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Board index » All Posts (fredpuhn)




Re: Tire valves
#1
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Fred Puhn
I got Diamondback radials for my Series 23 sedan. I love the look and the handling but the 42 psi inflation pressure is not great. They do it to minimize the flex of the bonded on whitewall. The high pressure makes the car ride harder. If you let the pressure fall too low the sidewalls flex and the whitewalls crack. This has happened on my car and I am unhappy. I have no other solution to offer.

Posted on: 2019/9/2 12:49
Fred Puhn
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Re: Tire valves
#2
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Fred Puhn
There are two different diameters for the tire valve hole in the wheel rim. The old one is a 5/8" diameter hole. In more modern times the hole was made smaller, but tire valve manufacturers made vales of both sizes. I suggest you go to a tire store to get the proper tire valves. I like the bolt-in valves rather than the cheap rubber ones.

Posted on: 2019/8/11 14:47
Fred Puhn
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Ultramatic overfilling
#3
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Fred Puhn
My 1950 Packard Deluxe 8 with Ultramatic has a funny problem. Although the car runs fine the automatic transmission created a big puddle of fluid on my driveway after I parked it. I could not see a source for the leak so I moved it 100 feet to a clean flat part of the concrete paving. It never dripped a drop. I let it sit for a day and then moved it back to the original parking place. It did not leak.

The only thing I can consider is that my mechanic overfilled the transmission when he worked on the car and that made the fluid leak out until it was at the proper level. Does anyone have an idea about this?

Posted on: 2019/7/25 12:32
Fred Puhn
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Re: Series 23 Stalling
#4
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Fred Puhn
My Series 23 Packard used to occasionally stall, sometimes while on the freeway. I found the heat shield over the fuel pump was missing and put one on the car. That helped cure the low speed stalling. The high speed stalling seems like vapor lock. I installed an electric fuel pump in parallel with the mechanical pump and a switch to turn it on from the seat. That cures the high speed stalling and also helps on cold starts.

Posted on: 2018/10/4 22:58
Fred Puhn
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Re: Radiator removal, water pump replace?
#5
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Fred Puhn
I just had my Series 23 radiator removed and had the radiator shop put in a new higher efficiency core. This added another $200 to the job but it was worth the effort. I wish I had checked the coolant distribution tube but did not wish to pull the grill off. I previously had replaced the water pump with a new one and put in new hoses and thermostat.

Posted on: 2018/10/2 11:59
Fred Puhn
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Re: Steering floating
#6
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Fred Puhn
I went through the same trade-offs on my Packard. I have already had enough bad experience with Coker to never use them again. The bias ply tires are not as directionally stable as radials so look for radials. I bought Diamondback radials because they look authentic on the car. However they are very costly and you have to run high tire pressure to keep the whitewalls from cracking.

Posted on: 2018/9/28 16:36
Fred Puhn
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Re: Steering floating
#7
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Fred Puhn
I have these experiences on my 1950 Series 23 Touring Sedan. First I went to a good alignment shop and had the front and rear suspension rebuilt and aligned. Then I got rid of the wrong size Coker tires and bought some Diamondback radials. The tire size is critical because there is not enough space on the rear for modern low profile tires. The result worked well but the cost was about $3000 for everything.

If you want a cheaper solution you can check for slop in the suspension and replace only the worst parts. Checking the toe-in is probably the most critical alignment issue but it will be impossible to hold the setting if the joints have slop. Replace the tires after checking the suspension because the new tires can be damaged by misaligned front suspension.

Posted on: 2018/9/26 11:36
Fred Puhn
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Re: Proud New Owner of a 49 Packard Club Sedan
#8
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Fred Puhn
I have the 288 engine in my 1950 Series 23 touring sedan. I have been chasing overheating for about 5 years and gradually improving the situation. Here are some of my experiences:

1. Soon after I bought the car I replaced the thermostat, rebuilt the radiator core, and replaced the water pump. I did NOT pull the water distribution tube because the front of the body has to be removed to do that.

2. I checked the temperature gage with a new SW mechanical gage with numbers on it. Because of a lack of numbers on the Packard gage I put the new temp gage under the dash so I have 2 of them. I have trouble with inconsistent readings on the aftermarket gage and I think that is because I do not have the sending unit mounted is a place which gives it constant contact with water. I still need to solve that problem.

3. To improve the cooling I had my mechanic add an electric fan in front of the radiator. I could not tell if that helped however. On a long drive the Packard lost power on the freeway and I had to pull over. The radiator core was leaking and the water sprayed onto the ignition and shorted out some of the plugs. I pulled the radiator and found the fan blades flexed and hit the core until they caused a leak. The core was replaced with a new heavy duty core with more fins and tubes. I removed the electric cooling fan. So far that seems OK.

4. I recently checked the temperature at the front and rear of the head and found a small difference in temperature but nothing to be alarmed about. If the water pump is off again I will clean/replace the distribution tube no matter how hard the job is. Based on my experience it looks like a week's work for 2 people.

Posted on: 2018/9/6 15:59
Fred Puhn
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Re: Whitewall Width Question
#9
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Fred Puhn
My 1950 Series 23 Deluxe 8 sedan came with a set of Coker radials on it when I bought it. The tires were wide and low and made the car look like a low rider. I got rid of them and bought a set of Diamondback radials. These are beautiful and fit the car. However unless you keep the tire pressure way high the sidewalls crack. That has happened to me so I am not likely to buy another set if I can find another tire that also fits good.

I had a very bad experience with Coker. I bought a set of inner tubes for my antique truck some years ago. When I took them out of the sealed bags they cracked where the tubes were folded over. I asked them about returning them for good ones they would not consider it. Apparently it was my fault the tubes were packaged wrong and were very old. Since that time I have heard many stories about Coker not honoring a warrantee. I will never use Coker again.

Posted on: 2018/8/26 15:50
Fred Puhn
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Re: Series 23 Antenna Ideas
#10
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Fred Puhn
I have a lot of experience making my 1950 Series 23 Deluxe 8 touring sedan into an nice driver/show car. My car came with a radio and has a roof top antenna. My strong advice is to NOT install a roof antenna. It is a bad design with very hard or impossible to restore details. After trying to restore the original antenna and spending hundreds of dollars I finally gave up and bought a restored one. It looks OK and almost works as designed but I always move it by hand and do not try to extend and retract it using the knob. The design is fragile and almost impossible to fix.

I wish I had your problem. If I did I would try to find the correct manual antenna and mount it on the fender in the correct spot. There are lots of parts out there for a series 23 and probably you can find a decent used one. You could also have fun with researching the mounting location and appearance of the antenna. The hole size in the fender needs to be researched and perhaps you could stick a new one of a similar appearance to get the radio working when trying to find the correct antenna.

The vacuum operated antenna is a gadget that is not needed to drive the car and use the radio. It just adds cost and give the antenna additional ways to fail. I would use one only if it came on the car when new.

My Packard gets authentic parts if possible because that is the fun I have of owning an old car. I would never use a modern antenna if I could get the correct one.

Posted on: 2018/8/24 14:20
Fred Puhn
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