The Soviets were undoubtedly very adept at obtaining what they considered the best of available technology and, "reverse engineering," things to their requirements. It would appear that this was, indeed, the case with the ZIS and ZIL automobiles. From appearances, and in the case of the ZIS, they didn't do a bad job although, from what I understand, the actual execution and production methods sometimes left a little to be desired.

Very, very interesting. I had been curious about these cars since first seeing photos of them in the early 1950s and this is more information than I've ever found.

You all bring back fond memories of filling my car in high school (and occasionally one of my parents) with the very cheapest regular grade gasoline that one could buy. My '39 Chevy seemed to digest it better than, say, my mother's new '57 Pontiac Star Chief and she (as well as everyone else) could always tell when I'd filled up at the Mars station with 23 cent per gallon regular. The Chevy had many a gallon of, "re-refined," motor oil poured through (and I do mean THROUGH) it. Economy, in the days when I might be lucky enough to have a whole $3 to take a date to a movie, get something to eat afterwards and buy gasoline, was an absolute necessity.

My memory is that both my grandfather and my father used Havoline 10W-30 High Detergent motor oil in everything after it became available. These included Packard, Nash, Chevy, one Hudson, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Ford and Mercury products from model year 1938 onward until I moved cross-country in the early 1960s.

I have used Shell Rotella (CI-4) diesel grade oil in the '55 Pat about 4 years, now, since a complete engine rebuild and once, when on the road in a hurry and having no other alternative, resorted to Advance Auto Parts brand 20W-50 CI-4 fleet grade motor oil. Oil pressure (with PI, "re-engineered," oil pump) and engine operating temperature have remained consistently within published operating parameters and oil consumption (after break-in) has been nil now for going on 6,000 miles.

My knowledge of Presidential Packards has been enhanced tremendously having previously been solely from my recall of ancient newspaper photographs. In my old age, "My memory is like a steel trap; rusty and full of mice."

This is the most open, most informative individual marque website that I have encountered as well as containing much content valuable to anyone who is interested in or works on older vehicles. I, personally, know two or three people who own other marques that come here for the general automotive technical knowledge and expertise that is shared here (as in NO other forum) by everyone from purists to hot-rodders, custom builders and those of us who simply use our cars for daily transportation and could never, practically, afford a complete restoration but want to keep them usable and out there for the, "kids," to see, appreciate and, just maybe, take an interest in.

As for me, I cannot accurately state just how much I appreciate this site, all of its contributors and the tremendous time and effort that Kev puts into it. Convenience is nice but I would, literally, wait a day for certain info available here (and few other accessible places) to load.

Your recent, "adjustments," seem to have helped, Kev.

Thanks.

Unless my memory fails me I believe that President and Mrs. Truman both arrived at the White House to take up residence and departed from it in Packards.

Certain key individuals in the Eisenhower administration had close ties to GM, pushed the, "one source," concept for military purchases and were at least rumoured to be instrumental in PMCC losing its contract for the J-47 jet engines that were manufactured for the USAF at the Utica plant.

General H. H. (Hap) Arnold was (in turn) commander of the U.S. Army Air Corps and U.S. Army Air Forces. At approximately the time that he was photographed standing next to his Packard Curtis LeMay would've been either a Lieutenant Colonel or full Colonel assigned to the 8th Air Force.

Interesting that you should bring that up, Owen. The Packard service garage was just a few blocks from my grandparent's home when I was eight to about twelve years old. It was located several blocks away from the showroom and new car lot. All of the new cars were delivered there for prep before going to the showroom and, of course, all service work was done there. Both management and mechanics seemed to tolerate me making a pest of myself because I stayed (mostly) out of the way and it must have been apparent to them that I was interested in and loved the cars. Several of them knowing my grandfather probably didn't hurt either.

I recall quite a lot of what I saw and heard there and owners' manually upshifting the Ultramatics from low into driving range was evidently pretty prevalent and the cause of much work for them. Recall, too, that the general consensus of opinion was that the Twin Ultramatics did not stand up well to heavy, extended towing, being prone to severely overheat under the increased load in their original configuration.

When maintaining or repairing my car today, I tend to go back there in my memory, first, and then come here to this forum to refresh my declining memory of those happy days when there were still new Packards and to take advantage of the considerable knowledge that has become available since. The guys that worked there were mostly old Packard hands, having worked almost exclusively for Packard dealerships for nearly all of their lives and, were any of them still around, I have no doubt that they'd appreciate ALL of our efforts to keep Packards on the road.

My car had been mostly sitting between 1989 and 2004. One of the first things I did was to drop the tranny pan, flush the transmission, replace noticeably bent/worn linkage parts (already knew that direct-drive clutch was slipping because I'd driven it across town from delivery site), reinstall pan w/new gasket and put in new fluid (Dexron-Mercon, first). Drove the car for a time with the Dexron-Mercon in it, checked the fluid for level and colour regularly with no apparent changes in either fluid colour or performance. Then changed to Type F fluid, replacing gasket and cleaning filter again. Shifting improved very slightly. Drove car for a few months with the Type F, still experiencing direct drive clutch slippage although less severe. If I remember, the Type F fluid was drained once during this time with some darkening of fluid. About three months after that, read on (I think) this forum someone's recommendation of B&M product. There are two - one synthetic and recommended for vehicles built after 2002 and the original (I assume) petroleum based product. I used the latter. Improvement in performance was almost immediate and, within a week, the fluid had turned very noticeably darker. Repeated the draining, filter cleaning process until the fluid stopped changing colour. Don't know what's in this stuff but it appears to dissolve old varnish build-up and counteract glazing. Automatic shifting is smoother in, "Gear-Go," and direct-drive clutch no longer slips, either in, "Gear-Go, or, "Mush-Drive."
(I actually LIKE the uniqueness of this transmission. These are my own private nomenclatures for the drive ranges in it and are not meant to offend anyone.)

I second Turbopacman's recommendation of B&M Trick Shift, having had the exact same experience with it after having tried both Dexron-Mercon and the Type F. Also dropping the pan and cleaning the reusable filter. While the improvement in direct-drive clutch lock-up and elimination of, "groaning," noise was almost immediate after switching to the Trick Shift, I had to drop pan, clean filter and replace fluid three times before it stopped turning colour.

"Yeah. ok. THE QUESTION IS WHAT is properly installed supposed to mean????"

Although I'd have liked to have been able to afford custom forged pistons for the Pat, I'm a long way from that financial condition. I do not remember where the information came from at the time my engine was rebuilt as do not believe that I discovered this forum until sometime after the rebuild.

We weighed the individual pistons and determined that they were within balancing tolerances (I do not recall the exact figures but engine did not require re-balancing) and allowed an extra .0035" clearance on the bore. Again, I do not know where the advice to do this came from. I had never been inside one of these engines before, hadn't had any experience with Egge pistons (or any other kind) since the mid-1960s. I do recall that I thought that the extra clearance made sense at the time because of the different expansion rates of the materials used in the originals and the Egge pistons, the machinist and mechanic agreed and I have had no problems with the engine. It used a little oil for about the first 500 to about 750 miles but that has ceased, the engine is quiet and, for the past 5000 miles, has given trouble-free service in daily use.