Flivver guy Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 New guy here. I am looking at a 1928 Packard 526. The car runs and drives. Are there any “common issues” or areas that I should pay extra attention when looking at this car? Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brass is Best Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 The 1928 Packard is an outstanding motor car. Very well built. Wonderful cars to drive. I had a 526 sedan I put over 1500 miles on. It is a Packard no real issues. Just check the normal old car stuff. Steering play, vacuum fuel system, clutch wear, brake wear and adjustment, make sure water pump has a good packing and condition of radiator. As with any car how it has been cared for means everything. When you get it take your time and service it right before you start driving it. This will save many headaches. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Peterson Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 Yup. Great cars (and cool photos, Andrew). Very dependable cars. It would be a little easier giving you some advice if we saw some photos of the car. Is it a restored car? Has the engine been rebuilt? Are you capable of turning your own wrench? Speedometers tend to be junk, but on closed cars they seem to have weathered time much better. If it needs rebuilding, cost could be anywhere between $400-$1,000. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 (edited) Many people say the 28’s are better than the 29-31 cars. I haven’t driven enough good ones to have an opinion. Rule of thumb.......Packard always built nice stuff. They were number one in their price category as far as production goes..........post a photo of what your looking at. Edited February 23, 2022 by edinmass (see edit history) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
32Pontiac6 Posted February 23, 2022 Share Posted February 23, 2022 Probably the most important thing about cars of this era is the structural wood. Thankfully, Packard took great care in selecting, designing, and assembling the wood structure for their cars. This problem can be particularly one in sedans because they have more wood than other body styles. Check that the doors don't sag and the gaps around the body openings are fairly uniform. You can adjust for normal wear and tear but if the wood has rot it can be a difficult and expensive problem to fix. Drive the car and listen for serious rattles. Packards are solid cars and it should feel solid with minimal rattles, even on a '28. If you acquire it I would make sure that the Bijur lubrication system is getting lube to all the points it is supposed to go to. If not you can lubricate those points manually. I like to drive my cars so first thing I did with mine is to make sure it is safe with brakes, tires, and a good check of the steering and suspension. I recommend buying the parts and service manual for this car. Packard literature for this vintage car is excellent with detailed parts numbers and many photos. I have been in the Pontiac/Oakland world for over 40 years, and while I love my early Pontiacs, there is a reason why even the least expensive Packard was several times more than my Pontiacs. They feel and drive differently and are extremely well engineered. While the 526 is the entry level Packard the mechanics are of the same, and in many cases, identical to the more expensive cars. They are not the fanciest of the Packards but the 7 main bearing single six engine in these cars is a great running engine. This was the last year for the single six. If you are at all handy with mechanics these cars are simple and not that hard to work on. I stumbled upon a 1928 526 sedan 'barn find' in the summer of 2019. Since then I have just been sorting it out and driving it all over. Solid original car with completely original interior including rear seat carpet. Unfortunately someday painted the car with a brush at some point in time. The car is a California car sold by Earle C Anthony. I believe I am the 4th owner and the car has lived within 200 miles of me since '28. I have put over 1300 trouble free miles on the car since purchase. I have had to deal with only one mechanical problem. I had one of the arms on the valve lifter rack break free from its pivot point. Pulled the rack and had it silver soldered back together and were are back running fine. Attached are before and after photos. I am planning to drive it to the Packard National Meet next year in Rohnert Park, CA. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flivver guy Posted February 24, 2022 Author Share Posted February 24, 2022 Well, I took the plunge! Went for a short test drive yesterday and all seems to work as it should. The car has been in storage since 1965 so will need a thorough refresh. I am used to working on my own cars, but the are Model T and Model A Fords. Looking forward to learning about my new Packard. I was too focused on inspecting things rather than taking any pictures yesterday. But, I will post some when I get her home. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flivver guy Posted February 24, 2022 Author Share Posted February 24, 2022 This car has old, flat spotted 6.50/20 tires. A quick look on the Coker website shows 6.00/20 tires available. What is the correct size that I should be looking for? Thanks, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Peterson Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 6.00 is correct; but 6.50 will work fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
32Pontiac6 Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 55 minutes ago, Flivver guy said: This car has old, flat spotted 6.50/20 tires. A quick look on the Coker website shows 6.00/20 tires available. What is the correct size that I should be looking for? Thanks, According to the documentation I have, the 526 uses 32x6 (6.00 - 20) and the 533 uses 32x6.76. I bought 6.00 - 20 Bedford Blackwalls from Lucas Tires. I am pleased with how they ride both on normal streets and freeway. I am hearing reports that tubes are very difficult to get right now. You might factor that into your decision. The 'after' photo I posted above shows the new tire tread very well. One thing about tires is to look at the tread pattern. I have three cars with three different tread patterns. One that has the tread that only has grooves parallel to the road can track badly on concrete roads with grooves cut in them. I have that problem here in CA with the tires on my '32 Pontiac with a wide tread pattern in the direction of travel. What is the body style of your car? And congratulations on your purchase! You will love driving that car. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flivver guy Posted February 24, 2022 Author Share Posted February 24, 2022 Thanks for the info. The car is a sedan and I am very anxious to be driving it. Will need to get the fuel system all sorted while waiting for the tires to get here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
32Pontiac6 Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 1 hour ago, Flivver guy said: Thanks for the info. The car is a sedan and I am very anxious to be driving it. Will need to get the fuel system all sorted while waiting for the tires to get here. I went through the fuel system and did take apart the vacuum tank. Just cleaned and made sure needle seated. Here are some photos of the innards...,. Also have photos of the rebuilding (new strap) for the Watson Regulators (shocks) and the valve rack I had to work on if you ever need those. Here are vacuum tank photos. https://adobe.ly/3hdXwfv 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1935Packard Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 Congrats on your "new" car! I'm biased, but I think Packards are the best. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken_P Posted February 26, 2022 Share Posted February 26, 2022 Congratulations! There is a good amount of Packard specific knowledge at PackardInfo.com. I’d encourage you to start a blog there or in the restoration section here, so we can follow along with you as you bring it back to life! Enjoy! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flivver guy Posted February 27, 2022 Author Share Posted February 27, 2022 When it comes to the proper manuals for this car…what would you suggest? Parts,Service, Operators manuals? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Huston Posted February 27, 2022 Share Posted February 27, 2022 57 minutes ago, Flivver guy said: When it comes to the proper manuals for this car…what would you suggest? Parts,Service, Operators manuals? Thanks When It comes to owning, and operating, a collector car of this vintage you buy every piece of factory literature you can lay your hands on. The information is priceless when you have problems to solve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryankazmer Posted February 27, 2022 Share Posted February 27, 2022 2 hours ago, Flivver guy said: When it comes to the proper manuals for this car…what would you suggest? Parts,Service, Operators manuals? Thanks between Packardinfo and suppliers like Kanter and Merrit, there is a lot available, considering it's a relatively low production car over 90 years old 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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