Thanks for that Mal, maybe if Tony "Shocks" wants to stay retired he can be persuaded to give me advice on doing them myself. If you have his contact details I can get them from you on Sunday next.

Thanks for all of the replies, I will look for an hydraulic oil with a viscosity towards the high end but suspect they are in need of more than a heavier oil. Having them rebuilt in US is not an option from here in Australia. I think its time to strip one and machine out the weld on the back that holds them together, to see what is inside and to learn how to rebuild them.

Would anyone care to share their experiences with the oil filled vane type shock absorbers on the 6th Series cars.
Firstly what grade of oil works best in an old shock absorber.
Has anyone come up with a practical means of overhauling these units? Alternatively is there a period correct alternative noting that they were apparently considered unsuccessful in their day.
I cleaned mine out as best I could given that they are fully sealed, then primed them with oil many years ago. I don't recall the grade of oil but they are now next to useless in damping the suspension.

Mark,

The salesman's Facts Book for the 126-133 Packard Single Six starts under the heading: "Body Types" "There are eleven distinct body types mounted on the Single Six Chassis of 126" and 133" wheelbases. The Five passenger Touring, five passenger Permanent Top Touring, Runabout, four passenger Sport, ..........etc. The shipping weights at the back also list the Permanent Top Touring - weight is 3,360 lbs.

There is a good photo of the #232 body style on page 150 of the Damman Packard book along with a write up that is a bit long to repeat however the gist of it was that the bodies we out sourced by Packard, it "had rollup windows in all four doors which would retract to sill level. With the windows down, the B pillars could be unsnapped and stored under the back seat. ....etc.

There is also a brief mention of this body style on page 247 of the Kimes Packard book (First edition)

If you care to send me you address by PM I could copy this material and send it to you.

Mark,
I have a 1922/3 126 Packard (Sport) that I have owned for many years and have just checked some of the literature. The original sales brochure does not show the body style of your car, however the original parts book lists all of the 126 body styles and the body numbers; #232 is listed as a "Permanent Top Touring",which describes your car perfectly. Unfortunately there are no illustrations but based on that I would say that your car has a genuine Packard body as opposed to a non Packard hardtop or Californion Top fitted to standard tourer body tourer. It is strange that it is not shown in the sales brochure, all of the other body styles are shown. Nice car.

I am sure that with some photos of the parts in question we can figure out what goes where. A photo of the car would also be interesting.

I can't help with a supplier but make sure they know the car has mechanical brakes and must have woven lining suitable for the lower brake shoe pressures. The woven lining material is designmated "MZ Gold" here in Australia and it is the asbestos free equivalent of the old asbestos based "MZ41". I guess those designations apply in US.

Mal,
I have quite a few bits and pieces of the Bijur lube system left over from my '29 projects. Let Wade know he is welcome to anything he can use.
David

I don't care what caused the rift but have observed it close up a few times over many years and this year observed a serious attempt at a senior level by one club to reconcile with the other but the attempt was rebuffed. When you are in company with members of both it detracts from the enjoyment of our hobby
My view is the whole situation is ridiculous, they are clubs, not corporations or political parties there should be no competition/rivalry or whatever nonsense is fixed in the minds of the perpetrators. Two clubs is fine but why the friction? How much more common interest could there be?
I guess it will take another generation to resolve but if I could I would like to bang some heads together! Its just plain BS in my view.

Very nice car, I don't know about its value but you have it as a 626 in the title which is the standard eight, those 4 louvres on the hood show that its a 640 which is the Super Eight.