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Beautiful sunny day today so started the car and took the wife to an extravagant lunch (bratwurst, chocolate diet coke and excellent fries).

Next year may go for a 170 or 180 degree thermostat; could not get the cabin really warm. Comfortable, but not hot.

Car is a difficult start. Crank and it starts promptly but can't seem to sustain running. More cranking with too much "I want to run but I'm cold and going back to sleep!" Several more long sputtering spins and another cylinder comes online; ten minute warm up (including tranny) and off we go.

Odd item: when the car hits a bump at 35-45 you don't get two bumps close together, you get one lesser bump. Presume this is normal and part of the charm.

Wife ran a few shopping errands while I mostly stayed in the car and got a number of thumbs up. Except for an occasional older woman or two who glare holes in the paint for unknown reasons. I wonder if they are tea party loyalists with no joy in their lives?

And now we are home and tucked away till grandsons arrive for Thanksgiving, weather permitting (and no salt yet!!!!)

How about you?

Sounds like the thermocoil valve on the driver side exhaust manifold outlet may be rusted open. This would cause the cold blooded behavior that you describe.

It's easy enough to check since it's just a bimetallic spring and a counter weight actuating the valve movement. The valve should be moveable by hand, when cold of course. If not, then try freeing it up with some PB-blaster. If it has to be replaced, you can get one from the usual suspects.

As far as the two bumps reduced to one bump behavior of the Torsion-Level: this is normal because the main torsion bars interconnect the front and rear suspensions.

Craig

Pat I don't think those older ladies were teaparty loyalists, matter of fact I'm certain that those ladies signed up for obamacare and can't understand how you still can afford a Packard and have your wife go Christmas shopping while they spent their last pennies on "affordable care".

You might find this little sales folder interesting. It explains the rationale behind the feeling of a single bump.

packardinfo.com/xoops/html/downloads/1956_Smooth_Safe_Ride.pdf

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Contrary to popular opinion the engine coolant thermostat is not a ceiling, but a floor - intended to get a car up to operating temperature as quickly as possible by remaining closed until the rated temperature is reached. Once open, the maximum temperature achieved depends on the design and condition of the cooling system (and the operation of the engine).

If the heater isn't making enough heat, you might wanna try having the heater core backflushed. In conjunction with that, I'd be curious about the condition of the heater (water) control valve. You should also inspect the condition and operation of the damper doors in the ducts; broken/misadjusted cables or rotted rubber flaps could be letting cold air in.

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If it was merely a slow cranking issue, I'd wonder if the the weight of the motor oil was too thick for cold weather starting, but that doesn't appear to be the case. When you go on to say that the engine is sputtering and not firing on all cylinders (that soon after cranking over), I have to wonder about the carb, especially the choke setting and operation - maybe even the condition of the spark plugs.

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The interconnected nature of the torsion bar suspension, front-to-rear, reduces the amplitude (wave) of the bump that's transmitted to the chassis. As the front wheel gets pushed up by the bump, the torsion bar pushes the rear wheel down - raising the whole side of the car, but only by about half as much. As a result the vehicle doesn't pitch up at the front and then the rear. It's more of a floating sensation - like a wonderful magic carpet ride.

However, the only way you would sense just one bump is if only one of the tires travelled over the bump. Unless you weren't travelling in a straight line, I'd have to wonder about the car dog-tracking.

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I've noticed that there is a type of female personality, which defies age, that just seems to hate old cars and the attention that men give them. I make it a point to avoid those types.

Check that the choke is engaged enough on older cars the bimetalic spring can lose its effectiveness with age. Moving the index mark a notch or more towards rich may help also check that fast idle setting. Older cars chokes were not as highly tuned as later carb equiped cars or fuel injcted ones .
Maybe the ladies have no political views but do not care for your looks. You are giving credit to the car when it may be your apperance

One more suggestion: get a can of some spray "starting fluid" (ether) and spray some into the air cleaner before starting. This is what I do on my Pat and 1976 Firebird (carbureted) when the temp drops into the 40Fs and below. Once you figure out the "right amount" to spray, this works every time and saves wear and tear on the starter. Once the engine lights off, manually (with foot on accel pedal) keep it at high idle for a minute or so. Then you can drive it away without further ado.

Of course check everything else posted above. But even with everything working and adjusted properly, cold starts can be balky with these older carbs, hence the ether spray.

Craig

In other posts I have documented carb issues, so I won't continue boring with them.

This winter carb goes in to Daytona, which should clear up most issues.

FWIW, plugs are about a thousand miles old and were installed last summer. Rotor cap and points at same time; wires are copper that came with so possibly should be replaced. How do you tell when?

As to heater cores, front was flushed; rear replaced last summer. Installing a/c blocked front heater a lot, and one of the items on the list is to check whether the front blower is ok. Can't hear it or feel it.

Duane has a list for the spring and I have stabil in hand, so the time is fast approaching.....

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There you have it! Too much for them to process!

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I sent the 47 carb in last Monday to undergo their restoration service. Quoted backlog and turn around time is 7 weeks so we'll see how accurate the guesstimate is. Is that the same time frame for your rebuild?

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While the carb is off, be sure to check the exhaust manifold thermocoil valve.

Craig