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

The shutters on my '39 Six are in good shape as far as dents and bends go, but they have been painted with a silver paint which leads me to presume the chrome is poor. I see this set on Ebay but the seller has no idea what year they are from. (other than, as the ad says:'late 30', early 40's) The chrome looks pretty good and as the listing says, they haven't even been cleaned up yet. Can anyone confirm what year(s) these are from. There is 18 in the set, which is correct for my car, but I obviously don't want to go to all the trouble of buying them, only to find they won't fit!
Any info or input much appreciated. Chris

ebay.ca/i/392121435719?ul_noapp=true

Even before seeing them, the fact that there were 18 meant that they were from a non-thermostatic grill of 1940, 1941 or 1942 junior non-Clipper model. Seeing the photo confirms it! I'm not absolutely sure about 1941 or 1942 as my 1941 was a 120A with a senior grill but as far as I know, the junior grills were the same as 1940. Although your 1939 Six has a wider grilll, it probably has fewer bars that allow them to close but with 18 there would have been no room for that on those narrow grill.

You would have to count yours and compare the lengths to be sure but yours are more this style.

Not sure what you're saying Don, as my '39 junior car has 18 'bars', and is a thermostat opening grill.

Unfortunately I was having having trouble with my iPad keyboard so didn't edit as well as I should have done. On the PC now.

After I wrote, I realized that your 1939 has a wider grill than 1940 so may very well also have 18 bars but on the 1940, 1941 and 1942 with their narrower grill, 18 bars were too close together to pivot so senior models with thermostatic grills had fewer. In any event, if you look at the bars (in poor condition) in the link that I provided, you can see that they are entirely different than those in the link you posted. For example, they have the pivot pins that the other do not and they are not folded over sheet metal channels as the others were.

The guy from Ebay emailed me with the info you sent him on the louver set I linked in my post. I went back to him, saying that I knew 'Packard Don' and if that's the years he says they fit, then he is very probably right. I declined on the sale. When I look at the other set you provided the link for, I can see the difference, with the pivot points and the shape looking more like my '39's. I wasn't questioning your knowledge, just the verbiage of the thermostat and number of bars in the set. Also, (as you say) the other set is in very poor shape; I'd be much further ahead to get mine re-chromed. Condition-wise, re corrosion, dents and bends, I'd give mine a 9 out of 10, its just that they're painted and would look immeasurably better in chrome. Thanks for steering me straight, Don.