Nicely done. Thanks.

Yet another roadster idea careening through my head I am calling the Packard Land Shark. This will have an underslung chassis of, uh, striking appearance and as such will need a straight front axle.

Speedway Motors offers straight front axles in any width you specify and you may have it to take either Ford or Chevrolet spindles as you will. Fact #1:Heaven knows I am way too cheap to buy spindles and drums from another car when Packard items are already piled up in the basement. Fact #2: Chevrolets used the same diameter kingpins and had similar kingpin inclination as Packard. So with only a few keystrokes I obtained a straight axle that accepts 41-56 Packard kingpins,spindles and brakes. Oh boy. I only need to make a spacer.

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Am almost finished with fabrication on the coupe-pickup. Worked out the details of the bed floor, tailgate cap and fittings. Made some Caribbean style side moldings and was pleased to find that an upper windshield molding from a 53 sedan made a pair of B to C pillar beltline moldings with just 2 inches left over.

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Glancing back through the thread I am a little befuddled. As you begin to open the throttle to start the car the choke plate should swing shut and the fast idle cam will likewise swing under the adjusting screw. Sometimes the wee tiny torsion spring that is supposed to lift the idle cam is AWOL.

Your car will not give a hoot about having a Custom Eight carb on it. It might run a little rich at certain speeds. A WDO is a WDO

If the choke isn't working loosen the two retaining screws and turn the choke housing til the choke plate will snap lightly shut when you open the throttle just a bit. Opening the throttle will let the fast idle cam swing under the adjusting screw when the choke plate is shut. As Jim mentions, make sure your tube to the choke stove in the manifold is OK.

Start the car and see if it would like more choke or less choke. Adjust the choke housing slightly in the suitable direction. The index marks on the housing are often not reliable at this late date. If the fast idle is not sufficient then adjust the fast idle screw.

All of this is perhaps a 5 minute job and will be little aided by having the manuals.

Jim has just the right idea. In a couple of minutes with two wires with alligator clips you can be set up to check out the engine without doing the tedious and unnecessary work of installing the dash with old wiring.
I say that because I fear that setting too difficult a hurdle will prove disheartening and provide extra disappointment if after all that the engine needs serious work AND you still have to put a new harness in the car.

Would point out that the Caribbean and the Constellation moldings are not remotely the same and the Constellation wheel moldings will not mate with the Caribbean rocker moldings.

If you would like to make certain you car will not start whenever the battery is just a little low then Pertronix is just the ticket. Would you like to have the one I took out of my car? Otherwise I have covered 40K miles on two sets of points with no end in sight.

If you are getting a "click" then it is most likely the solenoid. Whilst you have the starter off to change that take the opportunity to take the starter apart, lube the bushings, take a peek at the brushes, and undercut the mica on the commutator. Let's see a picture of your starter so we know which type.

A little more work on the new coupe-pickup this past week. Made the side panels I laid out in the flat last week and used the laser-cut Packard script sold by Keystone Packards for the front panel. Quite pleased with the look. Also tediously framed in the jambs of the tailgate.

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Self locking are on the 48-54 non-hydraulic flatheads. Possibly earlier, but not sure.