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I was wondering if it is better to put high speed gears in the rear or to add an overdrive also who could be recomended for the southeastern Pa area to do this. thanks for any help .

Just how fast to you intend to drive this car? With the stock rear axle you have a 40-45 mph car and this is probably approaching a reasonable limit for steering components & geometry, brakes, suspension, lights, etc. Remember, your car was engineered in an era when less than half the roads in the country were paved.

Of the two options, neither of which is inexpensive, the high speed gears of around 4/1 coupled with the smaller 626 engine a heavier body style will be fine in flat land but in hilly country you'll find yourself downshifting even on fairly gentle upgrades far more than you do now, an axle ratio of about 4.3/1 would be a better choice and perhaps add 5-10 mph to a oomfortable road speed. In that respect an OD with kickdown capability would be more convenient in hilly terrain but that would probably involve a frame-mounted OD lke a Mitchell and a split driveshaft.

I tour quite a bit in my 34 Eight with the factory 4.69 rear axle and I just limit myself to 45-50 mph, perhaps an occasional excursion to 55 and faster than that your pressing the limitations of the other systems like steering, suspension, brakes, lights, etc. With 80+ year old tie rod ends, drag links and the like which can suffer metal fatigue, that's about as fast as I want to go.

Changing rear axle gears will almost certainly be cheaper than an OD installation, probably by several thousand dollars though if you're knowledgeable in setting up ring and pinion gear contact you might consider doing it yourself. PM me if you want a shop recommendation in northwestern NJ near Easton/Phillipsburgh.

Dear 29:

I would go with the overdrive.

The motor is not strong enough to pull a higher ratio which was carefully chosen for optimum top speed at the proving grounds.

Changing ring and pinions was popular because of judging disqualifications since abandoned.

40-45 is about what it will do . I try to stay off main roads as much as possible but sometimes I need to go on them for a few miles and people today do not understand thats all the faster the car will go.I was hopeing to get about 55 mph thanks Tom

Whether people understand the speed limitations or not driving an old car at 45-50 will hold traffic up on modern highways and cause frustration and possibly occasional fits of road rage with other drivers on the road. Ask me how I know . Outfitting the Packard with O/D or higher ratio differential to gain a higher cruising speed will help with what you are trying to achieve but as O_D advised the safe limitations of the brakes, steering and lighting will be exceeded and the possibility of an accident will increase. The best possible solution is to pull to the side of the road when safe to do so to allow faster traffic to pass and use less travelled routes where possible.