Clipper47

Smells fishy to me. :-)

I ve seen similar type cars in Holland and other western European countries since way back in the 60's. When gas costs $4-5 a litre, parking is very limited on narrow streets and distances between towns are relatively short they make a whole lot of sense.

Dear Ted, I hope you can help me here. The other day I set off for work leaving my husband in the house watching the TV as usual. I hadn't gone more than a mile down the road when my engine conked out and the car shuddered to a halt. I walked back home to get my husband's help. When I got home I couldn't believe my eyes. He was in the bedroom with a neighbor lady making mad passionate love to her. I am 32, my husband is 34 and we have been married for twelve years. When I confronted him, he tried to make out that he went into the back yard and heard a lady scream, had come to her rescue but found her unconscious. He'd carried the woman back to our house, laid her in bed, and began CPR. When she awoke she immediately began thanking him and kissing him and he was attempting to break free when I came back. But when I asked him why neither of them had any clothes on, he broke down and admitted that he'd been having an affair for the past six months. I told him to stop or I would leave him. He was let go from his job six months ago and he says he has been feeling increasingly depressed and worthless. I love him very much, but ever since I gave him the ultimatum he has become increasingly distant. I don't feel I can get through to him anymore. Can you please help? Sincerely, Susie Fox Dear Susie, A car stalling after being driven a short distance can be caused by a variety of faults. Start by checking that there is no debris in the fuel line. If it is clear, check the clips holding the vacuum lines onto the intake manifold for air leaks. If none of these approaches solves the problem, it could be that the fuel pump itself is faulty, causing low delivery pressure to the carburetor float chamber . I hope this helps. Ted member AACA

Mr. Pushbutton, Is there much Packard memorabilia available to the public at the main Detroit Library on Woodward Ave? I used to go there occasionally as a kid.

Personally I see little resemblance between the car and a Fokker D-V11 but my eyes aren't the greatest. Well at least you won't get shot at by any WW1 vets but watch out for Snoopy in his Sopwith Camel! :-)

Neat car but not sure I would want to drive around with an "Iron Cross" painted on the door. Some old vet might mistake it for a low flying ME109 and shoot at it with a Lee-Enfield .303! :-)

I remember the milkman and breadman drove a horse and wagon not a motor vehicle well in the 1950's. We kids would feed the horses a lump of sugar as a treat. We also had what we called a "sheeny man" who drove along the alley with a horse and wagon picking up scrap metal.I also remember having an ice man come every other day or so delivering blocks of ice for the ice-box. Boy I must be getting old :-)

Fred, An overdrive in your car with a 4:11 axle will reduce the engine speed to about an equivalent rear end ratio of about 3:00 or even less. My 47 has a 4:11 but in OD it wil cruise very nicely in the 60-65 mph range all day.

Twitch, I still have a can in the garage for those -40 cold starts but a short blast down the carb, which is all you can use a one time, doesn't last long enough to do much other than fire the engine for a few seconds as Mr. Pushbutton mentioned. It can still be bought at the local auto parts.

Lauren, I can't imagine anyone not being nice in Grand Rapids, MN. :-)

Why didn't I think of that! I bought a 1971 Vega in 1973. What a disasterous car. I traded my '69 Plymouth Fury with the 440 Magnum engine thinking I would get better mileage with the Vega. The 440 gave me 18MPG at 55mph and the Vega 21. My dad borrowed the car to take a holiday to the east coast and brought it back with tales iof woe about overheating and burning oil. It looked like a mosquito fog machine going down the road with only about 30000 miles on the odo. I filled up the crankcase with STP and unloaded it for what I still owed the bank and bought a 66 VW. I've never owned a GM car since.

I read somewhere (possibly on the bottle of antifreeze ) that the maximum freeze protection occurs with a 60/40 mixture and after that the temperature protection is reduced. Pure ethylene-glycol freezes at about 8 degrees F.

Temperatures here on the north shore of Lake Superior occasionally get into the -40's. It's been around -25 during the nights here for the past week. I typically mix 60% antifreeze/40%water to get the fluid down to -60 protection. In the summer I switch to water and rust inhibitors.

I use Shell Rotella 15/40 in my 47.

cooter, "Regular" 87 octane pump gas is fine. Once a year I put a can of "Seafoam" in the gas tank to clean carbon but that is all for me.

Just put some gas in the tank and crank it over if it has a good battery. You might also remove the air cleaner and dribble an ounce or two of gas down the carb throat and crank the engine which should start it for a few seconds to help the fuel pump to get the gas flowing faster.

leadsled1953, You need the manual to understand how the Overdrive works. The lever moves the gears from direct drive to overdrive/freewheel mode but the electrics, specifically the solenoid, when energized, then locks the sungear and puts in motion the overdrive. Pretty complicated to explain without pictures.

WOW I must really be getting a good deal at -40 when the gas is really thick!

Love those "bundt cake" wheels!

leadsled1953, By saying it won't come out of overdrive do you mean the cable won't pull in and out or the car won't come out of overdrive when the car drops below approx.20mph or gas pedal is floored ? If it is truly stuck in overdrive as you say the owner should NOT be attempted to operate the car in reverse as it will cause serious damage. The transmission reverse shift mechanism should automatically move the shift rail so that the car is in conventional drive independent of the control lever whenever the car is put into reverse. Does the car move in reverse? You can test this by very gently releasing the clutch while the car is in reverse but STOP if there is resistance! The two causes listed in the manual for not releasing from "lockup"(conventional drive) or unlocking (in overdrive) which is controlled by the cable control) are 1.Improperly connected cable control and 2.Shift rail bound by housing misalignment. The reasons for not releasing from overdrive (electrical control) are 1. gounded circuit between relay and solenoid, 2. Defective governor switch, 3.Defective relay, 4. defective solenoid, 5. improper wiring 6.Solenoid improper installed, 7.Defective throttle switch. I am inclined to think that by not disengaging you are really referring to the mechanicl cable controlled lock-up mechanism rather than an electrical problem. I have often locked up the R-9 version using the O/D cable and released it many times while the car was stationary with no problems. I suggest that someone get under the car and make sure that the lock up lever moves back and forth completely when the cable is moved in and out. If you need more help send me a PM and I can arrange to e-mail you the manual.

Susan, My wife and I wear a set when out walking on our icy roads and sidewalks also.They work great!

Mika, Thunder Bay Ontario where I live has the highest Finnish population in the world outside Finland. A few years ago an elderly Finnish-Canadian man (who passed away this summer aged 84) came to a local cruise night with a wood burning 1954 International truck. He built it from memory having worked in the forests of Finland after World War 2 where they were apparently quite common. His daughter now drives the truck and it is a common sight at our local cruise night with the engine purring quietly while she stokes the boiler with slabs of white birch! Attached is a photo of the truck.

Mike, I have a Pertronix coil on my '47 Packard and it throws a big spark with no problems what so ever. did you hook up a resistor in the O/D wire as you were advised when we discussed the subject several months ago? http://forums.aaca.org/ubbthreads.php?ub...true#Post282581

Mike, Assuming the car is still 6volt positive ground; Ignition switch wire goes to "-" coil terminal, "+" coil terminal wire to distributor. The Overdrive wire also goes to the + terminal of the coil. I am curious as to why you are taking out the Pertronix? If you want to sell it let me know assuming it still works.