Thanks very much for the photos of the tank sender access plate. I want to do that on my Packard to avoid the big job of dropping the heavy tank.

Thanks Howard for all the information. I was afraid of that huge job to pull the sending unit. I guess I will take it back to the electrical shop that put in my sending unit a couple years ago. Maybe they can mark the floor to get a location for the hole you suggested I cut in the trunk floor.

I had the fuel gage working fine on my Series 23 until I ran out of gas on the road. The fuel gage is not operating any more and is stuck on 3/4 full.

I previously had a new sending unit installed in my tank and it worked fine for over a year. I had a local shop check the gage when the instrument panel was out. When they worked on the tank they found bad wiring and fixed the wire insulation at the tank. I replaced the entire wire loom also.

I have a spare gage available but have not tried to check it yet.

Does anyone have experience with this fix? I want to get any suggestions on how to test the system. At age 77 I now find it very difficult to crawl under the dash, so I only want to do this once if possible.

I have done much of what you are describing on my Series 23 sedan. One thing I forgot to do is check the water distribution tube inside the block. Apparently you remove the water pump and pull it out from the front. Also with the core plugs removed the rust and scale inside the block should be scraped, dug out, and removed. These things insure the engine will cool properly, along with a clean radiator and a new water pump.

Also check the cam to make sure it is straight and not worn down. A cam grinding business can help with this.

Surfacing the clutch and flywheel is easy at this time and very hard to do later. A new clutch disk and throw out bearing are in the same category.

I like Then and Now to rebuild fuel pumps. They are very fast and not expensive. Make sure your engine has the heat shield on it to fight vapor lock.

Does anyone make a dual master cylinder for a Series 23 (and similar models)? I am getting scared that a minor brake fluid leak causes a total loss of braking! The original master cylinder has mounting bolts through the cylinder.

My 1950 Series 23 Deluxe 8 did not have coat hooks in it. The coat hooks are listed in the Packard accessories manual however.

I have a 1950 Series 23 Deluxe 8 sedan. The interior plastic knobs do not match. Several are white, and these were purchased to replace missing or broken knobs. I want to make everything match, but the people who sell the knobs say they are available in 'ivory' and other colors are available. What should I order?

To me the term 'ivory' means white, like the mismatched knobs I already have. One Packard vendor said the Series 23 had only one color, and she called it 'ivory'. Does anyone know the proper color?

My 23rd series sedan came with a rooftop antenna, but it was broken. I tried to restore it myself after buying several used antennas for parts. I found it was very fragile and difficult to work on and the ball on the tip was missing on all my parts. The flat spring inside is not available and breaks easily. The cast parts are pot metal and they corrode. Rechroming pitted pot metal is very expensive.
After spending a lot of money I finally gave up and bought a restored one from Tucson Packard for about $150. This antenna is a bad design and I wish my car had come with a fender mounted antenna.

Nice Packard. It is the same as mine except for the color. I did the paint, wiring, upholstery, and lots of other things to get my Deluxe 8 going and looking nice. I suggest you put in the wiring before you put the engine in the car so you can stand in the engine compartment. Wiring seems to be harder than anything else. Also I would suggest pulling the dash out to do the wiring.

I painted and rewired my 1950 Series 23 Deluxe 8 sedan. I got the rubber (all of it including weatherstrip) from Steele. They had almost everything on the shelf. The wiring harness I got from Rhode Island. They are good.
When I removed the old harness I put a strip of masking tape around the end of each wire and marked it as I removed it. That was very helpful later when I tried to solve problems. My wiring was shorted and so it was useless to run electrical test before I took it out. I wrote down each removal step in a notebook so I could put it back the same way I removed it.
The wiring under the dash was a very difficult job for an old guy. I had to remove EVERYTHING under the dash to get at the wires. It might have been easier to pull the metal dash out of the car and have its woodgrain redone at the same time. I did get the gages restored when they were out. I also restored the heater because I had to take part of it out to do the wiring.
There are some gaskets for wires going through the firewall that were not available from Steele. If you want to paint the firewall do it with the wires out of the car.
I changed the car slightly and put in fog lights, an electric fuel pump for starting, backup light, and a kill switch. I added those extra wires later because the original harness did not have them. I should have put the extra wires in as I installed the new harness and saved some time. I made a big error and replaced the headliner before I needed to replace the wiring. I just left those overhead hidden wires in place and so far have not had problems.
The hardest item to get at is the ignition switch wires. Hook those up as early as you can, right after the main harness is passed through the firewall.
Take lots of photos of everything before you remove anything. Do not cut the harness as you remove it so you know how the new one goes back in.
I hope this helps you.