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I’m rewiring my 48 Station Sedan and have pulled the dash apart. What is a good replacement for the brown pine straw insulation that was falling apart? Any suggestions on lubing the wiper assembly or heat/air cables?

You may not find the exact thickness but jute padding is still available although it does not look quite the same. Do a search on Amazon or ebay for jute carpet padding. It comes in a couple of thicknesses which you could layer together. Others have also used the compressed fiberglass pads which is frequently found used as hood insulation. The universal fit pads are available in approx 4' x 5' sheets and about 1 inch thick. A google search turns up a few vendors.

The various wiper pulleys need a drop or two of oil at the center bearings and you could wipe down the cables to get the dust off. There is not much that can be accessed in the outside wiper pivots where the arms attach. A drop of oil on the arm shafts maybe but anything on the inside is pressed on and not removable. There is a procedure for lubing the vacuum wiper motor internals in one of the late 47 or a 48 service counselor but IMO, that is kind of iffy and may not do much if the motor is old and worn. You would have better luck to just use the downtime opportunity to send the motor to FIcken Wiper Servicerebuildingtricowipers.com and have the motor rebuilt to like new condition.

I have had luck lubricating other style Bowden cables by coiling them as tightly as possible making sure the coil is not tight enough to kink or otherwise damage the cables. Coiling will allow the wrapped around outer housing wire to open slightly between the coils so oil can get inside to the operating wire. If the cables are rusty you can secure the coiled cable assy with a couple of tie wraps so as to allow them to sit and soak for some time in a small pan of light penetrating oil followed by a good application of proper oil. Have not done any with the attached operating mechanism so not sure how much liquid would get into the mechanism or if any should be allowed in but as I recall those are fairly sealed and should not need a lot of lube.

Kapn; If you can't get your control cables to work let me know what you need as I have some extras. The picture is what I started with and what a little money and a lot of time can get you, almost done.

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Thanks for the feedback.
That's a beautiful color on your station sedan!

I'll hit them with some oil. They were working, several years ago last they were used.

Has anyone had any luck using a mitivac or even an Air conditioning vacuum pump to test and operate them while the car is disabled?

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Operate which components? A stock Packard only has one vacuum operated item and for most models that is the wiper motor. If it has the optional windshield washer, vacuum antenna, or rear window wiper then possibly three more. Taxis also could have vacuum operated rear tilt out windows. Anything else would have been aftermarket. An AC vacuum pump could operate any of those items but doubt if the mitivac would have enough volume to do a real test. If you squeezed long and hard enough it might slightly or slowly move an item.

If you are referring to the Bowden cables and any heater/vent control items, those are entirely mechanical and operated by hand power directly by the Bowden cables moving a component.

Just looking to test the wiper motor while the dash is apart.

Lubing the bowden cables is on my list of things to do as well. They are stiff and maybe it's just the pivot point of the flaps they operate.

Most likely the cables. The flaps have fairly sloppy holes with just a heavy wire like shaft that holds the flappers going thru them. It is possible the shaft retainers could be tight or the rubber seal on the flaps could be dry, cracked or dragging.

Testing the wiper motor without everything hooked up is iffy. They can go like a bat out of ---- when sitting by themselves unloaded. As soon as you connect the components and particularly the blades, the extra drag is too much if the seals on the paddle inside the motor are worn. The motor will barely move if it does at all under those conditions and it will need the AC pump to get sufficient volume..

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On my 1948 Henney-Packard, the wiper motor was on the firewall in the engine compartment so can be tested at any time whether or not the dash is apart.

What's the best practice for making sure the bowdin cables are lubed and ready for another 74 years?

There is not a lot you can do as far as taking them apart to access the inner surfaces. Scroll up and check out the last paragraph in post #2 in this same thread for a method I have had reasonable success with on dirty or maybe slightly rusted vent control cables. This has also worked on some stuck Overdrive lockout cables. On the OD cables there is the additional issue of a steel shaft sliding inside a steel tube or sleeve at the transmission end.

If the cables have been around enough water to have completely rusted the inner wire and outer housing wire coil surfaces together then there is not much that will be successful other than replacing the cables.