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I bought my 1941 120 Touring Sedan in Chickamauga Georgia a few years ago. Prior to purchasing the car I was living in GA and my son was playing ball in the little league. My family became friends with another family who played ball with my son and they just bought a small farm. When I visited the new friends for the first time, I saw the Packard sitting in the barn and inquired about it. He stated the car was in the barn when he bought the place and he knew the owner. To make a long story short, it took me 5 years to convince the owner to sell it. Once the deal was made, I had moved to Maryville, TN. I borrowed a trailer from a friend and hauled the car to Tennessee.

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The Packard had been setting for 5 years. The barn had peacocks living above the car and the battery cover under the seat was missing, so the rodents had a joyous time destroying the interior. Note the hay we "raked" out of the car before we could load it on the trailer.

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We rinsed off the bird residue, and pulled the car out of the barn with a '65 Chevy truck that my friend owned. We then placed an old tire between the Packard and the Truck and pushed the car on the trailer. This was a very delicate procedure, since the car had no brakes. I then brought it to my home in Tennessee.

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I got the Packard to Tennessee without incident. The prior owner had spayed the entire engine compartment with blue Krylon spray paint. What a shame. Makes you wonder doesn't it? Anyway I removed the front clip and went to work. I bought a new battery, a tune up kit, wires, cap, belts, carb kit, fuel pump kit, and had the gas tank checked out, changed the oil, (which still looked clear as it came out), and the car started right up. Amazing. Then we did the brakes with a new rebuilt master cylinder, four new wheel cylinders, shoes and hoses. I did not know of this forum prior to doing this work, or I would have done the wheel bearing at that time, referring to Wade's workshop. I will do this BEFORE I drive this car.

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I removed the interior, and found the floors and everything structurally very sound. No rust. (Some surface rust, but nothing that a light sanding and cleaning would not take care of).

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Well, the best laid plans..... I was moving right along with the restoration and then my company transferred me to Texas. And then nine months later, to the west coast territory. (At least I am still employed!) I selected Arizona. So In one week-end, I put the car back together, and off we went.

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Thanks for posting this! I love the 120's with their 8 squirrel motors. A most interesting color, a refreshing respite from the more common colors on the drabber end of the visible electromagnetic spectrum.

I see your Packard is a similar color to mine..... Blue over Surface Rust! :)

But seriously glad you decided to stick with it, at least in Mesa, AZ you won't have to worry about more rust from humidity except in the monsoon season. There are plenty of good Pre-war Packard folks in that area also.

Gregg,

Great that you're doing a Project Blog on your '41, I'll be following along with interest. Anybody who packs up their Packard, takes it with them and treats it like in the pic below obviously has a real bad dose of the disease!

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Great talking with you this evening Greg. I managed to resurrect the desktop computer and love your pictures and captions. We look forward to meeting you and your wife at the Saturday morning Packard breakfast.

See you then,
Jim