A nice find. Amazing what gets stashed and forgotten.

Would be surprised if the cylinders still held without leaking, but believe Hydro-e-Lectric at one time had repro cylinders and inline solenoids for the prewars. They haven't advertised them recently so not sure if still available--although they do say call if you don't see an item listed. I believe I saw an ad some time back with Kanter listing some as well.

Linear actuators do have appeal for the simplicity of no fluid running around. Unless you are going to add AC though, cost of 12v conversion & designing the control circuitry and then machining whatever is needed to make things work might be more than replacing the cylinders since you have the rest of the system. No idea how plentiful Lincoln or Chrysler components might be either but whatever you choose, will be following the progress.

I believe there is a % requirement to be considered a domestic vs imported vehicle but I don't know what it is. Thought there was also a combination of where was design work done and vs parts origin vs assembly point a factor.

I seriously doubt you can find one car anywhere anymore that is all made or has all content from a single country. I do believe both quality parts and cheap junk is available from any country and relative price is usually the determining factor. Unfortunately that is becoming very hard for the end consumer to judge anymore with so many variables country to country in the world economy. That's when you have to start trusting your dealer.

I think most-at least in the areas I've been around- associate the term "import part" to a part normally found on what would be considered an imported vehicle back in the days before so many were assembled here. Doing a search with that term brings up numerous dealers of foreign makes mixed in with a few that are advertising "domestic" and "import" parts.

Don't think country of manufacture is even part of the mix any more in that connotation--but more the country the brand is associated with. The terms I'm most familiar with as meeting your mixed or questionable quality is "no name part" or "knockoff part".

Granted, that can mean almost anything from anywhere but believe price is the key factor. As long as it is considerably cheaper than one usually found at a dealership or even the better known stores, it's a knockoff. Think Harbor Freight.

The 30 wiring diagram on PAC website appears to show the generator internal wiring although I don't know if it is an Owen Dyneto.http://www.packardclub.org/wiring/1930wiring-8cyl.JPG

Nope, yours still appears to be the original pigtailed feed.

Appreciate it if you have it and could measure. There was a running change that came out in 53 and was applied to some 24, 25. 26th cars as needed-- so not all had it. It was probably a resistor added in the power feed to the temp gauge and is the black item labeled temperature gauge regulator. Suspect it was a resistor of fairly low ohms.

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There is one site which gives some info on brake design or requirements and how to pick some components. It is more geared to the hot or street rod crowd but some items apply.http://www.deanoshiro.com/brakes/brakearticle.html#booster

I think it is a resistor too from the packaging, but don't recall ever seeing a value or any info for it. If it is, would guess 5 ohms or so. They would be increasing the total resistance to the gauge circuit so if cold is 75-78 and hot is 10 normally, then don't think it would be much more than that. If 51Packard or anyone else still has a dash apart and has that assumed resistor, maybe someone could measure it.

I believe that is the proper fitting. Also don't believe any restriction to the tappets will be an issue because there is no flow to speak of. The pressure will still be there but the minimal volume amount to keep lifters filled or lubed shouldn't be much.

The regulator is most likely OK. It is a thermal affair which heats, breaks a contact, reheats, breaks etc at a speed depending on load to give an average sustained 5v out. The gauges are also thermal so are slow to respond and don't see the fluctuation.

The gas sender is probably at fault there. It sounds as if the phenolic support for the resistance element might be warped allowing poor contact with the wiper at certain spots. Specs on the senders are approx 10 ohms full or hot, 75 empty or cold. If you need a gas sender 57-9 Ford passenger uses an identical unit so is drop in. Here are a couple of placeshttp://www.classiccarautoparts.com/gastank_sending_units_ford.html
https://secure435.hostgator.com/~dlvry40/ufolder/CgCat.php?onepart=B7A-9275-F

There was a running change on the temp gauge for complaints such as yours. Check out service counselor 27-4https://www.packardinfo.com/xoops/html/downloads/SC/SC-VOL27NO4.pdf and see if the symptoms match.