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Gotta learn and i can not find anything in searching....

All questions pertain to the 41 club coupe deluxe

1. If there is a jack etc on this car where would it be?

2. Took a battery over today to help get the car going......does the bottom cushion of the front seat secure to the seat frame or just sit there?

3. In reading a thread here about coils there was mention of putting a + feed on the - side of the coil (i think) are these old cars 6V + ground or - ground?

4. In doing the bounce check on the front and rear of the car the rear shocks seem fine...the front are ...well bouncy as hell.....do i send the front levers back to be rebuilt???? if so with who????....and to factory specs????? or do i just buy new ones?. The shocks on these cars are not tied to the car VIN or trim tags like the 50s and 60s cars are they?

Thanks in advance

'41 One-Ten Deluxe Club Coupe

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Can't help on the first two questions.

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If the car is still stock it will be positive ground and since the distributor is grounded and points connect to ground you want the + terminal on the coil to go to the distributor.

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On the shocks possibly they only need refilling. Use hydraulic jack oil or motorcycle shock oil. Either will work. There is a small threaded plug on top to remove and add more oil. If the container doesn't have a small tip, you will need a very small funnel or some kind of syringe or tube to get oil in the opening without pouring it all over the place. If the shocks are empty and seals dried or bushings have scored the fluid may quickly leak out again. Your options then are to remove yours and send to have them rebuilt or pay a core charge with the order and have new ones sent first. You can install the rebuilts and then return yours for the core charge refund, You can also find another pair to use as cores to send in with your order. Just be advised that if the shocks returned are incomplete, damaged, or beyond repair they will not be accepted as cores.

The shocks are valved differently for the various models and ride wanted but are not otherwise tracked. The valving is determined by a letter so to have the best factory ride you should get the same as original. Kanter offers exchange rebuilt shocks ready to go for the common models and should know which to send. You pay the core charge with the order and return your old within a certain time frame. Apple Hydraulicsapplehydraulics.com will rebuild yours and I think will have some ready to go with an exchange program like Kanters. Believe there is a chart with the recommended number and letter listings on their site. Five Points Classic Shocks also rebuilt them but there is some question if they are still in business so I won't provide a link.

If you are so inclined there is an excellent article in the "How To" section on the literature page with instruction on how to rebuild them. That was put together by another poster who rebuilt his.

WOW!!!! HH thanks for the info i think ill try the oil first.is it pretty easy to get to the oil port ????

They are not terrible hard to get to. You will want a very small funnel, well that's what I use. Pull the plug on the shock and stick the funnel in. Then fill it up just 1/4 of the way up the funnel with fluid. Then you will want to slowly and gently bounce the suspension up and down. As the shock goes up and down through its range of motion you will notice bubbles forming and the fluid level on the funnel will drop. You will repeat this process till the shock is full and there are no bubbles when traveling through its range of motion.

Sure you can do it with a funnel but I find it more convenient to dedicate a trigger finger squirt oil can to hydraulic fluid for shock absorbers.

OK another dumb question ha ha......i went down to the shop to work on the Packard and put the oil in the front shocks........i thought the shocks would visible from the engine bay but they are not.......do you have to take the wheels off to fill the shocks???????? all the threads here make it sound like they fill them and then bounce the car, and repeat until full and stiff so i assumed they where filled from the engine bay. Needless to say i did not take a floor jack so it didn't get done..... Thanks in advance

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On this forum, there is no such thing as a dumb question!
People here at PI are very willing to help!

Chevman

The shocks and the upper a arms are the same unit. The arms will be on either side of a housing that has a cap on the ends . A shaft runs through it from side to side and cams force the fluid through some valves. There will be a square plug on top that you can unscrew, I think it is a 1/4" or something like that.

In practice one side is more accessible from the top than the other, but you can do both from the top. Sometimes there is a rubber flap covering them to keep slop thrown up by the wheels from entering the engine compartment. Be sure to clean around the plug before you unscrew it to keep dirt out

I just read your post again The hood is kind of small on a "41 and it is a long way down there. If you are stymied it may be easier to go through the side.

Clear as mud?

Best

John Harley

If you're serious about keeping and enjoying your car, I suggest you buy a reprint on the Owner's Manual, the prewar manuals especially had a large amount of technical and maintenance information. Here is a page from the 1941 110/120 Owner's Manual on refilling the front shock absorbers.

EDIT: Note the typographical error on the page. How un-Packard like!

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