I understand the compression ratio on the '48 356 is only 6.85. It seems this engine would run more efficiently at around 8.00 being that's what the later 9-main 327's ran. It appears swapping heads with any of the smaller displacement engines only lowers the ratio further. I'd like to hear thoughts on this topic.

Just to bring to conclusion, no more sticking starter -- it's been working fine. Likely the first relay was faulty and another 40A replacement would have resolved it too.

Well, posting the query seems to have done the trick... along with a bigger pry bar. I was concerned about damaging the stud to bar connection which appears to be a ball and socket joint and not a beefy one. By Packard standards it looks possibly rather fragile. I was afraid I'd break it off. Well, a long pry bar with all the force of the hydraulic ram and beating on it finally broke it free. It does look like a tapered fit but after 75 years it was no longer just "fit", but had become one.

The odd thing is there's really no need for a tapered fit joint. A straight stud would have worked just fine but leave it to Packard to over-engineer things.

Is there any magic involved in removal of the fifth shock on the '48 Custom. This is the one with the side ball-stud mount on the driver side like the '47 (not the '48 onward). I've removed the nut and the lock washer behind the mount bracket on the axle housing and reinstalled the nut without the washer flush with the stud. It's been soaked in Kroil for a couple days and I've inserted a porta-power hydraulic jaws from stud to housing and hammered on the boss (vibration) and used a pry bar simultaneously with all the force I can apply with the porta-power (all my weight on it) and it hasn't broke free. Am I correct in assuming this is some sort of tapered fit that's welded itself together rather than a straight stud?

It was an unused, still in the original box NOS switch, not a rebuild. (Cost a bit more but I thought was worth it.) The relay is the standard 40A automotive cube, also new, wired with ring terminal connections. The circuit simply uses the ignition switch start terminal to energize the relay and the relay carries the current from battery to solenoid (via the Neutral Select switch) -- pretty simple. There is nothing else powered from the relay, just the starter solenoid. The starter itself seems to work fine.

Quote:
I haven't as the symptoms indicate an intermittent problem so I figured doing so would not be conclusive. It has started normally since and also got stuck engaged again.
One other data point is that following the initial incident where I shut it down with the neutral select switch, when I afterwards checked the relay (looking under the dash for a visible problem -- fortunately I'm still a slender build) it was very hot to the touch.
After the first incident when it happened again I just quickly yanked the relay from it's socket which disengaged the starter. (Reason being I still had to drive the car home from where it first occurred over seventy miles from home.)

Well, I thought my starter issues were over. After replacing the ignition switch with NOS and upgrading to add a 40A JD1912 SPST relay to get the solenoid current out of the switch, the relay failed. First it wouldn't engage but after a few tries it engaged and the car started, but the relay stuck in this position and it was like I was holding the ignition switch to the start position no matter what position it was in. The starter remained engaged to the running engine. Worse, I couldn't turn the engine off. I moved the gearshift to Drive and the neutral select switch then cut the circuit and the engine shut down.

So I'm ordering a replacement relay but this time I'm going with the 80A version.

Rather than assume I'd do some troubleshooting. Disconnect the flex hose from the fuel line to the fuel pump and insert into a small container of gasoline and see if it pumps from there. If so, do the same at the gas tank, where you'll have to disconnect the metal line and slip a hose onto it into a container and see if it draws from there. This should narrow down where the problem is.

Actually there is an illumination level control in the 22-23 series but it's just hi/lo with a pushbutton, labeled 'Instr'. Off-Parking-Headlights is controlled by the three position headlight switch.

With the fading of the radium paint over the years low becomes barely visible, exacerbated by all the light pollution nowadays.

The 22-23 series dashboard is a most awesome companion on a moonless night on a vacant country road in the open desert west.

So the belief is the whistle was a Packard exclusive feature that began with the '41 Clipper and ended after the '51's -- a ten year span interrupted by the war.

That makes them very unique.

My father happens to have a '42 Senior Packard, no whistle.

Per a quick online search the automatic shut-off gasoline pump first appeared in 1939 but was rather crude to begin with. I'm sure it took many years afterwards for automatic shut-off to become commonplace in the field. I suppose the transitional period could have been particularly confusing as you may not know if it was or wasn't, but back then stations almost always had attendants and were not self-serve, for good reason.