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Well here we go. Several years ago we were given my wife's Grandfathers 1951 Packard. On Saturday (31st) we finally brought it home. So now the restoration begins.

Before that gets going I have a couple of questions:

1) The only key that we can find is a duplicate ignition key. So the first question is what is the best way to remake/replace the other keys. The glove box is locked so we can't get into that.

2) The air cleaner is missing and we have not located it yet. Assuming it cannot be located where would you suggest locating a replacement.

3) Sheet metal repair? In general the sheet metal is in decent shape. The only cancer spots are around the wheel wells and the rocker panels on both sides. I can find the rocker panel parts but have not found anything for the wheel wells. Any suggestions?

I registered the car in the registry about a year ago. Pictures will be coming as we start the disassembly and repair.

Thanks in advance

Alan

G'day Alan,

Good to see you'll be doing a Project Blog. I'll be following along with interest!

Yesterday we started the process of cleaning 50+ years worth of dust and dirt out of the interior and trunk. No floor rust in the trunk or under/around the back seats. On to the front seat area tonight.

Also, I found the answer to the sheet metal question. After re-reading BigKev's restoration I see that I will be making my own repair panels.

Still no luck on the Key's and air cleaner though.

Pictures still coming.

Regarding the missing keys, there are only 250 different keys used on all Packards from 1935 thru 1956 so if you've got a reasonable # of nearby Packard friends, buy some beer and have them bring their keys and you've got a chance of getting a "hit". And if you've got some really old (like me) Packard friends that have had a dozen or more over the years, you may find we have dozens and dozens of keys!

That lacking, you can purchase an inexpensive lock-picking kit from someone like Southord and with some practice (and developing a new skill that in time will prove useful to other new Packard owners) you'll be able to open the lock. Once open you can retrieve the B&S key# from the lock and any good locksmith can make a new key just from the key#. The kit below is about as simple and inexpensive as you can get yet is quite capable, with some practice, of doing vintage automotive locks.

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Good information. Thanks

More cleaning tonight. The front seats are out and still no interior rust to speak of. The front floors are in great shape.

On a potentially bad note. There appears to be a fairly thick film of oil in the radiator...

Here are the pictures:

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And finally. What is this knob circled in red? It is on the left side of the steering column.

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According to page 11 of the 1954 owner's manual that switch operates the windshield wipers. However, on my 1954 Convertible it operates nothing that I can see; it's puzzling as to why it's there. I have a similarly-shaped knob hanging down under the dash below and slightly to the left of the ignition switch that does operate the wipers; this switch is not shown in the owner's manual.

The knob circled in red is the windshield wiper control switch.