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1929 Packard - Storage lot find

'38 Dodge Mel

By '38 Dodge Mel
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'38 Dodge Mel 250+ Points

'38 Dodge Mel

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Was able to get this ‘29 Packard 6-33 seven passenger from a storage lot.   Tarp was blown off over the years, hasn’t been started in over a decade (but was running when parked), but after a wash and a bit of wax, at least the paint came up nicely.  The mechanical will be my winter project. 

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Frank DuVal 25,000+ Points

Frank DuVal

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Location, location, location. Here in the east cars with tarps blown off do not look that good!

 

Great looking car!👍

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1937hd45 25,000+ Points

1937hd45

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THANK YOU! I really like it when people take the time to photograph cars with great backgrounds! Makes people want to know where you live and learn some history of the landscape. The Packard cleaned up really well, I saw the earlier photos, glad it has a proper caretaker now. 

 

Bob 

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edinmass 25,000+ Points

edinmass

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Fantastic car.......exactly what Packard was building in large numbers.....and it doesn't have a bunch of tacky junk bolted all over it. The thing has great eyeball.........just one small detail that kills me........swap out the Phillip head screws that are rusty for some nice stainless slotted jobs............Phillip head screws on early cars drive me nuts............look forward to some under hood photos. Congratulations on a great car. 

Edited by edinmass (see edit history)
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Graham Man 10,000+ Points

Graham Man

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Beautiful Packard, hope you get it running soon, they look best on the road.  In my experience brakes have been a bigger job then getting them running (all my Graham cars have hydraulic brakes).  Either way remove the plugs and put a couple teaspoons of marvel mystery oil down each spark plug hole to loosen the valves, rings and pistons.   I would do this every few weeks till you start it, it will smoke a lot when you start it, but frees up lots of possible problems.

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gwells 5,000+ Points

gwells

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A type of screw, used most famously on early Fords produced in Canada.

 

Robertson screw
A Robertson screw, also known as a square screw or Scrulox, is a type of screw with a square-shaped socket in the screw head and a corresponding square protrusion on the tool. Both the tool and socket have a slight taper.
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1935Packard 10,000+ Points

1935Packard

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Love this.  Looks just like it would have in period, nothing fancied up, and the kind of Packard you were most likely to see.  Bravo.

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Guest

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3 hours ago, Graham Man said:

Square head drive wood screw, they are still available and work great

 

image.png.702c4cbcdf590ab234e6f97e500859b4.png

Much less scarring on the fingertips as well. Way to go Canada. 🇨🇦 

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wayne sheldon 25,000+ Points

wayne sheldon

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Robertson screws are so very much better than Phillips screws! If you haven't used them, you just don't know! I cannot figure out why this country ever embraced the Phillips screw as the common standard. They are inconsistent. They are junk! The fit is completely hit and miss between the screw and the driver. They strip and wear out quickly (because the fit is never right!). Trying to hold the driver and screw together to get them started and fighting the lousy (lack of) alignment causes pain and suffering and stains your walls and floors with blood.

I cannot imagine that Robertson screws could cost that much more to manufacture than does the Phillips? The driver and screw have a natural "set" that holds together in alignment (they are slightly tapered squares), and nearly eliminates ALL my complaints about Phillips screws! I have greatly disliked Phillips screws since before I was ten! When I was introduced to the Robertson screws a few years later, I loved them! I even had to make a screw driver to fit Robertson screws one time when I ran into some. It was easy and I still have it. When I was working with cutting edge new technologies for communications systems, we used some equipment that had Robertson screws, and bought a set of drivers for them. Four driver sizes, one of which would fit perfectly every Robertson screw we ever ran into after we got them.

 

Shall I go on?

 

No, I want to see and hear more about this wonderful Packard!

Congratulations on a great find!

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Larry Schramm 25,000+ Points

Larry Schramm

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Posted (edited)

The Robertson screws were not adopted here in the US because Henry Ford did not want to pay the royalties as Robertson was Canadian, plus it would add a few more cents to the price of the car.  This is what I have been told by a number of persons.


As for cross slotted or Phillips screws there is a reason that they were adopted in the US car business.  When the screw get tight, the screw driver will "cam out" so it will not generally speaking over tighten and/ or strip out.  This is not the case with the Robertson screws. 

 

The Robertson screws are still used quite extensively by the RV industry in travel trailers, etc..

 

The modern equivalent to Robertson screws are Torx screws or otherwise called multi lobed screws.

Edited by Larry Schramm (see edit history)
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JRA 2,500+ Points

JRA

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Phillips screws were invented in 1935, and adopted in cars in 1936/1937 by GM.
In every 1920s car I have, I did a detailed search of Phillips screws intruders, and after over 90 years of maintenance, they are there! So it is one additional item to our to-do-list during restoring work.

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Restorer32 25,000+ Points

Restorer32

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Slightly OT but what the hey.  There has always been a legend that maintains that on 16 cyl Cadillacs from the early 1930s all the slotted screws were installed with all the slots lined up.  I was skeptical but...Last year we had a 1931 16 cyl Cad Limo come into the shop.  An untouched original with 9000 miles and sure enough even the screws in the door hinges were lined up perfectly.

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trimacar 25,000+ Points

trimacar

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It’s called “clocking” the screw heads, as you may know, and it was very common by early craftsmen.  I doubt it happened on Fords, but bet it was standard practice on most high end cars.  During my stint as a trimmer at White Post, I did that, as others did.

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63RedBrier 5,000+ Points

63RedBrier

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I "clock" all the switch plate and outlet covers in my house!  Is that the same?  😁

 

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zepher 10,000+ Points

zepher

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3 minutes ago, 63RedBrier said:

I "clock" all the switch plate and outlet covers in my house!  Is that the same?  😁

 

 

Same here!
Good to see that I am not the only one with that mental illness.  :P

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RAH 1,000+ Points

RAH

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Lovely looking Sedan! I did notice the 'Diamond Electric Signal Co.' turn signal lamps on the rear fenders. They are rare. I presume the cowl lights are used for turn signals on front. 

 

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wayne sheldon 25,000+ Points

wayne sheldon

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5 hours ago, 63RedBrier said:

I "clock" all the switch plate and outlet covers in my house!  Is that the same?  😁

 

 

5 hours ago, zepher said:

 

Same here!
Good to see that I am not the only one with that mental illness.  :P

 

2 hours ago, SC38dls said:

Me three! Been doing it in every house we’ve owned. 
dave s 

 

I have always been torn by a touch of OCD that wants to clock them all? And the engineer in me that truly believes that the proper torque and leveling are far more important! Each and EVERY screw forever and ever, stress, indecision!

No wonder I went crazy!

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'38 Dodge Mel 250+ Points

'38 Dodge Mel

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Thanks for the great discussion.   A couple of points:

1) I am in Canada, and know about Robertson screws very well.  However I will use them on wood only - never never on a car.   Cars get a Phillips or a straight slot only.  

 

2) the car was built and sold in the USA.

 

3) the car was in the outdoor storage facility for at least 8 years, and was covered in moss and green growth when we got it.  My wife is a detailing and cleaning nut, so she spent two days washing and cleaning it.  Then gave it a quick wax.  

 

4) why wait until winter??  Because I am finishing off a restoration on a ‘38 Dodge Business Coupe that has been in the works for a couple years and I want to get it road worthy for summer driving, but a few parts and headliner material are holding me up.   I trust the Dodge will be finished in the next month or two and I will need a winter project - otherwise my wife will get too annoyed with me and probably kill me (figuratively only, not literally 🤣).

 

5) thanks for the tip on the marvel mystery oil.  I was told this before but forgot the name, and will certainly do that.   Awesome suggestion.

 

One issue is there are NO KEYS.  They are gone, vamoose, nada.   Sigh.   Not a big problem for the ignition, but a problem for the spare wheels who are both locked.  Humph.

 

 

 

In the meantime here here are a few more pics of the car.  👍👍

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