After seeing this after the fact I wish I'd have dug in on this conv sedan. Let's talk Dietrich a moment, shall we? As soon as we hear it visions of multi-million dollar customs comes to mind. Sorry, not everything "Dietrich" means millions. A company like any other in their day there was a need for revenue. Their Murray division was building "production" bodies for Packard that were indeed DESIGNED by Dietrich. "What's the 1st tell Jocko?" Many of them had aluminum doors, in fact in my experience all but the cpe roadsters from the start of the 30s (designed by Dietrich but built by Packard) had them, roadster doors were steel. Other than subtle details, if you look close all the Dietrich designs share the same cowl shape and hgt. Conv sedan, victoria, and roadster. The hoods, shells, windshields all interchange, but don't interchange with the sedans, phaetons and others. We can throw in 2/4 coupes in some models but that's mostly 34. I simplify by saying "Short cowl and high cowl" to separate the bodies and hoods. What else? Well every Dietrich body (Murray or custom) got what I call a DIETRICH JOB NUMBER. We have a car with job # 6165. A 33 I know of built a few months later has 6185. A custom may have a number between those 2. Sometimes you'll find the body type number with it. In 1932 (late) Packard began to call out that Dietrich was building these bodies and added a premium to the MSRP and used tags on the body, and all were tagged in 33. I'd have liked to poke at the wood and looked up the job# on this car. Is it a Dietrich? Sure, could very well be. Was it ever the style/model that drove the collector to unlimited avarice and made him "assemble" one? Hardly. The colors alone tell us when it was done, and when you see chrome hood doors and other preiod embelishments the picture becomes clear. I wasn't there when it hammered but at $154K all in with juice it looked like a winner. If you had the car for free you couldn't possibly "get there from here" for twice that. Real? They had a full file on the car to look it all up. I didn't. Now all this knowledge and opinion, coupled with $1.86, will get you a large coffee at Speedway, but then again maybe it helps someone some day too. If I thought I'd get input I'd like to assemble some Dietrich job numbers and start an actuary of sorts. Thanks for reading...

The indent on the 41-2 is for the spare tire well which seems standard fare for floors even on sidemount cars. For cars delivered new with sidemounts there's a panel spot welded in the trunk floor to cover the well and give a flat floor, but the well is still below. If that's the only difference it's not a big deal. And yes, modern materials, but water was a bigger danger to tanks of yore than ethanol. Eth absorbs water. Keep talking, I'm serious about this.

Since these tanks have proven to be "unobtanium" and most modify somnething else or end up with rubberized old stuff, this topic is meant to test interest in having these produced. They would fit all but the big limos and Clippers. All 120, 160 and some 180 models. This will be a new factory spec gas tank in proper ternplate coating. Not a modified tank, produced for these cars. There's well over 100 Classic models regitered in the CCCA, I have to believe just in 120s there's a fairly large number of folks happy to have a brand new tank. Talk to me. Waste of time? I'd like to bring these to market for under $400 retail. That's right in line with a lot of other modern tanks for various muscle and luxury stuff. Why should us Packard-ites go without? Perhaps a pre-order program makes sense too before I dive in. Thoughts? Don't be shy, devil's advocates welcome too.

late to this party, but I'll toss in some opinions to snack on.

1st, show of hands and be honest, when is the last time anyone has experienced real vapor lock? Me personally, in the mid 90s. Actual vapor lock. Today's fuels fairly well stave off the old menace. Given the heat and operating conditions of new cars it makes sense. The only way you MIGHT see it is if there's a heater hose or exhaust really close to the fuel supply line.

2nd, again with today's fuels being the topic, evaporation is pretty dadgum quick. Park your car in July, forget it for 2-3 weeks. Go out and crank away even after the long pedal was tapped a few times. Nuthin, right? because it mostly evaporated out of the carb on that hot engine and continued as it sat in the hot garage for weeks at a time. It happens so we have to deal with it. I too don't like the idea of cranking away on old 6V starters. High amp draw, heat, junk batteries mostly, why allow that which gives us pleasure create a hemhorroid in our fun?

All you need is a simple pump you can draw thru, as stated above, prime the system and go. Not once have I ever had a failure or loss of reliability having an electric pump in the system. True, "they" didn't have one when new, and they had good ol gas with more "heavy end" molecules than we have today and it was a bit more stable. Also, in their heydays the cars didn't sit for weeks on end. They were used year 'round and never had to worry generally speaking. I don't recommend high output with return lines, regulators, calculated flow, blah-biddy-blah-blah-blah. That OEM pump can exceed the performance needs as it is, your little ticker pump won't work it that hard. Sorry to be a dick about it if it came off that way. Just keep it simple and you're good to go. For the science hobbyist, a gasoline engine needs 0.5 lbs of fuel per HP hour. Fuel weighs 8 lbs/gal. Work back from there, and each fitting can restrict flow by 1-5% depending on use and location. I used to know the volume loss per foot on fuel line but that was my drag race days which are sadly long gone. Enjoy...

Pics as promised. And yes, that's a 41 160 sedan, also 127" WB...😉

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I have a pair of very very nice, well above average rocker moldings for the senior Clippers, 41-47. Hard to find in any condition, near impossible as nice as these are. I'll work on detailed pics, and for safe shipping they'll be lovingly packed into a length of PVC. $500 firm plus the shipping. I'll post pictures soon. Best to email me:

highlander809@gmail.com

Or if you wish:

734 637 1421 Text ok as well as good ol phone calls, but please leave a msg if I don't answer and i'll return the call soon. Thanks...

There's no repairing this one at all. In a museum since 74 and it rusted from the inside out. The tank belies the rest of the car's condition, and the top was torn out like paper when when it was dropped out for cleaning. I don't know if any of the proposals in that link materialized but worth a look. I'd be in the market for a good used tank, even a good repairable.

Before I start playing Phillip Marlow I thought I'd ask here. What's a good source for a 41 8cyl fuel tank? The one we have in our 160 is toast. Sitting since the 70s in a museum will do that I guess. Thanks in advance for any leads.

The process as described in the salesman's handbook stated that all bodies were given a coat of black for final visual inspection of panel fit and quality. This practice continued through the Clipper years. Once approved all the outer surfaces got their final color and lighter colors recieved a light base 1st (I'm guessing something similar to a light grey sealer and on some I've seen red oxide so it may have been a "wet on wet" process?). After the outer surfaces were done a masking of the jamb areas and a finish coating of the final color applied. Only the outer surface was then cut and polished. This logically presumes that the undersides of the fenders and floors were simply left black. I have at times seen this in person having had the chance to view many an original car over 4+ decades in restoration. It's also logical to presume that senior models may have rec'd a little more "love" and less rush to production given their exponentially higher price tags. Of interest I have a 41 160 in the shop with 35K original miles and a 3 owner car. It came with documentation as to the mileage and it's "original paint", but it's black and the firewall is Packard Blue. Given the last time it changed hands (1973) I find it hard to believe someone did a "restoration" so thorough as to include under easy to remove trim parts and full jambs as well as below the decklid. My guess (and it's just that) is the original selling dealer may have painted it in full refinish service standards to accomodate a sale. All the lower surfaces are just a simple black as always seen before. Owens Dyn is correct in that regular production enameling was used on frames. I've seen a slight gloss as well as what looks semi-gloss. Production enamel was chosen for speedy dry time and lower unit cost. As we've all seen, leave it to the elements and it's gonna go flat. Given all the stuff above (asked the time and built a clock) you won't do yourself or the car's authenticity a disservice by just spraying the chassis black. Maybe not a double throw down ultra glossy show urethane job, but not necessarily low gloss either. Cover it, be thorough, you get what you get when it's dried. On the outside, if you decide lacquer you better stock up on Preparation H before you get a quote. It's about 400% higher priced these days given all the eco-minded limits we face. Have fun...

some clean up shots, maybe a bit boring but what I have for now. The finish is shining up lovely, the rear seat pic shows how it cleaned up. The trunk shot is of the original flocking still in place.

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