I've used SAE 85/140 gear oil in Packard overdrives and manual transmissions for many, many years, never with a problem. I suspect the problem is not lubricant-related.

You can check your owner's manual or wiring diagram to confirm, but I believe there is but a single indicator light for turn signals, same bulb for left and right. The other indicator bulb is for high-beam headlights, and depending on whether your 49 is a 22nd or 23rd series, I think there is a green one for the overdrive.

I certainly agree that you should refrain from using detergent oil in a dirty engine. But just routine maintenance of our Packards should include (as the factory recommended) routinely removing the oil pan and cleaning it, the pump intake, etc. The 300 referenced in this post could have hydraulic lifters which pretty much require detergent oil. As the to presence of the greatly reduced amounts of ZDDP in such oils as Rotella T, Delo, etc., I think the jury will be out for some time yet, but there is plenty of this (API CI-4 or CI-4+, but not CJ-4) to be found on shelves.

Other than the final adjustment of pedal free play, you should be VERY reluctant to even consider any clutch adjustments without first driving the car to be sure they are needed. Any pressure plate rebuilder worth his salt (and Ft. Wayne if very good) would have already made the adjustments to insure that the pressure plate is flat and parallel to the mounting surface and thus to the flywheel.

Eureka! I have located the newspaper article (1937) detailing the operations of the Packard Canada plant and more or less itemizing the Canadian content. Unfortunately the article was scanned into a Word document and I'm not confident how to post it, so I'm going to email it to our multi-talented webmaster and let him figure out how to post it. I'm sure many of you will enjoy reading it.

My own experiences mirror PackardV8's, but in reverse. Early on I used Dexron/Mercon and quickly developed a high speed clutch groan. After switching to Type F the groan disappeared in about 200 miles and has not returned in 10 years. I have wondered if these different observations are related to the type of lining used on the clutch, whether OEM type or the newer GM type synthetic lining.

Type F or Type FA transmission fluid, these are the closest to the original Type A. Use the same thing in your Ultramatic, the slip agents in Dexron/Mercon don't benefit an Ultramatic and may indeed hinder it's longevity.

I'll ditto Mr. Berger's comments, except I used an electric impact gun to remove the nut. To reinstall, I packed the crank snout with dry ice and warmed the damper to ease installation.

Somewhere in the mountains of Packard data I have an article from a Canadian newspaper written some years ago by a Studebaker employee in Canada who previously worked at the Packard facility. In this article he relates a bit of history of that facility (opened about 1933?). I have many photos of RHD Packards built in Canada with RHD, and have also seen one 1936 120 coupe with LHD with a Packard-Canada VN plate. I also have an article somewhere that details the Commonwealth rules for "Canadian content" to quality the cars for duty-free export to the UK. As I remember, a very large amount of the car was Canadian based; tires and glass were Canadian as were electrical components, bodies were assembled, painted and trimmed in Canada; engines were built up from parts, upholstery and other soft materials were entirely of Canadian content. I'll no doubt find these articles someday and will try to remember to post them here when that happens. I believe the Canadian Packard facility closed just prior to WW II, and RHD cars were then assembled in Detroit thru 1954 (the RHD parts are listed in the parts books). Leonard Williams did the RHD conversions for 1955/1956, though they were very few in number. A few 1956 Packards were also built from knock-down kits by the D'Iterian Bros. in Belgium who were doing the same for Studebaker and VW. Elsewhere in this website you'll find a roadtest on one such 56 Clipper converted by Leonard Williams.

I used Tower Paint a few years back to mix me up a couple of cans of Roman Copper Metallic for my 56 MES Caribbean. The paint match was excellent.