Good question about the ‘needle’. As I remember the square rod is attached to the lock cylinder with a joint that allows quite a bit of flexibility . . . make that too much flexibility. I’ve never attempted the ‘needle’ technique, but I would suspect it starts with pushing a needle from the outside of the car through the door panel/card, noting the location, and then at the same location pushing the needle from inside the car back through the latch. I believe the square rod has a dimple in the end that the needle will index into. The lock & rod and the needle are moved into position as one assembly, with a bit of teasing as the rod enters the latch.

Now here’s the good news, if you ‘zip tie’ (use a real small one) the stainless rectangular stock that reinforces a wind shield wiper blade to the square rod you can manipulate the rod as it approaches the latch mechanism. Once the rod engages you will still have enough room to extract the rectangular stainless piece. You’ll end-up with a ‘zip tie’ around the rod, but no needle hole in the door panel/card.
If the door panels/cards are removed you should succeed without the use of a needle.

Posts 45 & 47 of the following link illustrates what’s inside the 22nd/23rd series door latch
packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=19146&viewmode=flat&order=ASC&type=&mode=0&start=40

dp

‘Chilton Job No.’ and ‘Chilton Labor Price’ appears toward the bottom of the 2206 Super & Custom file., perhaps others, but as yet I haven’t looked at all of the files.

I hate to admit how much I learned from this video series about universal joint replacement. After watching the Weber State University offering I searched for other videos on the same subject . . . eye opening! Apparently many others advocate bending the yoke, with a very large hammer, to achieve the correct bearing cup end play. It’s well worth the time watching John Kelly achieve the same end without a hammer.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=w ... D15D883D1662255&FORM=VIRE

or search 'Weber State University Universal joint' that should get you to the 6 part series.

dp

Joe;

Four years ago I installed a PowerMaster PowerGEN 6 volt positive ground unit. You get to choose pulley width . . . I opted for the 5/8-3/4 versus 3/8. The ‘long GM’ unit drops right in. The only locally supplied part was the spacer in the third bolt position, and a longer than normal bolt to suit. That spacer allowed the Packard ‘strap’ to be used without a ‘bend to fit’ modification. PowerMaster’s website states that this unit will provide 50 amps at idle, but I’m not sure they appreciate how low the idle is on a Packard, so temper your expectations. I suspect it will be at least 30 amps.

My car was originally equipped with Autolite equipment, so I fitted the Autolite data plate that I got from EBay (Delco tags are equally available). Also the alternator did not come with a Field binding post, so the end cap and aft extension piece were removed to facilitate the drilling of the pseudo Field pole. All of the OEM wiring was insulated, folded-back, and wrapped with black vinyl tape. The warning tag on the Field pole was a PowerPoint project.

The main output power is first routed to a head-light relay set-up, and then to the ‘BAT’ side of the voltage regulator. This head-light relay system consists of two circuit breakers, and two relays . . . one circuit for the high-beam, and another for the low-beam. The head light electrical load at the OEM head-light switch has been reduced by approximately 16 amps. I run a higher than normal idle speed, and the ammeter does not indicate a discharge at idle with the head-lights ON. I also have a voltmeter plugged into the cigar-lighter socket, and it indicates 6.8-6.9 volts at the same condition. That would indicate some current margin is still available.

Knock on wood, no issues since installed. Now if I could only find some short, counter-sunk, metric, slotted head screws, I’d be all set.

dp

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Joe;

I think I have some information to answer your question on whether a ‘small diameter’ thermostat will affect the coolant temperature. The short answer is maybe at low outside air temperatures, and very likely yes at higher outside air temperatures. The reason for the two answers is for low outside air temperature only a small flow area is needed and this area is achievable with either thermostat. At some elevated outside air temperature the small thermostat is full open, but the larger thermostat is not at full stroke. See attached file for the excessively long answer.

What I would like to know are your results with the electric cooling fan . . . the 6 volt version, not the one time 110 volt fan experiment.

dp

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I've included some captioned photos in the attached file.

One word of caution: If you pursue the gas cap guard plan please do not use a steel can.

In my case the leakage was limited to those times I was driving after a 'fill-up'. If the leakage persists when the fuel level is at or below 3/4 full, then start looking again for a leak elsewhere.

dp

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Here’s my two cents.

The cap is vented, so if you make a right-hand turn with a full tank the fuel is likely to squirt out of the vent hole. My ’54 Cavalier came equipped with a ‘tuna-fish can’ upside down on the cap. That didn’t stop the leak but it did direct the flow away from the fender. I subsequently replaced the ‘tuna-fish can’ with a rubber cap used to block off drainage plumbing for an inspectors leak check. I bought this highly technical upgrade from Home Depot. It fits the OD of the ‘gas-cap’ so well I thought it was best to drill a vent hole in the rubber cap to ensure the fuel tank has a vent passage. I normally aim this vent downward. No more fuel spilling on the fender . . . maybe the ground, but not the fender.

dp

Toymanbob;

I’ve checked several ‘Motor’s Manuals’ and found the six cylinder engine should have 3/8 – 24 rod bolts torqued to 45-46 ftlbs.

The plot thickens a bit for later eight cylinder engines with 7/16 – 28 rod bolts that have a torque specification of 60-65 ftlbs. Those engine used ‘all metal self-locking’ nuts that have a rather high running torque that might explain the higher than expected torque.

I’ll defer to others on the subject of whether the 110 & 120 models used self-locking rod bolt nuts. The industry that I worked in considered self-locking nuts as a ‘one-time’ use item. There is also a precautionary note in the '54 Packard shop manual to reject rod nuts that have lost the self-locking feature.

Dp

Essentially the same era car as ‘Tinman’s’.

This is a ’48 Deluxe Eight – 2262, with Coker wires, and Coker American Classic 7.60R15 wide white radials. Lots of bling and positive comments, but also a few comments about tires being low on air (radial bulge).

I’ve traded a bit of ride comfort for less ‘flat tire’ comments.
28 psi - Superior ride plus comments.
32 psi – A slight increase in ride harshness, but no comments
Even at 32 psi the ride is superior in every way to the bias ply tires that were on the car.

I’ve got about 6 years of experience with these wheels on a ’54 Cavalier, and about 1.5 years on the units in the picture. I’m quite pleased and have had no problems. I was told in about 5 years these wheels will lose their ‘tube-less’ integrity and tubes will be needed.

The spokes are stainless steel and are pretty much immune to ‘chrome flaking’ caused by flexing of the wire.

dp

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PackardDon
HH56 beat me to it. I to don’t think it is a fluid return to the reservoir. My expectation is the small hole in question is an atmospheric vent between the two seals. It should vent the seal cavity to the reservoir gasket surface, thus segregating the pneumatic seal from the hydraulic seal. I think the intent, as mentioned by HH56, is to keep us from one seal failure from sucking all of the brake fluid out of the reservoir. The cavity itself could be dry or wet ( ‘wet’ because we over filled the reservoir or a small hydraulic leak), it would still be an atmospheric vent either way.
dp