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Well, the thought finally occurred to me to create a thread for this car since we are coming down the home stretch.



A couple years ago I found this Super eight that was dismantled and was in the process of being re-assembled when the owner passed away.



My buddy, Tom, pictured on the left was good friends with the previous owner and convinced me to buy it. Famous last words, all we have to do is put it back together.



So his dad and my dad supervised loading it in his trailer and taking it to his shop

The seats still had original seat covers



The big question would be how nice are the seats under them.



Initial indications are good



I'll have to redo the arm rests in the back seat but the seats and the door cards all appear to be in good shape



Ahh well, kids

Tom began reassembling the car so we could get it to a point to see if the engine was rebuilt and if it would run.

I will also have to make a decision on whether to paint the car and if I do, what color.

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So, I got a call from Tom last week telling me the engine is perfect and he can't wait to get it on the road. I went up to his place and sure enough, the engine is in good shape. One less thing to worry about.



Ahh the smoke filled garage, love it.




I finally decided to go ahead and have it repainted. The paint job the previous owner had done was pretty bad and both Tom and I think that's why he never got it put back together.

The big question was what color was this car originally. Tom tried buffing the previous paint job and the paint was pretty thin. A blue paint started coming through the black so we spent a lot of time trying to figure out what color the car was.

Half kiddingly I said go ahead a sand one of the door down so we can see what the original color is. He called me back ten minutes later to tell me there were 4 coats of paint in the car. Black, a blue primer, black and the original black.

I can't remember the color but there is a light blue metallic paint Packard released as an optional color that would look killer on this car. Anyway, that's where I am at, tom is finishing preping the car for paint and I'll have to decide on a color pretty soon.

Hi Tinpan

Great project you've got going! That will be one nice Packard, something to be very proud of and enjoy. Here's a couple photos from Hershey 2013 of a '39 Super 8 Touring Sedan, eight passenger, Model 1705 in the blue you seek. He shows it annually at Hershey for the last few years. Someone here will identify it by name, or checking the color list might find it. This car was featured in Hemming Classic Car a few years ago, I'll dig out that issue, perhaps the color is named in it.

Steve

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Paint color appears to be a close match to Centennial Blue.

Thanks Steve, yep, that is it. He's seen that car at Hershey and tells me the pictures don't do it justice. I've also seen the article in the magazine.

I have the paint chip with the name but it's down in my garage.

It'll cost a little more to do the blue but it sure is tempting.



It turns out the steering wheel smells fine and will be useable. It is the horn button that reeks.



I also have to sort out which dash board to put in it. This is the one the previous owner was going to use since the original plastic one isn't useable.



I think what the previous owner did was find all the options he could find and put them on this car, so I don't really know if this was the original dash or is Packard also used the one above on Super Eights. Still trying to sort that one out.

Man that blue sure is nice....

There was something making foot cheese in my horn button, too. The plastic or the cushion under it. I had to save it until I had the new piece, but I put it in a plastic bag and then a sealed jar and it stunk to high heaven.

Your car will be stunning. I think it's smart to go metallic because of all the curves on the body that with highlight. It just takes some artistic restraint as to how much metallic. Very fine only, never flaky.

You're doing the previous owner a real service completing the car. I wonder how many times he gazed on it and imagined it finished in all its glory. And think of all the hours collecting those parts for it. A labor of love. Something to honor in bringing it back.

Plus ready passengers.

Today's going to be a good day. The 55 Clipper is being picked up shortly as a trade in on part of the new paint job.



Tom is going to freshen it up and soon it will be ready for resale by Tom. It should be a nice ready to drive car when he gets done with it.

The 39 is mostly sanded now and will be ready for paint shortly. I'll post some pics tonight