Hmm, that makes sense. Also, it would make sense that all the rotors have about the same shape!

Well, this weekend I started looking at electrical parts. The cap and rotor looked okay, but the points were pretty rocky and the plug wires were in really bad shape. Headed down to my local napa, and they actually listed the cap, rotor, points, condenser, and starter solenoid for my car! Napa must've bought out the Delco-Remy molds for the rotor, because the two parts looked identical.

I also drained the oil, and it smelled strongly of gasoline. In addition to the burnt points and plug wires with loose and broken ends, I think my oil was so thinned out with gas that the engine was probably building less than optimal compression.

The terminal on my ground cable was cracked, so I built a new 1-0 cable with soldered terminals instead of the bolt on type. The cable on the battery was 4 gage. I held off on the negative cable until I get the starter mounted solenoid installed. The cable from the battery to the aftermarket solenoid looks to be the original, but I'm not sure if it was cut when the solenoid was moved to the firewall.

Also pull the starter apart to see if it needed a rebuild. The brushes and commutator looked good to me, so I'll probably take some of the carbon off the commutator, put it all back together, and paint it up. I do need to get new lock washer for the bolts holding the starter together and to the motor. There were only two of the four present, and they were both the wrong size! Easy fix.

The plug wires come in tomorrow, and the solenoid on Tuesday or Wednesday, so I might have a newly refurbished ignition and starting system by next weekend! Then we should be getting somewhere. Once it runs, it'll be on to the rest of the safety items- going through everything, one piece at a time.

Also found a painter- I'm hoping to have time to get the engine and transmission repainted this summer. I don't have a compressor, and Napa doesn't stock Packard green in a rattle can, so I'll have to have someone else spray it on!

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Had a little bit of time today. Performed a carb clean and inspect. No major issues, although the needle and seat seemed a little sticky.

I did find what looked like a loose fitting with a bolt going through it on the passenger side of the intake manifold, directly under the carb. Didn't have the camera today, so I'll post some pictures this weekend.

Next step is to charge up the new battery and go through the ignition. I'll probably check the points out before I start replacing any parts, since it was running six weeks ago.

Awesome that you got it re-titled! I was lucky, mine came with a title.

Saw you were deployed to Istanbul- are you supply?

Welcome back from deployment.

I did count the bumper holes in my car, and his bumper has two more holes. Buyer beware I guess. He told me in e-mail that his was actually from a Super 8.

I think it has mounting hole in-line with the terminal. I'll be able to check it out tomorrow night. Will post pictures once I get everything figured out. One other quick question- starter, water pump, and other accessories are semi-gloss black, right?

Perfect! I'll get that one then, found it on Ebay. It'll get me by on my starter rebuild for now; I'm pretty sure I can wait until the car is all one color before I worry about the wrong starter solenoid!

Again, thanks for all the help.

Thanks for all the help, guys!

Does this look similar to the original:

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Well, no work on the car, but a big step has been made! Should have some time to work on it the weekend.

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After talking to my dad, I think I may have solved the mystery on why the car would fire intially, and then do nothing when I have good spark and compression. I think the float on the carb might be sticking- the car ran a month ago, and hasn't since. Well, new gas on old can stir up a big mess. I'll try tapping the carb tomorrow, and if that doesn't get it going, I'll pull the top of the carb for a quick inspect. I still want to get the right carb (in the long term), but if I can get it running off this carb, it will be a start- another antique Packard on the road again.