As always, Peter speaks the unvarnished truth. These are not rpm engines, but cammed for effortless tractability on the winding two-lane "highways" of the day. A friend had a beautifully rebuilt '35 Eight Model 1201 coupe-roadster with such an engine, everything according to Hoyle, or East Grand. It also had the ridiculous 4.69:1 rear axle. I drove the car a spell and it was a paragon of smoothness, refinement, as you'd expect. Once we took it to a Packard meet and he cruised for a couple miles on the freeway at 65, even touching 70. It was testimony to Packard engineering that even at those speeds, the sound from under the hood was a loud, confident hum, not harsh roar.

I assumed it had a 4.41 axle. When i discovered it was nearly the same stump puller as the earlier L-29 Cord (4.7:1 in high) i was horrified. The first-generation Cords were infamous for being saddled with an absolute top speed of only 78mph, despite their racy looks, and they have lower, reduced frontal area compared with a Packard. This is the absolute limit for a razor-tuned MG-TA/B/C with a tail wind.
Back in the '30s there was the expression, "Going like 60," which meant you were really peeling the wind.

Absolutely. Listen to Peter. Scout out a 4.1 rear cog, and/or an aftermarket overdrive. There's an informative article about gearing, long stroke engines, bearings, Down to the Interstate in Ships: Modern Speed in Vintage Iron,
in the late, great Special Interest Autos, Issue #144, Nov/Dec., '94, which may still be available through Hemmings.

Remember, the 319.2 engine came out in the late 1920s,
was never as husky as Packard's 384, not that that similarly five-inch-stroked mill likes high rpm any better.

My knowledge of the 319 engine is entirely second-hand, but if you keep road speed down and/or install taller final drive, keep oil and water in it, and don't insist on driving it in modern traffic and expecting it to perform with no more fuss than a late-model Camry or Taurus, it'll reward you with smooth running for years. This last adviso is something well remembered by drivers of ALL Packards, and vintage/Classic cars in general. In the day,
people pulled over at roadside stands, had a cup of coffee,
and never suffered the hellish traffic inevitable with today's domestic population of nearly a third of a BILLION.

Even in my '47 Super Clipper, despite its nine-mained, hydraulic-liftered 356 being rebuilt, balanced and having 7.5:1 compression, i set the period 4,500-rpm Stewart-Warner tachometer's redline at 2,500, rarely exceeding this other than momentarily during acceleration.

When i find a fine company that knows what they're doing and goes the extra mile, i believe in sending them all the business possible. Rankin Performance, 800-B Alhambra Avenue, Martinez, CA 94553 in the San Fran/Oakland East Bay.
John Rankin is the genial, upbeat, can do pro. He balanced the fan and water pump pulley for my '47 Super Clipper's 356 as i just had them off to gild the lily a bit. He had several Packard inline eight cranks there when i stopped by, has done V-12s, you name it. 1 (925) 372-8112

Bridgestone and Yokohama offer the vast advantages of steel belt radials in bias-ply-sized 7.50/16 LT blackwalls if you want an understated, serious, road car. So you get the best of both world; the proper vintage dimensions with the handling and other improvements of radials. If you want whitewalls, Diamondback vulcanizes these on 7.50/16-sized Yokohama LT radials, as they do on 7.00/15 LT Yokohama radials for those with 1941-on Packards.
The specs for the Bridgestone and Yokohama are identical in both of the above sizes. I selected Bridgestone merely as a
veteran gearhead friend swore by them, and i liked the more Yank-sounding name, in case some nosy parker crouched down to look for the brand name. The irony is that Bridgestone is now part of a Japanese corporation, Yokohama now a Canadian firm.

Should you go this route and not buy them whitewalled by Diamondback, you can always take a die grinder to the raised black letters.

But if matching or approximating the precise tread/style pattern you picture is paramount, the above's moot. The tire you show in the third photo above is a Denman, as that simple tread pattern is Denman's alone. Denman still offered a wide whitewall 7.50/16 bias ply, but curiously, stopped producing the 7.00/15 used on so many 1941-up cars.
Though Denman declared bankruptcy March, 2010, one of the major vintage/Classic car dealers might well have some 7.50/16s still in stock. Denman was founded in 1919. I ran Denmans on my Packards decades ago, got good service, as bias plies go. It was also nice having tires made in the US by a company in Packard's hometown, Warren, Ohio.

Have read various forums' discussion whether our feeble vintage/Classic era tail lights are better served by painting the inside of the housings with chrome spray paint or gloss white enamel spray paint.

We've seen NOS junior and senior prewar tail light housings and they're white from the factory. However, it
appears after the war, at least in 1947, at least in my '47 2103 Super Clipper delivered new July, '47 at the Packard dealer in San Luis Obispo on the California coast,
the insides of the tail light housings in which the tail/brake and turn signal bulbs sit are unpainted shiny metal.

Is this simply polished stamped sheet metal terne- or tin-plated,

or....? You tell me. It's not stainless steel. Mine's quite shiny inside, a little less so than chrome, perhaps akin to a new, unscratched stainless sauce pan, if that gives you an idea.

Will polishing them with Brasso, etc. diminish them in the least?

Packard was, hold the presses, in business to make money, albeit offering a fine product. Did they stop painting the insides of the tail light housings after the war to cut cost, get product out the door faster to a car-starved public? Or?

Have heard that gloss white cuts down the light "bouncing around" within the housing. True?

Safety wasn't much of an issue back then, but bling was always in demand. So if painting the tail light housings' insides gloss white would've even slightly brightened the tail lights, calling attention to the car, the Company viewing each car as rolling advertisement, you'd think Packard would've continued doing this after the war.

Or ....?

Likely hair-splitting, but i've already got the spray can of gloss white enamel and it's no Herculean effort to shoot the insides of the housings. But if this is only a sideways move, why bother?

Any opticians, refraction engineers, lighthouse keepers among us care to weigh in?

Many thanks. Enquiring minds wanna know. Please, stay focused on all the questions above. The car has a healthy battery/charging system, new wiring harness bumper to bumper, good grounds, clean lenses. We're here gathered strictly to glean the last word in extracting the nth degree of tail light lumens in a healthy six-volt system. So p l e a s e, no interminable 6-8- or 12-volt conversion nonsense. That ain't happening. No street rod malarkey for us. Simply want to know what we can do to get all the luminosity from the above healthy stock system.

Cardinal Kevin -- All best to your mother, you, your family and circle. It says leagues for your devotion, class, thoughtfulness that even at a pressing time like this, you bother to check in with us. Regardless how wrapped up we get, this is still but a hobby. Without you, we wouldn't have this sterling site, the best vintage/classic auto site i've ever seen, befitting Packard. We're with you.

I bow, as always, to the above worthies, and thank Dr. Cole for the gasoline test above. Have been hearing about how gas isn't as good as it used to be since i got to Kaleefornyuh in '76. Have since driven several Packards with all kinds of gas in all kinds of weather and never,

not once,

suffered vapor lock, hard starting, disintegration and all these other ongoing tales of woe. BTW, no one in my circle with auld inline engines, be they Delahayes, Jag-ue-weres, Chevy/GMC sixes, Hudsons or Packards has ever in all these decades, suffered vapor lock, which i've only heard affecting Ford, Cadillac and other bent eights due to the placement of intake components.

Can't help noting that it seems more a case of too many people driving like modern cars old, worn out but cosmetically cute barouches and wanting to blame the evil gas, motor oil, brake fluid companies.

But back to carb kits. The main problem seems to be that people want to sell you only "jiffy kits" in recent years, which lack the needle and seat, et al. Haven't bought a kit in a decade, but i recommend Don Knopp, Don's Antique Auto Parts, Niles Canyon, where Charlie Chaplin shot many of his movies, part of Fremont in the greater South Bay Area now. 1 (510) 792-4390

Don is a fount of encyclopedic knowledge of every part on every old car from the 1920s through '50s, has an industrial-sized warehouse with shelving to the towering ceiling bulging with NOS and used parts. For example, i asked once if he had a starter for a Packard 356, and there were four of them on one shelf.
Ask Don if he has a complete carb kit for your car. If anyone still does, he will.

Wahoo.

I'm changing the water pump pulley on my '47 Super's 356 merely as the existing one has a small, thumbnail-sized chip on the rear outer flange. It doesn't harm the belt, but since i've a virgin spare, i'll use that strictly for the cosmetics, not that anyone else'll notice.

My existing pulley has the usual pair of balance holes drilled in the same area as the four bolt holes. My unchipped spare has no balance holes, and a friend who's been involved with these cars since the '50s can't recall ever seeing a 356 pulley without balance holes. Perhaps this one made it through inspection without requiring further attention?

Just to play safe, since these 356 water pump pulleys are cast iron, heavy, i'm going to have a machine shop doublecheck it for balance. Since the fan's off, thought i'd have him check that, too, even tho' the fan looks fine, seemed to spin smoothly.

Anyone ever have a 356 fan balanced? Did the shop balance it with the pulley, or separately?

Is there a lightweight/aluminum fan for the 356?

Cousin Zougeride-- De nada. We like what we like. Decades ago, i briefly pondered a leather interior in a closed Packard. Believe me, i understand what you're doing and am no stranger to tasteful upgrades. Tho' usually inclined to shrug off what others will do, the suggestion of one poster, seemingly sincere, to use elephant hides,
ay yi yi.

Here we are, preserving fine old automobiles, only to upholster them with the skin of remarkably intelligent, highly social, and endangered fellow creatures? I like to think Packard folk are a cut above that. Leave that to the Kadillackers. I urge any and all to Google or YouTube "elephants painting."

That, and given that 1948-50 Packards were often called "pregnant elephants" in the day and since, well, that's just six ways to Sunday tasteless.

A friend has the optional leather interior in his '36 Cord 810 Westchester (sedan). Whenever we take that barouche out for a spin ---usually because we're tinkering with it but that's a Cord for you-- it really doesn't feel luxe as you might imagine.
And it smells like a giant version of the Al Kaline first baseman's glove i had as a lad. A mite overpowering.

There are many quietly elegant, uber tasteful alternatives to the get-them-out-the-door mouse fur and other fabrics Packards and other high end automobiles used.
One of the most elegant old road cars i ever saw was a silver gray '36 Lincoln K Willoughby sport sedan. The entire interior, including headliner, door panels, seat back, everything, upholstered in ultra thick English broadcloth. A symphony in gray.

In 1941, Buick and Cadillac offered whipcord that wore like iron in their open models for those who didn't want leather.
A friend with a beautifully done black '41 Cad convertible coupe had the interior redone back in 1971 with
an ultra thick, heavy, burgundy hide of the nauga. He says it's no longer available today. But i find that hard to believe, and who knows what's available south of the border. I wouldn't give a dime for any Cadillac, but his looks magnificent, identical to leather, though without the stench, which gets real old after awhile.

Saw a '35 or '36 Duesenberg SJ roadster delivered new to an Indian rajah with hide of the nauga. Similarly a Lagonda V-12 Rapide. Other upscale English cars in the mid '30s and beyond had such and you'd never know it from animal skin.

So look before you leap. 'Course, i'm 100% on the Dr. Joel Fuhrman/Bill Clinton vegan diet for a number of reasons; better health than i've ever had, impossible to pack on extra pounds, enjoying more relaxed energy than ever, requiring less sleep, and i'd like to be around a few more centuries to play with my car. There are Iron Men marathoners, NBA,NFL players on this diet.
I read in The New Yorker several years ago that Ingrid Newkirk, president of PETA, is a bigtime Formula One fan.
Visit YouTube to watch a pair of brief vids. In one, "Bill Clinton, Fan of Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr. MD," which runs three minutes, eight seconds, Clinton shares his experiences with fellow heart surgery survivor Dave Letterman. In another, "Bill Clinton became a vegan, lost 24 lbs...." which runs only 2:29, he shares insight with Wolf Blitzer.

Trust my fellow Packardites will forgive this wee divergence. But we've lost too many old friends in this hobby who'd still be with us, had they heeded the above.
Oh -- i also lost 24 -- actually 27 lbs--- in addition to the 100+ lbs. i jettisoned from my '47 Super Clipper. Weight is the enemy of any serious road car, regardless how luxurious.

Take care.

I'll leave to others as to who purveys the best cosmetics, but make sure you find ignition wires that are 100% copper.
My '47 Super has genuine, decent, black ignition wire from a then 60-year-old auto electric shop now long gone, installed back in the '80s.

Out here in Kaleefornyuh, you could, as recently as the '80s, find in many auto parts emporiums, pure copper ignition wire sold "for off road use only." As i recall, it was safety cone orange, stamped Packard 440, ironically part of what's left of James Ward Packard's original company.

None of this helps you, but i just want to urge you and others to accept nothing but pure copper ignition wire. None of that ubiquitous carbon suppresor junk.
Anyone following Cardinal Santana's detailed saga knows he's among those wanting his car to run as well as it looks.