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The Optima battery box from John Ulrich is a gem. I thought about making my own but John's battery box really holds the battery nice and secure. $65 is a bargain for a nice part like this.

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Here are some useful tools for prying off the panel clips without busting the panel in the process. Also shown is an original panel clip.

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can you show the panel/lid itself?

Larry; I would suggest you use some of the wonderful plastic tools in place of the metal for removing the panels. they are kinder on the paint. Keep up the good work.

Here is a picture of the Ulrich battery access cover reproduction. A pretty straight forward item.

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Thanks for the photo

[b]Repairing front vent window crank gear box[/b]. Both of the front vent windows on the 1940 senior cars have cranks and both of mine were not working due to stripped gears. New gears can be bought from John Ulrich Packard Parts for $40/each and they work very well. The key steps to replacing the gears are as follows:
1) drill and tap a hole through both sides of the bracket - I used a #10x32TPI screw (#21 tap drill).
2) bend open the retaining tabs which will break off (hence the screws for later reassembly)
3) grind off the bottom of the pivot shaft just enough so you can pry off the bottom washer
4) mark the top side of the crank worm gear bearing (it only goes in one way). take pictures of how the gear is mounted on the shaft before removing.
5) take the unit apart so you can drive out the retaining pin on the stripped gear
6) reassembly. You will need to do some light filing to remove flashing on the new gear to make sure it fits on the shaft. I recommend greasing and oiling this after assembly as it is almost impossible to assemble the unit when filled with grease. Before tack welding the washer back on the bottom of the pivot post make sure the gear box works correctly. You will be glad you added the screws in step one.

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Any one have an extra vent window escutcheon? These appear to be hard to find since they only appeared on some but not all senior cars. Naturally I am missing one on my car.

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How to repair the door latch safety tang. Both of my front door latch plates had broken safety tangs. These were a new safety feature for 1940-1942 and were designed to prevent unlatched doors from swinging open on turns. The door would only open 5/8" without turning the handle. John Ulrich Packard Parts remanufactured the safety tangs for $20/each. To replace them you need to remove the latch, turn it over and pry up on one end of the bottom plate holding the safety tang on. There is a peened over part of the latch that holds this bottom plate on. You can bend this bottom plate enough to remove and replace the safety tang. Note that on my latch I had to file the new tang a bit so that it popped out on the latch face like it should. If you are missing the spring I found that a spring from a retractable ball point pen cut down to 1/2" worked pretty well as a replacement. To reassemble just lightly tap the bottom plate back into place. Once mounted on the door frame it should stay in place so no need for any extra securing.

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I have a vent window escutcheon, but it's the design that also includes the plastic ring. In 1940, they used both the 1939 design without plastic, and the 1941 design with plastic.