Packard Forum Index » Project Blogs

Jim, congratulations on a running Packard. Now the real fun begins, you get to enjoy it instead of visiting it in the garage. Please keep us posted on your progress and drives.

(o[]o)

Thanks JW, and thank you for your help, advise and support. Now that I've got it going, you can be sure that you all will hear all about it.

Gratz! I remember my first drive in my '54...our stories are similar... I brought mine in to my beloved mechanic who said he'd work on it when things got 'slow'..and recall the phone call that she was ready! The thrill you feel now only gets stronger as she's a part of the family!

Yours looks very original, is that the case? Sweet...

She is practically all original except for some places that were re-sprayed for very minor collision repair.

When I last posted anything about my '55 I said I was having problems with lurching at constant speed. Jack, O_D, Howard, Big Kev, PackardV8, JW, JP and others have given me the benefit of their experience in trying to track down the cause. I haven't done much since last Friday due to 102 degree temperature and other side tracks.

What I have done was rebuild the fuel pump with a kit from Then and Now, eliminate the ceramic fuel filter by breaking the glass bowl it sat in and having to replace the bowl with a shallower one. I found my hand held vacuum pump and found the vacuum advance to be working very well. I re-routed the spark plug wires for #5 & #7 as per advise, removed the accelerator pump from the carb and rolled the leather back up and then down as per the Service Counselor bit on the 4GC and generally checked out all the other wiring to see if it was hooked up as per the FSM.

THE RESULT: I have my smooth idle back but when I took it out for a test drive, the lurching was still present and increases in severity with an increase in speed. On my way back home I put about 10 gallons of gas in the tank with made the gauge read 3/4 full. Leaving the station for the one mile trip back to the house made me doubt I'd make it. I ran terrible! I did get it home and that was that for a couple of days as my frustration level was getting dangerously high.

Today I started her up and went for another drive - and guess what. The lurching was GREATLY reduced! In fact, it was barely noticeable for most of the drive.

I mentioned earlier that I had installed a reconditioned gas tank that I got from Mike Dulinski which had been professional sealed and coated by a group that was mentioned in a few threads a couple of years ago and which I cannot remember the name of.

I realize this is going to be a difficult question when I can't supply the name, but I'm wondering if our wonderful alcohol mix fuel could be causing the coating inside to come unstuck. It could be one answer to why the car ran so poorly after getting 10 gallons of gas and ran well today - the what ever in the tank having settled. The company that cleaned and coated the tank claims that it is un-affected by alcohol but.....

Has anyone run up against this problem with a "treated" tank causing problems like I'm having.

It probably sounds like I'm grasping at straws but that's only because I'm grasping at straws!

So, if I can ask for more guidance about this I would be really appreactive.

Has anyone run up against this problem with a "treated" tank causing problems like I'm having.

Not exactly, but I did have symptoms somewhat like yours some years back with my 34. Actually they were more severe than yours, the car would run fine for a few miles and stop completely. After sitting for 5 minutes it would go another couple of miles and stop, always having a bit of surging just before it quit.

There was a piece of "tiger snot" in the gas tank, not from the liner but from some idiot who used silicone gasket cement on the bolted filler neck mounting flange. This piece of snot would ultimately find it's way to the uptake tube, enter it and begin to and finally plug it; the car would stop, the pump suction would stop as the engine stopped, thus releasing the piece of crap to fall back into the fuel tank. And the cycle kept repeating itself.

So the circumstances are somewhat similar and perhaps worth your further investigation.

One other thought - is the vent in your gas tank cap clogged?

Thank you O_D for your quick response. The symptoms you recount with your '34 do have a familiar ring to them. I'm beginning to resign myself to dropping the tank to check. I need to re-calibrate the Ford sending unit anyway. When the gauge reads empty, there is still nearly a half a tank of gas in it.

As for the vent in the cap - I never even considered it! That is something I will check before calling it a night. Would that it would be so simple and how very like me to completely overlook it.

Thank you again and I'll let you know how I come out.

Took off the gas cap and took a good hard look. I'd never paid any attention to them before - at least not older than the '70s. The metal disk and thick paper "gasket" were in place and the little holes were clear. As near as I can figure, there isn't any problem there.

Thank you, O_D, for drawing my attention to a potential trouble spot.