Re: The consequential costs of a foolish or sloppy act

Posted by gone1951 On 2008/7/13 20:01:29

This is a great story. I was going to say that a 7 pound cap is available from the NAPA Dealer for $4.00 or $5.00.

Along these same lines a story of my own. I got my 51 from a friend who couldn't keep it running so left it parked for 10 or so years. He told me He quit driving the car because every time he went out in the car it would overheat. He replaced the radiator and the water pump. Still overheated. He even went so far as to tell me he checked with a friend of his who owns two Packards and was told " Yea all those 51's over heat that's just the way they are." Sure enough when I started driving the car on almost any day I would loose coolant over the side. There is no overflow tank on a 51. One day I started the car after topping of the radiator coolant level and was messing with something else and noticed water running out the overflow pipe. The engine was just started and had not even warmed up yet. I found that at some time he had changed the radiator cap with the wrong one. The cap said 7 pounds all right but was designed for a radiator with about a 3/4" drop. The packard filler neck has a 1" drop. The rubber seal on the cap was 1/4" above the seat in the bottom of the filler neck. He might as well have left it off all together. Again the NAPA dealer came through and had the correct 7 pound cap with a 1" drop in stock.
BTW ever try to buy simple things like a radiator cap or spark plugs from Kragen Auto? I get aggravated every time I drive by a Kragens. Lately has anybody said " Yes but who makes Packard, Ford or General Motors?