Yes, the manifold was Packard-made. It can mount either a Carter WCFB or a Rochester Quadra-Jet (original equipment on the Patrician). Although my 56 Caribbean has the original dual Quadra-Jets, I've always considered the Carter to be a superior unit. As to the specifics, I'll leave that to others as I like to adhere to authenticity and your car should give excellent performance with either OEM carburetor, and parts/rebuild services are plentiful.

Having owned and driven a 1934 Eight 1100 for nearly 45 years and being involved with many other Packard engines of this vintage, if you truly heard a "loud" banging and found significant metal in the crank, it's probably much too late to avoid rebabbiting the rods (at least one of them) at the least, and almost certainly the crankshaft will have to have the counterweights removed and turned undersize. Crankshaft grinders who can do this long and complex shaft aren't found on every street corner, and it's going to be expensive. Sorry to be the bearer of what may be bad news, but if one wants to avoid the crankshaft job, you need to stop driving immediately after you hear even the slightest rod knock, often first heard at a hot idle.

I heard just the slightest rod knock on mine about 45,000 miles ago, and immediately stopped driving. The crankshaft was still OK and I just had to rebabbit one rod, though at 89,000 miles the engine did need a complete overhaul.

PS - I meant to compliment you on the work you're doing on your car - very nice indeed and you'll certainly benefit from it later with a well done and comprehensive job.

With the exception of AMOCO premium and perhaps a few others, all gasoline contained tetraethyl lead until perhaps 20 years ago. Also gas in that era had the octane rating determined by the "motor" method, whereas today it's done by an average of the motor and "research" method. Without going into the differences, regular unleaded (87 octane) is more than adequate for your car. As far as the tetraethyl lead goes, if you're going to make a regular habit of agressive, high speed driving, you might consider buying the lead and adding (here in the US it's legal for you to do that, it's just not legal for a gasoline retailer to dispense it into an automobile).

If the time comes for an engine rebuild and you are still intending to drive regularly at high speeds, you might want to consider modern metalurgy exhaust valves and hardened seat inserts.

As far as engine wear goes, the prior engine condition and your maintenance and driving habits are the most significant factors. Of course you should drop the oil pan, clean it and the inlet screen of the pump, and as the engine has been idle for so long, make your first few oil changes at relatively frequent intervals.

Let me just repeat for emphasis; if this is the first time this car will be on the road in 20 years, I wouldn't go 5 feet in it w/o a complete review of all the brake components, and replacement of at least the wheel cylinder and master cylinder rubber parts, and the hoses. Your chances that the brake system will be reliable and safe after all that storage are about NIL.

Perhaps you're speaking of the picture of Tom Dewey riding in a 22nd or 23rd series Custom 8 victoria.

You can comingle Dot3 and Dot4, but not with DOT5. If you're in the least unsure of the brake system, best advice would be to pull all the drums, replace all the hoses, rebuild the wheel and master cylinder, do what's needed for the linings and drums, and then refill with the fluid of your choice.

Did you read the tag incorrectly, the Autolite generator for a 55 is a GJC 6001A. As far as their being "a time bomb", I'd say you got some bad advice. You do need to put some oil in the oilers occasionally, and perhaps once in a lifetime of driving you may have to have new brushes put in, but other than that you should never have any problems with the generator.

Well, I know it's early yet but somehow I expected more interest; I'll let this ride for a while but I'm beginning to think that Dan was right, not much demand. Looks like only 7 sets (Jack (4), Randy, Mr. Pushbutton and myself).

Use the "search" function and you'll find some responses to an almost identical question a few days ago. In a nutshell:

I'd avoid 10W-40 oil, if your engine is in good shape and you live in a reasonable climate, 10W-30 would be a good choice, 15W-40 a better choice.

Unless you're going to completely flush the brake system and change over all the rubber components, you should stick to the same brake fluid that was in it, as modern silicone type which some people prefer isn't compatible with the traditional types. If your system wasn't converted to silicone, DOT-3 is probably what is already in it.

You pay more for coolant that's used full strength because it's already diluted. Matter of cost whether to use it or the convention (green) stuff, just read the chart for the protection you need for your cold weather, the additive packages for corrosion control and pretty much the same. Don't use the modern "red" stuff.

I guess you transmission is Ultramatic? If so I'd use Type F or FA; if it's stick, SAE 85W-140 HP gear oil, and the same stuff in the rear axle and steering gear box.

Just to elaborate a bit on my prior point about PS not being purely an "add-on" and using 1954 as an example, the 5400 and 5401 chassis had a steering box with 20.03/1 ratio for standard steering, and 18.2/1 for power steering. For the senior models the numbers were 22.3 and 18.6 respectively. Turning circles were also smaller for the PS-equipped cars by about 1 foot, indicating some other change in front end geometry. This isn't to say you can't just add the PS components, it just says the result won't be the same as for a original PS-equipped car.