I have been diligently working at my Dad's place, trying to clean it out so it can be sold. He passed back in March and the task of emptying his home of personal effects fell on me. He'd been living there for over 60 years and was a bit of a collector, to put it mildly! He was also in possession of his father's 'collection', who was an historian and had a library of over 1000 books, many dating back into the 1800's. I came across the subject book, 14th edition, dated 1926. It is complete and the inner pages are in excellent condition, but the cover is a little rough, probably from extensive use in it's day. If anyone is interested, it's yours for the price of shipping and a nominal donation to P.I. I am in B.C., Canada to anyone contemplating shipping. I'm guessing mail would be around $20/$25 to a US destination, maybe a bit less domestically. Chris.

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Good going Don. Getting her out for a drive must have been pretty exhilerating! Especially with all the history you have with the car. Chris.
P.S. I got a real chuckle out of you relating your stories of playing gangster in the car as a kid with your friends and someone being the getaway driver'! LOL My Grandmother had an old '28 Model A Ford in the 'back 40' and we did very much the same thing with it, 'steering' and shifting gears like we knew what we were about! LOL

I'm still salivating over the '40 coupe. Not sure what it will hammer for but the range of the current bids makes it look pretty attractive! Chris.

Good point, TxGoat. Also, presuming the clutch linkage is similar throughout those years, there is a large, U-shaped bracket that is part of the pedal linkage that is prone to wear. I know on mine, the holes were so elongated I ended up putting bushings in them to restore 'tightness' to the pedal motion. The proper fix would have been to weld them shut and redrill but I didn't have that available at the time so well greased brass bushings were an okay substitute and completely changed the motion and 'feel' of the pedal. Chris.

Steve, sorry - not sure how I got my wires crossed there! Senior issues! Chris.

I went through your post, formulating some suggestions as I read and then saw Don's post and he covered about everything I was going to say. When I bought my Packard I had the same ideas to go to disc brakes and 12V, etc., but as you get to know the car and Packard, you'll see that these were very well designed and built cars, well ahead of their time. There is something 'worthy' about keeping them stock, and properly tuned and in good repair, they will serve you well as originally made. Also, if you ever go to sell the car, originality will pay dividends. To add to Don's suggestions, I would do a compression test, consider putting a carb kit or a rebuilt carb on it. You say the oil looks off and it could have some coolant mixed in with it. (the compression test might tell you that story) I'd for sure start with some fresh, clean oil and see where you end up. Does look like a nice car you've got yourself there - good luck and welcome to Packard Info. Lots of help and resources on this site, not much you can't get answered on here. Chris.

Hey Don,
You're lucky to get that fitting out of the head. Mine was so siezed I had to drill it out just under the thread size and re tap it. As for the gauge there is a gentleman by the name of Roy Martin who did repair them in the past - not sure if he still does. Others on the site will probably have more current info. He was very reasonable with quick turnaround and my temp gauge has worked flawwlesly since he reconditioned it. His address is:
Roy Martin,
172 Laurel Hill Dr.,
South Burlington, VT. 05403

The only email I have is Roymart@comcast.net - don't know if it is current. Nice to have your original dash gauge working. And if your head is the same as my '39 the hole is 5/8-18 NF
Hope that is of some help. Chris.

Hi Marty,
Good points by all responders. I think the point(s) here is that overheating can be one issue or a combination of cooling shortcomings that can lead to the wrong end of the temp gauge. Kevin mentions 'water pump clearance' and this is, in my opinion, an oft-overlooked possibility when troubleshooting overheating. These pumps are very old and have likely been through the reuild process more than once. As corrosion and wear eat away at the 'innards' of the pump, the clearances can become past tolerance specs and while the pump doesn't leak and pumps water, the volume it pumps is inadequate to cool the engine, especially in hot weather. Not sure about the '37, but I know the '39 pumps have been re-proed and they are quite reasonably priced. Also, I am a firm believer in rebuilt rads. Additives and flushing can help with an old rad, but that doesn't come close to the benefits of a fresh recore and the descaliing of upper and lower tanks that come with a radiator service. Rad shops are getting scarce these days as they don't rebuild car rads anymore, but there are still quite a few truck rad guys out there that will be able to help. Not cheap, though.
Chris.

Steve,
I have performed this unenviable task of R&Ring the '39 sterering box and wanted to mention that the steering column shaft does come out the bottom it if you unbolt the tierod end, I believe it is. Seems to me convention has it coming out through the cabin and in your case, being a convertible, that would be easier than a closed car, but it also involves tearing up the carpet and removing the floor plates around the base of the steering column. I jacked up the front of the car and pulled it out the bottom and it was a lot cleaner and easier. (for me anyway) Your mechanic may have done lots of these and already know all this, but just thought I'd mention it in case this is his first Packard steering box. Chris.

I too, used a hardware store 'rattle can dark red' and thought it looked okay. As a detail add-on, I painted the hex nut edges black. Probably elicit a boo-hiss from the purtists but I thought it looked nice. Chris.

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