The stiff wide v-belt and deep pulley groves together provide a challenge when installing or removing the belt. It will come off/on, but it can be a struggle. One way might be removing the generator which will allow the belt to be removed. Getting it back with the belt in the pulley will require some effort to line up the bolts on the bracket. I would not recommend using a narrower belt.

This image is making the rounds. Paycheck stub from 1939. O.A.B. - Old Age Benefit?

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Packard 440 high tension (i.e., spark plug) wire was the go to product. Like you say Packard on a Packard.

What you describe with the condition of one side of the exhaust is a classic case of a stuck heat riser valve. I don't know much this contributes to vapor locking, but a stuck valve will contribute to early failure of one side of the exhaust.

It is easy enough to check. If it is stuck try and free it up with penetrating oil or if this fails, replace. Many have hot been removed and the cars seem to work fine without them; albeit prone to carburetor icing in certain high humidity low temperature situations.

Using overdrive with a 3.54 axle ratio is going to end up with very high gearing. Probably not useful as it will lug the engine too much. Install the trans and od, but not use the od. The Ultramatic gearing will make the car enjoyable to use at highway speeds. The only downside is you will need to do more shifting when driving int traffic. Not a big concern. You will need to do something about the speedometer drive gear as it will read slower than the actual speed and the odometer will be inaccurate too. Either fit one for the axle ratio you have or just be aware of the difference in reading.

I believe these radios have a trimmer capacitor to tune the radio to the antenna. The adjustment is made by tuning the radio to a weak station usually in the higher frequency range and then turning a screw adjustment on the outside of the radio until the best reception is received. A tuned antenna makes a big difference in reception and quality.

Radio Shack used to sell radio noise suppression kits which consisted of a resistor that was installed in the coil to distributor high tension lead and some capacitors to fit to the generator and other places.

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An old fashioned wire coat hanger would work. Seen it used many times. Vintage fix.

My experience is that the pullers the parts stores lend are not the right ones for pulling our rear brake drums. You can buy a good one from Amazon, or if lucky borrow one.

I had Apple rebuild the lever type shocks on my non-Packard. This was not an inexpensive job and cost about as much as a set of replica new replacements. I decided to have the old ones rebuilt as they were replica new replacements and did not last before starting to leak. It took him about six weeks after receiving the shocks to start the work. Small shop, one or two people and lots of business. I recommend Apple.

Good suggestions, or just mount a Blue Tooth speaker and stream from your phone. These speakers have good fidelity, but need to be recharged.

There are two types of interference noises - ignition and generator. Ignition can be cured with resistor wiring or resistor spark plugs, but don't do both. The generator noise can be dampened with a capacitor on the generator, coil and other locations. Also make sure your grounds are good. Getting a good antenna may help in getting rid of some of the interference noise.

Like Jim said: "When you step back in time, you step back."