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I now am in possession of my father's former Packard. It has not run in 5 years. My goal is to get it running as it was before his health took him away from the car. I was told to remove spark plugs and put some motor oil into each cylinder. I'm good with that.

Might there be any maintenance I should consider for the spark plugs? The distributor/points?

On top of the head are chrome cups on 1/4 turn valves. To where do these give access to? How would one use them?

Thanks, and more questions to come. I have LOTS to learn.

Seth Gartner
Charlotte, NC

Dear Doc:

There is some good literature right here.

There is a 28 owner's manual that you can down load and read.

Drain the gas tank, drain and check over the coolant, change the oil.

Those cups can get sticky and break but if they are free you can pour a little light oil in the cylinders and crank the motor over until the oil pressure gets to the bearings. Otherwise remove spark plugs for same.

Next you can fill the vacuum tank on the firewall with gas, tickle the carburetor and crank it over to start. Be careful about the filler plug. If the metal is corroded then leave it alone, and tighten only snug. There is a gas cock under the tank that needs to be opened.

If the car is pre-vacuum tank there is a pump to pressurize the gas tank. It needs to lubed with neetsfoot oil.

You can check for spark, but if it is MAG there are no points to worry about.

The car is pretty much bullet proof.

G'day Seth,

In this prior thread there was a link to a thread on the PAC Website. Have you followed through with the recommendations there? Is so you should be in a good position to get your Packard up and running.

The chrome cups are priming cups. You fill each of them with fuel open the valves allowing fuel to directly enter each cylinder then close the valves and start the car. Useful if a car has been sitting for a while.

Thanks for the info and ideas. The PAC website info is in hand as well.

I was not sure if the priming cups went into the cylinder or above the valves. We'll see if they work when I get to that point...

The gas tank is dry. Would there be any practical way of knowing if it needs cleaned from varnish before adding gasoline? Some sort of flush?

Again, with thanks ..

Seth