Re: Engine "Freshen Up" Questions???

Posted by HH56 On 2015/3/31 18:30:30

the engine a "1948 22 Series" (Whatever that means)

Others can better address your mechanical questions but the question on engine & serial # is that Packard went by series rather than model years until 1954. A series could span more than one model year. The 46-47 cars were the 21st series. In your case the 1948 cars were introduced in late 47 as the 22nd series and continued virtually unchanged until mid 1949 when the 23rd series was introduced. That made 49 model year cars span two series with slightly different looks and mechanicals & causes a bit of confusion. To add even more confusion, many of the 48 year 22nd series cars did not sell and since they were identical to the 49 22nd series, were renumbered by the factory as 1949 models. That leads to cars with an early 48 motor number and casting date to be found sold and registered as a 1949 model. 24th series cars were the 1951 models and so it went until they abruptly changed series number to match the model year in 1954. With new model introduction it jumped from the 1953 26th series to the 1954 54th series. Knowing the series is important when looking thru the parts books. Most mechanical parts are listed by the chassis number which starts with series numerals as to the various models they fit -- 2201, 2203, 2206, etc. Body parts are typically listed by the four numerals on the patent plate which identifies the various body types 2250, 2251, 2270 etc

If you want to learn more than you ever wanted to know about your dads car I highly recommend the book on the 22 and 23 series cars "Packard-1948 to 1950" written by Bob Neal. It is available from Dwight Heinmuller.http://www.packardparts.org/products/books