Quote from the Old Car Festival handout:
"In august 1903, the Packard nicknamed "Old Pacific" completed the transcontinental journey from San Francisco to New York in record time. Tom Fetch, Packard's plant foreman, and journalist Manus Krarup drove 3,500 miles in 61 days, breaking by three days the record set that July by Dr. H. N. Jackson (of PBS "Horatio's Drive fame) in a Winton"

Pictures from the Old Car Festival at Greenfield Village this week end. I went back Sunday to see the Old Pacific run. It was neet to see a 1903 racer up and running through the streets of the Village.

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Thanks for all of the replies and interest.

I took her out for a 30-40 minute spin tonight and then re-tightened all of the connections when I got home, while everything was still warm. I seemed to work fine and no parts were overly hot.

I still think the Battery Brain was designed for positive ground. As an example, the main switch mounts on the positive terminal with a small lead going to the negitive (to complete the circuit for the switch?) Any tampering is supposed to cut the switch off as a theft deterrent. But on my set up (with positive ground) if I removed the small lead, the switch stayed on, rather the turning off.

My latest attempt.
The Battery Brain III I bought from Bill Hirsch just didn't work out. I was for 6 volt, but I don't think it adapts well to positive ground. ( A couple of buck down the tubes!)

I used the parts that came with the brain to adapt a simple battery cut off switch. On one end of the switch a flat metal
bar connects the switch to a battery terminal. The other side has a 90 degree bend and a metal battery post connected to it. I have never seen these parts for sale, but I guess you could make them if you were handier then me.

The switch is from Harbor Freight (about $10) and I used a bolt extender from ACO ($1.55) to connect the switch to the top of the battery hold down rod.

PROS: Not a lot more investment after buying the Battery Brain.
No modifications to the car, and I can take it back off in a few minutes.
It's easy to use in a place easy to reach.
It does what I want, disconnect the battery for safety and to work on the car.

CONS: I have to open the hood to get to it.
It's probably not the most attractive set up that you have seen.

Any comments or suggestions are appreciated.

Latest attempt at a battery cut off switch

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It was a sad day at our local undertakin' parlor! This has been my place of employment since 1977. Today was the first time in our history (in business since 1926) that our livery service send a non commercial chassis hearse for the 10 am service. Lincoln and Cadillac are out of the business. The new style was nice, an extended Escalade with pretty chrome wheels, and a power tail gate. All of the younger employees ran right out to see it,but I just looked through the window with a tear welling up in my eye. But it was no M & M or Superior land yatch that I'm used to. This just isn't as much fun as it used to be, maybe it's time to retire. They all said what a day it was when Grandpa bought that Packard Henney in '39 that served him faithfully all through the War years and up to the mid-fifties. Anybody out there hearing me?

HH: Most of the problems I had (my opinion) was because the switch is set up for negative ground use. With a positive ground car, the switch works opposite as it should. I have had to call them 4 times so far for advise. To keep the car running under a load (generator system, not alternator) I had to buy the engine vibration sensor at an extra price. This has worked good so far.

I tried to clean the battery after it was installed with baking soda and lots of water. The connections would not work wet and I had to dry everything up before it worked properly again. Finally, because of the polarity issue, if you disconnected any connection, the switch stays on, rather then shuts off, as a thief deterrent.

The last time I called Battery Brain direct, I suggested that it might work better on the negative post, but the tech. said that their switch needs to be on the positive terminal to get power.

Again, I can shut the battery off as soon as I pull into my attached garage for safety and I don't have to raise the hood as the switch is on the key fob.

I am using the Battery Brain III (6 volt version) from Bill Hirsch. There are some qwerks to it but it works very well now that I got the bugs out. You don't have to open the hood to use it and it requires no modifications. It mounts directly to the battery. I'll be glad to share all the details.

"Hemmings Classic Car " #31 from April 2007 has an article about a '49 (22nd Series) with a Marvel Mystery Oil injector still hooked up and working. The jar and mechanism are attached to the fire wall next to the wiper motor. A quote: "The carburetor on Lyn's Packard features a rare accessory Marvel Mystery Oil injection system, which feeds an adjustable 20-21 drops a minute into the fuel-air mixture and keeps carbon build-up at bay; 'It was an option back in 1949, and it keeps the engine running beautifully,'"

My wife and I went last year with the car and we really enjoyed it. We have a family wedding this year. You don't have to worry if you don't know anybody because everyone is friendly. We sat with a family we never met for the banquet and the conversation just kept flowing. Motor City does a nice job on this event. I even found some parts I needed at a really good price.