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That's an interesting observation, many of us have seen a tar-like material inside doors etc. to prevent panel drumming; it's also discussed in Packard sales data. But on the underside of the floors is a first time observation to me. Thanks for the details.

Owen: In all the prewar Packard that I have seen over the years and this includes many prewar Packards none have had the under sprayed with undercoating.

I am very sure that Packards from the factory were not sprayed with a protective undercoating. I know that when I helped clean the under side of a 1948 Packard convertible that had only 26,000 miles on it. There was no kind of protective coating sprayed on the underside at the factory.

The underside of the body and the wheel wells were the same color as the exterior color. When I cleaned the mud from the frame down to the original color on the frame the factory was I would say a semi gloss black. It certainly wasn't a clear paint finnish that you could see your reflection in.

John F. Shireman

that is very interesting, there were absolutly indications of any body color on the bottom of the car, i honestly belive this was sprayed with tar from day one. and it appears to be identical to identical to the materials sprayed inside the doors and such. the car has never been restored to my knowlege as it was sitting since 1961 or so in massachusits. now in 1938 the states was at another peak high for unemployment and the economy was in rough shape. taking into consideration packard would have had a much reduced work force is it possible they were trying to save labour/materials on production, spraying tar on the underside would be much quicker than painting it marroon. red being the most expensive color to produce. as i said there are no indications of body paint or any paint at all under the tar we removed to facillitate repairs. was this car chemicaly stripped of paint underneith and refinnished with tar prior to 1938? there have been other peculior thing about this peticular car. the rear fenders appear to be sedan rear fenders that have been whitny punched out bolt to a coupe. the rear fenders also match the running boards that flowed straight back from the b pillar instead of doving in as the coupe peices did as far as i have been able to determine from pics. i at first decided that the running boards and rear fenders were a product of poor collision repair from long ago but after i got into it i realized that the curved filler peice between the running board and the body had nail/screw? holes to attach it to the bottom of the body and the two were supposed to match, now those holes in the filler had zero distortion or tooling marks to indicate they were ever attatched to a vehical. this may only mean the were brand new peices and were never installed on the intended model but the body NEVER had any holes in the sheet metal where the fillers would have attatched. i even stripped the lead out to check. Is this car a product of the 1938 recession and the struggling finances of the packard motor company from having just installed a second assembly line to produce the new line? while i have restored alot of cars, this is the first packard. i'm trying my best to research it as i go and have a far bit of experience reverse enginering parts and forensicly determining what was there but i only have the car in front of me, a few pictures, some very old manuals, the internet and the advise of a few people i have met to put the mystery all together. i understand that it is not "correct" or indicative of these cars to be undercoated, but any light that can be shed as to what caused this car to come to be as it is would be appreiciated, i have reason to belive it may be a super 8 body on a twelve chassis. as for the gloss black chassis, i finnished it to the customers preferences.

i have reason to belive it may be a super 8 body on a twelve chassis.

The 1938 Super Eight and Twelve bodies were essentially the same except for trim and upholstery, etc. The following year the Super Eight used what was essentially the "120" body, and the Twelve used the last of the wood/metal compositive bodies.

As to the undercoat, I still don't believe it's authentic to the original vehicle. I'd think after 40 or more years of looking at Classic Packards I'd have seen it before, or atleast heard mention of it before, or seen it in company literature.

Did dealers do undercoating in that time period as they did postwar? I see service letters of the era & during the war where Packard was suggesting dealers go after revenue by offering lube, polishing, rust treatments, winterizing, etc -- you name it to keep the cars in top condition for the duration. Maybe it was done during that time and before too much age showed--particularly if kept garaged and dry etc. Obviously to own a 12, the owner could probably afford to give the car the best.

i really was worried bout having to try and strip all that spray on beadliner off, as i did such good prep it may be near impossible. So i started googling packard undercoat till i found an article that mentioned a car being delivered by a packard dealer with endercoat at a cost of 40.00 so i'm going to let it ride. also i've never seen someone on their hands and knees at a packard meet so if any of you see this car down the road..... shhhhh At any rate it should be nice and quiet.

http://www.packardsoforegon.com/newsletter/Clipper%20NovDec%2006%20standard%202.pdf

PI'S judging guide for chassis states that they only judge what then can be seen kneeled on one knee, and basically nothing up under the frame rails unless it is hanging down past the frame rails and visible from the single knee position.

new kingpins

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new bushings and thrust berings and such

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got all the chassis hardware back from being cad plated

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