Re: New guy. With a 2202 I beleave 1949 super 8

Posted by HH56 On 2014/4/16 21:04:53

The little plate is the Briggs Body tag and was installed by Briggs when they built the body. The official Packard number would have been on a large roughly 6" square plate under the hood on the drivers side of the cowl.. If that is missing then the Briggs tag will have the same body number (first 4 digits 2272 = 6 pass Super 8 sedan) but the other 4 digits is the sequence number telling where in production approximately that model was built. The Briggs # may be a few to a few hundred different from the official number.

The large embossed numbers are what we all the "thief Proof number" and while is of interest to one of our posters who is compiling a database, is not of much other use because most of the Packard records of the numbers have been lost. It is the only number on the car that is permanent though.

The engine number G40xxxx says it is a 48 327 with 5 mains and solid lifters as for the Super 8.. If there is a H stamped on the pad it would have had the optional hydraulic lifters.

If the patent plate is gone some have had extreme luck and good fortune to have found the build slip taped on top of the glovebox or folded and wedged between the gas fill and vent pipes a few inches below the gas fill door. If there is no other paperwork such as old registrations, that build slip would be the only other chance of finding the official number and how the car was originally equipped.