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OK. That's good to know. That area was pretty rusty so I'll try to clean it up some more and double check those numbers. Thanks.

We finally got everything back together today. Put the rest of the valves back in, put the manifolds back on, cleaned and remounted the carburetor. took out the points to clean them up. Checked to see if we were getting spark and we were, so we rigged up a small auxiliary gas tank and guess what? The engine fired right up! Sounds pretty good too. Idles smooth and throttles up smooth. Didn't want to run it too long as I have the radiator out so no cooling. I did get in and put the transmission in drive and reverse and the transmission does engage forward and reverse so I am hopeful that the transmission might be okay. Next step is to get the radiator back in, clean out gas tank, go through the brakes, then ROAD TEST!

On a side note, I did do some wire brushing on the motor on the '54 parts car and it is definitely H400 on the block. I took a better look at the motor mounts and only then realized that the motor isn't even mounted in the car. It's just sitting in there on the frame. So apparently at some point the original motor got pulled and this '49 motor and trans just got set in there.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

The first time you hear an engine come to life after a long sleep is a great, great feeling. My '55 Patrician sat for 28 years. Having that moment of fear just before you try (did I leave anything off, did I give it oil) being replaced with joy, pride and not a little relief is a feeling that is matched only by very few others.

You should be proud of yourself and the guys who put it together on East Grand Blvd all these many years ago.

Enjoy!

I reinstalled the radiator today after flushing and pressure testing it. While hooking the hoses back up I realized the transmission cooler was in pretty rough shape. The outlet where the hose goes on is almost completely rusted away, so im gonna have to try ro patch that up.

The outlet where the hose goes on is almost completely rusted away, so im gonna have to try ro patch that up.

I guess Packard just didn't expect those things to be around after 65 years so didn't give much thought about rust when they built them. Same on the 55-6 upper engine thermostat outlet pieces -- but at least those are being repro'd.

New oil coolers are not plentiful if available at all and used ones are usually not in much better shape than what you have. Most of us have gone thru this and had a short length of brass or even exhaust pipe tubing brazed or soldered in place of the factory piece. Welcome to the club.

Yeah, that was my thought too. I think there is enouh good metal there that I can braze a new pipe onto it. I hate to shell out the money for a replacement when I haven't even had the car out on the road yet.

My Dad rocks! Today he took my rotted out oil cooler and cleaned it up and brazed some new inlet/outlet pipes onto it. It looks great and I think it's gonna work fine. My dad is a 68 year-old retired mechanic and has been helping me with the Packard since I brought it home. I don't think I would try to tackle this project without him. It sure has brought back some fond memories. As a kid, I was always out in the garage with dad while he was working on someone's car. Anyway, I just wanted to say "Thanks Dad!" Here are a couple before and after pictures of the oil cooler.

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The reworked cooler really looks good. Congratulations to you and Dad for a job well done.

Each of my five kids learned about cars as they helped me in our garage. Those may be among the nicest bonding moments of my life. Four sons and one daughter knew and performed the basics of car maintenance and repair. Perhaps heavy on Chevy brake jobs and oil changes, none of them, busy with their own families, have volunteered for anything Packard related. Time will tell if that will eventually come about. Right now, the Packard remains my own mystery, wrapped in an enigma. Torsion Level and Bendix Tredle Vacs are still an interesting concept rather than an engineering reality in their minds.

This weekend my dad and I spent a good amount of time working on the Packard. We got the gas tank flushed, put in an inline filter and hooked it back up. Flushed the coolant system and hooked everything back up. Changed the oil again. Retorqued the head bolts. Checked and topped off the transmission fluid. I started and ran the engine for about 45 minutes with no visible oil or coolant leaks, so I decided to get in and drive it slowly in circles around his large Morton shed. Everything seemed to work fine and it was at this point that I noticed that the brakes "sort of worked". They'll stop ya if you plan it out ahead of time! LOL! Anyway, I decided "what the heck" and took it out for a road test. BTW, my dad lives out in the boondocks or else I would've never considered this. Anyway I drove the car about 5 miles down to the end of his road, got it up to about 50 mph and other than the brakes, it drove great. The transmission worked great, I could feel it lock in to direct drive about 30mph, no noises from trans or rear end, the car tracks straight and steering is tight. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't help but have a big grin on my face while driving. So we decided to start on the brakes. What a mess. We took the cap off the master cylinder and the brake fluid had turned to the consistency of Vaseline. Pulled off one of the front hubs and the brake shoes are almost down to metal. So I ordered a new master cylinder, wheel cylinders, brake shoes, and hoses. I'll check the metal lines as we get farther along. So with the brake job waiting for parts, we started looking at electrical. The car at some point is going to need a completely new harness put in, but we decided to try to patch things up so we could see what was working and what wasn't. So far these things are working, charging system works, oil sending unit and light works, temp sending unit and gauge works, headlights, parking lights work, dash lights, and interior lights work, gas gauge works, horn works. Things that don't work are the brake lights, turn signals, and radio. But so far I am ecstatic with the progress we have made. I was so relieved to find out the transmission seems to be working, that was my biggest fear. So, we need to do the complete brake job, get some tires on her, and some new exhaust, and I think I might be ready for the road!

Sounds like you guys are making good progress to having a driving car! Your brakes sound pretty much like mine were, I replaced everything including the lines. I figured if the inside of the wheel and master cylinders was rusted then the lines would be too.