Page 76 - Issue 33

Car? Would there be a change of plans? He’d have to
go check out a 1953 Packard Clipper fi rst. For our younger
readers, Packards were meant to compete with the likes of
Cadillac and Lincoln in the American luxury car market, and
were produced through 1958. Ken drove an hour to get there
and soon upon arrival decided that this would indeed, be the
perfect donor car. He paid $1000 for a complete, running car
that he was able to drive onto his trailer.
Once home, he and his brother-in-law Tom Gross
began to evaluate what they had. The centerpiece was the
herculean 327-inch straight eight engine that was meant to
provide huge amounts of torque silently whilst delivering
the well-off owners to the fancier parts of town. All Packard
badging was removed for future use. The beautiful dash
would provide an air of luxury to the bare-bones pickup
cab. And Ken just had to use the chrome full wheel covers
in lieu of deep-dish mags or plain steel wheels that most rat rodders prefer.
in lieu of deep-dish mags or plain steel wheels that most rat rodders prefer.
But as with most cars that cost $1000 or less, some problems
began to emerge. Packard eights tend to run hot to begin with,
but Ken’s 327 was rapidly pegging the temp gauge. Further
inspection revealed a terminally cracked block. Time for the
big-block Ford? Nope. A quick glance at Craigslist provided a
288-inch example of Packard power. It ran, but according to
Ken, ‘It smoked like mosquito control’. Another boat anchor.
Lucky, a buddy of Ken’s happens to be the custodian of a rather
prodigious car collection, whose owner is…wait for it…a huge
Packard buff. As luck would have it, nestled amongst the car
collection was a monstrous 359-inch Packard eight (with a factory
aluminum head) that was rebuilt in 2009 and never installed in a
car. It ran fl awlessly. But it wasn’t actually for sale…yet. Ken said
to text him if it ever was. A couple of months later he got the text
and couldn’t get the money out of his pocket fast enough.
Backing up the engine is a stock Packard Ultramatic
2-speed auto trans. Mating this to the
Ford 9-inch was a
bit tricky, since the
driveshaft for the
Packard bolts directly
to the tailhousing of the
tranny without the use
of U-joints, forcing Ken
to have a custom drive
shaft created. It employs
a slip joint similar to that
in a 4WD vehicle. Where
a 4.56 spool once resided
lives a 2-speed friendly set
of 3.25 gears.

76 RAT ROD MAGAZINE ISSUE THIRTY-THREE

74x79_RR1511_PackRat.indd 76 8/21/15 6:40 PM