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

A couple guys on here recommended that you spend a little more time with the carb cleaner and try to get the stuck valves to free up, then bolt the head back on and run it. You gave up before the valves were completely loose. Then you were convinced you had to remove all the valves, which I knew was going to be a problem given the obviously close valve to guide clearances, gummy shit, etc. It is what it is,

How far up did the loose valve move before it stuck? Is the keeper groove still visible, or is it up into the guide? When I have valves that don't come out easily, I never try forcing them out with something stuck between the lifter and the valve stem, because that puts one hell of a lot of strain on the cam/lifter surface. You do not want to make any more work for yourself and a snapped cam will definitely do that. There's a lot of cam between the cam bearings, and trying to turn the motor with a stuck valve on an inline engine WILL break something. You don't have pushrods to bend, which is the "fuse" that normally fails first in a stuck valve situation on an OHV motor. I soak the stem with carb cleaner, grab the head of the valve with a vice grip or channel lock pliers, and twist it while pulling up. The more you can twist it, the looser it will get. This will let the cleaner penetrate, and also scrubs the gummy shit off of the stem and guide.

I don't know how much valve spring pressure that era Packard has, but normally mushroomed stems and burs on valve stem keeper grooves are the result of higher spring pressures. An inliner with lifters acting directly on the valve doesn't normally have near the spring pressure that an OHV does, because an OHV motor has a lot of valvetrain components that the spring needs to deal with, plus higher RPM.

Good luck with it!

 

Good point on the dremel, I AM going to have the valve bay clean as a whistle before I am done tho, still, the dremel is out...Yeah I would love to use my same valve tool up top but it will not fit and even if it did I would be afraid to damage the seat. I just welcomed 4 new guys (it takes a village to raise a F.N.G.!) and now I am off to scavenge the barn and or yard for useful junk that would like to grow up to bee a valve removal tool. I will be back soon.

 

He is a "greeter" on the intro forum.

 

Like Ebbsspeed says, sit back and take another look at things....

 

Hey , PackardWood

Might try some lacquer thinner/ scotchbrite, evaporates slower then acetone, or try 190 everclear, that way if it don't work you can take a shot or 2 and you wont care or remember............

Good luck

boooooob

 

PackardWood<SCRIPT type=text/javascript> vbmenu_register("postmenu_8167065", true); </SCRIPT> you are sticking with it. That's great. When this is over you will be proud of yourself and enjoying that beat up ole Packard.
Many of us would have swapped to a big block something by now!
Those old engines are rare and it may not be a traditional rod, but more guys need to save them. Now get out and find something to get those valves outta there.
I must have missed something way back. Still confused how a good running engine suddenly is a boat anchor!
Post count? Hell I never look at those numbers. I'm probably a little over too, whatever that means. Havin fun with car guys is what it's all about.

 

As mentioned by a couple guys, if you run old gas thru an engine, it can gum up the intake valve stems. On OHV engines it usually bends pushrods, and valves can get bent too. On a flathead it doesn't hurt anything but the engine won't run with the valves stuck open.

 

Thanks Squirrel. Kinda remember that. I think this is what happened to our old Onan RV generator we had in the shed for emergencies. Ran perfect after removing it from motorhome with good old gas. Ran only a few times later with modern fuel after sitting. Locked up!
This newer gas will be the end of old cars someday!

 

Hey , PackardWood

Will the valves turn in the guide, if you get the right solvent/(unscrew) them (stop at any big resistence), and if you do not have mechanical damage, you should be able to turn them out, if you try to pull them out straight with a bend/burr ,,,,,,,,I would assume a machine shop could fix your guides, maybe,(dont know if they have replacable guides, but they probably can be machined) might be big $$$$

boooooob

 

Is the tool that you have a slide hammer type that hooks under the valve head? I set out to make a slide hammer valve puller but was worried about the metal to metal contact with my valves that Tim warned about, so I am building one that has 2 loops of very strong woven cargo strap on the bottom that are crossed over each other so that when they are under the valve and you pull, it tightens down using the "Chinese finger trap" principle. It combine's the "rope trick" and the slide hammer action. If that doesn't fix it my engine hoist and check book will! A little more welding and I will be done! Hell, it MIGHT even work! We will see soon, I will post pics and results in a couple of hours either way. Oh yeah EBB just for the record I tried to hope like hell and go the easy way first by lubing and working the valves with players and nada, if the "un stuck" ones are this stuck it is just time go give 'er a birthday is all. Not just taking stuff apart for the hell of it ya know.

 

Yeah someone has to do it, and not to many people do. So I try to welcome a few who have had 0 replies each day so they will post further. If they can't even get a "Welcome to the H.A.M.B.!" from a place then why would they come back? They ones that get no reply, and go elsewhere, might have had the knowledge that I needed to know, or the old hard to find part that you needed, so yeah I guess I am a "greeter" on here somewhat. Someone has to do it and the dickheads, and shy wall flowers, are not going to soooo.

 

It is the internet, and is hard to diagnose a problem. Seems like just some stuck valves, but I can't tell were the mountain starts and the mole hill ends.

 

Cool that we have lots of guys contributing here to real wrenchin', not parts swapping - the HAMB is really a great asset for us all. At least that's my take. BTW, I saved some 50 Studebaker front end sheet metal and trim, etc from the crusher this weekend and will post on classifieds.

 

So you couldn't even grab the valve head and turn them with a pliers? Man, sounds like you're in for a rough day in valve yanker town. Good luck!!

 

I am thinking it's time to pull that engine block and take it to the machine shop. Your valves might be salvagable, but what about the guides? I think they are likely to be pretty well shot by the time you get those valves out. At which point, the block will need to go to the shop anyway. So I would say, just get the block out, and let the shop do a valve job. Maybe they will be able to salvage the guides too, and you will get a pleasant surprise.

 

I was thinkin' the same thing. If you somehow get past the valve thing, the rest is liable to nickle 'n dime you to death. If this is just the valve train that is gummed up, imagine how the rest of the engine is.

Bob

 

If the OP has not removed the manifolds he is working against himself. With the manifolds off he can squirt carb cleaner spray ,acetone or lacquer thinner on the valve stem-guide junction and it will work it's way down loosening things up. Squirting at the bottom of the stem is like pissing up a rope. This really is a simple fix if you got ANY idea of what you are doing.No need to pull the engine and take it to a shop ,that's a gold chainer fix!!

Lesson to be learned here ,if the vehicle has been sitting more than 3-4 months and the fuel smells anything other than fresh gas DO NOT RUN IT on the old gas. You must run it use a outboard tank or such ,until you can clean the entire fuel system.

 

J&L not all Packard's had hydraulic lifters, already confirmed OP car has solids.

 

Did not pull the manifolds, bought the correct spring compressor instead. Just about have my valve puller welded up. Family/Electronic Communications class/work is holding me up when I just wan't to work on my damn Packard. I will try and go out there after dinner and weld it up the rest of the way. This motor ran before the stuck valves, and it will run after, WITHOUT pulling it and cutting a check! When it finally DOES go and I have to rebuild it I Might even throw a old school McCullugh charger on there. P.S. I sold my gold chain when the price of gold hit $2000 per OZ. Got more then I paid out of it! Now I can afford more parts for this PITA Packard!

 

PW: I repeat you are working against your self by not pulling the manifolds so you can get the solvent to run DOWN the guides. Don't matter what kind of spring compressor you are using. I would not have pulled the head to start as with the manifolds off most likely could have got the valves freed up with some solvent. As you won't take 50+ years of hard won experence I'm done here. Have fun pissing up a rope!!!

 

Geeze Louise!!!!!!!!!!!! Pull the fricken manifolds off and do the job correctly
I have never read such a long, drawn out, concerted effort to do something the hard way. Pull the manifolds, hit the stems with some solvent and some fine emery strips to remove the crud and the burr and yank the valves. This is a one day job.........tops.

 

These guys are both right, and others with a lot of engine rebuilds under their belts have also told you to do this. You really should listen to the voices of experience. In the time you've burned up trying to make some valve pulling contraption you could have had the manifolds off and the valves out. You might keep in mind that there exists no such tool I know of to pull valves from the top, and likely for good reason. Possibly because of the risk of bending a valve by putting extreme tension on the head? When that happens, you will be writing out that check. You really are making a lot more work for yourself than need be.

I'm with John, in that I'm just going to sit on the sidelines watching. For your sake I hope that you're successful in getting the old engine purring.

Good luck!

 

i think i have followed all your threads, the points thread, the starter thread and this thread, they all share a common thread in that they proceed in a scattered manner, i think the day the valves stuck should of been followed by a couple hours work freeing them up, then freeing up the rings which will be just as stuck, i can't wait for your next thread to start, what else are you planing to fix?

 

PULL the manifold off and let the solvents run DOWN the valve stems. Otherwise you are just about guaranteed to bend the valves. Just as all of these other guys speak with experience with this problem, so do I. You can just about guarantee that the rings will be stuck as well.

 

do you have your car running yet?