Always use metal ones for every car you own. They are much better for holding Air pressure.

I think I found it. The Super Eight and the Custom Super eight shared the egg crate grill. The Custom, being the top of the line, had the double strips..

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  1949 Super eight.jpg (45.12 KB)

Some of the 1949 Custom Eights have double rocker strips. Was this an option? If not, why???

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  1949 Custom side view.jpg (127.16 KB)

I love those custom Packards like yours. As far as the gear shift sticking if you look in the manual you see there's a very specific routine for lubricating the shift linkage. I think the handy shift that Packard put out got a bad reputation because the shifting mechanism does require maintenance and no one ever thinks to do it.
My car had a bad pinion bearing so we took out the carrier and I just replaced every bearing in the carrier because I wanted to get it ready for another 73 years!

The push button mechanism was very troublesome and most collectors remove them and replace them with standard shift. When it malfunctions the car is not drivable.

JEWELS IN YOUR CROWN!!!

Howard.......???

I totally agree!!!

But thousands of pounds of pure glamor!

Also, respectfully, I think most people on this site do not support modifying Packards. We tend to do our best to keep them original as we see ourselves as caretakers for the next generation.

Good luck with your project.