TexRiv_63

I don't think the 289 or 352 cars had any engine badging, something is not right. Since the 352 and the 390 look the same it is possible someone tried a badge "upgrade".

This has been a good discussion except for the inevitable political BS and your summation above is very much to the point. I think there are two parts to the car hobby - the "Vintage Car Club and Show" group and the "Vintage Car Build and Drive" group. The first group has created the high expectations for cars we have today along with a massive and expensive support industry which needs ever increasing car values to sustain growth. The second group are the folks who have always been around loving cars, doing their own work and driving what they create. These two groups need each other and intermingle but the first group has made it very difficult for the second group to afford it's passion. I think you can guess which group I'm in, and I honestly don't know how (or if) the problem can be solved.

I did this on a 1932 V12 which I assume is similar. I also had the manual but found that, like most manuals from those days, it is not very detailed. They knew all dealer mechanics were factory trained and a lot of their knowledge was "assumed" and not included in the manual. The Cad V12 is basically two straight six engines with a common crankshaft, they have separate fuel and ignition systems for each bank of cylinders. The trick with the timing is to set and synchronize both sets of points using two different timing marks on the flywheel. I had to contact a couple of other V12 owners who talked me through it before I actually understood the whole process. Once I understood it the biggest problem I had was rotating the engine and hitting the timing marks. I tried with the crank but that did not work, I wound up buying a flywheel rotation tool and removed the clutch cover to use it. It worked very well and the rest was fairly easy. You will obviously need a helper to watch the marks while you rotate the engine. I would be glad to discuss this with you in further detail if needed, if so send me a PM with your contact info. Good luck!

Finally got the electrical gremlins fixed on the Packard and took it out for an early (cool) morning ride yesterday. Later I took the Starfire out and needed the AC bad! Lastly my wife's Miata had been sitting in the driveway for a few days so I gave it a little exercise. Then I parked all three of these hot cars in the garage and closed the door, I think it got to about 1000 degrees in there!

Thanks Terry. It seems to crank over about the same but I never had a any difficulty with that until the old battery died.

Just an update if you followed this thread - I have finished the new battery box along with a new disconnect switch, cables, and cutout. Details and photos are on my restoration thread: http://forums.aaca.org/f190/1934-packard-preservation-347762.html

This whole problem was caused by a cheap Chinese solid state cutout which melted and shorted out, causing a severe voltage drain and a dead battery. I opened up the generator and was lucky that there was no damage to the armature. Jason Smith at Advanced Electrical Rebuilders (Advanced Electrical Rebuilders - Antique Auto - Marine - Agricultural - Industrial) was recommended to me and he was very helpful. Unfortunately the original Owen Dyneto cutout/regulator is not readily available but he supplied me with a NOS Delco Remy heavy duty mechanical cutout that is a direct fit and should work fine for my needs. I installed it today and intend to have the car back on the road tomorrow - I wonder what is next?

The original ground cable was a very funky looking metal mesh strap attached to the frame at the back side. The new disconnect switch location is at the opposite end so I needed new cables. I already owned some 0 gauge copper cable from a previous car so I bought new Fusion terminal ends at NAPA which came with flux and solder already inside. I measured, cut, and stripped the cable then heated the terminals with a propane torch. When the solder melts just push the wire in and hold in place until the solder sets, gives a very strong connection and looks good. I attached the ground to a large lug fastened to the front of the battery support which is riveted to the frame, the lug is right under the switch location. Once I had the cables made and connected I used some large washers and nuts on the original battery bracket studs to lock the battery box in place, now everything is solid with no movement. Next and Last step - New cutout...

There was nothing I could do to avoid the cutout failure that caused my problem, but if I would have disconnected my battery when the car was sitting I may not have lost the original battery. It had one of those cheap plastic knob terminal disconnects on the battery but I never used it because it did not appear to have any voltage drain and you have to remove the drivers seat cushion to get at the battery, what a hassle. I know, I know, pretty stupid! I was very lucky I only lost a battery, any old car with original fabric covered wiring is a potential firetrap and one way to guard against problems is by using the disconnect ALL the time. I was advised to use a quality Cole-Hersee rotary switch which I was able to order at my local NAPA store. I decided to mount the switch on the metal riser under the front seat, facing the firewall, and cut it into the positive ground side of the battery. I loosened the trim panel on the riser and used a Greenlee hole punch to make a 3/4" hole, then cut the trim panel to match. Hold it - I have to thank the guy who invented the Greenlee hole punch, what a great tool! I've had a basic set for 40 years and bought a box of additional sizes on Ebay 10 years ago. I don't use them often but every time I do I am very impressed at how perfectly they work. This time I used the same punch to make a hole in normal sheetmetal but also in a heavy 3/32" thick washer, great results on both. Next step - New ground cables...

If you saw my "6 Volt Optima Battery Mounting" thread on the General forum (http://forums.aaca.org/f169/6-volt-optima-battery-mounting-354717.html) You know that I recently had trouble with the battery and charging system. My original battery died and it turned out this was caused by a fried solid state cutout on the generator which created a massive voltage drain. I ordered a new Optima battery and a replacement cutout, here is the rest of the story. My first issue was coming up with a container for the rather small Optima that would fit securely in the original Packard open battery tray and keep everything from moving around. After considering commercially available battery boxes and replica battery cases my frugality kicked in and I decided to build a wooden box. I bought a six foot long 1 by 8 for about $7.00, the 7 1/2" width of this board was actually a perfect fit in the tray leaving about 1/4" on each side. The same board screwed to a base resulted in a height slightly over 8" which was a good match for the tray height - I was very lucky! I cut the rest of the boards to size, screwed the box together and painted it black. I mounted the battery inside on an angle, bent some steel corner brackets and used them to hold the battery base lugs to the bottom of the box. Next step - Disconnect switch...

Another thought, was your pressure sensor supplied with the gauges? If not there may be a compatibility problem. Also, what type of synthetic oil are you using? At engine temps of 200 I hope it's not anything that starts with "0W" or "5W". Actually I think the pressure is probably fine for a stock engine. When they used these in cop Caprices and Impala SS cars the oil gauge reading was electrically "enhanced" because the low idle readings made people nervous. I can tell you from personal experience these motors are pretty bulletproof and will give a LOT of trouble free miles.

Welcome to the forum, that is a beautiful car!

I was hooked on cars before I met my wife so she knew what she was getting into before she married me almost 40 years ago. To her a car is an appliance like a toaster but she knew they were an obsession to me and she supported that. She has never criticized my many purchases or my fixup efforts and has bemusedly helped me a million times. In return I have always kept the car money separate from the budget money and I take her pretty much wherever she wants to go. I wouldn't expect any more than that from her and think I've been pretty fortunate to have her in my life.

Paul, I think you called it. The Packard uses a cutout and someone had replaced the original with a solid state version. I just disconnected it and checked, no discharge. Upon removal and further inspection the resin used to enclose the electronics has melted indicating a severe short-out. I will look for a new cutout and start working on my battery box. Here are some pics, the first one is how it looked when I got the car.

Here is an update on this with a problem! I received the Optima yesterday, charged it up and temporarily installed it today to move the car with plans to work on the battery box tomorrow. It started up fine, ran well, and I got it moved over. When I shut it off I noticed the ammeter showed a major discharge of 25-30 amps, almost pegging the gauge. I started it back up and it showed a 15 amp charge at fast idle dropping to just over zero at slow idle which seemed normal, but the heavy discharge came back when I shut it off. I made sure the light switch was in the off position and visually checked that no lights were burning. Seeing no obvious problem I disconnected the battery and will start checking things tomorrow. This car has operated perfectly for the last four months with no battery drain or starting problems and I left the battery connected all the time, now all of a sudden the old battery dies and this major drain appears, has anyone else had a similar problem? If so what caused it and how did you fix it? I admit that when it comes to electrical problems its all "magic smoke in the wires" to me, any help would be appreciated.

Forget about your liability for the next owner, if you are driving a car with bad brakes you have a much bigger liability problem right now. Get them fixed and do it right!

More goodies from the shed for sale this week on Ebay. Single hubcaps for 29-31 Pierce Arrow, early 30s Reo, Hupmobile, Buick, Pontiac 8, late 30s / 40s Oldsmobile, Plymouth, Buick, Ford. Also an early Pierce Delco dash light switch panel with dual paddle handles and some radiator badges including Dodge Brothers, Oakland, Essex, and a rare Cord badge. Check it out at: rusty_packard | eBay

Very good thread and very good work. Keep the suspense coming!

Thanks to your buyer for removing temptation from in front of my eyes....

Used to get a lot of these for both PayPal and Ebay. Both companies work hard to fight this, they used to ask you to forward the messages to them at spoof@ebay.com or spoof@paypal.com.

Wow, I see this was a pretty widely used treatment. Hearing about the results I wish it was a lot more common on the Illinois rustbuckets I used to work on!

That's a great series of articles!

I have been reading Bofusmosby's thread on removing and treating undercarriage rust on his prewar Pontiac. It reminded me of something I was told a million years ago by the owner of a very old service station in Chicago. He said in the days before anyone worried about environmental issues they offered a service where they sprayed used drain oil on the undercarriage of your car to keep it from rusting. I always pictured how spectacularly messy this would have been for both the guy doing the spraying and the floor under the car and doubted it was true. But over the years I have seen a number of prewar car chassis with heavy uniform layers of dried oil / grease that almost support the story. Has anyone else ever heard of this and was it actually done on a common basis?

My 28 Pierce was a true crashbox, never got the downshift right but after I filled it with 600 the upshifts were great. The 32 Caddy was synchronized and very smooth but you had to be patient on the 3-2 downshift. Your comment above on the Packard synchro boxes is interesting. My 34 shifts great until it fully warms up, then it balks a bit. I've been double clutching it to be safe but the downshifts are a problem. I have 140 wt. oil in it, wondering if it needs to be thicker...

I learned to double clutch on upshifts just fine but downshifting always eluded me. All the advice to "rev up the engine to match the gear speeds" - how do you actually determine what speed that is? I can honestly say I have never done that successfully in many tries.