Re: Questions from a possible new Packard owner!

Posted by Ken_P On 2010/8/24 14:27:12

39Six-

When I was in college, I bought a POS 1953 Willys Wagon with a Chevy 265 V8 that didn't run well enough to go home. After I boiled the tank and got a new carb and drove it on the temp tags for three months, I found out that the crook who sold it to me didn't have the right title, so I went a little crazy- Chevy drive train, 1 ton axles, and huge tires. It was a lot of fun, but the project got sidelined because I was tired of a 2 week fab job everytime a little widget broke and it was too extreme to do much except go offroad.

All that being said, I'm pretty excited to have a stock car that I can drive- the Willys wagon drove great stock for a few months, but I was always thinking about what it wouldn't drive over with those little tires. The Packard I can leave stock and just enjoy- nothing to drive over, and the body is a LOT better- the Willys is mostly held together with rust and bondo.

According to the owner, and a guy who looked at it a few years back, the car is pretty rust free. I think the floor boards will be fine, based on that, but it looks like the running boards aren't. I guess my question wasn't very clear. Perhaps it should read: are replacement panels for running boards easy to come by, or are they simple enough in design to make welding in sheet metal of the proper gauge a reasonable proposition.

Thanks to all for the wealth of info- I should know within a few weeks if this beauty will be mine.