The strips are not a bad idea either and as long as they are somewhat contoured and cemented together should be a good choice. Metro or Steele might even have an extruded universal type strip in a shape that would somewhat fit the hollows that could be used. If not McMaster has strips in various widths and thicknesses that could be stacked rather than cutting several long different width strips out of sheet rubber.

Finding the female fitting in 5/16 seems to be the issue since that size seems to be a not heavily used item and appears to be discontinued. If you can find some old stock like this fitting where you normally shop or are getting the others you could eliminate the coupling and extra adapter. Space is somewhat of a consideration since there is a fairly short distance between the tube end and pump to route the hose to avoid kinks. Time you find and get all the materials, with your time plus their cost and the freight it would probably be as cheap to buy a finished hose from Max.

Don, I wasn't thinking of grinding any metal off but rather filling the hollows or grooves to build up the entire surface to the top of the metal. After that sand the filler smooth with wherever the top metal is to make a smooth flat surface for the rubber to lay on. The support would overall be thicker. I don't know how deep the hollows are so that is a concern about how thick the filler would be. The issue with cracking and filler falling off is the usual concern with thick applications although I am not sure that would be of concern here since it could not fall off.

If there was a way to get the boards absolutely flat and level for several hours you might even be able to use something like a self leveling epoxy floor repair compound to fill the hollows. That can stand thicker layers.

Steele used to recommend the old standby of water resistant or solvent type contact cement and then later they suggested a 3M weatherstrip and trim cement. You might ask them if they still have the same recommendations or now have a better idea. There is an old thread at AACA where some other recommendations and procedures are discussed. An epoxy adhesive used on floors has one poster saying he had good results. The one shown in the post above by Dell might work well. If you do a search for runningboard cement several posts in various other old car forums come up asking the same question with more recommendations.

From everything I have read about fresh rubber it continues to emit oils as it dries out so anything you use will require a very thorough cleaning of the rubber before application. As to the grooves, if they are not too deep I would think a waterproof or good quality Bondo might do the job if sanded flush. POR 15 also has a putty like seam sealer and filler that might work better in thick applications but that is probably an expensive overkill. Maybe a coat of POR 15 paint primer would be a good followup over whatever you use to encapsulate and avoid any rust on the metal and also coat and eliminate any porosity in the Bondo or other filler.

Inverted flare and nut each end. Tank end has a nut that threads into the tank fitting. Engine end of tube is clamped in the sort of channel in front crossmember on engine side of radiator. After the last clamp end angles upward a couple of inches -- just enough to get the nut at a wrench turning height that is level with or slightly above the crossmember. End winds up just a bit to the passenger side of the pump. That end has another inverted flare nut which threads into the style flex hose that fits 51 and later models. The correct flex hose has a female inverted flare fitting on one end and a 1/8 NPT fitting on the other end which threads into the pump. You can have the hose made locally or most vendors and a I think a PAC region has them. You need this style. The other style flex hose has an SAE flare fitting on one end and will not work.

It is 5/16 tubing.

It all depends on whether or how badly the upper lever is already seized to the shaft. If you have the rod disconnected between the idler portion and upper lever have a helper pull the operator lever up toward the steering wheel as if going into first or reverse gear. As long as it is held up that will get the selector tongue out of the upper 2-3 lever so lever will then be completely free to rotate on the tube. With the operator lever being held or tied back and the upper retaining clip and washer removed reach down and try to turn the lever. If it moves then try and get a liberal dose of penetrating oil down in the space between lever and tube and work it until lever feels fairly free. Possibly it will free up enough you can slide it upward but depending on how much paint, crud, or any gouges that might be on the tube it may not want to go far. If it gets free follow up with a good dose of regular motor oil. I wish you success and some with not terribly seized levers have lucked out doing this freeing method with everything still in the car.

On my 47 I was not as fortunate and the upper lever was rusted so tightly it took penetrating fluid, heat, and some brute force to get it to break free. To apply the brute force I took the tube and lever assy off the column and removed everything needed to get the lower lever and selector tongue off. I then rested the threaded end of the tube on a block of wood and used a hammer and soft drift punch to alternately strike different places on the top of the lever to break it free. If you do this take care not to gouge anything. Took quite a few blows for the lever to budge followed by a lot of polishing to get the shaft in halfway decent shape.

I don't recall ever seeing a detailed description of the column shift assy when it was introduced in 39 but if you want to get an overall feel for the tube and shift assy construction and operation check out the 46-50 service manual, clutch and transmission section. Starting on page 45 is a photo and description of operation. I believe that except for a different idler assy and shapes of the levers plus maybe a couple of other parts that the detailed Clipper thru 50 tube and lever operation will be identical to that on the prewar conventional body cars. Other than slight variations in parts shapes Packard kept that same basic arrangement thru 54.

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The only stock rubber hoses Packard used were on the 23rd series Ultras but after that, as Kev said they were all metal. One reason you might have hoses at the cooler would be if some mechanic installed them after needing to move the cooler out of the way to change the lower radiator hoses. Sometimes the steel lines can be a pain and need to be disconnected because the cooler won't go very far and provide much extra clearance if they stay attached.

One of the issues on the 41 Clipper thru 50 style linkage is lack of shifter lubrication in general and particularly of the upper 2-3 shift lever. I strongly suspect that aside from the shape of the levers, the conventional body cars may have a similar shifter construction and issue.

On Clippers there is an oil hole where by applying a few drops, oil will run down and hit the shift tongue and splines with a bit running out slots to catch the lower R-1 lever. The upper 2-3 lever has absolutely no lube provision and in addition catches any water and dirt that can condense and run down the tube to pool at the retaining clip and washer and then work its way behind the lever. Corrosion and rust seizing the upper lever to the tube is a frequent result.

To remove the Clipper shift assy the operator lever needs to be removed and also an anti-vibration wire spring pressing against a grooved piece inserted in the tube at the upper end of the steering column just below the wheel. Not sure if conventional bodies are exactly the same there but suspect similar and it does require a bit of work and disassembly to separate the shift assy from the column. I found it was easier to work on the shifter out of the car by removing column with shifter still attached.

Here are a some photos of a Clipper style linkage showing what I expect you will find. First shows rust and corrosion on the tube between the slot and retaining clip groove where the upper lever rotates. It took heat and brute force to remove seized lever from tube, second shows assy cleaned up, third is lube points, fourth is upper column and anti vibration spring.

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  Clipper shift- dirty.jpeg (107.48 KB)


  Clipper shift tube.jpeg (195.89 KB)


  shift tube lube copy.jpg (199.13 KB)


  anti vibration spring.jpeg (267.42 KB)

For the extra sender, I seem to recall a plug just below the regular sender and at an angle pointing toward the passenger side. It may be slightly hidden under the breather vent tube coming off the lifter galley cover. I believe it is larger than the sender port -- maybe a 1/4 plug -- but think it also opens to the same passage the sender uses.

Another option is since the heads are interchangeable right to left there will be an unused port on the rear of both heads. Look to see where the oil filter supply tube is at the front of the left head to see where it will be positioned at the rear. Not sure you will be able to use those because of the closeness to the firewall if the sender is very large.

As to the hoses, I believe the vendors have them but you might also be able to have them made locally at a hydraulic shop. If replacement fittings are much larger or different in shape than the originals there could be issues with the two short hoses on a Bendix system. There is also a restriction in the main pressure hose that factory articles said is supposed to cut down on noise. I know hoses made locally don't have that restriction and seem to work OK so don't know how important it really is.