Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Yes that is the correct line. Disconnect as you did (or at the hard line) and then blow air through the hard line to make sure it's clear.

The fact that it was running well before is a good sign. Probably won't take much to get it back up and running well. Replace points, condenser, cap and rotor first. You may not need to replace the coil. I'm still running either my original, or nearly so, on my '54.

Remove the insulation on the fuel line from the fuel pump to carb. It's not necessary and really detracts from the overall engine bay. If you have having issues with vapor lock, it isn't going to be from that fuel line. If vapor lock is happening, check to be sure you have the heat shield in place over the fuel pump (they were often removed by past mechanics and never put back), and also check the carb to make sure it has the thick insulator underneath it.

Hard line cleared.

Parts should be here tomorrow - if not I'll go to NAPA.

Coil appears to be original on this as well. CR4001A. 1.1 Ohms across the positive and negative. 5190 Ohms from side terminal to center high tower.

Never had an issue with vapor lock.

Fuel pump heat shield appears intact. I can't see the carb plate you speak of. Insulation removed.

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The carb insulator is the block that the carb sits on where it attaches to the intake manifold. It's made out of some type of plastic/rubber. Yours is present. If that was missing then the carb would heat up and boil the fuel.

I wouldn’t just start throwing parts at it without a full diagnosis.

The first thing is to get a spark so for the distributor, disconnect its wire and connect an ohm meter between the terminal and ground, then crank the engine. If the meter has a needle and it goes from one extreme to the other, than the points are clean. If a digital meter, it should alternately go to 0 ohm (or close) reading to being open. If not on either of these, then clean and adjust the points as they are likely oxidized or maybe even burned. The contacts must be clean so make a good spark.

For fuel, you won’t see gas going into the manifold when simply cranking. To see a spray, you need to press the accelerator to actuate the accelerator pump which you can do without cranking it. Connect up an electric pump and pump fresh gasoline into the carburetor through its inlet and let it set a bit to soften the pump boot as Howard indicated. And as he also said, it is mandatory to use fresh gasoline. That said, if your pump is old or even original, it can’t handle modern gasoline but also the hose that connects it might look good on the outside but could be collapsed internally so check all these things before replacing anything.