Thanks Joe for the great post.

The dictionary definition is essentially "stuffing an oversized engine into a compact powertrain". I don't remember when the term "muscle car" came into usage. That would be an interesting project. When I lived in XXXXXX the university had bound copies of the major car magazines back to WWII. They were untouched and unpillaged. Fantastic documents which all too often get vandalized by collectors armed with razor blades. The 904 Dual Cowl road test was memorable as was the Duesenberg J road test.

Anyway, that two tone green color scheme (engine green body, darker green fenders) seems to have been a Packard favorite. Hirsch's 745 had it as did Jepson's touring car (it featured dark olive green leather), as was another clean original 734 touring car. Another Packard special was two tone grey with orange accents. Both go back to the early Model 30.

The article mentions the sole surviving Speedster Victoria. Once there were two. They were both original running driving cars with weathered original lacquer paint. One is in Turnquist's book. They were owned by a guy named Hoeschbaker. One ended up at Harrah's and the other disassembled and scattered. The body is supposedly in Australia. I saw a boattail in similar shape next to a mint original 645 coupe in a Maryland warehouse.

As for performance, those headlights cost about 4-5 mph each and the windshield another 6-8 mph. So if they consulted Dietrich on design the car would have been in the Duesenberg class for top speed.

There are dozens of Packard clubs, but which one has the least politics?

When I was living overseas my membership was treated in a very harsh manner. They terminated it, ignored my offer to pay for the additional postage, and didn't hold the publications I had paid for.

I may be going overseas again and I don't want a repeat of this. I'm not Ho Chi Minh or Bin Laden, I'm a legitimate person for whom an international address is a matter of neccesity.

Another add on is ground wires soldered to the reflectors and brought to the chassis.

Also, as bulbs age they get dull. New bulbs are brighter than old bulbs. You can test them with a piece of extra white paper or whatever. Put a new bulb next to an old bulb.

Dear rs:

That problem is caused by clogged main jet air bleeds. This causes a syphon action to occur which continues until the carburetor is empty.

The service procedure requires removal of the jets from the carburetor using a special extractor.

Thus, the unit needs to be sent to an experienced rebuilder.

Once this is done your car will run much better as well.

The one thing about tubes is that they hold air for a very long time given the rim is cleaned up.

They aren't great for sustained high speeds because they cause blow out, and are harder to balance, but they are very reliable.

I agree MacArthur was a showman, but a few of his battle plans were really good. His worst hour was breaking up the bonus army during the depression. But the military is a system that is based on sucking up, so it only follows that there will be a lot of kooks. It's the same in the corporate world and everything else.

One of the problems with the high priced cars is that they were bought by well off hooligans. And a lot of today's collectors fancy themselves that way as well and make a big deal about what bum owned such and such car. To me it makes them less valuable.

Once I was talking to a wealthy old lady and she remarked with utter disdain "Isn't he the one with the old cars?"

There is no accounting for taste, but the more gadgets they keep hanging on today's cars the more I look back at the humble Model T and think so and so was right, that really is the ultimate.

I would be suspicious of anybody who seems to specialize in cars owned by one type of crumb bum. And of course the greater the swindler the more personable they are. Just look at your typical serial killer or crooked politician - everybody loves em. Everybody loved Sandusky and his buddy Joe Paterno. I guarantee those two creeps would have nothing good to say about me.

If money is the issue, perhaps you may consider doing the whole thing yourself. You will need tire assembly lube, three tire irons, a valve stem holder (snake), and baby powder. You might be able to borrow that stuff.

It takes practice and you really need to see a demonstration.

The way I get show car wheels together without scratching the paint is doing it by hand. I suppose one of the reasons so many experts chrome wire wheels is because they have been told that is the only way to avoid scratched paint. Well I don't like chrome wire wheels. Of course everybody always bitched about how long it took. Okay, there's always Firestone.

After you get your wheels apart, cleaned, sanded, and painted; if the pits are not too deep they may still work for tubeless given the use of bead sealer from NAPA or whatever.

I've put tubeless on some pretty pitted rims and they have worked. If the curved lip of the rim is still good they may still hold air. But if you learn how to do the work yourself then you can set them aside and check the pressure after a week. Soap and water detects leakage.

Actually after I wrote that I thought - "Who needs Coker? You can buy tubes anywhere they sell tires."

I've been an ASE Master Tech for years and none of those places would never give me a job. The ideal automotive service worker today is someone who wants just enough money to buy drugs. I think the only reason they do drug testing is to eliminate the people who don't use drugs. Conditions are better overseas than in the USA. Today's youth won't put up with that crap and I don't blame them. When I take my ASE recerts the average age is about 60. In ten years the whole country is going to stop running.

Anyway, call Coker tire and buy some tubes. Have your tires dismounted and clean and paint the rims then have them reassembled.

Keep in mind as well that Firestone had no business telling you they could do the work. The guy who does tires at a place like Firestone gets paid 1/10 hour per tire to drive the car into the shop, put it on the lift, remove, dismount, change valve stems, mount, balance, install, and take the car back out. He gets paid six minutes whether it's a little Nissan with sensible hubcaps and stamped wheels or some monster truck with stupid swamp tires. A generous shop pays 2/10s. He also does not get paid to look for the lug nut adapter, nor does he get paid to clean surfaces. In fact he get's paid @#$%. If they treated the factory worker the way they treat the technician this whole country would go up in flames. And good riddance.

Perhaps the most absurd aspect of those shops and dealers is that the more cigarettes you smoke the more you get paid. They have salaried people who don't have to know anything except how to smoke cigarettes. And I'm not kidding.

Throw open the priming cups, if they aren't stuck, pour some 5w-20 oil in them, and crank the motor until the oil pressure starts to show. Close up and start.

Of course you know the vacuum tank should be filled as well.