Although I do not have a fuel pressure gage on my Packard I do have one on my old pickup and a race car. That gage is quite useful for diagnosing problems out on the road. It also helps when cranking the engine so you can tell what the fuel situation is before the engine starts.

Obviously anything with pressurized fuel in it is a potential hazard and needs to be treated with respect. The nice thing about gasoline is the smell. Any tiny leak inside the car is quite apparent to the driver. Also be aware that a fire will not start unless there is an ignition source such as a spark or high temperature. This hazard is much more likely under the hood. I suggest using metal lines to hook up a fuel pressure gage. I do not recommend the plastic tubing that comes with some modern gages. To handle the motion between the engine and the chassis you can use a steel braided teflon hose like the ones used for brakes. Rubber fuel hose also works but is less "bullet proof".

I bought a new pump from Kanter and put it on. It has worked well for 2 years and no core to send back. Price was about the same as a rebuilt.

The show and parade was great. There were about 20 cars there. Weather was beautiful. Crowd was large and loved the cars. Here are some photos.

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After getting my 1950 23rd Series Deluxe 8 through a long bare metal paint job I am now in the final stages of reassembly. I took both the wipers off to get them replated and the pully/cable assemblies fell into the car behind the dash. It was a very tough 2-man job just to find the dangling mechanisms and push them up through the holes in the cowl so they could be reattached. Naturally holding the wiper cables on the pullys during these contorsions was impossible but I got the wiper pully mechanisms bolted back on. The loose cables cannot simply be slipped back over the pullys as I had hoped.

Now what do I do? Is there a way to slacken the cables and pull them over the pulleys before retightening? Can this cable loosening/tightening be done from the engine compartment? If I have to slide under the dash I do not have access to do anything mechanical.

I hate the thought of pulling the wiring, heater controls and glove compartment to gain access to the cables.

I have gone through lots of wiring issues on my 23rd series Deluxe 8 including a new harness. The trunk area has a number of wires in the rear with almost no mechanical protection. If you have "junk in the trunk" as I do these wires can get bent crushed, dinged, shorted, and even disconnected. Old crumbling insulation and missing or cracked rubber gromments make these problems worse. If I was redesigning a Packard I would have put a simple cover ahead of the wires so they are protected.

I have found that there is no good fix for old wiring other than replacing it or at least putting on new insulation (like a tape wrap or shrink tubing). Also cleaning up the wire connections helps a lot with dim lights and intermittant connections.

I put the Packard 440 wires on my Series 23 along with non resistor plugs. The radio and everything else works fine. The finishing touch are the aftermarket Raja terminals which I got from Restoration Supply. This setup is 50s correct.

Friday 6/14/13 is the annual Cruising Grand event featuring Packards. This weekly cruise night is in Escondido CA, in the northern part of San Diego county. It is the biggest and best cruise in the region. Packards have a reserved block for their cars and they run in a parade for the spectators. People come from all over Southern California to attend this free annual event. If you want to go arrive well before 5PM to avoid traffic and get a good parking place. My newly painted 1950 Series 23 Deluxe 8 Touring Sedan will be there.

A blower will not only effectively increase the displacement but it will also somewhat overcome the poor breathing of a flathead engine. If you do it use a positive displacement blower like a Rootes. You get a lot of low end boost and there is no lag like you get with a turbo. 5 psi boost is easy, but I would shoot for something more like 7 psi to ovecome the power consumed by the blower drive. You may want to use high octane fuel if you use a blower. 7 psi is a half atmosphere boost so it will increase the power and torque by 40% or so without revving the engine any higher than stock.

I just pulled my 23rd Series apart and had everything rechromed. These parts were painted black on my car. There was no plating under the paint. I am about to repaint them today.

My 23rd Series Deluxe 8 came with the optional over-engine air cleaner, but it was off the car and in the trunk when I bought the car. There was a small carb mounted air filter on the car. I had to spend many days restoring the original big air cleaner, cleaning out rats nests, blowing out dirt, sanding, painting, making the hold down bolt and finding the correct bracket. After installing it I see why Packard went to all that trouble. The noise from the engine is greatly reduced by the big "muffler" that is part of the air cleaner. I highly recommend the big air cleaner because you notice it quieting the car and it was original equipment.