Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

Went and did a walk around on Bonnie, im starting to get excited to work on her again.....i have a few questions about stuff i noticed.

1. On the dash cluster there is a little light down in the right corner that says overdrive, but i am pretty sure this car does not have overdrive. Is the light there on all dashes and just used if you have it?

2. Is the heater switch (does have a heater)on the bottom left (drivers) side of the dash. There is a knob that says off low med high???? When i was looking behind the dash there is some old heater hose, like it is supposed to have defrost ducts but i do not see any ducts, what are these hoses for? they are cloth covered and about 3-3.5".

3. Behind the the license plate there is a hole that has a machined nut there already, is there a emblem that goes there????

Photos might help jog my memory

I believe the indicator light in the lower right corner of the instrument panel says "Aero-Drive", not "Overdrive". Can't help with your other questions but on that one, all the instrument panels had the provision for the indicator lamp whether or not they actually had the feature.

On the 41 heater there were several options. It had the various combo heater units some with built in defroster on the firewall as well as separate heater and defroster units available. Some of the underdash heaters had separate motors and switches, the deluxe combo had a single switch that reversed the motor depending on heater or defroster function and IIRC, one unit just had tubes off the heater for defroster ducts so the defroster worked any time the heater was on.

The dual stream or underseat setup had a defroster on the firewall which has a tiny door that opened to let a small amount of air out for a footwarmer with the main heater unit located under the seat. Two separate switches. If you have a unit under the seat you may have had the dual stream and now have a missing dash unit. If nothing under the seat it may have had one of the firewall units and someone removed the defroster portion.

There is a 41 accessory book in the literature section you can download that shows the heaters but the picture quality is poor. Here is a photo of the dual stream setup from a 46 book as well as an illustration of one of the earlier firewall units showing a typical separate motor section for defroster. I don't have anything showing the single motor combo type but as I recall the defroster portion was just small tubes which replaced covers over openings on the top and side of the case so cloth ducts could be attached.

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Here is a pick of the dash

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Here is an old post on the dash OD light.packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb ... ic.php?post_id=90215#forumpost90215

Quote: Im pretty sure that the switch is for the fan in the heater there are 2 ducts coming off the top of the heater box....and upon closer inspection of the dash there are some vents there just really well hidden. It looks as though it may be the basic heater you just close or open the side door to designate defrost or heat but the hole in the trunk im not sure some pics i have seen looks as though there MAY have been some sort of brace from the license plate holder to the trunk????

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That overdrive light in a nice touch!

Just wanted to weigh in on the 'fabric covered ducts' referenced in Pat's initial post. Most heater ducting in old vehicles is what is referred to as 'cloth-inserted neoprene' ducting, but over the years, the rubber gets old and brittle from both heat and age, and leaves what looks like a fabric hose. I don't know who made the ducting for Packard back in the day, but one of the long-standing manufacturers in the US is Flexaust Inc.flexaust.com/group/industrial-hose/
The product is CWS for single coated neoprene and CWY for double-dipped product. (recommended) The problem with a lot of the auto-applications was that the 'hose barb' fitting was a different size on the defrost 'spray diverter' and the heater itself, requiring an enlarged cuff on one end, making it an OEM replacement part. The size difference isn't usually that much, maybe a 1/4" to a 1/2' at most. Buying the smaller ID size required and then carefully snipping the helix wire on the outside of the ducting an inch or so from the end and then working the wire out from between the plies of the hose, will leave a soft cuff that can usually be stretched to go over the larger end. Flexaust may only sell full lengths (usually 25') and may not even deal with retail, but any of their stocking dealers will sell by the foot. And, if the helix wire removal trick doesn't buy you enough enlargement, I have seen the product manufactured with enlarged cuffs. Regardless, the fabric inserted product is what the vehicles started with, no matter what they look like now and replacing them with new hose is an excellent idea as when they get worn to look like cloth, they are very porous and are prone to a lot of leakage, diminishing the actual delivered air to the windscreen.