Good afternoon all...Today Alex Alfaro and I pulled the brake drums all around and cleaned everything and installed new springs and keepers all around. On the back drums, there was literally no torque. I removed the cotter key and the nut came of easily on both sides with an open end wrench with little muscle! The rear drums came off with just a couple of light tapes with a small hammer on both sides. When we put it back together, we were at 235 pounds feet of torque...The old girl drives nice and stops really nice and quietly now...Thanks again Howard and David for your help. Ernie

Thank you Howard. I was just speaking to David Packard who has a 48 and a 54. It appears that this bit of information was not in the 46 to 50 book, but was in the 51 to 54 book and David had the same figures as the chart that you sent from the 54 book. Thank you very much for responding...Ernie

Good Morning all...I need to remove the right rear brake drum to replace a broken spring by the sound of things. I looked in the Packard Service manual for 1946 to 1950 and in the break section I could not find the number. It seems to me that it is roughly 200 foot pounds or so. Does any one have the number handy? Thanks, Ernie

Good Morning...You might want to check the engine timing, condenser and compression. The distributor might be frozen in its current position.

Also after this much time sitting...low compression could come from stuck valves...

Often when purchasing a car that has been stored for a long time, the key is to figure out why it was stored! Frequently if the answer was not the death of the owner, it was a mechanical problem that the owner did not want to/could not/ deal with.

On the Packard Club site, on the left side is a red tool box about half way down the selections...if you click on it and look around there is a list of many, many items that will cause these old girls not to start. Print out the list and go one by one until you find the problem. A little holly water on the radiator can't hurt. Ernie

Good morning all...In many cities, there is an auto glass shop that is used for glass replacements by the used car folks at the major dealerships; they also do glass for all of the hot rods and classic cars in the given city. In Arizona it is Bell Glass on 23rd avenue. They replaced two cracked windows in Miss Prudence for me. It took only an hour or so and I could not tell that the upholstery had been removed and re-installed. Ernie

Good Morning all...Jim's Packard is a beautiful car. It looks almost new. It was over in our part of town for a head gasket a while back and I got to see it and have breakfast with Jim...Ernie

Cool! Ernie

Good Morning Sanford...I have run into problems like this with old cars and several times the answer was a Condenser and a few times a coil.

Both of these items tend to work when stone cold, and then fail as they become hot...when they are at the end of their useful life.

Two years sitting, with a six volt machine, could well be part of the problem. Also, how old are the plugs? When were they last checked/cleaned/ gapped/ plug wire tips cleaned where they go into the distributor cap and to the top of the plugs? Check your battery cables for clean and tight on both ends.


Finally check the condition of the inside of the distributor cap, rotor and points for rust and grunge. Maybe a little holly water on the radiator? Good luck with the old girl. Ernie

Jim is correct. I have seen his 54 and it is lovely. Ernie

Good Morning Brenda...Follow Owen's advice and take the lines off and look at them. If they look good, clean the threads on a wire wheel or with some fine steel wool and put them back on with a bit of plumbers tape or the plumbers paste that is sold at ACE Hardware. Often this is all that is necessary. Over tightening will not solve the problem as there is too much space between the threads, male and female parts. The plumbers tape or paste will fill it in and stop the leak. Good luck. Ernie