From posts I have read Ed Miller is a no-nonsense kind of guy who just states the facts. The V12 does have tremendous torque and I have read where you could slow down to 5 mph and still in high hear just mash the throttle and the car would just get back up to speed with nary a shudder. Now that is torque. Were you down south John? How did you run into Ed Miller?
Yes, I see PFH on the forum again. He was invited back! Now, I'm no dummy but I've yet to figure out why some people were dissed and censored and yet PFH gets invited back on. Perhaps someone with a little more wisdom or insight can enlighten me.
I've had a great summer so far - I found a train that has just been a rumor since 1944. I couldn't buy it, but I got the story behind it and why it was made. I love to document those kinds of facts. I also have other news on the car front which I may be able to disclose soon. The weather's nice, the 400 is running good and the future holds great promise. Now if I could only find the fountain of Ute life would be great.

I should have recorded my tranny number. It is Bxxxx right after the "star". Next time I'm up on the rack, I'll use the mirror I normally admire myself in.

I too have a rebuilt treadle-vac and it works fine. I think the kits from max or Kanter are only for the hydraulic side of the T/V. If you need to rebuild the vacuum side then you must buy another kit. Double-check me on that. I had mine rebuilt by Ed Strain who advertises in HMN. It was $215.00 which included the shipping back to me.
Welcome to this Packard forum and your car is gorgeous.
The PAC club and Packards International both have websites you will want to examine.
There is also this website which has an active Packard section.
http://forums.aaca.org/ubbthreads.php?Cat=0

All Packard owners are pretty good people and most are willing to help out a newbie so don't be afraid to ask.

I would think the actuator would be painted the same color as the tranny/engine whether bronze or green or silver. Mine looks natural now but there is enough bronze on it to determine it was originally that way.

Thank you Kev and a tip of the hat for this website. It is truly the best place to gather info and/or get assistance.
And a Happy Birthday to Tom, also.

Round up the usual suspects, but start with the push-button pressure control switch.
PNR work off a different power supply than HDL. Do NO pushbuttons work or just PNR? Just for grins check out HDL and see if you can hear the shifting mechanism.
(see if you can hear(LOL)
Double check the pushbutton wiring plug at the inside firewall and make sure it is plugged in tight.

I obviously missed this roll-call thread as I've been here for a while, and Yes Eric I have my T-shirt(lol).
This is a really good site and will grow as more folks discover it.
I had the 400 out a week ago Tuesday as it was 72 degrees here. Some tappets were chattering a little on first fire-up but quieted down after a bit. The heli-coil in the oil pan is working well. Shell Rotella-T is being changed so I'm stocking up a couple of years worth of oil changes. Understand Castrol is going to make a separate oil for older flat-tappet autos.

I have an NOS balancer that at first appearance has no holes drilled in it. However when you look at the back flange there are seven shallow balancing holes drilled there. I would assume they balanced that part at the factory so that it could be field-installed with no further balancing required. I ran a flap sander on the inside of my original balancer when I had it revulcanized for ease of installation. They did, for a small fee, rebalance the part after the revulcanization.
I had to make a homemade jig to pull the balancer off. The one shown in the shop manual is a real heavy-duty affair.

This is like blowing up your house and killing two of the inhabitants and then saying "Oh, I'm Sorry". I think it was done just as childishly as some of the posts they rail about and then delete. I doubt it was accidental.

Keith, yes, I could drill and tap to the next larger size, 11/16 or 3/4 and then search for a copper washer to fit as a seal. I do not choose to do that. A machinist friend says he has the proper drill bit, heli-coil tap and helicoil and will be dropping it off today. I can buy a good used oil pan from Mike D. for what they want for the heli-coil kit and bit.
I am going to try the heli-coil. If that doesn't work I will try to replace the bung. If that doesn't work I will buy a pan from Mike.
What is the difference between 55 and 56 oil pans? Does anyone know?
YFAM