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Hi, this is not my car but John's, a friend of mine. He bought this car 5 years after missing owning a 1937 Super 8 convertible.
He just got his Packard back from a shop and I discovered the battery is in backwards, 6V negative ground. Now I know it is supposed to be positive ground. What should I look for to put it back to being positive ground.
The car was driving a month ago. John took it around the block and in front of his house the left rear wheel fell off! No one was hurt and from 20 feet away you can't see the damage. He called me and we found the lug bolts still in the hubcap. The axle nut was missing it's cotter pin! The other 3 tires were loose also. I tightened the other 3 and put the one that fell off, back on. The car did start and run before. I even had the headlight on and rev'ed it and the headlight shown brighter. The battery is not being charged. I still think the battery is hooked up wrong.
After cranking the engine over, the battery cable is too hot to touch. It starts cranking slow and then speeds up after the 2nd turn. It would start like this and I don't think it charged the battery. But now it won't charge. The ammeter doesn't move, even though the gas gauge works (I think the shop fixed that). I just bought a new battery cable, the old one has bare wires showing up to 3 inches from the battery, but I haven't installed the new cable yet.
This car has other issues, but I will start with this one.

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If it was an accidental swap done by someone that didn't know Packards were positive ground, I doubt if any of the regular items that change when polarity is intentionally swapped was touched in the car. Battery cable being hot is not a good sign so hopefully a new 0 or 00 gauge cable will take care of that. If not about the only other thing that will cause a draw heavy enough to make the cable that hot is a poor connection or starter in need of some work.

Unless something was changed to a solid state replacement -- about all that would be affected in that car is a radio vibrator -- nothing else in a stock car should have been damaged by the polarity reversal. The voltage regulator has been a question of what exactly the difference in construction is between a regulator designated positive or negative ground and one that is designated universal. Keep that item in mind if repolarizing doesn't do anything. Batteries also have been damaged but those seem to be only if the reversal has been long term and the generator was never charging or was actually working but charging and supplying a significant current of reverse polarity during that time.

Since it doesn't appear to be charging now I would put the battery back to normal polarity and repolarize the generator and go from there. If ammeter starts indicating a charge then all is well. If it reads backwards or no charge is evident then possibly the ammeter leads were swapped or the generator/regulator is not working.

Aside from the ammeter, the other item that should be changed for a deliberate swap is the coil polarity. If the car has the armored cable the coil probably was not touched but if both coil terminals are accessible then make sure the distributor is connected to the terminal that reflects the ground - positive in this case.

Duane,
for including Johns '41 One-Twenty Convertible Coupe in the Packard Owner's Registry.

Hi Duane

Is this the same '41 120 convertible coupe you are dealing with? Its quite a looker!

sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/cto/d/redwood-c ... -packard-one-twenty/6878480203.html

Steve

Steve, I doubt it. The 1 on CL has running boards deleted

Howard, Thanks for the info. I did just buy an new battery cable and will swap the battery back to original.
No this car is not the one on Craigslist.

John did say nothing was working on the dashboard.
He did have someone fix the gas gage so it would work. I believe this car came from a dealer in Texas, I don't know which one and it does have running boards.

The door handle's screw is stripped. Should I go with a larger screw like the other side so it matches? Or is there a better (right) way?

I replaced the frayed battery cable and hooked the battery up correctly. Now the car starts easily.
Now when I put the battery cable on, I noticed a spark. I pulled the wire off the ARM terminal of the voltage regulator and there is no more spark. I pulled the voltage regulator off and will get it checked. The 1942 shop manual says, "Cut-out relay points will vibrate and burn if generator polarity is reversed." When the engine is running, I am measuring from the engine block (ground) to the starter battery post and the voltage fluctuates so much that I can't get a solid reading. When I check the same point with the engine off, I get a solid voltage reading. That's why I pulled the voltage regulator. The voltage regulator also got hot while the battery was connected.

I do have a question about the power top. While the engine is running, I push or pull on the convertible top knob and the engine sounds like it's under a load and the top does not move. Where do I go from here?

I also fixed his drivers' side door handle. I had to re-tap the handle and put in a bigger screw and washer. At least the screw now matches the other side.

Aren't most if not all the prewar powered tops vacuum -- at least I seem to remember an acquaintance's car that used vacuum. I think his was a 41 and that car had so many leaks in hoses and cylinders the top would not move on its own. To raise or lower I remember his wife would hold the knob and he would get out and grab the header and push or pull to help it along. Can't remember if the engine did anything different like it might do when having a massive vacuum leak but if it does have a leak that might explain the engine change.

Howard,
When John pulled the knob to lower the top, I grabbed the top bow and moved it and lowered the top. They tried to do it without the car running and couldn't. The top is now down and they'll leave it that way for now. He is not worried about the top working yet, he wants the car road worthy so he can drive it (especially with the top down!).
I pulled the vacuum hose off the carburetor while the engine was running and the engine started to run rough. I put the hose back on and it smoothed out. The top hasn't been used in some time, it looks good. But I don't know if it is a switch or the cylinders. Could the cylinders need some lubrication?

We went for a spin with the top down and heard some clicking noises when we hit a bump. We put the front end up and found the driver's side knee action shock was full of dust! I scraped a lot of dust out and tried to put in some hydraulic jack oil. We went for another spin and it is still making the clicking noises when we hit a bump but not as much. Cleaning the dust/dirt out of the shock helped and adding fluid helped more. We will try to drive it and add more oil and see how it goes. The clicking sound is only on the driver's side. The passenger side had fluid in it and only needed a topping off. The driver's side has 7/16 bolt for the oil fill while the passenger side has a 1/2 bolt for the same oil fill. I'm guessing one of these was changed without the other.

We also have a noisy exhaust, the muffler is worn out. When the shock absorber is fixed we'll get a new muffler.

There is a poster on the PAC forum who is in the process of redoing the vacuum cylinders for his 42 convertible. He has them apart and is asking about replacement leather seals and said he would try and post some photos. If he does it might give you an idea of what to expect or you might send him a private message and pick his brain..