HH56

The spring has a slight bow on the legs which when installed does put a bit of pressure against the plug to push toward the side and also tends to keep the plug and the shift tube up against the housing. The 47 has an almost identical shift tube arrangement but since the spring hooks under the turn signal switch the legs may be a bit longer than the one used on your car. There are a couple of different "anti-rattler" pieces listed in the 35-41 parts manual. I don't have a photo of the complete 47 spring alone and doubt it would be the same for your car anyway but this photo shows the mounting ends. They slide under the switch and when in position raise the end of the spring which fits in the plug groove. Hopefully someone will have a photo of your model to post here or at packardinfo.

The little round plug goes in the end of the shift tube and should be a fairly snug fit. For some reason it is not shown on the column drawing but believe it would be the 3.320 plug. There should be a spring associated with the plug which would be the 3.318 anti rattler. The entire assy works to keep any vibration or "buzz" developed by the shift tube under control. Here is a photo of a 47 column showing how the pieces fit together. On this unit the spring ends fit around notches under the turn signal switch. Not sure how the spring mounts on your column unless there are some notches or holes in those two round flat topped nubs.

Can't help on photos or dimensions but have you thought about doing something that holds from the side along the lines of the Packard stand? A lot less to support or at least more compact and maybe easier to maneuver.

Not that I can recall but it would appear there were only 4 different rods used. From parts book, the 2206 etc 356 super eight engine has it's own rod and is mentioned in the bulletin as to that identification. The 5406 etc 359 engine also has its own rod. It would appear from parts manual there are two other choices for the remaining 48-54 engines. The bulletin mentions one of those for the eight so if you have any that don't fit into any of the known categories that would narrow the field down a bit.

Here is a brief article from Feb 1, 1948 Service Counselor Vol22 #2 that might be of some help on the ID.

Several have also used the POR 15 gray manifold paint. That has a nice fresh cast iron look and seems to hold up well.

You might also look thru Massey Ferguson tractor engine grays. Some have mentioned that one of those is a close match but didn't say which one.

If you don't want to mess with setting up and cleaning a professional gun, buy one of the disposable spray setups for around $10. I used the 8oz Crown Spra-Tool and it did a more than commendable job doing my 47 engine using the quart can of Hirsch green. They are available at many paint and hardware stores as well as McMaster-Carr. The paint needs to be thinned slightly but went on smoothly and covered well.

As an afterthought, if you want to access the switches, those also come out the back..The switches are individually mounted on a plate which comes out as a single assy carrying all the switches. The knobs only press against the switches to activate them so they stay in the dash. To remove the assy, you remove the screws holding the ventilation controls and move that assy out of the way. The entire switch assy is held to the dash by two special "screw headed nuts" which hold the assy to studs. One is kind of hidden but accessible. Take those two "nuts" off and the assy will pull out. Here is another photo supplied by BDeB showing the entire assy. Arrows point to the "nuts", the plate shows how switches mount and the pot metal assy shows the end of the knobs which would press against the switch stems. That entire knob assy stays in the dash when you remove the switches.

Most everything under the dash is accessed from the back. The loom and wiring to individual instruments is generally very short so even if the cluster is removed access is still limited. The old fabric covered wiring is likely to be very dry and brittle so do be careful when disturbing it much. The rubber on individual wires can crack and come off in chunks. The pot metal side is held to the dash metal by screws and studs thru the dash metal from the back. Because of the way dash metal is sandwiched between the pot metal and cluster & instruments you may need to remove an entire section.. If you just want to remove the speedo or clock, those are individual pieces held to the cluster by screws. The 4 instruments are in a separate housing which is also held to the cluster by screws. The entire cluster is held to pot metal and dash by more screws but still may not provide much room to work even if removed. Here are some photos courtesy of BDeB which was posted at Packardinfo.com showing the cluster and dash section. You may be able to see some of the screws involved. If you want to remove the ign switch, depending on type it removes one of two ways. If it has a bezel that is fairly thick metal -- maybe 1/4" -- with squarish front and back side, that unscrews from the switch and switch just pulls out from the rear. If the bezel is fairly thin metal with a sloped or rounded contour -- maybe 1/4" near the key opening tapering to a very thin section at the dash, those are spring loaded. The switch has to push into the dash from the rear to relieve the spring and then while the switch is being held in, the bezel is turned a quarter turn to line up a slotted opening.

Here is the 42 shipping info from Packard Service Letter Vol 15 #17 issued Sept 1, 1941. That issue contains the entire mechanical specs for the 42 cars so if you want that info you can download the letter from packardinfo.com

If you are interested in such things, there is a superb book on the 22-23rd series written by Robert Neal. Covers just about every fact known from conception thru the end of production on the cars. It is available exclusively thru Dwight Heinmuller. http://www.packardparts.org

That was recommended on earlier Packards -- not so much on the front but the headliner did go under the rubber holding rear glass. Even those can be glued on the flange which extends outside the rubber. Several have done it recently on their cars and felt no need to remove the glass. The V8's have a bit of a different rubber arrangement. As to doing it yourself, that kind of depends on your skill, temperament, and perseverance. I did my first one on a 56 alone and it came out OK -- although there was one tiny wrinkle near the rear glass I never did get completely out. One thing I did learn is if you are doing it alone, it is much easier to remove the front seat so you have access and room to crawl back and forth. I didn't do that and climbing out one door and back in another got old in a hurry. Believe me, there was plenty of that climbing around required. If you can get a helper it goes so much better because when needed one can be in front and one in back or one person on each side. That headliner is heavier than it looks. You think you have it supported in the bows and give a little tug to stretch the fabric and the whole mess starts coming down. That is where the temperament part comes in.

It does not. Just the inside finishing moldings around the windshield and rear window and a couple of short moldings on the side near the back seat need to come off. There are toothed retainers and an occasional tack holding the headliner along the sides. The headliner is glued to the body above the windshield and around the rear window. In the odd chance you do find a bit of headliner under the rubber, generally there is enough metal surrounding the rubber that the headliner can be glued on the outside overlapping the rubber and finish molding will cover the area.

You should not have to touch the oil pump. Isn't there two methods of clamping on your distributor? The flat bracket to block held by two bolts in slots and has the small scale for octane adjust. That has limited adjustment but under the distributor itself isn't there a bolt or screw pointed toward I think the rear which tightens a clamp in the circle at the middle of the bracket and holds the entire dist to the bracket. On most Packards you should be able to put the small scale at zero then loosen the screw under dist to rotate the entire dist to get your timing. The small scale was just for fine tuning if there was a quick touchup needed because of different quality gas.

To come in it needs a good solid ground or to drop out it has to lose ground from the governor. Some problem areas have been the grounding strap on the bakelite back of the governor from the contacts to one of the cover screws. The screws are known to loosen and connection corrodes so ground is intermittent -- that is assuming the contacts and actuating mechanism in the governor is in good condition and no water has gotten inside -- another known issue. Another problem area was some inline connectors. If you have a two piece harness which has a short section from the governor and solenoid connected to the main harness, those 5 or 6 connectors were known issues even when new. They were eliminated on some cars with harness parts being soldered together so you may or may not have the connectors. If you have them make sure they are clean, dry and have good connections. The kickdown switch having loose connections or bad adjustment is something to look at and the final thing is the lockout switch on end of under dash knob assy. The terminals can loosen or the plunger can wear at the end where it contacts the rod. Some have worn to the point the switch can open from vibration or not make at all.

The military aspect is an interesting idea. Military high dollar purchases have ID and asset tags which trace back to originating paperwork. I wonder if that could have been the case then. If it was a direct military purchase could the cars have actually left the factory with some sort of ID referencing the ordering dept and paperwork or cars eventual motorpool number. If that is a possible scenario it could also tie in with the 53 I mentioned earlier. That is a 53 car with an engine cast in 53 but has the N and CAL -- but your car being a 42 with a 46 engine kind of messes that up unless it was a stocked body or chassis. I suppose it would be too simple if N stood for Navy dept and the CAL or ONT was the regional purchasing authority. Would be interesting if there are any known A or AF xxxx CAL or the like. Anyone know of any documented former military cars around with strange numbers or could be checked?

It would be interesting to know where that car might have been most of its life. There have been several ordinary cars found with the N and a CAL suffix. No one has been able to offer any concrete information or documentation as to why. Speculation has been the N was either a factory stamped service engine since Packard never used the letter in regular production or was something designated by DMV possibly standing for "new". The numbers have been thought to be an arbitrary number or perhaps a document or region reference number since other numbers found have been in the 3xxxx range and not related to engine size as Packards 3xxxxx series were. One poster just recently found his odd number had been a 6 number originally but the 6 had been overstamped with a 3. IIRC, that was on a 1953 car. CAL has been thought to mean the number was directed by the California DMV or the change was done in California as it was one of the states that registered by motor number and new paperwork would have had to be submitted after a change. The ONT is the first different suffix from CAL I remember hearing of. I can't think of a state that would have used the designation but if it stood for ONTARIO did Canada use the same registration and who would have determined the number. If letters are not a region or state then that throws the speculation out the window.

I suppose the pieces are full of holes and no longer in play but if they were reusable for the original purpose I wonder which would be more valuable now -- the lamp or the cap. From Feb 15, 1939 service letter.

Not much specific info seems to be available but there is an illustration of the acc pump circuit posted on your thread at Pinfo.

If you had a dirty tank did you check and clean the screen in the bottom of fuel pump. That could have filled with junk if there is no aftermarket inline filter before it. There were two types of screens used inside the bottom metal bowl -- one is an actual fine mesh screen and the other type is a bunch of thin plates stacked together with tiny slots on the edges. If you did not check, that might be a worthwhile project. Be advised, you will most likely need to buy or make new gaskets f you take the bowl off.

The heat riser valve is located in exhaust manifold below the carb. There should be a spring loaded weight -- most likely weight is on the rear, spring on the front -- which will move freely if things are operating normally. If things are stuck then it sometimes can be a project to free. If it is stuck, don't go banging on it or use oil to try and free it. Either could cause more problems.

Fuel venting and debris is a common problem many have encountered lately -- particularly if you have not cleaned the tank or have recently replaced the gas cap. Definitely worth checking. And if the exhaust and fuel venting is not the issue, revisit the choke.. If the carb was rebuilt, chances are mechanically it is OK but verify it is operating. Only takes a few seconds to look. Rebuilding the carb won't help if the problem is something external to the carb such as a blocked or corroded stove or air tube preventing full heat from getting to the choke.

I would wonder if the choke is opening. It almost sounds as if it is not and the car is running too rich. After a few minutes running the engine should be warm enough that a fully closed choke is not needed and should open. Next time it happens you might immediately pull the air cleaner off the carb and see if the choke plate is open or at least well on the way to opening. If it is then something else is causing the problem. If not, then it could be adjustment, faulty choke mechanism or heat is not reaching the bimetal element to operate the mechanism. Another thing that could cause rich running and the same symptom is a clogged air filter.

Your description of a vacuum device on bottom left of block sounds like it may be the Electromatic Clutch power cylinder. If so, it was an option and the car will run just fine if it is not functional -- as long as there is no vacuum leak. There are several parts to the complete system -- if they have not been removed over the years. If you have a complete intact system, there should be some other items the mechanic may not be familiar with. Does the item in question look like this photo?