Took the old girl for the first time around the block! My first drive of a Packard and man....what an experience! Obviously it is not perfect, lots of noises and groans, brakes pulling badly, clutch shuddering and no brake lights but - she has been standing for 10 years! But man...the power and sound of that 288! Beautifull! This makes me more determined to do a good job and get her running as close to original as possible for me.

Finally finished derusting and painting the door cavaties and sills. Still busy replacing window channels and cleaning door mechanisms. Also took some time to do some polishing and I think she looks much better already.

Obviously the chrome needs work. Also replaced and cleaned the rear light pods. Replaced the non existant rubber gaskets with one of my own inventions! Replaced the rear decklid rubber and painted the whole luggage space. I had a hard time finding globes for the map lights under the dash. As my car is 12v that bulbs was hard to find. Replaced the 12v alternator with a new one and is busy sorting the wiring. Here is some updated pics:

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Thanks to Mal, for all his support and ideas on this project, along with dreceterini for inspiring this project!!

All in all, it's been a great day, and now the project is finally falling together!!

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It was just waiting for you to come along and rescue it Eric. So, together with the Mayfair, things are starting to roll. I'm looking forward to seeing it all come together. Best of luck,

Now it's time to find out just what I'm going to do with this engine...

So now I have my 9 main 327, and all it took was a trade on some Hudson parts that I've been wanting to get rid of for a long time. I realize that it's "a little worse for wear", but I'm going to be going through the engine totally, so this doesn't bother me that much. I've fixed a lot worse looking engines anyway. When I get done with it, it'll look like this: (minus the aluminum head though)

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I'm looking into some Packard 352 heads with an intake manifold. My question is can the 352 heads be put on the Studebaker 289? and if you can is there anything specific that you need to watch out for? Thanks

Today, I secured the first step in starting on my new project, a turbocharged 9 main 327. I went to Ponca City, Oklahoma to look at a "supposed 9 main out of a '53 or '54 Patrician" and found this:

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I'll put my two cents worth in, too.
I have a couple of 55 400s. As someone indicated, there are some spouses who won't ride in a non-air conditioned car. To put in a Vintage unit, the system must be negative ground. I had a generator repair shop install an alternator and change to negative ground. Still haven't changed the amp meter to negative ground so it shows discharge when the alternator is charging.
In talking with an auto A/C shop owner, he pointed out that the one wire alternators pump all the juice into the battery. If you are driving with lights and air conditioning on, a lot of current is being driven through the battery. With two wire units, the alternator feeds the accesseries directly and anything left ovr charges the battery as needed. Logically, this would lead to lower temperatures in the battery and longer battery life.
Was the A/C shop owner correct or blowing smoke rings?
A couple of years ago I found a distributor in Pittsburgh that carried 6 volt alternators. Don't recall if they were positive or negative ground. Also found a shop that converts negative ground alternatives to positive ground. Email me if you want names and phone numbers. Bernardi11@comcast.net

Bernardi

Monday 18th February 2008

Scraping, scraping and more scraping. Getting monotonous, this time right side outside of main X member, underfloor and frame rails. See the results in the pic below

Last Friday gasket for diff re-assembly arrived from USA.

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