Just a short video of my wife behind the wheel of her 1929 Packard seven passenger touring car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXkGcTpUdl4

"Paul, the Cruise night sounds like a splendid idea. But my Packard is still in pieces if you refer to my project blog."

I looked at your blog after I posted. I see no reason why you couldn't ride with us if we take both cars. If we only take one, then all seats are already claimed bit we should know that well in advance.

"I've got an immense amount of admiration for the man who can hand-crank one of those monsters to start it!! I've found it difficult just to crank my 34 Eight a bit of a turn to static time the ignition. Just outstanding!"

The engine was warm. Big difference if it is cold. The hardest part of hand cranking the 29 is getting the crank hole cover off. It's a real PITA. If it's cold then I get out the old super duper battery put it on boost.

I shut the main battery switch off and put the charger on it over night. It started just fine a few minutes ago. I am going to leave the main on and see if it runs down again. If it does, I will charge the batteries once again and leave the main off and see if they still die. Then I have an idea where to look.

Thanks to everyone for the help. I spent the day working on the old girl, getting the exhaust whistle to function (important eh?) and adjusting the brakes the best I could with what I saw on the car. I also lifted the front end to check the steering and everything seamed in order other then a small amount of play in the gear box which I found a service letter that covers that, so I will deal with that issue Sunday. Well anyway I also found the cotter key for the brake rod clevis pin missing so I took care of that issue.

We decided to host some friends of ours and take them out in the Packard. Go to start and dead batteries. Dual Optimas, but I am sure one is toast as I had this set in our other senior car (1930 Pierce)and suffered with them. Anyway I hand crank the 29 to life and we ran with it. Then of course I had to hand crank it when we left this wonderful wine bar here in Redlands to go home. My friends had such a great time wrapped up in a blanket for the cool ride home. It is amazing how easy this car is to hand crank. I am sure glad Dick taught me how to do it on both the Model T and the Packard. It also draws a crowd when you start a car this way.

Kevin, It would be great to meet you. There is a cruise night first Friday in April in You Cow Pie and we may take both the Packard and the Pierce to it. Another friend is bringing his baby blue '62 Vette so we are going to drive together. Would be nice to have have two Packards on display. I down loaded the PDF file but I can't open it for some reason.

If you don't want to do it your self, United Speedometer in Riverside, California does excellent work. They have been around since wheels were wood, men were men and women proud of them. They have done some work for me over the years and it has always been excellent.

I want to thank all who responded to my post. I do have many Packard service manuals here at the house. However I was in a bit of a rush (or too lazy)to pull the manuals and go through them all. We have had the car since my father in law passed away in 2004. My wife is the owner and only now getting over her father's death and is only now allowing her self to enjoy her car. On the rare occasions we took it out over the years, she wouldn't drive it.

I have been giving her lessons on it and the old girl (the Packard that is) has been out more this week then in the last six years!. There are some issues that have cropped up due to lack of use. I tried to explain to my wife that it is important to get these cars out and about once a month or so. The brake issue popped up on a real heavy stop I had to make and the Packard pulled real hard left, surprising everyone including me. The trans is a real pain the the butt to sift, and always has been. I double clutch just like I did on big rigs or don't use the clutch at all. Dick (my late father in law) said it had something to do with the newer oils put into the transmission when he had it. I haven't thought about trying the load bearing type oil (Mobil Gear 600)instead of the 90 wt that's in it now. Also the clutch is very high on the engagement. There is about a half inch free play before pressure is felt on the peddle. There is also a stiff spot in the steering but I assume it is from sitting and I will adjust the gear box after I check the rest of the steering linkage today. I want my wife to be able to drive her Packard in a safe condition and not need me to go along if she so chooses to "take the girls out".

I also need to find the right grease gun fittings. It was lubed just before Dick passed away but has less then 1,000 miles of use, so greasing the fittings hasn't been an issue.

Hello, I am new to this forum. We own a 1929 Packard Custom eight 7 pas touring car. I am having issues with the front brakes and clutch (high peddle) and I feel it is just a matter of adjustments for both. Can someone give me the heads up on the correct way to do this? Thank you very much in advance.

Paul Kennedy

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