Owen_Dyneto

Yes, an egg-crate with a 327 motor should be a 23rd series Super DeLuxe, body style 2385 for the 2 door. A reasonably uncommon model I should think. Though there was a Custom 8 2dr in the 22nd series, it was not continued into the 23rd so that would make it the top of the line for a 2-door closed car.

Gosh, I must have 100 photos of unique one-off and series custom prewar Packards. Here's a 39 Super 8 by Franay. Used by an army staff car in Paris by both the Germans and later the Americans. Photos by this respondent.

1940 one-off by Derham. Built for one of the principals of the Drexel-Lambert financial house. Also an unrestored car.

A 236 by Merrimac, completely original.

Some nice detail photos of a 35 1201 by Graber can be found at PackardClub.org • View topic - 1935 Eight by Graber

BJM, sorry for going off-topic, but I was wondering what your experiences were with your 72 Centurion? I bought one new, lost an engine at 3 miles and a transmission at 12. Neither was replaced under warranty with new, just factory-rebuilt. Went thru a dozen or more power window motors and windshield wiper motors, which were just replaced until the warranty ran out, dealer never sought out the cause of the failures. Needless to day, I sold the car quickly and never bought another GM vehicle. Other than those troubles which were extreme, it was a nice riding, nicely finished car. 455 engine.

You might consider Precious Metals in Bergenfield, New Jersey. He does lots of high end shipments to the likes of Pebble, Amelia Island, etc. Regularly goes down to Florida and out to the West Coast and places in between. I've used him several times and would recommend him highly. He's got top-grade equipment, and isn't inexpensive, but reliable and professional. 1-888-773-2468. Owner is Billy Masten.

Correct for 11th series Eights and Super Eights as well.

Coldwar, you removed a trans from a 55 Packard LIMO?? Please tell us more. The long-held view is that the last LWB Packard was 1954. This would he history-making news. It must have used the Clipper traditional suspension as there were no long torsion bars made, or at least we've always believed. Pictures? I hope so.

Dave D, perhaps you already know this but the most significant difference between the 36 and 37 Senior Packards is that the latter have independent front suspension and hydraulic brakes; the former have beam front axle on dual leaf springs, and the rather excellent Bendix (but time-consuming to adjust properly) mechanical brakes. Both have vacuum brake boosters. Bijur was eliminated when IFS was adopted.

Jim Edward, thanks for the info on the differences in fluids. I'm not saying your right or wrong but I'd like to research it further for confirmation. Reason I say that is that Packard's Ultramatic called for Type A, and by a large majority today's owners have found Type FA to perform the best, with smaller majorities saying Dexron/Mercon performs OK, and yet others having direct-drive clutch groaning with Dexron/Mercon which has corrected itself upon returning to Type FA. I know those are just observations and knowledge of the fluid additive packages would be more meaningful.

Type FA is the closest currently available ATF replacement for Type A, and is readily available.

If they don't leak, you might get some improvement from changing to Mobil's hydraulic oil DTE-25, it's SAE20 and a bit heavier than simple hydraulic jack oil which many folks use. But don't expect miracles, worn parts is worn parts.

I personally would never want to resuse brake linings that were severely contaminated with anything, but back in the days when I worked part-time in the repair industry we used alcohol, as others have suggested, for owners too frugal (or foolish) to spring for new linings.

1935Packard, as far as I know the Reedy & Shaub book on Packard jacks and tools is still current, it was for sale by one of the authors at the Gettysburg National meet this past July. It's a bit more of a subscription that a book, it's a looseleaf binder for which you receive occasional updated or new pages. If you want one, I'd suggest contacting one of the authors: Don Reedy, 11910 Indian Lane, Hagerstown, MD 21740, (301)-797-6166.

Picture taken at the Greenwich (CT) Concours? Without the cloisonne hubcaps one might guess it's a Super Eight with a Twelve bumper, which seems a pretty common upgrade.

Isotta Fraschini is still today alive and building primarily marine and rail-transport engines. I was a bit surprised when recently touring the engine room of a modern cruise ship to find an auxilliary motor/generator set made by I-F.

This "Packard would do anything to sell a car" statement often gets taken much too far as an explanation for non-stock features, especially on junior cars and in later years. But that said, using 1934 as an example, the Salesman's Data Book specifications under paint combinations note a charge of $110.00 on the Eight and Super Eight for the entire body in "special paint". No charge for it on a Twelve. There are various other lesser charges for chassis in color, hood louver doors in different colors, window reveals and mouldings in different colors, etc. Certainly there was a lot of freedom for the buyer willing to pay, but I'd suggest that despite that, 99.9% of cars, perhaps Twelves excluded, were in stock colors.

Trico did publish a procedure for oiling the interior parts of the wiper motor in place. In a nutshell, use vacuum oil or power air tool oil, and the procedure depends on rotating the arm to a particular position, and then adding a bit of oil which, continuing the arm stroke, will be drawn into the motor. Repeat in the opposite position for oiling the opposite side of the vane. I have the method somewhere and will post when I find it if no one beats me to it.

You might want to browse the general headgasket replacement advice given for a Packard eight at: PackardClub.org • View topic - 359 Head Gasket

There are vendors who sell split-ring graphited cord packing for most shaft and housing sizes, and you can also just buy spooled graphited cord packing at plumbing supply stores. I used the latter 40 years ago and haven't had to do it again. But if you use the cord, use something to pack it into the cavity first, and you may have to use the glad nut several times to make sure the cavity is firmly packed. Final adjustment of the packing gland nut should be such that an occasional drop of coolant passes the packing, this for purposes of lubricating the shaft.

Blanks reproduction tags correct for 1942 can be purchased from several sources including the major Packard vendors, Kanter Bros and Max Merritt. As far as the original VN goes, once the tag is gone your chance of ever recovering the correct original # is slim to none, unless you can get it from prior owners or even more remotely, from state DMVs. Another chance might be if the car was registered with the roster keeper for that model with The Packard Club prior to the loss of the tag.

I spent 40+ years servicing the chemical machining industry. Generally such plaques are made by applying an acid-resistant image, either via silk screening or a photo-sensitive lacquer, and are then etched using ferric chloride as an etchant. If you go to this link and scroll down, you'll see a picture of an old and newly manufactured ID plate for a Packard IM-357 marine engine. As I remember, the cost was about $100 each for 3 plates. PM me if you wish and I can probably get you the vendor contact information. PackardClub.org • View topic - Packard Marine Engines 1M-357 & 1M-268

Packard typically sold about 5-8% of its models as convertible coupes, so you could estimate that out of the 24,995 1935 model 120s, perhaps 1750 were convertible coupes. We know they made at least 911 based on the vehicle number of one of the survivors. I believe there is but one listed in The Packard Club membership directory.

Special Interest Auto claims to have DeJon ignition parts. Google "DeJon ignition parts" and you'll find them if you haven't already checked them out.