Chocobo9x

It is a traditional mechanical fuel pump design. Cam mounted eccentric moves an arm, which deflects a diaphragm up and down. A set of inlet and outlet check valve allow the diaphragm to draw-in and discharge the fuel. The check valves keep the fuel flowing in the correct direction. Failure points are several, including: 1) Malfunction valves, 2) Ruptured diaphragm, and 3) Inlet air leak . . . likely at the flexible hose just prior to the pump inlet. Those are the typical failure modes of the pump itself. Another less likely would be a worn arm or eccentric.
If the pump is a duplex design the upper section is a vacuum pump to aid in maintaining wind shield wiper vacuum during low engine vacuum conditions. The design is similar to the fuel side in that there is a diaphragm, and check valves.
I think on this site you can find a tutorial on overhauling a fuel pump. That tutorial has plenty of photos that you can acquaint yourself with the inner workings of the fuel pump. See Literature Archive / How-To’s & Tech Tips / How To: Rebuilding a Packard Fuel Pump.

dp

Thanks Kevin

I would say both the nut and the drum came off as we all would hope for . . . or that’s the most powerful impact gun imaginable. Nice video!

dp

Kevin

It’s a bit off topic but I know you’ve recently had the rear drums off. Two questions: 1.) Were the axle nuts found to have about the same torque as when you installed them? 2.) Did the hub/drums release with little effort?
I’m just trying to get another data point on whether the axle nut torque initially relaxes with use.

dp

George40

If you decide to jack the rear of the car there is one more check that you might make, that is check the drag on the wheels cold, and then depress the brake pedal and reaffirm the drag is the same once the brakes have been released. You’re checking whether the brake shoes retract properly. A restriction in the flexible brake line could (emphasis on vague) be inhibiting/slowing the retraction of the rear shoes. A mal-adjusted brake pedal could inhibit proper shoe retraction on all four wheels, so you might consider jacking-up the front wheels and conduct the same check. The use of a helper pressing on the brake pedal will speed-up the process. The wheel should release as soon as the brake pedal is released.

dp

HPH
I guess I went off the deep end . . . I agree if that’s the extent of the wear then chalk one up for Packard. The trouble I have is the inner race cannot be inspected. I guess one could conclude that if the inner race is damaged that would transfer to the outer race in short order, and (leap of faith) if the outer is OK then the inner is OK.
dp

HPH, if the close-up photo is a bearing race, and the dark area is material ‘pick-out’, then IMO your phrase “hardly anything of concern” is aspirational.
dp

HPH

Here's the latest version. It has been updated with comments/observations from previous users.

dp

Attach file:

---

Packard Rear Axle Bearing Shimming Procedure Expanded 009.pdf Size: 4,109.01 KB; Hits: 80

Kevin
In the years just before ’54 the door latches were electroplated with cad, or such. I would expect a cad plating on all pieces except the wave washer. To aid the production process, the spring was likely completely covered with a specific color paint . . . only to identify one spring design from another. I had quite a few 22nd / 23rd series latches and the amount of rust was manageable. If you use a paint stripper stay away from really caustic stuff that might strip-off the plating. Your blue paint is quite new isn’t it? Perhaps a soak in lacquer thinner is all you need. If you find a rubber bumper limiting the bell crank travel I would remove before soaking.
I believe the door hardware, such as latch & screws, window regulator, and striker were installed after the body/door left the paint shop, that is, the hardware was not painted.
There is a tight radius bend at the end of the button actuated bell crank. It’s the feature that rotates the latching cam away from the pawl wheel. Look for cracks there. Earlier latches tended to crack in the tight radius bends. It appears in the photo that HH56 supplied that the later latch design does not have the single point failure feature that defeats the entire latch operation . . . that’s a good thing. The springs do have a finite life.
If you find any patent numbers please send along so I might do a search for details.
dp

HPH

A while back I put together a document that pulled together quite a bit of the Packard service information on the subject of rear axle bearing maintenance including the shimming process. That would be applicable to the rear axles that featured a single tapper bearing per axle and thrust block. That document did not address maintenance of the differential . . . as in setting the pinion bearing fit, or gear lash. If you think the axle bearing maintenance document will help, I’ll dig-out a copy.

dp

Jimmyk

It is quite normal for the ammeter to twitch when you depress the brake. That’s a result of the small but instantaneous brake light current. Before I set-off on a drive I will look for that characteristic as an indication that the brake lights are likely working normally.

dp