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You might try a Gates Truck & Bus TR30537, top width .875", effective length 53.77" and outside circumference 54.125"
This works very well for a 22nd Series Custom 8 but might be a bit long for your application.
Perhaps parts suppliers for large trucks could provide a suitable belt.

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Good information. I looked up Gates and they have many truck belts to choose from. I'm going to remeasure and make sure I get the right one.

-Kevin

Brother-in-law and I took a crack at rebuilding the carb last night. It didn't work as well as I had hoped.

We used a Daytona kit for it. The new accelerator pump seems to work well, but we're still struggling with leaks at the jets. The new gaskets that came in the kit didn't work well and gas was pouring out of the jets when we first started it. I put the old gaskets back on and it helped, but it still leaks. I might just make my own gaskets, unless someone else has some ideas.

I'm also getting some weeping around the main gasket above the float bowl. Old gasket was cleaned off completely and screws are all tightened down.

Interestingly, the fuel line is now leaking where it connects to the carb, whereas it didn't before. I'll have to check the flare.

And lastly, I'm trying to figure out how to adjust this thing properly. I noticed this screw that is apparently supposed to adjust the throttle linkage....it's nowhere near touching, and the spring is completely bottomed out. What is going on here?

-Kevin

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If it leaks at the joint between two castings, you may need to sand the two halves on a flat surface with some fine grit sandpaper to level everything. Casting could have some warps.

Even a few swipes on the sandpaper will show where the high and low spots are. You may have high spots around the bolt holes which are keeping the rest of the casting from sealing completely.

Also, those castings are fairly soft, so don't over-tighten anything. That leads to warping.

Thanks Kev, good tip about sanding on a flat surface. I'll keep that in mind if it happens again. Didn't seep from that gasket today during testing.

Last night I took on the exhaust leak. I undid the downpipe, and removed the first exhaust hanger (to allow me to better line up the flanges). I cleaned off both flanges the best I could, then applied exhaust gasket sealer to both sides of the new gasket. This stuff: VersaChem Exhaust Seal. I tightened in an alternating pattern until everything was snug. Let it sit overnight to fully cure. Zero exhaust leaks today.

Today I removed the jets and the gaskets, then made new ones from a sheet of gasket material I had from NAPA. They worked perfectly, no more leaks. I also cleaned up the threads on the fuel line to carb connection, applied some fuel safe thread sealant, then carefully tightened. I let it sit for an hour before testing. No leaks at all now.

I let it warm up in an attempt to dial in the carb, but I'm struggling. I just can't seem to get it right. I can hear the engine stumbling and it just isn't as smooth as it should be. Snappy throttle, but the engine shakes more than it should when I give it power. Maybe it's harder to dial in when it's cold out?

-Kevin

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Snowed an inch last night, but warmed up by the afternoon. It was my day off from work today, so I prepped the '38 for the first road test.

The replacement idle mixture screws from Daytona were pretty different than the original. I had a hard time dialing it in, so I just put the old ones back in.

I cleaned out and put new oil in the oil bath air filter, then installed it. I checked a few other things, then took it out for a road test. I had my wife follow behind in case it died. I drove a couple miles, enough to test out basic running characteristics. Some notes:

-Clutch feels much better
-I'll have to get used to driving an old manual transmission. 1st gear appears to only be used for starting from a stop. Need to shift into 2nd before shifting to 1st from a start. Otherwise it tends to grind.
-Car tracked straight, but tires are a little bumpy from sitting
-Fuel sender is not reading.
-Engine overall is running okay, but shakes (no hesitation) on acceleration. Not sure if it's a engine or trans issue. Definitely not as smooth as a Packard should be.
-Brakes need work. Way too much play in the pedal
-Alternator is whining. I'm assuming the bearing is going out.
-Engine had a hard time getting up to temp. I think I will need to put in a thermostat. Can modern ones be used?

Got a ton of looks, even for such a short drive. Partly because it's a unique car, but partly because the front is missing.

-Kevin

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Took it for a quick test drive yesterday, 2 miles. Ran fine until the engine randomly died while in 3rd gear. Pulled over and it started right back up.

Today the starter just clicks once and then nothing. Battery is fully charged. Connections appear fine. What's my problem here? Solenoid??

-Kevin

I cannot speak specifically to your year. But, for the 1939 12 using the EE3 carburetor. You need to be very careful with this pot metal carburetor, they can get crumbly, and always use a second wrench when loosening or tightening lines.For the EE3 the old fashioned way was to run the car with the top of the carburetor off to set the float level. Gas should not be pouring out over the top.

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Could be solenoid but other things that duplicate this same symptom is a battery cable that oxidized between the terminal and post connection and now has a high resistance or a battery where one of the cells suddenly died. Both can happen fast and without much notice.

Using a post and terminal brush to clean the terminals and posts is easy, relatively fast, and if it has been a while since the terminals were taken off the posts, worth doing even if not the current cause of the problem.

To diagnose a weak or dead cell without a decent battery load testing tool will be more difficult. A regular voltmeter does not have enough load so it may still read a near normal voltage but that might only be a surface charge even with a dead cell. If you placed the probes on a clean and bright spot on the actual battery posts -- not the cable ends -- and had someone crank the engine, if the voltage drops down by more than a volt or so that would be an indication of a weak battery or bad cell.

HF sells a battery load tester that is fairly inexpensive.