If you have a decent voltmeter measure the voltage across the battery with the engine running. The generator should get it up to about 7 to 7.5 volts even with the lights on.
fast idle.

Jim

Tried bending the tangs tighter and keep a new rubber hammer in the back.

Didn't try the Silicon goo stickum but I did notice a residue of something sticky inside each hubcap and and a matching spot on each rim making me think I'm not the first.

I will buy some metal valve stems as heavy duty as possible. and then get some shady tire shop to mount them without trying to sell me new tires.

I tried metallic tape which worked a bit but the left front won't stop going.

It's like Model T Ford parts you gather up a box full and they start running.

Jim

I am running Coker Tire radial-look-like bias ply but Radial wide white tires on my 54 Packard Cavalier.

The rims flex and cause the stock hubcap to slowly rotate and eventually rip out the valve stem. Pshhhhhh and flat.

I tried everything, and now drive the car with the front left hubcap in the trunk.

My new thinking is to buy some chrome wheels that will fit the car and go on with life.

Noting that Packard has a locating pin on the drum that has to pass through a hole in the wheel.

I will say the radials drive nice and don't wander like the fat tires that were on this car when I bought it.

I drive and hardly ever show. Maybe I will move to Cuba.

Jim

If I read back a few posts you talk about a 1/4" spark.

With the spark wire from the coil near to ground I would expect it to jump more than a 1/4 inch of spark.

Keep in mind the spark has to jump from the rotor tip to the plug port on the distributor cap. They do this to let the spark build up higher voltage at the spark plug.

There should not be visible spark at the points or from the points to ground. The capacitor which is connected directly across the points fails one of two ways; if it starts to short it will act like a resistor and kill the spark. If it drys out it will have no capacitive reactance, and you get spark at the points.

The capacitor is in the circuit to form a tuned circuit with the coil.

Last time I had a capacitor fail a couple of years ago I was backing out of the driveway and as soon as I gave it gas it sputtered to a stop in the street.

I gave it the above tests and went to NAPPA and got one for about 5 bucks.

The biggest pain is getting the little short stupid screw back in, inside the distributor.

54 Packard Cavalier

Jim

Thanks for that info.

The big time creeper is the left front, none of the others has tried to move recently.

I thought I would try swapping the wheel the spare is on with the left front by swapping the tires. (spare is crappy).

The tires I removed were old bias ply that were over sized and wore both the inside and outside tread. They also wandered all over the road. The radials ride nice and track good.

Jim

I'm back . . .

I had posted about this but no information resulted.

My 54 Cavalier has The full wheel hubcaps (Original). They creep until the valve stem is cocked over and eventually gets ripped out.

I figure the wheels flex's as the car rolls along and walks the grip of the hubcap

I did install Coker Radials a while back.

I believe former owners have had this happen before as I found a gob of some kind of sticky inside the hubcaps with a matching gob on the wheel. When I got the car it had bias ply tires.

All four hubcaps are marked as to where they were such as "RF", LF" etc.

All four creeped originally but just the left front still creeps.

I may trade the left wheel for the spare wheel and I may put in solid valve stems.

Mostly I take off the front left hubcap for drives over 5 miles.

I can't be the only one this has occurred to.

Jim

I say check the capacitor (condenser)inside the distributor first. Could be failing distributor points as well.

Jim

As I have the before photo's of my 54 Cavalier I would not own it if I got it un-restored.

The bigger issue is I also have all the receipts for the restoration which cost at least three times what I paid for the car.

I have a 1922 original paint model T ford which I should restore but they are only original once.

Jim

WOW!

Jim

My 54 Cavalier was sold new in McKeesport PA.

By the Mooney dealership. I have all the paperwork on my car including the original bill of sale.

On GE all I see is a car-wash now but the city historical soc. came up with a picture.

My car lived in McKeesport from birth until the 1990's where it went to SoCal to get restorated and now lives at my house near Phoenix AZ.

Drove it around the hood just this morning.

Jim.