PackardV8 - You're right...eight cylinders. I had my "old school" dwell tach meter from Sears Roebuck(picture below) hooked up to verify because it was a 12 volt tach. It was not correct on the 8 cylinder setting. Go figure. So I changed it to where it did read correctly. When I get a chance I am going to hook the old school meter back up inside the car and compare the two when driving.

Howard - So full of insight. Made me laugh when you said about meeting my local Mountie. But can you imagine the look on his face when he clocked a car that old going that fast. That would be a hoot! Might be worth the ticket to see that face.

Tim and PackardV8 - Your numbers are close to what I am seeing. What I see though is 55 mph (GPS) at about 2250 and almost 2500 for 60. Maybe my tire size is off just enough to screw this up. But as stated above, I need to verify the tach setting.

Ross and CaptainBristol - We were out for a drive today. Round trip was about 110 to 120 miles. Tried to keep it around 50 to 55 MPH. Depending on how accurate my gas gauge is I think I used at least 3/4 of a tank. Would you consider that normal? I'm new to this car and still figuring it out, but having a blast doing it. Lots of "thumbs up" today.

Gentlemen - Thanks for all your input. Want more if you have it in you. I have to verify the rpm's on the highway and maybe tweek my speedo a bit, like Howard mentioned, to try and get it a bit closer to the speed that I am travelling.

I raise a glass of a barley based beverage to you for all the assitance.

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I know this has been addressed here, but I am having a hard time finding the postings. As seen in my avaitar, is my car. 1949 Deluxe Touring Sedan, 288 engine, 3 speed with overdrive. Here are my questions. I want to determine what my engine rpm's should be, especially when on the highway. At looking at the spec sheet for the car,
(https://www.packardinfo.com/xoops/html/downloads/SC/SC-VOL23NO5.pdf)
I'm not quite sure if I understand what I am looking at. About the middle of page 26 under the transmission heading, it shows the standard rear end rear end ratio is 3.9 - 1. Yes? My car has the overdrive. So the rear end in my car is 4.1 and the output of the overdrive is 2.96. Yes? I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around how to use this info to calculate my speed and engine rpm. At the bottom of page 22 it shows that with the standard rear end, engine rpm is 2824 per mile. I am assuming that means at 60 mph(a mile per minute). According to my GPS, (speedo is out - I'll get to that), at 55 mph, in overdrive, the mill is turning about 2250 rpm. (225-75-15 radials about 28 inches diameter)I have installed a tach(12 volt, # of cylinder switch set at 6, fairly accurate compared to my dwell/tach meter). Does all this seem to make sense? I have read here that some have no problems running 70 - 75 mph. What rpms is the engine at? If these engines are comfortable at a 2500 rpm as a safe maximum, from what I am seeing in my situation, running at 70 mph, the engine is turning faster than that.
Now for the speedometer. Around town it seems to be about 5 mph faster that what the GPS shows. When I got out on the highway it's about 10 mph faster. I was up to 60 on the GPS and the speedometer was reading 70. And at 60 (GPS) the engine was almost at 2500 rpm.
Thanks again to all who have helped this Packard newbie(purchased Semptember 2012) figure out his car, and thanks to all who help in the future. It was a topic I think in the "General" forum, thanks to BigKev for your dedication to this site.

When I get the new locks, I am first going to make sure that they will work in the doors. If they work, then will talk to the locksmith to see if he can re-pin them to match the ignition.

Packards1 your post preceeded my last one. I have probably bought the ones you're refering to. As I said above, I am avoiding any more frustration.

Unfortunatley the damage is beyond just the shafts. The one lock that doesn't work,the cylinder comes out easy as part of the retaining ring is broken. The part of the cylinder that engages the piece that turns the shaft is badly worn, and that was the lock from the passenger side. I can imagine what the other one is like. I've tried several ways to try and get it to work with no luck. So, to avoid any more frustration, I have purchased two NOS locks.

Well, after spending most of my day messing with the locks, I have come to the conclusion that my locks are done. It is unfortunate that I spent the money on the locksmith to get the cylinders working, but fortunate that it was less than $50.00. Someone before me messed them up. I don't believe the shafts are the ones that belong in the lock. Besides the damage inside, they brazed the ends square where they are suppose to be a tang/ rectangular. The fact of making them square was the issue as to why I could not lock the door with the knob, and that when I locked it with the key, it would unlock when I turned it back vertical to remove the key. The mating part in the door is round with two nibs 180 degrees apart. With the square end, the shaft wedged between the nibs. Insert the shaft with the tang, and it allows the door portion to turn without interfering with the lock shaft, and in turn, allow you to lock/ unlock the door and turn the key back to the vertical position without moving the part in the door so the key can be removed. This is because when you turn the key the tang turns, catches the nibs and turns the door mechanism, and that allows you to turn the key back to the vertical position to remove it. Now turn the key the other way, the tang catches the nibs in the other direction and turns the door mechanism back, and again allows you to move the key back to vertical to remove it. I hope I have explained this well enough that if someone else has an issue with their locks that this may be of some help.

Just got my locks back from the locksmith. One is done as it has broken stuff inside. The other he cut a key that works very nice. Now the dilema. I put the lock back in the door and it does not function properly. Although the door button works fine, when I put the lock in, it will not move. Put the key in and I can move it. I can lock it with the key, but when I turn the key back to the center to take it out, it unlocks the door. Can anyone shed some light on this? Am I missing something? I took the other one apart and there is only one position that the cylinder will lock in to the part the shaft is attached to so the shaft will turn and operate the door mechanisim. To me there has to be something missing that allows the door shaft to turn independently of the lock to the point of working like any ordinary door lock. Am I making sense? I will try to clarify if needs be. Thanks in advance for help.

Good grief, what a rotten place to put a lubrication hole. I managed to cramp my 6' 2" frame in, wipe and could see the hole. Thank goodness for pin point lubricators. Got a couple of drops in. Now as above, snow's gotta go!

Thanks again Howard.

Howard, you are a wealth of information. Thank you. Going to crawl under the dash right now.

Well I finally pull the cable off the back of the speedo. I've been busy rebuilding my front shocks(another story) and doing brake work. Tha cable appears to be well lubricated. I looked around the back of the speedo with a mirror and cannot find the oil hole. Could someone please point me in the right direction. I spun the piece the cable goes in and it seems to turn smoothly and could get a response from the needle. Still would like to oil it and see if the noise goes away. Here's hoping the snow goes away soon with a little rain to wash the salt off the road. Got the bug to drive!!!

EDIT: Now having said that the cable looks to be well lubricated, and having some afterthought, it's been greased, and the grease, although not dry, does seem to be thicker that what I figure it should be. In my somewhat addled mind, that would cause the needle to bounce as the cable tightened and the released as it overcame the stiction of the grease. Again, your thoughts people. Thanks to all who take the time to input with their