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

Hello to all. I am new to the forum and a new Packard owner. I have a 1949 Custom 8 Touring Sedan that I want to do a rubber to roof restoration with. There are some aspects that I know a lot about...some I am clueless about. So a few questions regarding fluids that I hope someone could answer.

1. What do you guys use for fuel? I read a lot regarding 87 Octane with Marvel oil in it. And another regarding 92 Octane with the Marvel.

2. Similar question regarding the type of transmission fluid. F-Type or Dextron? I see conflicting comments constantly.

3. And in regards to motor oil. After I get the engine cleaned up and working, ultimately what oil weight are you using? I am thinking 10W-40. The owner manual calls for what I think would be 10W-20 in today's motor oils. But I am sure the owners manual can be thrown out the window in respect to engine oil recommendations.

4. As of right now, I pretty much have a complete car. I do see that I need a driver side door panel though. Can you recommend some good places or websites to obtain parts?

Any other tips and suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks for your time to help me out.

These are topics with lots of person preferences in many directions. My opinions:

Your car has a low compression ratio and any gasoline above 87 octane is just wasting your money unless you want to advance your spark a bit beyond the factory recommendation which might give you 3-5 more horsepower, hardly worth the effort and expense IMO.

Your car has hydraulic lifters so detergent oil is a must, and before you use it, I'd recommend strongly that you drop the oil pan, clean it and oil pump pickup screen, and change the filter which is just a standard NAPA filter cartridge. As to which viscosity, it depends a bit on the ambient temperatures in the area the car will be operating. For warmer climates I'd consider a straight SAE 30 detergent, or perhaps SAE15-40 light diesel engine oil like Rotella or Delvac. If it will be consistently in a cooler climate SAE10-30 should be fine. I'd steer clear of SAE 10-40.

The transmission fluid closest to the formulation of the original Type A is Type F followed closely by Type FA and both are easily available. If you know it's been rebuilt with modern GM friction materials Dexron should be an OK choice.

When you describe your car, you should refer to it as a 23rd series 1949 to differentiate it from a 22nd series 1949. I've owned Custom 8s of both series - they are among the finest cars Packard made postwar and best of luck with it.

G'day Andy(Ratchetman1977),
to PackardInfo and for including your '49 Custom Eight Touring Sedan in the Packard Owner's Registry.

Owen,

Thanks for the great info...

As a follow-up:

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Do you agree with the addition of the Marvel additive or is that an overkill as well?

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Good tip...it's actually a 22nd series. I added that info to my sig.

it's actually a 22nd series. I added that info to my sig

Whoa! If it's a 22nd series is had a manual transmission. When you spoke of automatic trans fluid I assumed it had to be a 23rd series.

I am also confused. In the owners directory you have described the transmission as:
Ultramatic, 3 speed manual
It cannot be both??

Ratchetman, let me clarify.

Transmission fluids (Types A, F, FA, etc.) is for automatic transmissions. Manual transmissions use gear oil.

The Packard automatic transmission (Ultramatic) debuted with the 23rd series and was standard equipment in the Custom 8. In the 22nd series the Custom 8 would have the manual transmission.

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Ok my mistake there. Just learning this car. It actually has an ELECTROMATIC clutch and that is where my confusion came in. Assumed it was a transmission since apparently on the dash (I haven't looked yet) there's a knob marked "transmission". This is according to the owners manual. But yes, there is a clutch anyway.

Someone, I believe it was HH56, recently gave a very nice and concise explanation of how the Electromatic Clutch should function. If you're unfamiliar with it and interested in that, it should be easy to find using the Search feature.

Thanks for that. I'll give it a look. The explanation given in the manual is not very clear.