Spence, never apologize for being new to something. We all are new to something. Einstein remarked, "The more I know, the more I realize how little I know." Sounds like the early eight, like yours, doesn't have a block plug else you'd surely have seen it by now. While the access plates off, a lifelong Packard savant suggests putting a coil spring sorta brush on an electric drill and cleaning out as much of that scale as you can reach.

Several on this thread extol Evaporust, so must have merit. I did mine years ago with washing soda and kerosene and it's remained clean ever since.

Another friend had a nice '35 1201 (not 120) coupe-roadster, and i believe its water pump like yours had a packing gland requiring periodic grease. Some use boat grease. Yours should be this type. Others will better know. Cadillac was still using 1930-type water pump into the '40s, just as Buick babbitt bearings through '48.

Don't panic over using tap water. Some municipal systems are very good, principally greater NYC, which receives snow melt from the Adirondacks, and EBMUD (East Bay Municipal Utility District) serving much of us to the east of San Francisco in the lame overpriced, overrated, overpopulated corporate 'burbs. EBMUD receives snow melt from the Sierras. The real mistake is distilled water, which is ion hungry, so leaches minerals, like lead, tin, from your radiator and system. Do see the tech link on www.norosion.com. Everything you need to know about cooling system health.

You're doing fine as is. You've got a swell auld calash.

O'Dave -- While you're in the neighborhood, spray the background gloss white. A Cord friend simply lined his with the shiny side of aluminum foil, but we learned that gloss white better reflects bulbs than that or silver or chrome paint.
Make sure your grounds are good.

Sounds like you're A-OK, the others concur. Gorgeous barouche, yours, and nice to see the wheels painted body color, not chromed like so many heathens do. On a clean-limned automobile, chrome should be at most like the touch of seasoning a learned chef might use.

The only thing i might tender is next oil change switch to full synthetic. Belay the concerns decades ago about about synthetic oil getting past rear main seal, et al. That was caused early on by esters, which are no longer in any synthetic motor oil. That, and many down homers like to blame anything new and better for their existing problems.

I long used Kendall GT1 10W/30 semi-synthetic but after copious reading, deduce the sole drawback of full synthetic is its price. However, that was alleviated by the wonderful JoAnne Teel at Kendall Motor Oils, below. Full synthetic for the price of conventional oil. Free shipping at that!

454 South Main Street
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701
(855) 899-7467
jmessina@petroleumservicecompany.com

Full synthetic may be overkill, but that sums most of Packard's engineering at least into the '40s. Please tell JoAnne that Mike Scott, '47 Packard Super Clipper, Walnut Creek, CA referred you. Good folks, and tho' all major brands motor oil on par according to Consumer Reports' and other rigorous testing, Kendall's as good or a wee smidgen better than any of them.

Spence (and any others similarly flummoxed), here's a shot of where the rear engine block drain plug is on my 356-ci-engined car. My long ago owned 282-engined '40 One-Twenty and 288-engined '51, and a friend's '53 327 about the same location. If memory serves, about the same on a 319 and 384 of the '30s. Instead of the steel plug, we inserted a brass stand off drain.

No heroics involved, just poke around far as you can with a long piece of bendable wire coat hangar or welding rod in case you've accumulated any crud toward the rear of your block.

The eclipse didn't dim our sunshine out here in Kaleefornyuh, even tho' at its totality in Mazatlan, Mexico, it covered at most a third of the sun from our vantage point in the East Bay.

Absolutely, please tell Jay Ross that Mike Scott, '47 Packard Super Clipper, Walnut Creek, CA continues to sing his praises. Good man, good product, deserves our business, as do

Mike Grimes at Max Merritt, (317) 736-6233, ext. 103, mike@packardparts.com;

Jeff Adkins 1935-56 mechanical and electrical parts only (707) 792-9985, packardguy54@sbcglobal.net;

John Ulrich 1928-47 parts (510) 223-9587, julrich2847@att.net;

Mike Chirco Tucson Packard (520) 730-2246, cell (520) 275-4623, joe@chirco.com,

and others i've urged us all to patronize, who go the extra mile, have the Right Stuff.

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  rear block drain.jpg (144.35 KB)

Spencer, safe long-used method of cleaning complete cooling system is, heater on to flush that, too, dumping two lbs. washing soda ---not baking soda-- Arm & Hammer offers both, and a quart or two of kerosene. Drive 15-20 miles with that solution, then drain hot. Use a straightened coat hangar or welding rod to ream around when the block drain plug out while radiator cap removed to enhance flow.

T h e n open your radiator pet cock. After block's cooled, flush with garden hose engine off until just clear water comes out block, then reopen radiator petcock.

If it's been a long time, you could go for another 15-20 mile drive with just water, nothing else, then drain as above again. But this time, once block cool, refill with reverse osmosis water and corrosion inhibitor like No-Rosion.com or Red Line Water Wetter. Use antifreeze o n l y if your car will be exposed to two consecutive nights of a hard freeze, 30 or below, or if your car has air conditioning, in which case even in LA or Phoenix in August you need 15% antifreeze to protect your heater core from freezing.
We usually avoid Whole Foods because their prices are for the birds, but they do sell reverse osmosis for 49 cents a gallon. Bring your own jugs, self serve.

Never use soluble oil, an outdated practice, according to a Chrysler engineer member of the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Club in their monthly bulletin decades ago. It, and antifreeze, leave heat transfer-inhibiting film on cooling system passages, the last thing you want. Slightly off subject, but characters polishing aluminum cylinder heads miss the point, because they're reducing surface area, which helps dissipate heat.

Terrific synopsis of cooling system care on the tech link on norosion.com. If you order some from No-Rosion, tell Jay Ross that Mike, '47 Packard Super Clipper, Walnut Creek, CA, referred you. Product originally made to protect the hellish environment of terribly expensive industrial cooling towers. Jay's old car friends asked for some, and the company took off.

Assuming your thermostat and timing okay, you should be fine. Some of us added a stand off for our rear block drain plug. Certainly on the 356 engines, that plug's location near the starter and dipstick not one of Packard's smarter moves.

Hope everyone got a glimpse of the eclipse. Next for us in the contiguous States August 23rd, 2044, during which your cooling system should still be just fine if serviced as above.

Good explanation of what you experienced in your town or state:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/interactive/2024/solar-eclipse-view-cities/

MPH = rpm x C (tire circumference in feet), divided by the result of F (final drive ratio) x 88.

Piston speed: stroke (in inches) x rpm, divided by 6

Or for our Euro Packard owners: stroke in mm x rpm divided by 30,000

Into the 1950s, maximum safe piston speed was 2,500 ft. per minute, tho' metallurgy, bearing design factors.

PS. While i want Jeff Adkins, Mike Chirco at Tucson Packard, and John Ulrich not to be overlooked, and though i've lauded him in the past, another shout out to Max Merritt Packard's genial, most helpful Mike Grimes, (317) 736-6233, ext. 103, mike@packardparts.com

www.packardparts.com

Kunzea, go with Mike Chirco at Tucson Packard. I and Packard friends have long bought from them. Good people, reasonable, no junk.

Usually go to Jon Stewart's Daily Show, Bill Maher's Real Time, or Jimmy Kimmel Live's opening to laugh out loud, but Peter's above another case of hilarious hard truth.

Thanks for sharing this look at some well-tended Iberian Packards. Some newbies may not realize that through the '30s, Packard exported more fine cars (above $2,000 FOB) than all other domestic automakers combined, and into the '40s remained by far the leading make in the world's embassies.