DavidMc

I am not sure how relevant this is, I restored a 1920's Packard many years ago and in the process had an auto electrician check the generator. He removed the third brush and cut out and fitted a voltage regulator from an early 6V Volkswagon. It worked very well - initially. The ammeter would show about 20 amps after starting the engine, then slowly reduce as the battery charged. Some time later the generator failed because solder in the windings had melted. Further investigation confirmed that this generator should not exceed about 8 amps otherwise it will overheat as mine did. The problem with many of the generators of the era is that they are located in hot areas of the engine bay and poorly cooled.

Two possibilities, the new top gasket does not have hole for the vent that allows the fuel to flow to the carburetor, or the small brass valve seats cast into the pot metal top are loose and leaking vacuum.

I believe the 1910/11 Buick Model 14 known as the "Buggeyabout" had side valves. The engine had two cylinder horizontally opposed

It will go 50 MPH and more but the engine will be revving too fast for anything other than a very short burst at that speed.

Congratulations, they are a fine car. I restored and owned the almost identical Standard 1926 model many years ago. There is a tube inside the exhaust manifold above the carburetor to heat the fuel/air mixture from the caburetor. It is not uncommon for this inner tube to corrode and develop pin holes allowing exhaust gasses into the intake. This will make the car run very badly. The tube can be pressed out and replaced. That is the first thing I would check Also, these cars are quite low geared and the engine will be working very hard at much above 40 mph

I recently spoke to an anodizing firm about re-anodising a pair of aluminium sill plates, the person I spoke to was helpful and prepared to do them but said there was a high chance the sill plates would be destroyed by the process. He recommended polishing and clear coating so I have polished out most of the scratches and will be clear coating them with "Protectaclear", it is claimed to be suitable for aluminium and it is expensive. https://shop.everbritecoatings.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=7

A body style that only its mother could love!!

In answer to the original question, I had a 1930 Packard 740 Limo with the 4 speed gearbox and never used the low gear, it would take off in any gear on level ground with a little clutch slip if it was 4th gear. I normally started in second gear then as soon as it was rolling slipped it into 3rd. The low low 1st gear was unnecessary.

Tackle the most difficult jobs first, probably bodywork issues.

I have run a 12v battery through a 6v coil for a trial and it was OK but I forgot to turn the ignition off and 10 minutes later the coil exploded making a huge mess and some damage. I won't be trying that again.

The car is a Jaguar XKSS, essentially the road car version of the racing D type Jaguar

I have used these and they work well. The amber lights fit neatly between the two bars of the bumpers on 1920's cars. https://www.logolites.com/products/turn-signals/

1/2 cup of lacquer thinner in a leaky automatic transmission will sweII the seals and halt the leak. For how long?

The car in the front on the left is a Morris Oxford about 1932

"V out the cracks with a grinder, fill with Bondo sand smooth and paint the wheel. Cost you about $10 bucks." I did that about 30 years ago on a badly cracked wheel as a temporary repair until I could find a good wheel. I never found another wheel and the repaired one is still perfect. A very easy DIY job