34PackardRoadsta

I would suggesting having your friend install an independent oil gauge. The fault may be with the gauge.

What car and what carburetor? We need more information before an informed opinion can be offered.

Tex, I strongly recommend you deal with both the cooling problems and the Bijur problems as soon as possible. Your motor has babbitt bearings, which will fail much more quickly if the operating temperature is too high (as yours is). The clutch throw out bearing and spring shackles will also fail quickly if the Bijur system is not working. Both situations involve very costly repairs. Unfortunately for me, I base this on experience. Since those days I have learned how important Bijur and low operating temps (less than 180) are to Packards like ours. You have a great car, with a great known history. I wish you the best in your enjoyment of your rolling mechanical and visual art piece. Cheers, Tom

It might be possible to build it up with welding. The shop I use in MN can probably help. Odyssey Restorations (763) 786-1518

I suggest you contact David Flack. He is on this forum as Flackmaster.

If you can't find an original crank, you should be able to modify a 7/8" socket, then use a long breaker bar to turn the engine.

Hi Dave, Any chance you have a good horn button/center cover for a 38 120 banjo steering wheel? Thanks, Tom p.s. I lost your phone #. Please give me a call when you can.

PInfo was DNS spoofed. Should be fixed now. Tom

Tom, I would say to follow Ply33's instructions. At the same time you check for rim trueness, you can check the tires themselves (same procedure, just on the tire), though a dial indicator for the tires is overkill. Just use a stick and see how much the tires vary as they rotate. Place the stick horizontal relative to the tread, very close to the tread, and give the wheel a spin. If you see large variation in the gap between stick and tread, the tire needs to be shaved. Cheers, Tom

The inside of the frame is covered with trim and cloth. On my 733 sedan, the area underneath the trim was black. Cheers, Tom

Tom, I am not familiar with how wood artillery wheels are put together. Can the wood spokes warp? Did you check the rims for trueness? As ply33 stated, it is pretty easy to do with a dial caliper. Or bring them to a tire place and have them check. Good luck finding a solution. Cheers, Tom

Tom, Mine were pretty bad. I think they sit bound for shipping for a long time. I highly doubt that sandblasting would have generated enough heat to warp your rims. Are they spoke rims? If so, it is possible that some of the spokes loosened and the rim warped. Cheers, Tom

On my 733 sedan the heater was a Topic-Aire (photo below). I am not sure if that was a factory specified accessory, or up to each dealer to choose. I do know they were dealer installed (I have the original dealer delivery receipt). Cheers, Tom

Also have the tires checked for out of round. I had shimmy problems after replacing my 34 tires. No amount of balancing helped, because the tires were uneven.

What about lock washers? The split lock washers from the pre-war era (and perhaps later) are quite different in appearance and design from modern lock washers. However, these are big contributors to safety. So, is it safe to re-use old lock washers? What about the very large nuts on the cable brake backing plates? Is there anywhere, for safety, where you absolutely should NOT use old hardware? Thanks, Tom

West, Thanks for the Caddy photo. That is very interesting. Any chance there are more photos of the car? It looks like the driver's top and windshield are very similar, if not identical, to the 633. Also, the raised aluminum belt-line. The car Tom F is working has a bunch of interesting features. I did not get photos of everything, as my camera is acting wonky. I hope to get back over there soon with a better camera. BKazmer, I looked at the site, and there are some good photos. Thanks! Tom

If you can find a Standard Auto-Electricians Manual from that era, it will contain the information you need. Unfortunately, they are rare as snake legs. Have you tried contacting anyone in the PAC or PI that has a similar car? Good luck with your search. Sorry I can't provide more information. Tom

Dear All, I visited a local fellow yesterday that is restoring a custom bodied 633. The coachwork was done in Paris by Henry Binder. The car is a town car. The restorer is looking for any information folks may have on this car, or any similarly bodied car of any make. Henry Binder is best known for a re-bodied Bugatti 41. He apparently also provided bodies for Rolls and Bentley. Below are some photos. Thanks for the help. Tom

38Darrin, That is a very nice looking car. The front clip consists of the front fenders, the radiator cowl and radiator grill. It can all be removed as a single assembly. The front bumper is attached to the frame and is not part of the front clip. The parts on your car (omitting the modifications), except the the body panels, some trim, and interior from the cowl back, should all be standard Packard items for a 1601. Also, the bumpers and hubcaps look to be standard issue. Again, very nice looking car. I hope you get plenty of chances to enjoy it. Cheers, Tom

email sent. Thanks!

I need a water pump housing from an 8th or 9th series standard eight (Part # 210685). I may be able to use one from an earlier or later standard eight. The parts book is somewhat confusing, saying all standard eights used the same water pump assembly, but the pump bodies (and other parts) are different between 7th and the later series.

The disk like thing is a vacuum manifold. It allows for different accessories requiring different vacuum pressures to exist on the same system. The other gizmo, I believe (or guess), is an electric fuel pump with a pressure tank for maintaining a constant pressure in the fuel system regardless of the volume required by the carburetor to maintain engine rpm.

I was basing the top being wrong on the partial view of the rear window visible through the rumble seat opening. The window itself may be correct, but the supporting fabric looks wrong. It could still be correct, as it is a little hard to see.

Below are some observations that I have made on your car based on the photos. I also am not trying to be critical for the sake of being critical, but hoping this will help you develop a feel for the value of the car to a collector. Things that I noticed, in addition to the above comments, that may effect final value: Wrong radio head and radio antenna. I can't see the radio itself. Incorrect steering wheel central hub. This will be hard to find. Incorrect shifter knob. No big deal. Incorrect coils. Possibly incorrect distributor. No oil filter. A big deal. Incorrect, or partial, air cleaner. Hard to find. Radiator shutters/sylphon thermostat not working Incorrect accelerator pedal Top looks wrong, and probably is. Very expensive. Rear of passenger compartment missing bulkhead,which is why you can see the top through the rumble seat opening. Also weird enclosure over the 'golf bag compartment'. No rumble seat foot rest Rumble seat release has to be incorrect (given the absence of the rear bulkhead). Fuel/vacuum pump is incorrect and electric. Also, mounted on firewall, which is a really bad idea. Also looks like the fuel line comes through the passenger compartment. Also a bad idea. Firewall was replaced at some point with what appears to be a sheet of stainless steel. Again, just a list of what I can see in the photos. Tom

Yesterday was the last day of work on the 1930 sedan for the next two months. From now until then, I will be focusing on getting the 1932 Light Eight back on the road. The goal with this first effort is to get it running well and safe for road travel. It needs a major refurbishing, but that will wait until the 1930 is completed. So, yesterday the 30 chassis was taken to storage, and the 32 light eight was put in its place. I posted the latest entry for the PP Tribune, focused on the fuse block refurbishing, here.