Happy Easter and welcome to Packard Motor Car Information! If you're new here, please register for a free account.  
Login
Username:

Password:

Remember me



Lost Password?

Register now!
FAQ's
Main Menu
Recent Forum Topics
Who is Online
139 user(s) are online (85 user(s) are browsing Forums)

Members: 1
Guests: 138

acolds, more...
Helping out...
PackardInfo is a free resource for Packard Owners that is completely supported by user donations. If you can help out, that would be great!

Donate via PayPal
Video Content
Visit PackardInfo.com YouTube Playlist

Donate via PayPal

Forum Index


Board index » All Posts (DaveB845)




Re: Creative Industries of Detroit book
#31
Home away from home
Home away from home

Dave Brownell
My copy of this major work arrived a few days ago and all I need is a few hours of bad weather and a lack of car projects to devote to an organized reading of it. First impressions are that it's a fascinating look at the people and projects that attracted our attention many years ago. I specifically remember my reaction as a ten year old to the Ford Mystere photos in the mid-Fifties. Later came the Packard Predictor fascination...something that continues to this day. The author seems to take us behind the curtain to reveal the combination of magic and muscle that produced these tantalizing idea cars. All is not perfect, and I intend to take him up on his offer to produce an Errata Sheet and get it back to him for his consideration for changes to a second edition. From what I have seen, it will be a very short list. Every Packard fan of the last ten or so years of the marque ought to be familiar with this work. The pictures alone are worth the price of admission.

Posted on: 2017/3/9 8:13
 Top 


Re: Distributors for a 1949 288 Deluxe
#32
Home away from home
Home away from home

Dave Brownell
According to Robert Neal and a few others, the switch away from the 10mm plugs happened in February 1950, five months before the 23rd Series stopped. No other concurrent changes were mentioned other than the size difference. I don't see how this might affect the fitting of either the Delco or the Autolite distributor. I'd be interested if Howard or others could tell me if the two brands are interchangeable. I just had a devil of a time finding an Autolite generator for my pre-February 1950 Eight, where the more common Delco parts might have shared applications with their GM cousins, making the hunt not as difficult.

Posted on: 2017/3/4 22:23
 Top 


Re: A little Packard History from 1945
#33
Home away from home
Home away from home

Dave Brownell
And, did you note the short article that Japan will soon be making 300 bantom sized automobiles a year? That, and the funny car from Wolfsburg, would surprise a few in short order.

Posted on: 2017/2/18 16:40
 Top 


Re: 'Damn it Joan!' FX releases Feud: Bette and Joan trailer
#34
Home away from home
Home away from home

Dave Brownell
I am a fan of 58 Impalas, but when I see one like this convertible decked out with everything available from the J.C.Whitney catalog, I wonder who picks out these movie cars? These are not likely cars to be driven by either Bette or Joan in their day. A nice Caribbean would fit much better, unless it is shown getting damaged in the film. For me, the Clipper is just parked Eye Candy.

Posted on: 2017/2/18 16:32
 Top 


Re: Radio Delete
#35
Home away from home
Home away from home

Dave Brownell
My 1950 Eight sedan was also delivered in Iowa and shows no sign of ever having a radio. No fender or roof accommodations for an antenna and the delete plate is nicely intact. The previous owner supplied a refurbished/rebuilt Packard/Philco radio that really looks good in the shipping box.

My concern is that I don't want to disturb any fragile wiring, although removing the heater/vent control unit looks simple enough with only one easily disconnected wire going to the glove box lamp in the way. My problem is, even with the controls tucked out of the way, how in the world does that thick radio/speaker unit get up through the available space. Must the fiber heater plenum box connector have to be removed before and after installation to get the darned thing through? I'd also be wary of trying to move the lighter, lights and blower switch bar, given the age of the wires and connections.

Given the possibility of damaging something under the dash, I may be satisfied to leave the new radio unit in its box in the trunk, rather than trying to install it. After all, how much is there to listen to on today's AM radio? Even if I don't live in Iowa.

Posted on: 2017/2/16 20:28
 Top 


Re: Killed my gauges
#36
Home away from home
Home away from home

Dave Brownell
Once again, advice from this forum has warned me before I could do something I'd regret. Howard's advice on being delicate with the 67 year old wiring on my 1950 will now be extended to anything that I do with either of my 1956 cars. I have made a very large mental note to disconnect all battery power before any poking around is done. A smaller mental note will be to get all uncomfortable, lying on my back under the dash so that you can plainly see what you're doing rather than doing it by feeling around for nuts and fasteners. Inadvertently pushing old wires and straining old connections could get expensive, even without causing a fire.

Many of our more modern cars have their airbag components colored in bright yellow, the wires included. Manufacturers and mechanics emphasize the importance of powering down by disconnecting the battery and waiting minutes before working on or around these yellow things so that they are not accidently deployed. I will extend my own caution to any underdash work by making sure nothing can be energized when working under the dash of any old post-war Packard.

Posted on: 2017/2/16 20:12
 Top 


Re: Map light bulb replacement
#37
Home away from home
Home away from home

Dave Brownell
Thanks for the guidance. I agree with Jim that if my grandkids ever preserve any of my Packards, years from now, good technical help like this may no longer exist. Would that Google, Wiki and YouTube could keep up with the advice in the future.

My first reaction to your helpful photo was "So that's what it looks like!" My second thought involved the condition of the wires might make a fire extinguisher a handy thing to have nearby.

Posted on: 2017/2/15 10:35
 Top 


Re: Map light bulb replacement
#38
Home away from home
Home away from home

Dave Brownell
On my 50 sedan, both under dash courtesy lamps like these are also not working. Nor do any of the other interior lamps that I would suppose have circuitry through the door plunger switches. Therefore, without looking at a diagram, if this were a "normal" modern car, the first place I would check would be an under dash fuse panel. But it appears that these cars have their fuse panel on the reverse side of the instrument cluster, where older eyes cannot easily see what's going on, or easily pull the fuses. What is the easy way out of this dilemma?

Posted on: 2017/2/14 18:51
 Top 


Treasure trove of Packard history
#39
Home away from home
Home away from home

Dave Brownell
For those Packard history seekers and data geeks among us, Big Kev just posted a 1949 Steel Magazine article that will keep us busy for a long time. It is a long and well-illustrated look at the history of Packard from the beginning until the Golden Anniversary in 1949. I have carefully read Turnquist, Ward and the Kime-edited books, but there were items in here that I have not seen elsewhere. From pictures and descriptions of the fifty or so most important/influential men (they are all men and that will quickly reflect the times) and what they did in their jobs, to the diagram of the production schedule of the post-WW II plant and sequence of how the cars went through the assembly process.

Knowing how history turned out five or six years later for the PMCC, there are points in this story where you see the mistakes beginning to be made, and the false premises they were acting on. It is not hard, given hindsight, to see what was happening and what might have changed the outcomes.

I made the mistake of reading the entire article before bedtime and my dreams were vivid about what was going on at Packard and wanting to shout "Don't do that!" Between all our forum's faithful historians and experts, this is must reading that will cause discussion and speculations aplenty. I do hope the regulars (Howard, Dave C, Leeedy, Tim, Steve and Fred have their chance to read and reflect on what is said. This is valuable stuff for a guy like me.

Posted on: 2017/2/10 8:39
 Top 


Re: A piece of history?
#40
Home away from home
Home away from home

Dave Brownell
Regarding the never achieved June 26th production date, I recall reading (Ward, Kimes edited?) somewhere that the Monday production was a left over from the week before where they called back the factory crew to finish the cars that had already started down the line on the previous production day. Perhaps your car was "estimated" for the Tuesday line production and some plant manager just decided to "get this thing over and be done with it."

Although I was just a kid at the time, but as an adult, I empathetically wonder what was buzzing around Conner on that last day. Some books say that the end came as a complete surprise at the end of the day, and most of the 4,000 or so line workers did not know that it would be their last day. Surely, many of the management folks knew, and certainly the members of the Board did too. Some writers say that the original last date was supposed to be the 20th, but something must have stretched it a bit further. I feel for the emotion that must have come over the workers, but, by that time, they had already gone through many production time-offs, so why might this be different? I'm sure that many of them thought they'd be back in a few days or a week at most. Imagine the sorrow when they read the official word that The End had happened on the 25th.

Posted on: 2017/2/7 10:58
 Top 



TopTop
« 1 2 3 (4) 5 6 7 ... 31 »



Search
Recent Photos
Photo of the Day
Recent Registry
Website Comments or Questions?? Click Here Copyright 2006-2024, PackardInfo.com All Rights Reserved