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OK! I managed to align the car today! It actually wasnt too far out of wack after I had eyeballed and string measured it. It was a little toe out before, but now it is back to toe in. After the first drive, it seems more stable above 50mph, which makes sense after the toe changed...

HI, I think I have the same car as you. Are you able to time it without a timing light? A guy said to raise the piston in #1 spark plug all the way to the top because Packard timed the cars from that plug, even put in a wire to see that it is all far up as possible, look to see that the points are closing and tighten the distributor and replace the cap. He said it will get it going until I can get it timed properly with a timing light. What are you thoughts? The backyard mechanic who is working on it has no light so I'm looking for another way. What are your thoughts?

It unusual a mechanic doesn't have a timing light. You can buy an inexpensive one from harbor or sears.

Problem with timing lights is almost none are available that can be powered by 6v cars anymore -- inexpensive or otherwise. You either have to buy an inexpensive 12v and power it with another battery or else get one of the types operated by internal flashlight or rechargeable batteries. I tried the internal battery light first. It was not that inexpensive and the one I bought was not really bright enough to use in a well lit area. I wound up buying a decent 12v light and a small motorcycle type 12v battery to power it.

This is a self-powered (2 D-cells) timing light from proformparts.com. I think O'Reilly carries it. Wasn't cheap. Like $50, but life long tool.

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Problem with timing lights is almost none are available that can be powered by 6v cars anymore

Not really a problem, just power it from your trickle charger, I've been doing it that way for years.

You certainly can get it running without a timing light, but you should have one to get it properly dialed in.
The method brenda described will get you close, but not "right" or perfect.
Took the family for our first ride in the packard. A good time was had by all!
Same goes for tuning a carburetor or aligning the front end.You can get it close if you have experience doing it by eye or smell or feel, newbies or people that dont do this everyday for a living should use the tools to measure things exactly.

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I borrowed one today from a friend. Thanks for your information. I should have my own. It's on the list.

"Took the family for our first ride in the packard. A good time was had by all!"

Mike,
Great to see all the family enjoying the Packard.

Here are the values from my front end alignment. It is within specs, and ok... the values aren't exactly perfect, but good enough. Even with the laser alignment system there is some tolerance in the measurements. Seems to drive ok. Next to dial in the carb and ignition better with timing light and vac gauge....Then I may try it with an exhaust sniffer to see how close the classic method is to a modern method.
Exhaust pipe aft of the muffler needs to be better placed, hope I can get it better aligned.
(still lots of little low priority things to do as well -glove box light, get wrinkles out of headliner in backseat, wire in radio and trunk light and courtesy lights.)

How many miles should I run on the first oil after break in?

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