Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

I have a '39 Six and am going through a plethora of problems trying to get the engine to run properly. A newly rebuilt carb improved things a bit, but also led to some distributor issues. Can anybody give me some cross-over numbers on points, condenser and rotor for this engine? I realize I can find tune-up kits online and, if that is the only route open, I'll go with it, but I am in a very rural location and am hoping to be able to cross some numbers over and find something at my local NAPA outlet.

I only have data for the 110 back to 1941, likely the same as 1939 which you could confirm by checking the parts book which is available on-line here. If AutoLite equipped here are some numbers that were still good at NAPA as of a few years ago for the '41 model. Others will no doubt have more correct or current information.

Points, any of CS 25, 25A or 725A
Condensor, AL -869
Cap, AL 63
Rotor, AL 62

My local NAPA store has a "vintage" look-up section to his catalog so if you have a cooperative counterman you should have no problems getting what you need, NAPA still has a very broad offering for your car.

I am a Packard newbie to, so take my post with a grain of salt
I have a friend that set my car up and he is very knowledgeable about pre war cars. He say that you should not be in a hurry to change points, especially condenser, and other thing stuff. He say that the good reproductions are hard to find and if it works, points file is a better option than just slapping repro points in. He takes the distributor out and set it up on a machine in his shop then pops it back in, and set the timing good to go. Be really carefully of condensers, if you find a good one keep it. I went thru 4 Chinese condensers before I found a good one ( and they did weird thing (like work perfectly until it got hot)
good luck with her
Will

37-39 Packard Six had either Autolite or Delco ignition, you can tell by the tag on the distributor. Probably 95% were Delco which is different from 40-up which were all Autolite.

As for repro ignition parts are not up to snuff we find differently. While all of our points are NOS or NORS, in 50+ years we really have not gotten any returns after selling 20,000 sets. We do sell a mix of NOS, NORS and current condensers, caps and rotors in large quantity we have had practically zero returns for being defective. The use of a point file can produce perfectly fine operation but keeping a condenser indefinitely can leave you stranded on the road. Condensers deteriorate mostly from heat and while a 50 year old NOS condenser will give good service, one that has had 10,000 miles in high under hood temperatures may have a limited life. replacing it is cheap insurance

Thanks
James From
Kanter Auto Products