One last thought, check with Henry Yeska in Pennsylvania (he advertises in Hemmings and PAC); at one time he was repairing or converting Owen-Dyneto cutouts and regulators. Phone 610-759-0230.

Sorry to dissagree Tim, but the 55/56 V8 Packards have a bypass oil filter, not a full flow.

Scott, my 34 Eight has stock 4.69 gears which was pretty much standard for the closed cars; the lighter open cars could have that, or 4.36, or 4.07. In my case I find 45 to 50 to be very comfortable cruising speeds and the engine is essentially silent. I've occasionally cruised at 55 for an hour or two where modern highways seemed to demand it, but try to avoid it.

Boy, if NAPA (Echlin) has finally stopped making these it's a shame for those who weren't aware of them; it sure was a great security blanket for those who knew and stocked up on a few, especially at about $40 each. The O-D unit for the 33-34 Eights and Super Eights was NAPA's VR-755. I believe the original cutout for your car was Dyneto #20220, and NAPA's replacement was CU 3.

As far as reliability, despite having several new NAPA replacements, my 34 is still using the original unit so I don't think that solid state could be any more reliable - that O-D was really top-notch equipment.

I know I suggested this before, did you ever get to NAPA and check for one? As of about a year ago they still cataloged them, almost exactly original appearance, and about $38. I bought several of the 33-34 replacements for the Owen Dyneto and the only physical difference is an acorn nut in the center of the cover to attach it, rather than two screws at the side of the base. I'm sure I could find the Echlin/NAPA number for you.

Let me digress from the original topic to that of oils for the earlier engines. Despite the terrific advances in motor oil since the early thirties when they were marginally refined crude oil, none of them can turn a slow-revving, long-stroke, babbit bearing engine into a streaking speed demon. In the era when 65% of the nation's roads were unpaved, 45 mph was a challenging and not commonly reached speed and the cars were geared accordingly. Changing your oil frequently, dropping and cleaning the oil pan regularly, and keeping to the speeds for which the car was originally engineered are probably far more important to good engine life than the specific oil type used. Although there maybe something that appeals to logic about using higher viscosity oils (for cushioning effect?) in the older engines with babbit bearings, it is probably a bad idea. Higher viscosity translates into lower flow rates which transfers into less heat transfer and heat is the major enemy of babbit materials. Thus for these early engines I'd recommend sticking to the viscosity recommended by Packard at the time. If the engine is clean internally, I doubt that it makes a difference whether you use detergent or non-detergent, though the engines of the 33-39 seniors had full-flow oil filters and heat exchangers. I'd make an exception for the Twelves and use detergent single viscosity because they have hydraulic valve clearance dampers with very fine tolerances.

When you get to the advent of the 356 engine and those that follow with hydraulic lifters, a detergent oil is much recommended but again you should insure that the engine is clean inside. If the car was recently purchased and you don't know when it was last done, drop the pan and clean it along with the valve lifter galley. Again, driven sensibly at the speeds for which they were engineered, a single viscosity detergent oil should be fine but likewise a multi-viscosity grade should be OK but I'd avoid SAE10W-40 which is probably the poorest of the bunch due to very high levels of viscosity extenders. If your summertime temperatures are in the range that Packard recommended SAE 40 for, then I'd use SAE15W-40 like Rotella T or Delvac because you can benefit from enhanced additive packages that include anti-scuff additives. In any case those are my opinons, feel free to differ.

The differential with the pinion thrust bearing externally adjustable from the outside of the case is a senior car differential and not original to a 120. I have no information on interchangeability but can suggest you look it up in Hollanders.

Both Red Line (a botique oil formulator) and Castrol have recently introduced additive-rich specialty oils for the (non-catalytic converter) collector car market. Red Line advertises in CCCA News Bulletin and other publications.

No, it's incorrect. When the spring thaw comes and I get the car up on a lift, I'll take a picture for you, but hopefully you can find a Bendix-equipped car in the interim and crawl under and take a look.

The tag on the firewall is the Briggs body sequence number, occasionally matching but usually within 20 of the VN. Since Henney conversions started with Briggs bodies, I don't really know if Henney removed them and replaced them with their own, or not -- just never took note. Perhaps the owner of this Executive Sedan will send a picture of that tag and clear that up.

I really enjoy looking at limos but they can be a hard sell as they have a rather narrow appeal. For whatever price guides are worth, the most recent lists the Executive Sedan at $2675 in #5 and $29,000 in #1 condition, about the same for the limo. Even if you did some of the work yourself, it could easily cost 2-3X that to get that car to #2 condition, though certainly not all of us look at a restoration as a cost-recovery venture.

Thanks for the picture of the 53 VN plate, it now appears that 54 was the conversion to the embossed plain stainless one, and it remains a mystery why this executive sedan with a 53 thief-proof and other features has a 54 tag.

John, I'm curious how you determined that it's a 2651 and not a 2650.