Just a suggestion, you could take power from the ignition switch, then to the switch on the reverse linkage. That way it will work without the head/tail light being on, and if you park the car leaving it in reverse, the reverse lights won't stay on and drain the battery.
Gary

Dan, my manifold has never had the bimetal spring on it. The flap isn't siezed, but the weight on the shaft is hanging down, this puts the flap in the "warmed up" position. I have had my manifolds off recvently, so I have seen this.
The intake gets plenty of heat from the exhaust manifold anyway, so unless you live on the Arctic circle, you really don't need this flap to work at all.
If your car is overheating, it is probably other causes. like the block full of rust or the distribution tube not doing its job.
Gary

Hi Bob. Important point: where are the solid lifters from? Now if you just install new lifters on a worn-in cam, you are going to have trouble. Your cam lobes will be circles in no time.
Cam and lifters must be run in together. If the lifters are used, AND come with the cam they ran on, AND you know which position they originally were in, fine. Swap over. If the cam and lifters are new, put loads of moly grease on the lobes and follow the break in procedure, that too will be fine. Mixing new and used will be a disaster.
Gary

Thanks Dell. There was no leak between the 2 manifolds. Must have been good mnachining, because I couldn't find any remnants of a gasket there, and I am pretty sure these have never been apart. The gaskets to the block needed replacing, and being RHD it mneans more skin off the knuckles.
Gary

Hello everyone. On a 1949 288 is there supposed to be a gasket between intake and exhaust manifolds? The hot box, that is. I have my manifolds off, and apart, there was no sign of any gasket. Thanks.
Gary

Well, we discovered that 48 Packard and 48 Buick front shocks are not interchangable. On to Plan B.

Thank you Howard and Jim, that is a great help.
Gary

Hi All.
Does anyone know if the front shocks/upper control arms on a Series 23 are interchangable with any other cars of the era (i.e. the big 3), or specific to Packard?
Gary

I agree with you Ernie. My engine never had a spring, haven't had a problem with running or carb getting too hot. I am pretty sure the counterweight caused the flap to "fail-safe" in the open (warmed up) position. I don't want to pull my manifold off just to check this, can anyone confirm?
Gary

Hello. It looks like a Carter WD-0, which is whart I have on mine.
The long bar coming up from the throttle shaft has a long slot, this should go over the post on the choke bracket (just down and th\o the right in your pic). The only way to do this is to remove the choke part, 3 screws, one of which is inside the barrel, rotate the choke assy and hooke the post in. To be in this state, it means means some "expert" has had the carb apart and reassembled it wrong, who knows what else they did or didn't do.
Gary