Boy oh boy, am I finding with every little bit of maintenance that I plan to or attempt to do on this Senior car, that it is waaay different than on the pretty easy and straightforward ‘37 Six. Rather than just tear things apart willy nilly and start wrenching on things I don’t have to, I’m going to ask some pretty obvious questions to protect my car from me. Please bear with me. My first question is in regard to the radiator drain. Is the circled item the radiator drain? There is all sorts of shielding around the bottom front of the car and hopefully I won’t have to take it off. Also, if this is the drain, it would appear that there is an Allen head set screw down the middle. Do I need to do anything there?

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I'm hoping to install the new and newly painted water pump this week. Assuming no issues arise removing the old one, when it comes to assembly I'm wondering what everyone else does about the gaskets. My father used shellac on almost all the gaskets he was putting on. My friend with a Model A says he uses exclusively RTV on his gaskets. Thoughts? I don't want to reinvent the wheel.

Here is a picture taken by me on my last visit to the museum in 2010. This is the tag on the Dietrich in question. It is mounted on the driver side in front of the front door. Just a photo for info purposes as Ozstatman took better and more pictures of the car than I did.

If anyone is interested in seeing the other pictures I took that day, this should link you to the album. I am not a great photographer.

photos.app.goo.gl/hqkbEv2yrS5GLYFQ8

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I used Horseless Carriage when I shipped mine from Connecticut to Florida. They were very professional and were very flexible with me as to pick up date and delivery date. They did have to put off pick up by one day but they were right on top of it when they let me know about the delay. I don't know how the price compares to other shippers, but it was much less than the number I had been guessing at. I would use them again.

Parts ordered from Max Merritt. I ordered up a water pump, radiator cap, hose and clamp kit, and thermostat. Packard green enamel has arrived and is just waiting for the water pump to show up to paint it before installing.

Thank you for all that you do, Big Kev. This site has been an invaluable gift to the Packard world whether it be enthusiasts or owners. I have had lots of unposed "how come" and "why" questions answered without even having to post the question, just by stopping by daily. I love looking at the photos in the owner registry and seeing so many of our Packards still run in the wild. Donation made.

My thought was I would get the radiator hose kit that Max Merritt has listed in their parts catalog. Hopefully all the appropriate springs and bends are already in the hose. If anyone has purchased their kit, hopefully they can say whether that is true or not.

Thanks for confirming what I had considered doing. Often the helping hand is what is needed to instill confidence.

As an update, I was at the car yesterday with a more mechanically inclined buddy who is working on a Model A and a Studebaker Dicatator, and he asked me for a long handled screwdriver and had me start the car. He then proceeded to do a test I had long known about and long since forgotten (if you don't lose it you lose it), of putting the blade of the screwdriver to the water pump and the handle to the ear. The bearings in the pump are definitely chattering up a storm. That thing definitely has to go. Also, as luck would have it, not a drop leaked from the car during the 10 minutes it ran.

I took step one last night and ordered up a quart of Packard Green engine enamel from Bill Hirsch. Next will be ordering the pump, thermostat, and upper and lower hoses. One paycheck at a time.

Thanks for the insight, Chris. I'm glad you mentioned the fact that if I use the pressure pump that I not go too high with pressure. The Salesman Data Book shows that 1941 has a sealed cooling system to raise the boiling point. It shows the pressure of the 180 engine to be 7 lbs. Also I will definitely have something to stand on because like you said, it's a pain working over the big fenders.

It has been about 40 or more years since I "helped" my father work on the '37 six and from what I thought I remembered, the water pump seemed like a fairly easy swap out. I'm sure my memory could be off. When you mention it being involved, what were you referring to? The shop manual and the Motor's Manual are pretty vague on the replacement simply saying the radiator does not have to be removed to change the water pump. It seems to rely on the serviceman having a prior knowledge of having replaced a pump. The car is stored 10 miles away so I don't always get all the pertinent info on one trip. Hopefully I am correct in thinking that the pump sits at the top front of the block. The Parts book as well as the service manuals show cut aways of the engine which are not a lot of help in this case. My thought was to drain the coolant, remove the fan belt and any attached hoses, unbolt the pump, clean the surface, replace gasket and pump, reconnect any attached hoses, refill coolant. The steps I left out are lots of swearing in between. The coolant tube won't be coming out because as long as it's not a leak in the radiatior I do not plan to remove it.

Please feel free to point out where I am going wrong or what I should be considering. I won't be tackling anything for at least a couple of weeks as I gather parts and input and fore warned is fore armed. I am not too proud to take any help or foresight on this that I can get.

Anyone have any experience or feedback on ultraviolet leak detection kits? I was about to pull the trigger on ordering a hand pressure pump when this option came up. Thoughts?