Jeff's 48 Custom 8 Victoria Project
Posted by bigmoparjeff On 2013/6/29 1:32:21
Greetings Packard Fans
I decided to take some time to share my Packard project with everyone. It's a 1948 Custom Eight Convertible that belongs to a customer in Sweden. The car was bought on ebay back in October 2011. In December 2011 I picked the car up at a small classic car dealer in Sanford Maine and transported it to my shop in Eastern Pennsylvania. My task is to get the car running, driving, and stopping properly, along with anything else that's needed to pass the Swedish safety inspection. I had been working on the car on and off for the last year and a half and unfortunately, the project has fallen way behind schedule. I'm close to crisis mode now, as it absolutely has to be done by September.
As far as I know, the car was sold new in California, and spent the majority of it's on-the-road years in the Los Angeles area. It's west coast life left the body very solid with only minor holes in the floor and trunk. In the late eighties it was shipped to New England when the owner moved to New Hampshire. I think it was driven for another year or so before it got parked for good in 1989 or 1990. This may have been done because the car stopped running due to some stuck valves. The history becomes murky at this point. At some point the head and valves were removed and the car ended up sitting in a damp barn or garage for years. Racoons destroyed the interior and rust attacked all unprotected surfaces. The Packard changed hands some time after 2003. I'm not sure if that was before or after the engine was taken apart. The car sat again until the new owner decided that he wasn't going to be able to fix the car, so he consigned it to the dealer in Maine.
I've had a liking for the 22nd and 23rd series Packards ever since I went with a friend to look at one for sale back in the mid-nineties, so I was eager to take on the project. As with most projects, it turned out to be a lot more work than I and the new owner bargained for. This is the first 1940's car that I've ever done any serious work on. My area of expertise is mid-sixties to early-eighties full-size Chrysler products, along with many 1980's and 90's cars of most makes, so I'm quite a bit out of my normal zone on this one. My understanding is that this is a pretty rare and potentially valuable car. I've seen a good number of the Super Eight 22nd and 23rd series convertibles for sale on ebay, but this is the only Custom Eight that I have spotted on there. The final goal is a nice car that shows well at casual car shows. The Swedes like to drive their classics, so they generally aren't into trailer queens and concourse cars. The work that I do should look nice, but doesn't need to be perfect or exactly like it left the factory.
It's going to take some time for my project blog to catch up with my actual progress on the car. I'll try my best to get some more updates done every night or two.
I hope you enjoy my journey into the past as I get the Packard started on it's path to a new and better life.
December 2011, Transport and initial inspection:
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I decided to take some time to share my Packard project with everyone. It's a 1948 Custom Eight Convertible that belongs to a customer in Sweden. The car was bought on ebay back in October 2011. In December 2011 I picked the car up at a small classic car dealer in Sanford Maine and transported it to my shop in Eastern Pennsylvania. My task is to get the car running, driving, and stopping properly, along with anything else that's needed to pass the Swedish safety inspection. I had been working on the car on and off for the last year and a half and unfortunately, the project has fallen way behind schedule. I'm close to crisis mode now, as it absolutely has to be done by September.
As far as I know, the car was sold new in California, and spent the majority of it's on-the-road years in the Los Angeles area. It's west coast life left the body very solid with only minor holes in the floor and trunk. In the late eighties it was shipped to New England when the owner moved to New Hampshire. I think it was driven for another year or so before it got parked for good in 1989 or 1990. This may have been done because the car stopped running due to some stuck valves. The history becomes murky at this point. At some point the head and valves were removed and the car ended up sitting in a damp barn or garage for years. Racoons destroyed the interior and rust attacked all unprotected surfaces. The Packard changed hands some time after 2003. I'm not sure if that was before or after the engine was taken apart. The car sat again until the new owner decided that he wasn't going to be able to fix the car, so he consigned it to the dealer in Maine.
I've had a liking for the 22nd and 23rd series Packards ever since I went with a friend to look at one for sale back in the mid-nineties, so I was eager to take on the project. As with most projects, it turned out to be a lot more work than I and the new owner bargained for. This is the first 1940's car that I've ever done any serious work on. My area of expertise is mid-sixties to early-eighties full-size Chrysler products, along with many 1980's and 90's cars of most makes, so I'm quite a bit out of my normal zone on this one. My understanding is that this is a pretty rare and potentially valuable car. I've seen a good number of the Super Eight 22nd and 23rd series convertibles for sale on ebay, but this is the only Custom Eight that I have spotted on there. The final goal is a nice car that shows well at casual car shows. The Swedes like to drive their classics, so they generally aren't into trailer queens and concourse cars. The work that I do should look nice, but doesn't need to be perfect or exactly like it left the factory.
It's going to take some time for my project blog to catch up with my actual progress on the car. I'll try my best to get some more updates done every night or two.
I hope you enjoy my journey into the past as I get the Packard started on it's path to a new and better life.
December 2011, Transport and initial inspection:
Attach file:
(94.14 KB)
(121.04 KB)
(116.02 KB)
(73.82 KB)
(107.87 KB)
(96.60 KB)
(83.91 KB)
(77.32 KB)
(76.26 KB)
(64.79 KB)
(103.85 KB)
(76.55 KB)
(87.44 KB)
(79.96 KB)
(158.90 KB)
(95.25 KB)
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