[Turbopackman]

Well, I finally got all the stuff home, and have had some time to get a little done on her:



I even found a nice sized hole in #8 cylinder:



Bottom end looks pretty good though, other than the fact that #8 rod broke:





Had to do a little X member mods to get the overdrive trans in:








Everything seems to fit pretty well, I'll keep ya'all updated as it progresses.

[Turbopackman]

Latest update, I've done a little more to it, not very noticeable:

Proper engine mounts



First turbo, second one on the way:



The Chrysler 2.2L turbo matches the pair of HS6 SU's that I'm using perfectly:



Pedals modified to work with my 6' 2" frame:



And the final piece, my "Master Vibrator" to house the fuel pump, horn, and light relays:

[Turbopackman]

A little update, last week I bought two 356 engines to rebuild one and use the other for parts. The 356 is a little different and better made than the 327 that I had in there before, so some modifications were done to get it to fit.

[Turbopackman]

I like the 356 over the 288/327/359 mainly because the quality of it's better. It has a longer stroke, 4.625", the crank has bolt on counterweights, the lifters are a larger diameter, and I love the location of the distributor. On later engines, it's between the 2nd and 3rd freeze plugs, putting it closer to the front of the engine. On a 356, it's directly under the 3rd freeze plug. This allows me to use the big cap HEI distributor that I made for the I8 Packard, as well as my 12V Chrysler generator p/s pump combo to run the brakes and power steering. The fact that this engine isn't stuck and destroyed like the 327 was is a lot nicer too!

[timothale]

I am running a packard side shift OD in my roadster with a chevy hurst conversion kit I modified. I would like to do the top shift bur haven't been able to find one.. I have seen write ups of modifying other top shifts but they didn't like the would work right.

[Turbopackman]

The top shift conversions are pretty easy to do, and the transmissions come up on eBay every once in a while. I have two of them, one on my '48 Club Sedan and one for the Speedster. You have to modify the forks to fit the larger diameter gears in the later transmissions. You can't swap the gears out, and you wouldn't want to. Other than that, the top bolts right on the later R-11 overdrives, but takes some modifications to the earlier R-6 and R-9 overdrives. Here's the one I put in my '48:



This shifts perfectly and has no slop like the column shift does. That, and I hate column shifts anyway. And, even if you have the later 3 speed non-o/d trans, the forks still need to be modified to fit, as the gears are larger in them, too.

[Turbopackman]

A little update, I recently bought a '38 Packard Super Eight hood for the speedster, as well as a pair of front fenders. I already had the rear fenders, from a '33 Packard Twelve, and wasn't convinced I was going to use them. But after visions of rocks and mud hitting me in the face I decided to go with them, which completely changed the look of the car. I do like the looks, it's more of a "Continental Tourer" that will have a speedster tail than an open wheeled race car. Oh well, I've got plenty of straight eights laying around so I may build my single seat race car when this one is done. If I do, it'll be rear engined and look like an Auto Union.

Here's the new hood:


Going to take some work to make the '38 hood match the '36 cowl, but it will eventually:


Driver's side looking forward:


The best side pic I can get until I move the '48:


The '38 hood originally matched the fenders, but since I'm using earlier fenders I now have an opening there. Personally, I like it, it covers the engine pretty well, but reveals "just enough to entice". Kinda like lingerie for a car:


That's all for now, as it's getting down to 20 degrees and lower and I don't have any heat in my garage. It's now time to look for parts and get ready for spring!

[Turbopackman]

Oh, I just about forgot, I got this little jewel given to me recently, an aluminum head from a '54 359 Packard:



The head has been milled a little, as seen from the shiney spots where the valves hit the head. I'm hoping a little shaving in this area will enable me to use this head. If not, it'll become a garage ornament, what a shame.


The '54 359 head next to a '53 327 head and a '48 356 head, in order:


Notice the chambers on the 359 head. They're pretty small compared to the other heads. By 1954, Packard had put all their engine experience they had into the last year straight eight. From all the heads I've seen for Packard straight eights, the 359 has the best shaped chambers, IMHO.

[1ownerT]

Looks like a cool project!
Need some heat in that garage to keep the pics coming.

[Turbopackman]

Originally Posted by 1ownerT

Looks like a cool project!
Need some heat in that garage to keep the pics coming.

Thanks! I told the wife to come out with me and start *****ing at me while I'm working on it. Free heat! LMFAO!