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I figured I would start a blog on this project. About the project, it is a 1951 Packard 200 4 door sedan. Kind of the bottom of the line for Packard's that year.
This is my first Packard. It has a 288 straight 8 with Ultramatic drive. Has a radio, heater/defroster, backup lights, fender skirts and turn signals. Not much else.
For now I'm just trying to get it somewhat protected for winter. I took some boxes down and sorted out the pieces and swept out the trunk area with a shop vac. I still want to remove the seats and take up the old mat and jute under it. The mat is weather cracked and some of the jute feels damp.
The car has been rear ended sometime back in the mid 50's. I come to find after cleaning up the trunk floor that it is actually a section along with the rear panel taken from another Packard. And the trunk lid also appears to have came from the same car, they are all a pale green color. So there is some work there for me to finish up. The rest of the body seems to be just surface rust so far, no rust outs. I hope the floor is good to.
We received 4.5" of snow yesterday (12th of January), so haven't been able to do much more at this time.
Not sure when the next entry will come, serious work probably will not begin till spring.

I'm sure you've found all the applicable project blogs here for info, don't hesitate to ask us for anything you don't see already. And when you find out stuff about your car post it, don't worry about duplication as there might be some details that you found more info on that we can learn from you!

Take lots of pictures, then take more. You won't be sorry later!

John,

Great to see you're doing a blog on your '51, I'll be following along with interest.

ptv, Welcome! You have found the best spot to get help on your Packard. Many friendly and knowledgeable folks here ready and willing to help. A project blog is a great way to keep your progress posted and let us know what you need.

(o{}o)

When I get into it, I'll have questions for sure. And I'll get more pictures when the weather improves.
One tid bit I found, was a decent trunk ornament in the stuff in the car. I assume it came on the replacement trunk lid they put on it.
Too bad the outside of the car doesn't reflect the true mileage on the car......

John

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Nice! My trunk ornament is bleached white, no color left and the paint all flaked off inside. Emblemagic shows that they do those, spendy though.

emblemagic.com

Somewhere on here I was reading about using red nail polish to recolor them with. I had wondered about maybe model paint....
John

If you find a paint that works and is glossy looking when viewed thru the plastic there will be many in your debt.

I've tried just about all the commonly available retail paints and while there are many that have brilliant shines looking at the paint directly, all I've tried so far look dull and flat when viewed thru the plastic.

There is a "Mirror Chrome" type paint I recently saw advertised which is supposed to be for painting on the inside of Lexan plastics and those I haven't tried. There are several different colors associated with the product so possibly one of those would be better than the regular enamels and acrylic paints.

One thing too, is if the plastic is weathered on the outside (fogged). This would dull the look too.
John

I wonder how many years the small hubcaps were the same? This Packard has the "dog dish" hubcaps with trim rings around them. I'm missing one hub cap.
Also wondering if anyone has coated the inside of their thermostat housing to resist further future rusting? Red Clyptal or ?? My housing has a pin hole in the side and a bit of roughness at the top where the hose fits on. I figured I would sandblast it before repairing it.

John