In late October, 2009, had a bit of concern with the 327 straight eight. Was looking under the hood (or bonnet) while running the car and noticed a very small amount of bubbling liquid (believed to be oil) coming up around a central stud and head nut through the top of the cylinder head. Was afraid I was losing my head gasket. Fortunately, there was not a leak from where the cylinder head met the engine block on the side.

Checked Packard Info and found a thread entitled "1940 110 Compression" and found a reply from PackardV12fan posted 9/23/2008 in which PackardV12fan advised reasonably frequent re-torqueing of cylinder head holddowns following the head-tightening sequence in the service manual to avoid cylinder head gasket failure. Thanks PackardV12fan!

Bought a torque wrench and using the cylinder head torque tightening sequence in the 1951-1954 Service Manual on page 22 of the engine section re-torqued the nuts 1-12 in the proper sequence to the recommended 60 foot pounds of torque, most of which nuts were in the center of the cylinder head. Since the nuts on the sides of the cylinder head were tight, there was no leakage on the sides of the cylinder head, decided not to re-torque bolts 13-38 on the sides of the cylinder head, being afraid of possibly creating a problem where none presently existed. Fortunately, such re-torqueing as I did resolved the problem of the leak and replacement of the cylinder head gasket was not required.

Sorry if anyone objects to my saying a dual master cylinder is a backup brake system. All I know is that is with a dual master cylinder it is possible that the rear brakes may stop you even if the front brakes do not, or vice versa. In addition to BTV and the emergency brake my Packard has a special emergency braking device. It is called shoe leather. You stick your feet through the rusted out floorboard and press your feet down very hard on the road. It is very inefficient but it is better than nothing!
Ken

Owen, I appreciate the tips and will check out the previous post.
Thanks!
Ken

Excellent idea Owen! Have to see how many socket extensions I can get together. Locksmith wants more $$$ for a housecall and seems like every time I get her running good, hoping to bring her to the locksmith, something else happens. If I can bring the lock cylinders to the locksmith, maybe will get a break on the price. Driver's door handle and lock cylinder was already off the car when I bought it. Will provide details on more recent work done on the car later.
Thanks!

Thanks Owen!

Perhaps I should clarify my previous question by stating that I understand that a dual master cylinder can be safer than a single master cylinder as the dual has a backup brake system.

Pardon my ignorance but I do have a recently rebuilt BTV bought from Max Merritt and would like to know. I understand the advantage in having a single master cylinder versus a double master cylinder but presuming the single master cylinder works and just the power unit fails, is it like most power brake units in that you can brake but it takes a lot more force on the brake pedal? Or are the brakes totally gone?
Ken

Thanks Owen!
Very helpful!

On Labor Day, 2009, I removed the front and rear seats cushions from the Packard to try to determine if they were original to the car. Several of them had 2662 stamped on them (which is the model of the car, Clipper Deluxe touring sedan). One had 2 codes on it, one starting 2662 and one starting 2692 which is the plain Clipper touring sedan. Did somebody make a mistake in marking it 2692 (the upholstery matches the other seats)? I am under the impression that the same type of fabric was not supposed to be used in both models. The Clipper Deluxe used striped Bedford cloth. The Clipper used striped broadcloth. The bottom front seat cushion has original fabric and piping which looks very similar if not identical to the rest but really does not fit into the seat frame well, being a bit too wide from front to back. Perhaps the bottom front seat cushion may come from a different year or model Packard?

When the back seat had been removed I discovered that the rear package shelf cover could be lifted off. After lifting off the rear package shelf, I was able to discover for the first time what was in the car's trunk (not having a key to the trunk). In leaning against the fiberboard separating the passenger compartment and the trunk, I unintentionally popped a couple of the fasteners, discovering that the fiberboard was not fastened very firmly. I then popped the remainder of the fasteners, which were not very firmly attached, and removed the fiberboard, allowing better access to the trunk.

What do you think was in the trunk??
(a) Gold Doubloons and Pieces of Eight?
(b) Jimmy Hoffa?
(c) a Crosley convertible emergency vehicle?
(d) car parts?

If you guessed (d) you were correct. Most parts appeared to be used but some might still be usable. Here's what was in the trunk:

1. Two Trico Rainbow wiper blade RB 11 boxes, containing metal part of Trico wiper blades and a small portion of the original rubber blades.

2. One Trico Rainbow wiper blade RB 12 box containing Trico wiper blade metal parts.

3. One AC PCV valve CV609C (with box). I may not be a mechanical genius but I know my Packard did not have this (given the road tube and the breather oil cap). Anybody know what this goes to?

4. One GE sealed beam headlight M150

5. One box for a Niehoff AL-130 6 volt solenoid

6. One used (six volt?) solenoid marked 1465

7. One used Champion Sparkplug J-11

8. One Delco-Remy condenser box marked D-203 192811 and three used condensers, one marked 2D020, one marked Echlin, and the other unmarked

9. Two used distributor rotors, one an Echlin RR-159, the other unmarked

10. Two pushbutton door light switches (interior light comes on when door opens and button is no longer pushed in)

11. Two point sets, one marked Delco-Remy, the other marked Echlin

12. Key ignition switch labeled "starter" in chrome (I know it is not from this car)

13. Echlin RR-158 distributor cap box and an unmarked distributor cap

14. GE 1155 bulb

15. Used brake spring

16. Used fuel line hose

17. Used heater hose and clamps

15. 1154 bulb

16. Used 6 volt battery from Nationwise Auto Parts

17. Wheel and tire with 1950's looking medium width whitewall tire

19. One 1950's looking wheel trim ring

20. Jack that looks original to car

21. Battery hold-down frame that looks original to car

22. A green plastic door lock push down knob matching others in the car

23. A ratty flannel blanket

24. A soup tureen

25. Part of an Atlanta, Georgia newspaper from 1996

The PCV valve, the key ignition switch, and any 12 inch windshield wiper parts are not proper for my car. I believe most other car parts were installed or are installable on my car but I do not know for sure. Since a lot of these parts are ignition parts, I should state that my car uses a Delco-Remy Distributor No. 1110841 which was used late in 1953 according to the Automotive Electric Association, and, according to the 1951-1954 Packard service manual, on at least some 1954 models.

I had hoped to be able to crawl in the trunk to change the burned out taillights but the steel X cross member across the trunk was fairly sharp metal and did not offer much space in which I could easily crawl so I decided to wait on the locksmith. I was able to get some of the parts out with the help of a broom. I had to use a rake to get the used battery out.

Re: the designer(s) of the South Bend 57 Packard Clippers
Heard from George Hamlin and here, word for word, is what he had to say:

Greeting,

First I need to apologize for having taken so long. I was out of town, and then came Hershey. I came back to find this and realized that this is not what you'd call "customer service." I am using your email address to get you this response quickly, though I will still have to post you the article I'm going to refer to. Dwight Heinmuller is on the copy list but not Nat Dawes; I don't have his email address.

It did take me some time to remember where I had the piece I was looking for, but I did eventually come up with it. I'm sending you a Xerox of it under separate cover; we ran it in the Autumn 1984 Packard Cormorant magazine, and it included some of the things that I had learned from Duncan McRae and some direct experience from the 1957-58 area. I'm sending a Xerox of the whole story, because it's kind of cruel to copy just one page and leave you wondering how it came out.

The premise for the story was the 1958 hardtop; the assignment I was given was to keep it brief and just do a short background with some photos. I would have preferred to get more into the remarkable roof that went on that car and some other stuff, but The Boss had only the three pages plus the back cover available, so here we are.

I have highlighted the appropriate remark from Duncan McRae, wherein he said that "Dick Teague had developed a Packard using [the 1956 Studebaker] body in sedan and station wagon form." There's really no controversy involved - not when McRae himself told me that Teague had done it. Teague said about the same thing to me in other discussions, though he wasn't terribly proud of the product (1957, we're talking about). Well, Teague wasn't proud of the Panther Daytona either. Okay, he once told me he disliked nearly every design he ever did.

As for Mr. McRae, I believe that he is no longer living.

Whom Nat talked to when he was working up his book, I do not know. The chapter on the 57s and 58s in the AQ book, Dwight was not involved in, so any criticism of that chapter you might have, should attach to me alone. Dwight is currently working on publishing material about the originally planned, full-size, Detroit Packards for 1957 and will probably not be including much if anything about the Packardbakers.

I hope this helps.

GEO HAMLIN

Ken's comment: George Hamlin has quoted in his note the pertinent part of his article--a quote from Duncan McRae on the 57 designer-and the rest of his article deals with the 58 Packards. It is an interesting article on the 58 Packards but since we are here only dealing with the issue of the designer(s) of the 57 South Bend Packards, I have chosen not to put in the article here in its entirety. If anyone wants to read the article in its entirety, send me a PM and I will see what I can do. You can no longer buy this Cormorant magazine issue from PAC. Otherwise I would refer you there. Thanks, George!!

You have heard from all three authors and you can draw your own conclusion! Thanks to all three!
Ken