Re: 51Packards....52 Packard 200 Deluxe!

Posted by Charles On 2014/5/25 17:48:48

5-25-14

Today was the maiden voyage! I can't say I enjoyed it though! I am very out of practice with a manual transmission. Stalled it at my first 4-way stop sign! There as a little too much traffic out too so it made me nervous, plus the fact I was driving a car I was not familiar with. I kept thinking the brakes were going to go out because that is what happened on my first drive in the '51. I think I made a lot of people mad with my driving and slow (according to them) speeds.

It was a bit chaotic with me trying to not stall at stop signs, remembering the gear order on the column & cancelling the turn signal (forgot which direction won't cancel). Made about a 7 mile round trip. I will admit I was getting better toward the end.

The car was very loud, but not like the sound of a hole in the exhaust. The speedometer kind of waved +-3 miles per hour while I thought I was being steady on the accelerator. Fastest I went was 40mph and it sounded like I was going 80. The car rattled a lot because the doors do not have weather stripping. Temp never went higher than 1/4 from cold. I should check and make sure I have a thermostat in it. While cruising at one point while cruising at 40mph the car started to shake and sputter. I put the clutch in and gave the car gas and released the clutch slowly. It stopped sputtering. Not sure what that was.

The highlight was the thumbs up I got from an older gentleman on his riding lawnmower!