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Unfortunately you'll just have to live with that when dealing with SMS. Awful service, good product. I waited almost a year for seat upholstery on one of my past cars. If they didn't have an established reputation I would have assumed they'd just stolen my money. They're just a very inefficient operation.

I think packing the pump heavily with grease runs a high risk of clogging the oil galleries. Perhaps you should take the pump out, clean it, and reassemble with assembly grease only.

Congratulations!

Pretty sure there's no reproductions available. Your only choices are to repair the existing peice or find a good used one, or a NOS peice although those are basically impossible to find. There are plenty of 51-54 parts cars around. It's not cheap to have them replated but at least you don't need to do everything.

There's a thread I saw somewhere on here or on another forum describing a Packard being converted to a conventional booster which for some reason I can't find at the moment.

As I recall the pedal conversion essentially involved moving the pivot point of the original pedal as close as possible to the brake pushrod to gain the required ratio. I'm not sure if it would be the same with a hydroboost. It's a little odd looking and makes the pedal move in a fairly tight arc but the poster reported being completely satisfied with pedal feel and travel.

I also saw someone trying to develop a complete retrofit kit including the floor plate on the Oldsmobile forum but I don't know if anything ever came of it.

I'm set on a stick shift Custom, so it seems wiser to keep waiting for a 22nd Series. Thanks!

I use a Motive Products pressure bleeder. I got a standard brass fitting for the pump side and machined another brass fitting to seal the master cylinder. Then just connect the two with some extra hose. It works a lot better than vacuum bleeders, those are mostly junk unless you buy very high end equipment meant for shops.

I recently came across a nice 1950 Custom Eight. I've really been looking for 22nd series cars with 3 speed overdrive but this one is otherwise exactly what I'm looking for. How practical is it to convert the car to an original 3-speed or to a different manual transmission and how will this impact it's desirability?

What is the service history on the car? Shimmy is caused by worn/loose parts or something being out of alignment. Worn out shocks, out of spec caster/camber/toe in/out, tires out of round, or looseness in the kingpin are the most common causes.

I'm sure the tire shop has proper sealants, but I most often see it done with epoxy based paints or compounds like JB weld. Only an extremely thin, smooth application is needed-in 9/10 cases the original steel rim is sufficiently airtight to not require sealant.

12v will usually not fry a 6v starter. Check if the starter gear isn't jammed up on the flywheel. Give it a few hard raps to turn the starter and try again. Most likely the starter motor has just quit from old age.