G'day all, My first Packard in 1966, was a 1937 Six (115C) and it was so far ahead of the cars that I had previously owned including, Holden, Chev, Dodge, Jaguar, and Riley that I had previously owned. I have been hooked ever since and even though I have 4 Supers( no 12's or Twin-Sixes but a 384 1205 Super with 25,000 original miles). I still have so much enjoyment with my smaller Packards. The "Junior" tag is not a Packard terminology, It was coined by people within our hobby, to lift the status of their "top of the line cars" by denigrating less expensive models. The Factory workers that assembled these cars had enormous pride in producing Packards and to them a Packard was a Packard. IMHO, the 39 Super (with R6 OD) was a wonderful car and Packard bragged how it could do 105 mph around the test track and outspeed the 39 V12. Packard Management obviously did not consider it a "Junior" Packard. best Regards, Peter Toet

I dunno Mal, The V8 boys appear pretty savvy about their twin-ultra's so rather than throw out an old herring, I would rather hold my water and contribute at an appropriate time. We had quite a long thread on the Twin-ultra slippage in the past and it can certainly generate a lot of responses. I am amazed at the number of ways that items are able to be interpreted. There is a lot of expertise out there. Peter

G'day Mal, Russell just called me and he is in Gundagai for the night. He says that he will be in Canberra at around mid-day tomorrow. I did up a 56 twin Ultramatic for Russell. He had it overhauled three times (at a few thousand dollars a pop) in the last three years and it has lasted about 600 miles each time. The trans had been well and truly cooked, it was full of sand ( thanks to a kind overhauler who made the case look new but didn't clean the case out properly). The sand absolutely killed the trans but it had bigger problems from the start as there were valve body assembly problems, stripped pump threads etc. It was always on the front pump, never changed into direct drive and cooked everything, (three times would you believe) The last overhaul was done in Melbourne and they sent the converter to Sydney (Duh?).
I have finally sorted it out the trans and it changes from front to rear pump fine. Doesn't slip in direct drive and doesn't leak oil. I am sure that the trans will outlast Russell this time. I am charging him for the two new pumps and some gaskets but he is a terrific mate so I owe it to him. Peter Fitch from Ultramatic Dynamics has been a great help and I am getting pretty good at remove/replace of the box (Russell's didn't have PB so it was much easier). I still have a 55 box to do for Gary Roger's mate and a 56 for John Payne, now that he has sold his 47 Clipper. Peter

G'day Mal and Big Kev, I have a 2002 edition of that book, it would be interesting to see the differences. I ordered a wiring loom for a 38 -120 today. It was $A380 plus $A20 freight. I got them to include indicator wiring into the main loom which was another $A20. Have you talked to Noel yet about his loom? I am not very good in the chat room as I have to look at the keyboard to type, and there are always half a dozen additions when I finally look up, so I end up chatting at cross-purposes. Russell Kerr is coming from Melbourne tomorrow to pick up his 56 Patrician. I also hope to do a bit more to the 37 Super Coupe over Christmas. Best regards Peter

G'day Mal, The last local harness for my 38 120 was only about $A300, 2 years ago. I shall dig up the info and get back to you. You do not get the minor harness to the rear, which is very easy to fabricate, but all of the other harness is very well made and well labelled. It was made for the Packard body but fitted the Australian body ok. I shall get back to you shortly( when I go to Jacobs Street tomorrow) Best regards Peter

G'day all, I also used to half burn myself to death trying to set those tappets with the engine running. I thought that there has to be a better way. Well a lot of years ago I read of a method of adjustment, for straight eights of firing order 1-6-2-5-8-3-7-4 and have been using it successfully for over 40 years. The engine should be nicely warmed up to operating temperature and you only have to rotate the engine one turn from No1 firing position to set all of the tappets. Try it and see what you think.
STAGE A - NO 1 AND NO 8 PISTONS AT TOP CENTRE, WITH NO 1 PISTON IN FIRING POSITION ( BOTH LIFTERS DOWN)- ADJUST STAGE A
ROTATE ENGINE 360 DEGREES TO STAGE B, IF YOU OVER ROTATE BRING IT BACK 60 DEGREES THEN RE-ROTATE TO STAGE A. or B. ( TO TAKE UP BACKLASH IN TIMING CHAIN ETC.)
STAGE B - NO 1 AND NO 8 PISTONS AT TOP CENTRE , WITH NO 8 PISTON IN FIRING POSITION ( BOTH LIFTERS DOWN) - ADJUST STAGE B.

STAGE A - ADJUST
NO 1 - BOTH VALVES
NO 2 - EXHAUST VALVE
NO 3 - INLET VALVE
NO 4 - INLET VALVE
NO 5 - EXHAUST VALVE
NO 6 - EXHAUST VALVE
NO 7 - INLET VALVE

STAGE B - ADJUST
NO 2 - INLET VALVE
NO 3 - EXHAUST VALVE
NO 4 - EXHAUST VALVE
NO 5 - INLET VALVE
NO 6 - INLET VALVE
NO 7 - EXHAUST VALVE
NO 8 - BOTH VALVES

There is a margin of overlap in the above method, so it is not necessary to have the piston exactly at top centre. I also use the GO - NO GO feeler adjustment method. I also give the exhaust valve an extra thou to keep them on the seat a micro-second longer, to run them cooler as we tend to run the engines a bit harder than in the old days. There is also a similar method for 6 cylinder engines of 1-5-3-6-2-4 firing order Best regards Peter Toet

G'day With Number 1, it appears not to be connected to anything. Seek a few opinions before doing anything.
With No 2, It doesn't appear to me to be the Carter Carb for your model, although the choke heat riser pick-up looks to fit ok. I would suggest that you await a few items of advice before you initiate any actions. I have a few of the correct 288 Carter carbs and would be happy to send one over if it would help. Best regards Peter Toet

G'day all, Here is a pic of the pointer which I have attached to each of my Packards without a factory item. It saves removing the starter or trying to stretch your neck on the late thirties Juniors to see tne mark under the starter (removing the two inch cover). Good luck and best regards Peter Toet

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G'day all, I had the same problem with my Fifth Series, until I removed the starter, set the timing pointer to the appropriate static timing BTDC. I then got a piece of coat hanger wire and bent it into a pointer across the front harmonic balancer or pulley. (most earlier Series had a pulley only), attached the other end of the wire (in a small loop), to a timing cover bolt so that it sat very much like a later timing pointer. I then white painted a stripe on the harmonic balance to co-incide with the flywheel mark. The pointer now saves me having to remove
the starter to time the engine and works very well with a power timing light. There should not be a backlash issue if you always rotate the engine in the normal running direction to the timing position. I normally use a 12V light with the two power leads connected to a separate battery source from the 6V car battery. The inductive pick-up lead still clamps to your No.1 lead. I can take some pics if you need them. Best regards, Peter Toet

G'day all, I agree with Randy not to undervalue the car however, you should be aware that some insurers offer more for the money than others. For example During the April 2007 National Packard Rally in Toowoomba (Queensland) no less than 5 Packards had to be trucked home, distances from 500 to 2,000 miles. Two of our major insurers have a policy which includes accomodation, hire car and return of your broken down car to your doorstep. The other three thought that they had that insurance but were advised that it was only after an accident, not a breakdown. This amounted to a few thousand dollars for the unfortunates who did not read the policy. I have changed my 7 policies for my Packards to one which provides the return AND YOU ALSO GET TO KEEP THE WRECK IF IT IS INVOLVED IN A TOTAL.
The cost to insure my 1935 Super Eight for $A40,000 was $A220.20. You guys may be getting ripped off as this includes recovery from 60 miles from home(including hire car and acccomodation). It also includes keeping the wreck if the car is totalled. This may have ramifications for you if you undervalue the car on a non-retention of wreck policy, if it gets totalled and they keep your wreck. Best Regards Peter Toet