Hot Rods Packard straight 8 question from neophyte in Great Britain

Hi all,

Just a question about the last Packard straight 8...

Was there still a choice of 5 or 9 main bearings depending on models?

If so, is counting the plugs on the oil distributing gallery on the right hand side the only way to differentiate 5 bearings or 9 bearings engines?

Thanks...

Patrick

 

The short answer is yes. Counting the gallery plugs is the quickest way to determine if the engine has 5 or 9 main bearings. Packard made a variety of S-8 engines: 282 cu in 5MB, 356 cu in 9MB, 288 and 327 cu in 5MB, 327 cu in 9MB, and 359 cu in 9MB (1954 only). The 356 engines can be easily identified because the distributor is in the middle, the others have the distributor more toward the front of the engine. Your best source of info on Packards is PackardInfo.com.

 

9 bearing engines were only used in top of the line, Patrician or 400 models.

 

Thanks guys,

Patrick