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Tried to feel around the gas pedal switch but I can't feel the kickdown switch. Looks like I will have to get under the car to know for sure.

It must be missing. It is mounted low on the firewall but you can see it looking over the fender. Here is a photo of a 52 I collected from somewhere. The white circle is showing the area where the kickdown switch would be.

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Hmmm...right where that group of cut wires is. Looks like I will need to find one. Are they expensive? I supposed I should actually check out the rest of the system first. Or maybe I'm getting way ahead of myself and should drive it first!

Went out tonight to do my almost daily test of "which lights still work and which don't". Pulled the headlight switch and tail lights still work. That's good. No headlights still. Stomped on my "restored" dimmer switch and viola! Headlights! Another stomp and boom, high beam works! Guess my switch gathered some internal corrosion from sitting around. More stomping and lights still work.

The high beam indicator/turn signal indicator is still not lighting on the dash. I do not see the flickering anymore so my theory about the bulb being put in the wrong hole seems to be wrong.

Of course, the BAT light decided to remain on while the car was running. I was pretty sure the generator was rebuilt because it has a sticker on it from an electrical company.

I'm having fun though!

I just realized the photo of the 52 I collected from "somewhere" was yours. My apologies and the reason I collected it was because it showed the OD relay nicely.

To get a real Packard kickdown sw from the vendors will set you back some plus it is exchange so they want a core. There is a repro switch available from FifthAvenuefifthaveinternetgarage.com/parts/parts_counter_3.html which is functionally the same but is not quite the same look as Packards. That repro has a longer stem and shorter body but is less money at around $50.

The turn signals can be a bear to figure out why or what is happening because the resistance range to make it flash properly is so limited. All I can suggest is make sure the grounds are good and the bulbs are correct and wired or inserted correctly so the larger CP filament is the turn signal and small filament is the park/tail. One other thing is what type flasher are you using. If the original which I believe says Tung Sol on the can then no other ideas. If you have one of the modern 6v replacements which I think is a 535, then possibly the polarity is the issue. While the flashing is still controlled by the resistance in the circuit on those, the indicator light is controlled by a transistor in that can being triggered when the lights flash. Transistors are polarity sensitive and while I have not tried it for myself, there have been others reporting the flashers worked but no indicator light when using one of those 535s but indicator did start to work when a different original type flasher was installed. Of course, on either type if it accidentally got turned on with 12v connected then the flasher could be toast.

On the headlight indicator, it should be a bulb wired in parallel with the high beam filaments. I believe it is connected to the same terminal on dimmer sw as the wire going to headlights so gets power from there and ground on the inst cluster. It should be fairly easy to find the problem there.

Not sure if it will be of any help but here is a drawing I put together showing just the turn signal circuit.

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Thanks Howard,
When you posted that pic I thought you were making a joke! I think the alternative switch would be fine for my purposes. I'll go through the wiring for the turn signals again. The flasher came with the '51. I'll check on the number it has.

Order a Napa OD6284 kickdown switch. The shank is too long, but it doesn't make any difference. You will need two 5/8 fine thread jam nuts to mount it.

$22.95, even better! Thanks Ross!

Ross, thanks for the Napa number. That looks like the same FifthAvenue item at half the price. It might be worth putting into the xref as a possibility for both OD units. The real Packard item is roughly 4 times the amount plus a core charge. It is so out of sight probably only someone well versed in Packards would spot the difference on the R11 or would know about the two extra terminals that would be unused on the R9.

my car had a switch mounted there but it was a workaround to bypass the carb starter switch - full throttle made the starter go. the hole in the bracket had been filed a bit to make this switch fit. Of course not a kickdown switch as this car has the Ultramatic.

Hopefully the full throttle starter action doesn't happen often. If you are going to keep the switch in that location a safety relay in the circuit might be nice.

No, that switch is gone. If I can get a key made for my ignition switch then I'll use the rebuilt carb switch, otherwise I'll substitute a normal starting key switch. That way if I get challenged at any stoplights I'll still be able to race; wouldn't want to lose that capability.