So NOW I am getting worried, is this even possible!?

battling the head mode......

 

Arnold couldn't reach in there and lift that head off over the fenders. Use an engine hoist.

Take a couple of old spark plugs, knock out the porcelain and weld on steel rings, or stick bolts thru them to attach the chain.

 

Always did love flatheads with studs.

 

Victory at last! Had to get a buddie, AND use the hoist. Then wiggle the head about 8,000 times...Cleaned the head some but was ready to call it a night. I will clean the **** out of it tomorrow tho. Got to figure out if my valve compressor is gona work on this motor without pulling the intake and exhaust too. What a pain in the rusted a$$!!! It WILL run, and run good too, weather it wants to or not!

 

38 studs to be exact, SOAB!!!....

 

pulling the manifolds is probably a good next step.....

btw did you locate a replacement head gasket before you started to yank the head off?

 

Max Merritt will have one

http://www.maxmerrittauto.com/

there not cheap but they will have one. My buddy has a 54 with the aluminum head that was ***** to lift out I imagine the iron one is way worse.

-Nick

 

Trust me you will need to pull the manifolds to get the valves out if you are using C style spring compressor. What you need is one made for that style engine,they work in sissors fashion only expanding. Used the same style on any of the inline flatheads.

 

NICE! They have it all, thanks!

 

I am almost certain I would not remove the valves immediately. With the head off, you can now easily work with them by soaking, tapping, soaking, tapping, lubricating and testing.

I would keep the battery charged, then turn it over a few times after repeating above several times.

With it running good recently, I doubt the guides are the problem.

 

I think that I am gona just pull the manifolds and use the C style one I have, then I can really get in there good when cleaning anyway.....PITA.. oh well.

 

I wasn't doing it to replace the guides, I was dong it to clean all the gunk off of everything. Isn't there some kind of semi-gritty "polish" just for getting valve stems and guides back right? I will check the clearness in there once clean just in case tho. If I didn't plan to keep this car I would not be doing all this tho.

 

I think you will find the valves seat fine once all is clean; no lapping required.

Granted they will be easier to clean with them removed.
Your car dude.
Without being there it is hard to say, but I wouldn't hesitate to see what I really have, prior to removing valves.

 

NO!

You can use valve lapping compound on the valve faces and seats, but not on the stems and guides. Just clean them with something like carb cleaner, that will dissolve the gummy deposits.

 

country you are right, no harm in seeing "how stuck" they are first but I leaned my big *** on one of the stuck ones and it didn't impress it at all!

Squirrel, No compound, got it, thanks, got some carb and parts cleaner today to dip them in.

 

I had a 235 Chevrolet engine that I ruined because I ran it on soured gas like you did. Once the engine cooled of it glued the valves to the guides the same way that your Packard has. Because my 235 was an over head valve engine, I put the head up on a bench and soaked it with solvents for days to free up the valves. Two of the valves never would unstick and had to be driven out with a sledge hammer! I took the head in and had a proper valve job done on it. I reinstalled the head only to find out that the sticky gas sludge that had welded the valves open had also seized all of the piston rings. Laquer thinner or M.E.K. both will desolve the nasty mess. If you poor some M.E.K. into each cylinder and let it soak a while with something covering each cylinder so that it doesn't evaporate immediately, then it will melt away the gunk on the rings. BUT, MAKE sure you change the oil in the engine before you start it back up! I would suggest changing the oil after you mess with these valves no matter what, because chances are you are going to dislodge all kinds of yuck down into the pan while working on the engine.

 

and yes- lap the valves with lapping compound while you have the head off. I can't think of any reason not to do so while the engine is down. Doing so will just insure that the valves are sealing properly. If you see any rust pitting in the valve face or valve seat once you remove a valve and clean it, you have trouble and MUST lap the valve to insure a positive seal. Make sure you put each valve back in the hole it came out of too!

 

Thanks, I think they will clean up well. I am even going to make sure that each valve spring and keeper make it back to their original location too. Also the exhaust valves look like Grey paint and newer then the intakes, is this what they look like when someone has had them "hardened" or no? Man this is turning in to a project! I think that next time, I might just take it in to the Packard dealership for service! ;-)

 

The exhaust valves are probably a stainless alloy, to resist heat better...they normally look different than intakes on many engines. The valve seats are what get replaced to work with unleaded, but many old engines come with hard seats.

 

Ok cool, I was just curious, trying to learn as much as I can on this little adventure. I tracked down some Packard green engine enamel from Kanter, might as well do stuff 110% or not do it at all. Off to battle valves.

 

Country is absolutely right.

If you leaned your big *** on one and it didn't move, please check to make sure that the lifter on that valve isn't holding it up. If you turned the motor at all, you might be fighting a lifter that is pushing up the valve. I'd highly recommend getting them all to move freely before attempting to take them out. Think about it, if a valve is stuck that tight, it's a lot easier to get it to go back down than it will be to pull it up through the guide, especially with all that gummy **** in the way. Plus with the valve in the "up" position, you may well encounter spring bind when you try to remove the keepers, which means you won't be able to get the keepers out. Spray 'em all good with carb cleaner, top and bottom of the guide, then wait. Then do it again. Wait. Again. Wooden dowel in the CENTER of the valve head, and light tapping on the dowel with a hammer should do the trick. You can also grab the valve with a soft-jaw channel-lock and twist it slightly, as that sometimes will loosen them up.

 

Not to mention, if the guides are anything like ford fh's, they will be stuck in there like they have been welding in. Soak, work them, soak, wait... definitely a job that is best served with patience. Don't know if valve ***embles are a dime a dozen on your motor.

 

soaked in MMO top and bottom and got one down right away, been waiting like 30 min now and I an about to go persuade it with a wood dowl, I am watching witch ones are "supposed" to be up right now sow as not to damage any cam lobes. Patience ****s.....needed on this one tho.

 

oooh ****, just hit member status! Whoot Whoot! Gone be an "old school HAMBer" by the time I get this ******* running again at this rate!

 

haveing your motor that far apart now i'd just go the whole way and give it a ring job.

 

Tempted but I have 3kids and Christmas is a coming! Plus they seem to make good contact around the bore and they look decent so maybe some other time. Plus I have my eye on another inline 8 that I might rebuild and then put it in there and run it while I do the OE one. (after Christmas) Also I am going to attempt to find the right style of valve compressor so I don't have to **** with the manifolds. Just want to get it running again for now.

 

So I went out there after letting the MMO sit, got a wood dowl, put it in the center and hammered them down. They were WAY to stuck for the grab it from the bottom thing, I tried it. So then I used the starter to spin it over and the same four stuck again, more MMO, tapped them down again, got them stuck again, more MMO then let them sit. When I go out there I am blocking the holes that drain to the crank case and when I tap them down this next time I will blast it from the bottom with carb cleaner before I get them stuck again, and repeat that a few times.

 

Chirco auto parts will be a friend for you.
Their primary is VW's but Joe's dad had a thriving Packard shop in the same bldg.
I think there is a link over on the website.
He's a great guy and knows everything and everybody in the Packard world.

 

Chirco...i went there recently. Tucson.

Sent from my phone.