Mid to Late 1920s Packard Carburetor

[pmhowe]

These are pictures of a Detroit Lubricator carburetor as used on mid to late 1920s Packards. There is an interesting dome  (indicated by the arrow in one of the pictures) on this carburetor. What does it do, and how does it work? (The second picture is of a 1928 Packard 526 engine.)

[carbking]

The "dome" is the cover for the two air valve springs.

 

Jon

[pmhowe]

Jon, thanks for the information. I had not seen this particular carburetor design before. Since I just recently purchased a car that has this type of carburetor, I am going to try to learn as much about them as I can. The picture of the engine is one I picked off the web. It is for a Packard 526, 1928. There are some interesting features: There seems to be no room for a spark suppressor on the carburetor, which I find surprising, there doesn't appear to be a controllable pre-heat  mechanism, and there are (barely visible) priming cups on the left side of the engine. Priming cups in 1928! Did any other car have them at that time?

Phil

[carbking]

Phil - I will leave the priming cup question to others.

 

The carburetor was produced for Packard by the Detroit Lubricator company. Most have a "Packard" on the bowl cover, but some of the later ones anyway came with "Detroit Lubricator" on the bowl cover. There are several different versions of these carburetors; all used by Packard. There are at least two different "domes"; the semi-pointed one in your picture, and one that is basically flat on top with rounded edges. When rebuilding one of these, it is a good idea to replace both of the air valve springs. The ONLY information I have found on this model of Detroit Lubricator is in Packard original literature: owners manuals, master parts manuals, shop manuals, and the service letters.

 

I have solid data from 1916, and these carburetors were used on Packard models from at least 1916 through March of 1929. In 1929, someone convinced Packard to use a Johnson "carburetor".  The Johnsons were used from April 1929 through July of 1929; when Packard admitted a gigantic mistake, and replaced them with the new design Detroit Lubricator model 51.

 

As far as a spark suppressor or pre-heat, I have no idea; just carburetor information.

 

Jon

[charlespetty]

10 hours ago, pmhowe said:

Jon, thanks for the information. I had not seen this particular carburetor design before. Since I just recently purchased a car that has this type of carburetor, I am going to try to learn as much about them as I can. The picture of the engine is one I picked off the web. It is for a Packard 526, 1928. There are some interesting features: There seems to be no room for a spark suppressor on the carburetor, which I find surprising, there doesn't appear to be a controllable pre-heat  mechanism, and there are (barely visible) priming cups on the left side of the engine. Priming cups in 1928! Did any other car have them at that time?

Phil

My 1930 Lincoln Model L still has priming cups, but this was the last year Lincoln had them.  I've never needed to use them.

[pmhowe]

Thanks for the replies.  Charles, that Lincoln V12 is an attractive engine. I am surprised with Packard’s decision to retain priming cups through 1928. I’m even more surprised to learn that Lincoln retained them through 1930. These must be about the last examples of use of priming cups.

 

Jon, I am hoping I will not have to do anything major to the carburetor. I won’t gain access to the car until sometime after Christmas, at which time I will start to go through it thoroughly.

 

I like to be familiar enough with each assembly and its condition so that I can anticipate potential problems and fix them (or get them fixed) before they bite me. I am new to this carburetor design, so I want to study it and make sure I understand how it is supposed to work. I’m lucky in that I just acquired a copy of “Carburetors”, a supplement to Dyke’s Automobile Encyclopedia. It turns out that it contains a very nice description of this carburetor.

 

Phil

[carbking]

If you should need to go into the carburetor, other than gaskets, fuel valve, and air valve springs; take a look at wear on the bearing surface where the air valve shaft goes through the housing. Wear at this point will allow the air valve to wobble upon attempting to close, not completely close, and effect the idle. We have had to install bushings in high mileage carburetors.

 

Jon.

[pmhowe]

Thanks, Jon.  I will make a note of this, and keep it in mind. (Actually, I have a whole bunch of DL posts that you made and I have copied and filed. I have a 1935 Cadillac that has a DL model 51 and your comments on other posts have been very helpful.)

 

It looks like, on this carburetor, there are only a few potential wear points. I will worry about the throttle shaft, as well. The choke shaft shouldn't be much of a problem; if it wears, it wears. Interestingly, in that book I mentioned, it warns in two places about the dangers of pulling the choke full out, and over-choking. Apparently, that was a problem. That seems strange, I would think that would be easily corrected in the linkage external to the carb.

 

Phil

[carbking]

Phil - it has been more than a decade since I restored one of these, but think the choke butterfly was solid. Most slightly newer carburetor choke butterflies had a spring-loaded vent that would open if the choke was pulled on full to allow a wee bit of air flow.

 

Jon