also 180 HP."

Why couldn't a 53 Sr. 327 9 bearing engine be converted to a 359 by milling 1/8 inch piston crown clearence out of the 327 head and obtain a 359 crank???? Maybe have to cut 1/8" from the bottom of the 327 pistons. Of course this assumes that the 327 pistons are no smaller in diameter than the 359 pistons.

I'm not familiar with the Packard streight 8 variations but milling out a head for piston clearence and a stroked crank is not uncommon for strokeing an engine while using the same rods and pistons.

Rather costly yes. Cranks are expensive and so is milling out combustion chambers. PRobably better,easier and cheaper ways to pick up the extra 32 HP than stroking in this particular case.

NOTE: that the distance from top ring of the piston to crown of piston will have to be measured. Most pistons the top ring is at least 3/16" from crown.

This does seem like a TON of cost and work to get an amount of power that will barely be noticeable. I think Eric had it down when he went for some kind of forced induction. Low compression motors like these respond well to it, and a 9 main lower end motor would hold up to it no problem.

But adding a longer stroke to a 327 and revving it high enough to notice the 30hp difference would have me sitting on needles and pins, waiting for a rod issue.

If i could, i'd much prefer the boring route. Motors with a shorter stroke and bigger bore generally become torquier, and torque is much more fun and noticeable on the street during every day driving than a few more HP. Also, shorter strokes generally lead to less rod related issues than longer ones.

Back to the earlier question about whether a 9-man 327 can easily be made into a 359 by boring, a quick browse of the parts book shows unique part numbers for the following as different between the 53 Patrician 9-main 327 and the 359:

piston, crankshaft (obvious)
camshaft
camshaft bearings
cam sprocket
connecting rod
connecting rod bearings
main bearings
intake manifold
intake valves
oil pan, and more.

Were all 51-53 Seniors the only model with the 327 9 main?
Was there any difference in the 5 vs 9 block castings other than the bearing webs?

Only the 1951-53 Patricians/400s had the 9-main bearing 327 cu. in. engine with hydraulic lifters. The Cavaliers/300s of the same period had the 5-main bearing 327 engine with hydraulic lifters. The 327 engine was an option in the 250, 200, and Clipper models, some with hydraulic lifters and some with mechanical. Kev's '54 Clipper has the 327 with mechanical lifters.

(o{I}o)

Here is a list of Engine Serial numbers that also lists the bearing and lifter configurations for the the various motors:

https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/article/view.article.php?246