Nice to see more V8 owners chiming in!

Recent site changes show that things will keep growing and improving for all Packard owners.

If you haven't done so already, please add you car(s) to this site's Owner Registry - including a pic, if possible.

Happy Packarding!

Neat trick.

As an alternative, I wonder if that filter could be installed at the inlet end of the fuel pump for a more discreet appearance.

Here are the dimensions from my personal notes for the radiator outlet hose (with trans cooler):

Upper - cut from straight stock, 1-3/4 I.D. x 3" long

Lower - cut from straight stock, 1-3/4 I.D. x 5-1/2" long

The "radiator outlet" hose is what most people call the lower hose. Though it is hard to come by in some places, I prefer to use plain hose, not the wrapped/reinforced stuff.

Hope this helps.

Yes, you do have to unbolt the trans cooler from the block to install the hose to the water pump. It's been several years since I changed these on my cars, but I think I removed the P/S pump belt and loosened and moved the pump for better access. It also helps to use a little bit of water-based lube on the outside of the water pump manifold inlet to help persuade the hose on - as that hose has to stretch open a little to fit oer the inlet. Do NOT use petroleum-based lube as it will cause the hose to fail prematurely!

However, IIRC, I installed that piece of hose prior to installing the one that connects the cooler to the radiator. That last hose was still a devil to get on, but the plain rubber hose was pliable enough that I could fold/tuck it into place.

If you can wait until tomorrow AM, I will check my notes and post the correct dimensions of those two straight pieces of hose.

Keith -

I can't tell you how much I added to make the Twelve, as I merely cropped a rectangle out of the pic, with the trailing edge between the wheel and door opening, and pasted it repeatedly until it looked right. A friend who saw it once joked that the fender script would probably read as "The-The-The Patrician". Then, I used a combination of cut-n-paste and clone-brush to clean up the foreground and background.

Now, I just tried what you asked for with a stock factory illustration of an Exec hardtop, which is a side-3/4 view (showing front end). While I see what you're getting at, a real problem arose in dealing with headlights, grille, and tailights. A restyle of the front bumper bar and rear bumper ends would be needed, which is a bit beyond my digital talents.

Yet, send me a pic of your Exec in pure profile and I can knock something nice out, rather quickly, to illustrate your point.

Prior to the advent of resistor type spark plugs and wires, there was a carbon rod built into the rotor - at least in the V8s - for radio noise suppression.

I always felt that resistor plugs with an OE type rotor, and especially with modern resistor type plug wires, might add up to too much resistance.

However, there are rotors out there for an 8-cylinder Declo distributor that do NOT have that carbon rod. Though I do not have any part numbers, I suspect those are from an earlier application as there were significant changes in the design of the Delco distributor for 1957. It would be interesting to see what effect such a rotor might have with your resistor type plugs.

It's scary how much talent there is out here in cyberspace.

If you liked those previous pix, then you'll luv the '56 Caribbean Hardtop Limousine. This 9-passenger vehicle sports a none-of-a-kind Twin-Traction tandem rear axle with Twin-Torsion-Level-Aire suspension. With an overall length of just under 24 feet, I can honestly say that this is the longest Packard never built.

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MrPushbutton -

Nice test bench you have there.

I've been thinking of building a "training aid", as pictured in the April, 1956 issue (Vol. 30, No. 4) of the Service Counselor, with an eye to using it as a test bench.

I was inspired when I found one of those original boards in a pile of parts in the swap meet field at Fall Hershey - though it was stripped of most of its parts and the "fixture" seemed far too broken and rotten to salvage.

MrPushbutton -

Damned fine job on making those contact fingers - you ought to put a set on eBay and see what they bring.

I've soldered everything from plumbing (nothing but copper on the supply side for me) to delicate electronics and even soldered a penny to a gas tank to stop a leak. I'm still using a 27W pencil-tip iron that I got from Radio Shack 35 years ago, plus my dad's old Weller gun for heavier work. Heck, I even have a "soldering copper" that perches on top of a blowtorch (c. 1913), fueled by "white gas". About the only solder job I haven't worked with is autobody filler, but I got a glimpse of the "plastic state" in soldering that penny.

So, no problem there for me.

Having been back in the auto biz for the past several years, let me tell you that it's quite refreshing to see such attention to detail and reliability.

I look forward to hearing more of your work!