I went through electronics hell with my 1950 Standard Eight. I had the car completely rewired and all contacts were made shiny. I replaced the generator, battery, voltage regulator (several times), starter solenoid, overdrive electronics, light bulbs, you name it. The battery still kept dying or running down.

The problem turned out to be the connections in the ammeter, in the instrument cluster. Turns out all power has to pass through that ammeter and if there is a "bottleneck" there, the juice doesn't flow like it should.

Wild story about a 1937 Packard, Stalin, the Bulgarian mob, and a museum in Illinois. Fun reading, and good video, too.

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/iteam&id=9332607

Quote:

Tim-

My mileage hasn't changed, that I can see. However I can tell you I experienced better, smoother, acceleration. Acceleration improved even more when I replaced the voltage regulator with a more robust model. I believe the 'old' regulator didn't allocate enough juice to the ignition system.

Anyway....the electronic ignition system has been a joy. It had no effect on radio reception.

I still have the old distributor (it's in good working condition), so the car's next owner will have the option of reverting, if he so chooses. But for me, I'll stay with the new setup.

Hope this helps,

Mark

I might have answered my questions.

I just talked to JD at Max Merritt and he reports I don't need to buy the eight bushings. He says the new shocks come with bushings installed, along with washers, etc.

The guy at my local Napa store says the only upgrade he can find for the 94080 shock is Napa's KYB shock, which is imported and metric and designed for import vehicles.

I was still curious about the possibility of upgrading my shocks and called the Monroe Shock Absorber company, where I spoke to a technical support guy. He informed me that Monroe does indeed make shocks for NAPA and that the Napa 94080 corresponds to the Monroe 31094.

He reported the shock is part of the "Monroe-Matic Plus" line, which is designed to replace OEM equipment at an economical price. He said Monroe had a comparable shock in its higher-end "Reflex" line, but in his opinion I would be wasting my money with the Reflex shock. He advised me to go with the Monroe 31904/Napa 94080 and save my money.

All the best,

Mark in Seattle

I'm looking at replacing the rear shocks in my 1950 Standard Eight and am hoping for some guidance. The Packard Service Manual Section VI, Chassis, indicates I need to pay attention not only to installing the shocks properly but must also pay attention to the rubber suspension bushings.

I see in the Packard Info cross reference that the proper shock to use is the Napa 94080. These shocks go for about $30 each (with tax) at Napa. I'm curious if there are other, better-quality shocks that people use. Does anyone have any experience sourcing high quality shocks for the rear end of a 22nd or 23rd series Packard?

Max Merritt offers rear shock absorber bushings, part Group 13.002, Part # 347423, for $5 each. The Packard Parts & Accessories book says I'll need eight of these bushings.

Is that true? Will I need to get four bushings for each shock?

Thanks in advance for your ideas and answers!

All the best,

Mark in Seattle

All I know is that in 2004, when I bought my 1950 Standard Eight, the engine color was green. It looked to me that at least some of the original paint was on the engine at the time.

I frequently run my 1950, which is equipped with a 288 and overdrive, at 70 mph. In my experience the car cruises just fine for hours at that speed. I just make sure the tires are all at 35 psi, the fluids are topped off and, most importantly, I have plenty of money for gas!

Thanks for the response, Howard.

Turns out the cable snapped. Anyone have any ideas about where to get replacement setups for the cables, pulleys & tensioners for a 1950 Packard?

Hello, all,

Forgive me if this question has already been answered, but I can't find what I need, yet, by searching the site.

The drivers side wiper on my 1950 Packard has ceased to wipe. I heard a 'clunk' and the wiper quit moving. The passenger side works fine. I believe the cable has come off the pulley, or maybe a pulley or cable is broken somehow.

I'm looking for a set of instructions on how to install the wipers. Does anyone know where I can get .pdf copies of the Trico installation procedure. I know I once saw one somewhere, but I'm darned if I can find it, now that I need it!

Thanks much,

Mark

Starting eight months ago my 1950 Standard Eight has seen:

Three 6-volt batteries (two replacements, both brand new)
Three generators (two replacements, both completely rebuilt)
Five voltage regulators (four brand new replacements)
Two fan belts (one brand new replacement)

These items were installed by professional mechanics, who thoroughly checked them out at the time of install.

Previous to all this I had the car completely, and professionally, re-wired with original-looking harnesses and cables I bought from by Rhode Island Wiring. Several times over the past few months I've had the car's wiring inspected (by professionals) for poor grounds. Every inspection has turned up nothing.

No matter what I did or had replaced, it seemed, the current flow in the car never seemed adequate to keep up with the demand--particularly if I was driving at night with the headlights on and had to come to a stop. Almost invariably, the car would stall while just sitting there or when it was time to go again. Often, I had to kill the lights to get enough juice to restart.

Yesterday I left the car, again, with a specialty auto electric shop here in Seattle. After some hours I got a call: the car was ready for me to pick up.

On arrival at the shop the mechanic told me the following:

The wires to the ammeter in the instrument cluster had come partially loose. To me, it had looked like the ammeter was working well. But he noticed the wiring to and from the meter was dodgy. He had managed to tighten the wires and this improved the current flow to the point where the charging system was functioning properly. Apparently, all power produced by the system had to pass through the ammeter. If the power could not pass freely through the meter, it would starve the system.

The mechanic went on to say this is one reason why ammeters were replaced by volt meters.

I drove the car for awhile (in daylight) with the lights on, and it generally seemed better.

I have no idea whether this "loose wires at the ammeter" is a common or uncommon problem, but I just thought I'd share it with this group. I've spent well above than $2,000 on all this electrical stuff and I find it ironic that the problem may have been a simple loose wire!

Al the best,

Mark