Old cars and hot rods have everything to do with passion and feeling and very little to do with logic. Detroit cars do not have the character or style of the classics for some of us.

Thanks so much for the info and the link. Will post pics of the Packard once it is finished and on the road. Also have a ton of stock running gear parts to pass on to those who are keeping the faith and keeping it stock.

Had all the blowback from restoration purists, thank you. Wanted a reliable daily driver, not a trailer queen or weekend warrior. On the spectrum of modification, I went a bit further than adding a Torqueflight trans to the straight eight or updating the brakes to discs, but the idea is the same---having a safe, reliable car to drive every day.

I have a 1939 Super Eight sedan that I have upgraded to a crate motor and 700R automatic. I have the original 1939 speedometer I have had rebuilt and would like to keep. Has anyone any advice on mating the 700R to the stock Packard speedometer? Will the Lokar speedometer cable work? The original speedometer was made by Stewart Warner, so the threads on the fitting on the back of the speedo should be some type of standard size.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Mike:

Yes I did, about 6 months ago,to a guy with a 1937 Super Eight with an incomplete 320 strait eight. His car did not have most of the stuff that mounts on the block.

He plans to use parts from my engine or just put the 39 320 in the 37, since they are cosmetically and dimensionally the same.

I do, however, have the 2 inch front brake drums for sale, and the stock radiator from my 39.

Know of anyone who has the hood side chrome strips for sale? Mine are so pitted and rusted from behind they look like swiss cheese. These are the two chrome pieces that mount above and below the side vents on the hood.

DAF

As promised, I received the Kanter disc brake conversion kit for my 1939 Super Eight sedan.

I have the two front brake drums, backing plates, etc. for sale and you have the first option on them if you are still interested in using them to upgrade your 120 to 2 inch drums in the front.

Hugh

I have a 1939 Packard Super Eight that originally had dual sidemounts. The sidemount spare tires and fenders were long gone when I bought the car. It sits nose high, due to the heavier springs used with dual sidemount cars. Where can I find a set of less stiff springs? Would springs from a 120 or 110 work? The front end will be lighter than stock, since I have installed an aluminum radiator and a more modern and lighter engine than the original 320.

The dash panels mount on a steel back panel that bears the weight of the gauges, speedo, etc. The combination of the balsa, the veneer, and the poly varnish results in fairly stiff panels. The center panel, which will have the ignition key, light switch, cigar lighter, etc. I made out of solid cherry panels one eight inch thick. The center panels also have a metal subplate underneath the decorative panel.

Made new wooden dash panels for my 1939 Packard Super Eight touring sedan. The old plastic ones had cracked and warped. New plastic is hard to find and very expensive. Created balsa cores and covered them with cherry veneer.

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DAF:

I promise that if and when I decide to update the brakes on the Packard Super Eight, you will have first option on the drums, backing plates, etc.

Boosquat