Perhaps when Joe Santana hears back from the Ebay vendor, we will know more.
Personally I am a huge fan of stainless and am presuming this unit is medium gauge steel, but given that's what our cars came with originally and the obvious cost difference to go to stainless, this might be a viable alternative for those not wanting to 'spend the wad'.
And, as an aside, and at the risk of asking an already answered query, do we know what grade of stainless Restoration Garages tanks are constructed from?? Most folks think of stainless as non-rusting, but there are literally dozens of grades of stainless out there and anything less than 316 will have some carbon in it and, while it will last a lot longer than steel, will corrode over time with road salt and ocean air, etc. Given that most nowadays-Packards are 'sunny day' cars and garaged the rest of the time, a steel tank WOULD probably outlast us as well. Great to have the options though.

And at that price, the Ebay tank would most certainly not be stainless.

Excuse me Dave, but my question was directed at the fuel tank referenced by Joe Santana that is on Ebay. It is listed as:'Exact new fuel tank reproduction. for all Packards manufactured between 1939 and 1942', and at $700, it sounds like a score. I was just curious if anyone had investigated it any further and ascertained whether or not it had baffles LIKE the one 'referenced in posts 2 & 4' made by The Restoration Garage.

That is a nice looking tank. Not to leave any money on the table, but $700 doesn't even sound that bad. What is the gallonage on this tank? Presume w/baffles??

Thanks Howard, and others who weighed in. I have emailed CG&J and TCP Performance and will see what they say. At least it doesn't seem like a problem that can't be solved by throwing enough money at it. I had a quote here of $600 Canadian $$'s to have it recored, which is about $440 US and it is now starting to look like a grand US, which is about $1350, so a bit more than double the cost I had budgeted for, but that is just the way it goes sometimes. Hopefully these new sources your have suggested that do aluminum units might come in a little cheaper. I see their '37 unit is $765 with free shipping, so that is quite a bit better. BTW, does anyone know what the differences between '37 & '39 Rads are????

Thanks very much for the responses. I may have been remiss in using the term 'braze', as I thought that is what they did. Regardless, the 2 other rad shops that I talked to both said there can be issues with the tanks not taking the heat of reattaching new cores and developing cracks. One guy said he could get it so the rad would pass the initial pressure leak-test, and then once it is reinstalled in the car, it would start dripping antifreeze from a crack that developed in one of the tanks, and that is just the reality of trying to repair a rad of that age. Needless to say, this doesn't give me the 'warm fuzzies'! I presume he means from road vibration. I have never heard of this before and have had 2 or 3 rads overhauled in my day, but never anything in the 80 year range, so I am kind of having to take these guys at their word. There WERE about 15 rad shops in a couple hundred mile radius of where I live, 5 years ago, and now there are 4, and the ones left frankly don't seem that interested in doing this - not dissimilar to trying to get a mechanic to work on a classic car - most of them can't be bothered. I've emailed Brassworks for a quote on a new repro and I'll keep plugging with these rad guys to see if I can get the fork under one of them, but I'm certainly not holding my breath!! Rather disappointing.

I did track down Brassworks and I see a 1940 Packard rad in their offering for $999, and a 'coming soon' 1939 version as well, which I hope will be similarly priced. If I can't come up with a solution on my re-coring endeavor, I am at least buoyed by the fact that a replacement is available. Notwithstanding, I would really appreciate any info or guidance as to what 'everybody else does'with these old rads.
Thanks, Chris.

I had a source to re-core the rad for my '39 Six and when I contacted him today, was advised he'd had major back surgery and wasn't going to be anywhere near a radiator in several months. Apparently radiator shops are on the serious decline (at least here, in this area of Canada) and I am now searching farther afield to find a source who can do the job. One question that was posed to me was: 'what kind of shape are the tanks in?' to which I had to reply I really had no idea. The guy said with 'really old rads' there are issues with the old tanks not standing up to the heat of brazing in the new cores. Has anyone come up against this issue before?? I was also asked for a picture of the rad out of the car and as mine is still IN the car, wanted to know if there is there a 'Packard picture' of the that rad around that I could email them???
Also, one of the shops I talked to today said there is a company out there (he thought it was called Brassworks) that is reproducing old Ford rads and he said they looked very authentic. Maybe they could reproduce the tanks for my rad?
I will scour the net and see what I can come up with, but would love to hear from someone who has 'crossed this bridge' already and possibly save a couple of steps. Many thanks for any replies.

Pac 40,

I heard back from the guy parting out the '40 and he, unfortunately, sold the rear fenders locally - sorry.

Regardless, if I hear of any other possible sources, I will let you know.

Hi Pac40,

The guy I bought my '40 parking lights from, took them off the fenders and I'm pretty sure he still has. He's in the Washington area if that works. I'll email him and see what he says and get back to you with his particulars in a PM