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

Ok I'm a young gun(Well not so young 38!!)and a new bee here. I might get some flak but here it goes. I have a 1951 327 straight eight. I just bought a Edmunds two barrel intake for it. On Ebay there is a Edmunds re-po head but the head is for the early 356. Are the newer 356 parts interchangeable with the older 356? I would greatly appreciate the answers I get. The motor is going into my '27 model T street rod. I know it should go in to a packard but I decided that there were to many Chevy and Ford engines out there in the street rodding world and wanted to be different. I have McCulloc VS57 for it as well. This is going to be one sweet Model T. To the hardcore restorers my apologies. Thanks Ed.

Young whipper snapper's thinking they can hot rod a Packard, huh? SACRILEGE!!

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I agree Eric, sacrilege! But youth is such a wonderful thing - pity mine is so far behind me now @ 61! And I would be interested to see pic's of the T.

But back to Ed's question - I believe the early 356 engine is different from the later 327/359 engines so the head won't fit. The experts might like to confirm my thoughts.

It's my understanding that the 356 head, intake, and exhaust manifolds will interchange with the 288/327/359 engines. However, I do not have experience in doing so. I plan on using the stock cast iron head when I twin-turbo the 327/359 when I find one... The cast iron head is stronger, and doesn't move as much as the aluminum one does.

Just a note on the OEM aluminum head compared to the new production Aluminum heads. From talking to some of the reprodution places, the Aluminum heads they make today do not exibit as much head related expansion and are far stronger that the OEM aluminum heads. I guess it a difference in the alloys and heat treatment that is done with the newer heads.

Hey turbo man when you say cast head it is not the regualar head that the engine comes with right? If it is not how would I tell the difference? Just asking just in case I get a definate answear on the head and in case I win the auction I could sell you mine If you are interested of course. I will try and post pictures of my Model T when I get it rolling. Thanks for your help guys. Ed.

There were several different heads on the later straight eights, each with different compression ratios, which is why you see "288 AT 327 MT" on the top. The 359 had an aluminum head in '54 only. I have several heads, and when the time comes, I will cc' them all and report the differences here on this forum. And yes, I mean the regular head that comes on the engine.