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I had previously posted a question on the bulbs for these lights and now have them all cleaned up, rewired and ready to install. In placing them on the fender of my car I am unsure of the 'correct' position. I've sifted through a ton of pictures online, and first of all, do they sit ON the chord line crease of the fender, or just beside it? And if beside, WHICH side? And does anyone know of a measurement or spec, say the distance from the bottom front lip of the fender to the 1st hole? Or am I being too fussy? Caribbean Dude posted a link on a 1940 Darrin today that has an excellent shot of the headlight/parking light alignment. Should a guy just eyeball it and start drilling holes?? I own a boat and belabor over every hole I drill in it, and kind of treat the Packard the same way - I only get one shot at making it right!!
Thanks for any input or data anyone can come up with.
rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/MO12/Monterey ... sedan-by-howard-dutch-darrin/280733

The headlight shot is 6 clicks in....

Here are some pix which may help, too, if there are no holes. Where they filled over?

Yes, centered on the crease. (I bent the fender washers to fit better.

Also black fender welt cut to fit around the base.

On mine, from the end of the lip that curves under, to the tail end of the mounted light is 35.75"

I did not have the plates that mount under the fender to protect the wiring, so at the urging of others who know, I put a sleeve around the wires and a rubber grommet under there.

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Thanks guys, for the quick response and info. I maybe should have mentioned that my car is a '39, which shows parking lights in the 'option booklet' for that year, but they look a little different and seem quite rare. I have seen numerous sets of these 1940 lights for sale but haven't come across any actual '39 lights. My car did not have factory signal lights and the parking lights per se, were in the headlight teardrop.
That is why no holes and the query as to where exactly they should go. My parking lights did come with the under-fender plates and when I rewired them, I did crimp some thin wall black rubber hose over the wire where it comes out the bottom. I do like your idea of a grommet in the fender hole Joe. I will line them up at 35 3/4" from the bottom of the front fender face and see if they mirror the orientation in the pictures. It kind of looks like the mini teardrop should 'point' at the center of the main headlight can. Thanks again for the help.

These pic's are of a '39 120 in Australia and were taken about 5 years ago. The story, if I remember correctly, is the owner found a pair of the '39 accessory lights and fitted them to his car during restoration.

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That's different. I wouldn't drill any holes just yet. Maybe put out a request for '39 parking lights with all Packard part suppliers. Post a Want To Buy in that forum on Packard info. There must be a service letter stating where the dealer is to mount optional lights. Keep it authentic, if possible.

Perhaps some instruction from Packard will be forthcoming. In the absence of that the logical positioning would be that which results in a horizontal plane thru the centerline of the parking lamp housing being parallel with a similar horizontal plane thru the headlamp housing. Or in other words, they both point to the same elevation at infinity.

Thanks Ozstatman, yes, those are exactly like the units shown in the 'Accessories Brochure' and if you had any idea of the hours I've spent sifting through Ebay and other sites trying to come up with a pair - they seem extremely rare, whereas the 1940 teardrops are quite common and available.

I would hold off Joe, but I found these units that I have and paid a couple of hundred bucks for them, and not thinking the odds of finding '39's are that good, I will probably get them painted and proceed. They should still look pretty good, better than the horrid things that are on there now! Somebody mounted truck signals on the lower front fenders. Tch, tch, tch!

And yes, Dave, I agree with you re matching the horizontal planes of the big and small teardrops; I'll see how close I can get it.

Thanks again for the help

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I would completely agree with the sentiment to hold off until the proper lights come along. Just try to be patient rather than settling on the wrong lights just because you bought them for what seems a lot of money for very common lights! 1940 parking lights on a 1939 look terrible in my opinion. I recall that someone used to offer reproductions but that was decades ago and I don't remember who it was.

Off topic, but in the right background of my 2nd photo are the owner of the '39 120, in period suit and hat, talking with the Flackmaster, who is seldom caught on camera! I'll also reach out to the owner and ask him how he determined where to position the parking lights.

Okay, okay... I'll try and find some '39 lights! Anybody have any idea WHERE??!?!?

I have seen quite a few photos of 39's with '40 lights on them; what am I missing?? I didn't think they looked that bad?? Aren't the '39 and '40 fenders and headlights the same??

I guess I am only a 'quasi-purist' in that I like original cars and wouldn't put a V8 or a big stereo in a car like mine, but things like a year out on the lights seems 'within the range', if you know what I mean? Like some guys that are rewiring will only put in cloth covered wire and as long as it is a good heavy gauge for the 6 volt, regular wire is okay with me. Hope that doesn't make me a heretic on this site, but on a driver classic car, I think there can be 'some' lattitude??

I WILL see if I can come up with some '39 lights though!!