Okay, buying my first packard soon. Its a 56 V8 car, the guy told me it carries ****py oil pressure. The guy at the local machine shop said that they rebuild tractor oil pumps all the time. From what i understand a V8 packard oil pump isnt cheap. I guess what im saying is, would a machine shop be able to repair the oil pump? Or am i stuck paying big money for a rebuilt pump?
Take the pump apart and clean it up. Inspect all the parts. If its not badly scored, or rust pitted, put it back together and shim the releif valve. Put an honest pressure gauge on it, not some fifty year old stuff that has questionabe accuracy. With a fresh load of 15W40 oil, if it holds six to ten PSI at idle and goes up to 30 to 40 at 3500, you dont have a worry in the world.
thanks alot friend. Im buying it to suprise my girlfriend of 4 years. shes been wanting her own old car, She LOVES Packards. ha ha.
Everyone says that Packard oil pumps really ****. The hot setup is to use a 455 type Olds oil pump. I do. And it seems to work well. <TABLE id=contactInfo _no_widget="true"><TBODY><TR><TD cl***=iData _no_widget="true">packardV8@comcast.net </TD></TR></TBODY><TBODY><TR><TD cl***=line_sepa _no_widget="true"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>on here sells the adapter.
Rich, your link doesn't work, unless you are signed into Yahoo. Never knew you could use an Olds pump.
That is Jack Vines email. In case you wanted to email him about the pump. Jack is also on the HAMB as PackardV8. I have one on my worlds famous Packard powered Vega. Never tried the stock pump .
OK, that one is gold! I see the other is an email addy now. Building a Packard V8 for a customer right now as well as a strait 8, both for the same guy, these will be # 4 and 5 I've done for him. He really likes Packards.
I have to respectfully disagree with others regarding the oil pump in a 1956 Packard. Cleaning the pump and checking the gear clearances will not be adequate. Pumps that have gears within spec may very likely have worn drive shafts and housings, not to mention the air leaks that plagued the engines when they were new. The troubles with the oiling systems in these engines are well covered in numerous print and internet venues. There are several sources of trouble, and numerous cures. Keep in mind that Packard made a number of changes in the two years they were in production, with varying effect. The Olds conversion is one way to address the pump. If you have access to some machine tools, you can properly repair the original pump. This is what I have done for many years now, and have been very happy. It is not any cheaper than the Olds conversion, but it does allow you to keep the vacuum booster pump to aid the wipers, if you want to keep that original. As an additional note, the engine may also have additional problems at this point that the oil pump alone will not overcome. With the poor oil pressure comes poor bearing life. I bet you a nickel that at the very least the center main bearing and maybe a couple others will be down to copper. Do not be discouraged by these things. These are great cars that will provide you and your girlfriend a lot of enjoyment. Hope this helps!
Thanks a ton! im getting the car super cheap, so i really dont mind putting a little money in the old gal.
My customer came in today and was thrilled to hear there was a way to fix his oil pressure problem. He has at least two that he wants to change over but wants to try one first. I'm sending a message right now for pricing.
I know this is an old thread but this weekend my friend Tim and I installed the Jack Vines Melling oil pump conversion into my '55 Clipper and my former lifter tick issue is gone. The pan will come out of the Packard without pulling the engine but it was still an 8 hour job on the hoist with both of us working on it. We had to take the exhaust down, the starter, part of the steering, and there is a heavy cast iron cover on the bottom of the trans that had to be unbolted for clearance. Also some grinding is required on the new pump and in my case a bit on the adapter block to get the pan to fit back on correctly, I think I had my pump out 7 or 8 times until I had the clearance dialed in. The instructions were pretty good. A big job but well worth it, wanted to post this in case anyone else having this issue landed here to read about it. I can finally drive the car some real distance without getting nervous about the engine!
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