Dave Mitchell

You are luckier than I have been with two of them.

West, your dad is a smart and experienced guy, besides being a nice man. His advice is right on. The part about "no matter how nice the car looks" is important. Cosmetics are not everything, as we can see with the red pick up. The underside does not look as nice as the top, and to be honest, does raise a red flag for me, but I deal with this all the time.

I hear a lot of people say that you can buy a "fully restored" car for less than it costs to retore one. I'm skeptical of that. Usually you get what you pay for. I tell people that unless you know the car really well or hire someone who does know what they are doing - and look at it in detail, you don't know what you are getting. I also hear guys (including seasoned big collectors buying from well known dealers) complain about how they didn't have time to go look at a car they bought - then they get a car that isn't the great deal that they thought, and they spend a lot more time on it than it would have taken to either go look at it or the money that it would have taken to hire a qualified restorer to look at it. It costs a lot to properly restore a car and it also costs a lot to go back and fix all the things that weren't done or were done poorly on a restoration where corners were cut. I know - I have had to do this and my friends with reputable shops do it too. The only way to really know what is done and what isn't is to either do it, or check it and make sure it is done, or buy a car done by a reputable professional shop and talk to that shop to learn what they did. Not all customers can or will pay to do it right or do it all, so it may not even be the shop's fault. Some big collectors have restored cars to win trophies and not to drive, so just because a car has gorgeous paint doesn't mean it is a fully restored car. When it comes to Packard V12s I have been amazed at what some shops have not done as part of an engine rebuild - I tell people that if they can't prove to me that one of the very small number of people who I know who do Packard 12 engines right have done it, the engine most likely needs to be done.

I have a radio. packard12s@hotmail.com

Done

I'm not that far from Yates City. I am in Geneseo, IL. Perhaps I could help you. I think I met your father. Did he have another Packard? I found a notebook at a swap meet and figured out it was his... Dave Mitchell packard12s@hotmail.com

I have a repro of just the plate for the bumper step. Packard12s@hotmail.com

I have heard about much longer delays than that. Has anyone gotten one?

Found it. The hotmail filter flipped out your message. You should have a response now. I will send photos. Dave

Hi Bill, Which body style do you need the stantion for? I have a front license bracket. Send me an email and I will give you my phone number. Take care, Dave packard12s@hotmail.com [ QUOTE=wtppackard;1139279]Dave, I need a passenger side rear tail light stantion, as well as a front license plate bracket, for a '37 Super Eight. Let me know if you can help. Bill Piggott

I wasn't implying anything, I just don't want you to run afoul of DB. Jan is very precise and strives to keep track of cars, but it isn't easy. I know that there are at least a couple instances of multiple cars with the same numbers, and the cars move around from one country to another.

MB asked Jan to not include serial numbers for the cars in his books because they don't want people building cars around serial numbers. Jan knows has all the numbers in his head though!

I have the stantions from the body to the bucket and lenses and bezels, but I don't think I have good original buckets. packard12s@hotmail.com

Lots of Packard parts for sale -, 35 - 42 junior and some super 40 - 42 super 8, 32 - 34 V12 and 8, 35 - 39 V12 and 8. Also a few post war parts. Please let me know what you need. Dave Mitchell packard12s@hotmail.com

The best parts book to look at would be the one for 35 - 41 and the ones for the post war Clippers may also interchange, so you might be able to check that one too. I think one from a post was car will fit. You do have to use the matching pinion gear. I don't think that you can change the entire rear axle - there are too many things that are different - such as the brakes and even wheels.

Do you have a parts book? If not I can look it up for you. You can use some ring gears from other series, but you have to modify them I put a Super 8 set in my Six, but I had to drill for the larger bolts used to hold the big series one on. I think they were the same otherwise. Dave Mitchell packard12s@hotmail.com

Photos sent

I can send you photos or I have some photos on my facebook page. packard12s@hotmail.com

If you don't have a milling machine, you can slowly drill them out using graduated sizes. It will be obvious when you get far enough into the bolt. They are also staked from the side. The cap screws will work fine and can be welded in place. You will have to have the whole thing balanced after the journals are ground and the weights reinstalled. The only way to properly do this without removing the weights is to use a now obsolete portable crankshaft grinder which will get to all parts of the journal. Finding someone who knows how to properly use one, assuming you can find one of these grinders, is not easy. We had a man who came to our shop years ago and he did this routinely with his portable machine shop - he actually did work for my grandfather at his Sinclair station back in the 40s and 50s. (He also repaired Sherman tank engines in WWII both in Europe and the Pacific.) Since he and most of the guys like him have gone to the machine shop in the great beyond, taking it to a good machine shop and having them do it it probably best. Dave packard12s@hotmail.com

Hi, I have several 38s and have recently totally restored a 38 and have had a 39 Super 8 since 1988. I will help you all I can. I also have parts as well as photos and literature. Dave Mitchell packard12s@hotmail.com

We have a dark maroon color that we used on a 38 Packard Derham which is non metallic. It took us months to perfect it, but I think it turned out very nice and period correct. Send it up to Illinois and we will paint it for you! I have seen two burgundy/maroon special roadsters and they look great. Dave packard12s@hotmail.com

I haven't had time to look at this thread, but my point is that a real, documented 745 roadster is a rare bird and always was. Surely fewer 745 roadsters were built than 740 roadsters, but any number on my part would be a guess. I just know that I have only seen a very precious few that when push came to shove the owner could say had always been 745s, I have seen a lot more that used to be 733s or 740s. Personally I would rather have one that has a documented history. My old 1946 Clipper club sedan was in Gene Perkin's collection the last that I knew, but he didn't like the blackwalls, so it got wide whites before it went there as well as skirts. I liked it better with blackwalls and no skirts, but that is just me. Those 700 - 15 Michelins were magic on that car - it was the easiest driving vintage car I have ever been in. It was fast and with those tires it was rock solid and responsive, as well as good in the rain or on grooved or rutted pavement. I spent 9 years on the CCCA national board and was for a couple years membership chair. I never thought that raising the dues was a good way to increase membership, especially when a lot of members are mailbox members. I have noticed the addition of more ads to the magazine, and thought perhaps that was an attempt to not raise dues, but I guess not. It seems a shame to add more color to the magazine and use it for ads. I remember how happy Bev Kimes was when we added more color and how unhappy she was when it was taken away because the board had squandered money on things that didn't really help the general membership. There are things that the CCCA could do to attract members, but they seem to concentrate on other things... This is not to belittle the club at all, I have spent a lot of time working to help the club, but I feel they need to think about what people want and how to give it to them in a warm and friendly way.

Hi, That's me. We made that work, and I can send you photos of how it turned out, but I might be able to help you another way too. Send me an email and I will give you my phone number. Dave packard12s@hotmail.com

I have some experience with Nash hub caps and perhaps I can help you. I had to solve this for a 32 Nash we restored. Dave Mitchell packard12s@hotmail.com

Hi John, I have a gas cap and bumper bars and a tail light bezel, and maybe a few other pieces. Dave Mitchell packard12s@hotmail.com