I believe the original tank was terne steel sheetmetal which has an inner coating consisting of an alloy of tin and lead which minimizes corrosion a bit more effectively than ordinary zinc galvanizing. Moisture can still affect it over time though as evidenced by the many rusted out tanks. If you sandblast you will remove whatever is left of that terne coat and to avoid almost instant rusting the cleaned tank will need to be quickly sealed again hopefully using a better product than used for the current sealing.

Last I heard John Ulrich no longer had a belt supplier and did not have any more wide 356 belts to sell. If that is the case I believe the Napa and Dayco belts that are listed in the parts x-ref are the only current options. Photos of those belts on the Napa and Summit websites would indicate both have the notches on the back side.

The lockout switch screws into the top rear of the under dash bracket where the OD lockout knob is located. If the switch and bracket are still stock there will be a serrated lockwasher along with a locking type plate affair which consists of a rectangular piece of thin metal with the sides bent up or down to keep the switch from unscrewing.

To remove the switch bend the sides of the plate flat so they are straight out and the switch will unscrew. If the switch has been a problem before it might have the wear issue so it could have been worked on in the past. If that is the case there is a chance the plate or the regular lockwasher or both will be gone. Removing an item was the temporary fix short of replacing the switch because removing the washer or plate allows the switch to sit lower so that the plunger wear is somewhat compensated for.

I can't say for certain exactly how Packard did their woodgrained dashes and window trim but there is a video produced by the people at GrainIt Technologies on the history of woodgraining. In the video they show examples of procedures used including some showing various pieces being made in an auto factory of that era. I would imagine Packard followed the method where a large prepainted sheet of metal was cut and formed in a stamping press.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RT9RCAV89s&t=50s

The DIY repro procedure using the plates and rollers that GrainIt came up with works fairly well after a bit of practice even for non talented people. If you are not interested in the DIY approach there are some who offer their services to refinish pieces using the GrainIt method along with some who do the old school talent needed methods of hand painting and using various things like sponges, rags, and feathers to form the patterns

There is a fairly good description in section 10 -- Fenders and Sheet Metal of the Service Manual. Basically in addition to the radiator top splasher there are screws on each side from the inside of fender under the headlights and one on the outside under the side chrome pieces. A pair of brackets or support bars between the radiator cradle and grill is also used toward the bottom of grille.

On that outside screw under the fender side trim, depending on how the fenders are set to do the hood gap there may be a space between the tab on the grill and the fender sheetmetal... Do not try and snug that screw down to bend the tab if there is much space. Place a washer or shim or something to fill the space before tightening the screw or you stand a good chance of breaking the grille tab off. The side chrome end slides in under the grille corner so you may need to sort of finagle the grill side to side and get a test fit for the side chrome to figure any shims out before tightening the attaching bolts.

Really hard to try and second guess someone who has done their own mods. I know I am guilty of doing some but do try and leave diagrams for the next person to figure out whatever I have done.

One thing when you are testing switches for working the reverse light is typically in that era the headlights had to be on before the backup lights would get power. That could still be the case so if you had the headlights off the first time maybe try the switches again with headlights on.

The black button sure does look like an aftermarket horn button and if the center of the wheel button didn't work or the horn started to blow at inopportune times that was often a quick cure. You might see if the stock wheel button wire is coming out the center at end of the steering box and is connected to the main loom. That would be the original wire connection to work the horn relay and where it exited the box was often a point of shorting and other troubles as the old rubber insulation dried or got grease soaked and let the wire short.

I am not that familiar with prewar cars but just from the photo in the accessory books those don't look like factory lights. Mounting is different and the shape and position of the lens is too. Can't really tell depth of light assy from photos but IMO, the factory light looks like it may have a slightly longer housing than those on the car.

Typically the backup light of that era was only one unit and was mounted on the drivers side. A customer could buy a second kit if he wanted a pair so there are a few pre 51 cars out there with dual lights but backup lights in pairs didn't really become offered and installed until 51.

Here are a couple of photos from accessory books. The 39 photo is not great so I threw in the better quality photo of the 38 offering which to me looks to be the same assy.

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If it was wired per factory and you have a full complement of lights, according to the section of this diagram showing some accessories the switch would have been to the extreme left of the panel rheostat and reading light switch. If you don't have the fog lights then maybe just left and next to the reading light switch. Since your car looks to have several non factory switches under the dash in non standard positions I think it will be a matter of just flipping a switch and seeing what works. Cannot speak to 39 but back up lights were optional on later years and could have been installed by a dealer long after the car was sold. When possible dealers would often mount switches per customer preference and not necessarily where the factory suggested.

If you cannot find an under dash switch, one possibility is later models had backup light switches operated automatically by the R-1 shift lever going into the reverse position. That is the bottom lever at the base of the steering column close to the steering box. The conventional body levers were differently shaped and positioned from Clipper levers so I don't know for sure what type bracket will mount but if an optional later light kit was installed by a dealer possibly something approximating the later switch was used too. You might look in that lower column area and see if there is any push plunger type switch that could be activated when the bottom lever is in the reverse position.

Here is a later type switch for reference as typically mounted on the Clipper and 22-23 series. If it was used on an earlier conventional body car not sure where or how it would be mounted on the column to be used with the different shaped shift levers.

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On the driveshaft and smoothness you might also see if anything in bulletin 56T-10 and the corrected version -10C applies to your Patrician.

I doubt much would happen. The breaker is over amped to protect multiple windows operating at the same time and the solenoids are only on briefly. If more than one window motor was stalled at a limit and switches were held down then it might trip if the locks were activated.