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Power steering was 9oz low on fluid, forgot to check earlier. Now it works great even at engine idle and 0mph.

Ultramatic fluid was very low when checked with engine idling. Is the correct procedure to add fluid while the engine is idling, thru the dipstick tube, and check with the dipstick? Or something else?

EDIT: Looks like service manual says to check it after 1min of high idle (800 rpm).

Officially bought the car today, but not picked up yet. Will title and register tomorrow then will pick up after I get a tag for it.

Short term plans:
- New tires. I can't find a date code on the current tires but they are visibly cracked just from garage storage of the car so I don't want to drive it much more than home and to the shop, only a few miles total.
- Oil change and lube. Obviously it needs new oil after sitting for about 5 years. May as well hit all the lube points and then it should be good for around 2k miles or the next year.

For the winter I basically plan to park it in my uncle's garage upstate. I know it seems strange to get new tires and oil so soon before parking it for about 4 months, but I don't want to drive it nearly 100 miles on the old tires and oil. Especially because I'd like to take the interstate up there.

Of course, cleaning up the upholstery and panels and polishing the trim will be a great winter project, to then reinstall everything in the spring. I'd also like to take out the carpet, then once it's parked take out the front seat and instrument cluster so I can get those real nice too. The latter two will then be my first priority as I'll need them back in the car to drive it. The carpet I will try to power-wash. It may be too far gone but if I'd like to keep it if possible.

For the courtesy lights outside, and the front turn signals, I'm going to try to clear those up with some headlight restoration wipes. It won't be perfect but hopefully it will be an improvement.

Further on, before everything goes back together, I need to sort out some electrical issues.
- Ammeter wired backwards.
- Rear fan does not work.
- Front fan switch does not even turn.
- Electric wipers already installed. "High" does not do anything; "Low" causes a dead short to ground.
- Turn signals do not work (bad flasher? extra one is included with car).
- Aftermarket A/C installed; blower does not work, compressor does not seem to engage. Have user/install manuals.
- Wires are clipped for front turn signals, courtesy lights, rear cig lighters, so those need reattached.
- Entire radio unit and rear speaker need reinstalled.

This car has a lot of weatherstripping included so at some point I'm going to redo at least the front windshield. It has a sizable crack on one side so I'd like to just swap the windshield, and the weatherstripping is in pretty poor shape anyway. I'm not sure it's feasible to re-install a cracked windshield. Likewise I'll be fixing the vent windows and redoing the door weatherstripping once everything else is already attached. Not really sure what the timeline for this would be exactly. I'd also like to remove the rear window regulators and grease them up, as they are a bit stiff, and the weatherstripping on the rear windows will be replaced too, not sure yet if removal is required for either of these operations.

See also:
packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=25965
packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=25955

I meant to mention the PS fluid the other day and forgot. So that was an easy fix.


It might make sense to flush the transmission and put new fluid in it. Gawd knows what's in there. Motor oil is a no-brainer, so change it, and I agree 100% with new tires. Not worth creasing your new baby because of a blow-out, much less any potential liability.


Happy fixin'.

Yeah, to me the transmission fluid looked fine so I doubt it will be a problem in the short term. But later I will change that and also repack the front wheel bearings on it.

I can’t stress this enough that a wise precaution would be to change the brake hoses and flush the system before driving anywhere! I know this from experience when I had hoses so closed up that even 100lbs of air wouldn’t go through at all. The looked nice and pliable on the outside but inside was another matter.

The brake hoses were changed on this around 15 years ago and it's been garage parked for 5 years. I'll check the cables and add a brake flush to my list.

Test driving it it seems to brake just fine, but the E brake needs adjusted.

Also does anyone know if there is a section in the service manual about how to pull the dash. I want to put new foam under the dash pad at some point and I don't know how it is to be removed.

That’s far too long with old fluid in it.

The dash is in two halves with the vinyl cover sandwiched between the two. To separate the halves and remove the cover the dash almost does need to come out to get to the clips holding the halves together. I believe some have managed to remove the cover with it in place but honestly I do not know how unless they just tore it off. Putting something new on with the halves together would then be the trick. If the vinyl is still fairly supple, with care and maybe judicious use of a small amount of low temp heat to make it more flexible in places it can be gently folded back enough the foam can be replaced with dash still in position. If cover has become hard and brittle then I suspect any folding back would be the end of it.

There is nothing in the regular Service Manual about dash work but Packard did provide some fairly detailed dash instructions in the install info they provided dealers when selling the mid 55 release of factory air conditioning kits.packardinfo.com/xoops/html/downloads/55-56ACInstall.pdf

You might read thru the manual to get an idea of what is involved with the AC install. For your needs obviously things such as the heater and radiator splasher along with a few other small things that need to change for AC would not need to be touched if just removing and working on the dash. Seat removal might also be optional but it can be a pain to work around it. About everything else suggested for removal or disconnection is needed or at least a good idea to get clearance and working room.

Protect the steering column and while removal can be done alone by some juggling and things to rest one end of the dash on while you work somewhere else, a helper would be a very good idea. The dash is heavy, bulky, and hard to maneuver.

Thanks Howard, I'll take a look at that. If it's a 2 man job I'll probably need to put it off a while. Planning on getting the instrument cluster out after I park it for the winter, would be nice to pull the dash too but I'll have to see if I can find someone to help with both removal and install.

Going to be parking it in the garage of my uncle's seasonal business so it needs to be drivable come Spring (i.e. I'm not sure if I will have help to put it in before Spring).

I'll have to ask around. Otherwise I might just wait on that.

Understandable. As I said, a helper is a good idea but it can be done alone. I have done it alone several times during my AC adventures. I did remove the radio to get rid of some weighty components. Once you disconnect and pull the wires and loom back inside the car the worst part doing it alone is angling the dash out for clearance on the passenger side while at the same time lifting the other end up and over the steering column without scratching any paint or getting dirt on any upholstery.