Owen_Dyneto

If you intend to use and enjoy this car you really should obtain a reprint of the owner's manual and/or lubrication charts which are readily available, and which no doubt contain the OEM's recommended lubricant. That said, for this type of transmission I'd guess that the correct lubricant is plain SAE 140 gear oil without any EP additives. We just obtained a 5 gallon pail of this for a 31 Pierce Arrow trans and you should have no problem finding it at speciality lubricant sources.

I'm uncertain about the very early Packards thru about 1922, but thereafter all the 6 volt Packards thru 1954 are positive ground, as was true for many makes of cars in that era. The 12volt 1955 Packard cars remained at positive ground, and the 1956 12volt Packard cars became negative ground.

I usually just use a large enough socket to cover the face of the seal and tap carefully. But in a related matter I believe your car has the pinion bearing preload adjusted by a "crush sleeve"; are you replacing this as well and following the shop manual process for preloading the bearing? If not, hopefully you've counted the exact number of turns of the retaining nut and can return it to exactly the same position to maintain whatever preload you had before.

Yes, most but not all Darrins were built on the 120 chassis. Darrin himself preferred this because the cars were cheaper and he was going to gut the interior and hack the body anyway. After Packard took over the production of Darrins, there were Darrins based on the 180 chassis.

I have an 11th Edition Chilton's which charts all the Stromberg applications up to about 1936, I believe. I've previously abstracted individual part numbers and jet sizes for the Stromberg EE-22 which is very similar to your EE-23. Post your email here if you want that information and I'll scan the page and email it to you.

West and Randy, the date stamped on the patent (firewall) plate, often called the VIN plate, is the date the car was delivered to the original owner. My 34 has the Kelch hot air heater which used a heat exchanger on the exhaust header and an electric blower and manifold tubes to supply hot air to both the front and rear compartments. A year or two later they (Kelch heaters)were revised to also allow for defroster action. The one large advantage over the hot water heaters is that they produce HOT air, whereas with alcohol antifreeze back in 34, thermostates were only 155 degrees and thus hot water heater weren't very hot.

Go to the PAC website, and contact Mr. Jim Pearsall of Zarepath NJ who is a very dedicated and knowledgeable Packard historian, and also the long-time roster keeper for the 34 cars (Eights and Super Eights). He has traced much of the prior ownership as possible on these cars. I am the second owner of a 34 Packard Eight (1100), having now owned it for more than 40 years and mine was originally sold out of the factory branch on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. I'd also enjoy hearing more about your car, please be so kind as to email me at <dlczirr@cs.com> with particulars. Dave Czirr

Far more makes of cars were positive ground with 6 volt than were negative, including all Packards that i'm aware of, Ford products, Hudsons, and even some earlier GM cars. I doubt you've done any permanent damage unless you had the radio on (if so equipped). As previously noted, reverse the polarity to positive ground, check the battery cable sizes (0 gauge at a minimum), make sure the connections especially the ground cable at the frame are clean and secure, repolarize the generator, and all should be well.

I used both blackwall tire dressing and plain old butcher's paste wax over the years, both seemed to work at keeping the headliner (34 Packard sedan) dry for a season or so.

If you look closely at the oil pump manifolding you'll note that the longest run is for #8 so all other things being equal, when one rod bearing begins to fail, its almost invariably #8. I've heard comments that the rod bearing shells for these 35-59 rods have been remanufactured recently, but for many years they were unavailable and all manner of attempts were made to keep the engines in service; these included installing pre-1935 rods that accepted babbitt, and trying to reline old bearing shells with new alloy. Some folks even tried shimming the shell from behind, or wiping the shell with silver solder; perhaps this is what was tried on your engine and I would think most attempts at these Goldberg fixes failed rather quickly; that said I understand that some of the prestige restoration shops have had success in applying new bearing alloy to old shells though I suspect it's a bit of an art and at the least requires that the steel shells have no pre-existing metal fatigue.

I?m interested in hearing of people?s experiences with relining drum brakes and switching from the old asbestos to new non-asbestos brake linings. I don?t know if the newer materials have different coefficients of friction, but comments about squealing, squeeking, groaning, pulling, lining life, wear on drums, types (materials of construction) linings used, whether primary and secondary shoes have the same lining material, and any other related information and observations would sure be appreciated

Enclosed is a pretty good Packard factory photo taken on the 22nd series production line. Some of the details it shows are that the front engine mount yoke, vibration damper, and oil filler tube are painted engine color (probably gray for this car), these are components I often see painted black on restored cars.

I think the responses to this query have been quite insightful. I'll add one piece of anecdotal evidence, a friends totally original 1931 Pierce Arrow Model 43 finally developed a rod knock and had the rods rebabbitted at 90,000 miles. There was no need to turn or polish the crankshaft.

Albert's hit the target square on. Even the professional coil testers that were common in shops years back weren't very predictable in results. Generally, coils begin to show signs of failure first when they are hot; Adequate ignition with a cold engine and irregular ignition when the engine (and coil) are hot is a standard sign of coil failure.

Jon, I don't have THE answer to your question, but can give you a few things to think about. Firstly, babbit is still used extensively as a bearing material; for example on thrust blocks and bearings on propellor shafts of cruise ships and freighters (granted, rotation speeds are low). Even with primitive oils, lack of oil filters and air filters, many babbit engines of the 20s and 30s went 50-80 thousand miles before bearings were repoured or shims adjusted. And babbit has one BIG advantage over shell bearings, its softer and tends to protect the crankshaft by being able to "imbed" particles rather than grinding the shaft with them. My own experience with babbit rods in my 34 Packard Eight has been satisfactory, both the original and the first rebabbit job averaging about 50 thousand miles each; the car has been driven sensibly in recognition of its age, yet has probably been driven a higher average speeds than it did when new. One last thing to think about; some conversions to shells have resulted in connecting rod failure and crankshaft damage due to the weakening of the connecting rod by the machining needed to accomodate the shells (for example, the "notching" of rod bolts to clear the shells). So if you go this route, choose carefully!

Packard offered RHD cars right to the end, though the V8 models for the UK were converted there by the dealer, Leonard Williams. Following the closing of the Canadian plant (in 1939 I believe,which was significantly but NOT totally dedicated to making RHD cars), Detroit produced RHD cars thru 1954, the 48-54 parts book detailing some of the parts required.

Congratulations on getting a 34 Packard 1100, I looked this car over very carefully at Hershey as I've owned a 34 1100 for more than 40 years now, though mine is primarily unrestored and a driver. Yes, the window garnish moldings are grained metal, in fact the only genuine wood trim inside the car are the rear seat ash tray surrounds. I'll drop in a picture of my 1100 if I can figure out how. Also, I'd be glad to help with any questions on the 1100.

I agree with Mr. Berger about Armoral. Its water-based and intended to form a dry glossy film and would be harmful to the leather seal in the vacuum cylinder. I've used commercial vacuum oil from time to time in my 34 Packard power brake cylinder and its been working fine for 40+ years. Usual dose is about 1 tablespoon every 20 years. Also the original diaphram in the actuating valve was made of coated paper; its amazing these last as long as they do, but replacements are available in neoprene. The 35 models don't have the "brake selector" system to allow various levels of power boost, but that diaphram, also paper originally, is also available. When these Bragg-Kliesrath (later Bendix) booster systems are working OK and the brake adjustments are done per the manual, these cars have just terrific brake systems, as others have pointed out.

My understanding is slightly different, I understand Rotella will now have a reduced ZDDP content, but not zero. Fortunately I bought enough last year to last me for decades.

A lot of folks use this "using up what they had on hand" to explain all manner of anomolies in Packard, but in 40+ years of owning and examining Packards, this is rarely the case; most times the oddities are the result of prior owners. One significant exception is the late 1956 models. With regard to 51 and 52 hoods, of course the other difference is that the 51 was drilled for the block letters P A C K A R D across the front, and 52 hoods were not. Also in 1951 and 52 the pelican (Packards selection of word in that era) hood ornament was only standard on the 250/300/400 models, which carried the build sheet code "PE". Yours looks to me like a correct 1952 pelican.

You didn't state if you had the old radiator. If so, its a simple matter, any good radiator shop can recore your radiator using the old top and bottom tanks. Cost generally between $300 and $400. If you don't have the tanks, you'll be best off by buying a junk radiator to get same.

I believe the official Packard club position for the 22nd and 234d series cars is gray for the 288 and 327 engines, and green for the Custom 8s (356 engine), and this is mostly supported by observations from original unmolested cars, though every so often you see one which seems to break the rule. These observations can be complicated by the fact that factory-rebuilt engines were all painted gray in this era, regardless of engine size. Despite these occasional abberations, I'd stick to that rule. You can do a very credible job of painting the engine without removing it from the car, but the most important step is to remove all the grease, oil, rust, peeling old paint, etc. The engine enamels sold for this purpose are applied over the bare block without use of a primer. Removing things such as the starter, generator, manifolds and other engine accessories makes it an easier job. You can also do a good job even with a brush as the grainy surface of the cast iron tends to hide any brush strokes and the engine enamels are slow-drying which also aids flow-out and leveling.

The in-line Packard IM-245 and IM-356 marine motors were offered in pairs with both clockwise and counterclockwise rotation, and of course a variety of step-down gear reductions. You can go thru the parts books for these motors and pick out the parts that were changed for the different rotation, interesting reading.

Looks like a really nice Custom 8, but I believe from the photos that the seat fabric is incorrect, bottom cushion should be "shadow cloth", that wool with the box within the box pattern. Color looks correct though. This material was reproduced once years back, but has been unavailable for a long time now. Other minor items I notice is that my 50 Custom 8 had a chromed steering column and parking brake lever.

I used Steele weatherstripping on my 56 Caribbean. The kit may have been made for the 2 dr hardtop as a little cutting and fitting was required, but quality was superb. The price makes you gasp a bit though.