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

Can anyone identify the floor board fitting pictured here? One side has an angled flare fitting and the other side had a fitting for an air chuck. What model/series car?

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Maybe someone installed air shocks at one point?

I suggest definitely not an OEM item.

Don't remember the years it was available but maybe someone repaired or attempted an aftermarket version of the air pump similar to those the factory installed on some of the early cars. Any sign something like that could have been bolted on the chassis or engine.

I know, it's for air brakes

Packard offered an underseat air compressor starting in 1930 I believe as a seldom opted for accessory, but never seen the fittings look like that. The logic in the originals was to air up your tires if you had a flat in the middle of nowhere so you could at least get to civilization before having to change the tire.

Can't imagine how many times one had to stop and fill up a tire with a nail hole in it! Which is why it was a short-lived option I suppose!

The compressors were transmission-mounted and offered for a number of years.

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I am familiar with the air pump that was attached to the transmission. It came with an air hose and chuck. The fitting in question has an air chuck fitting on the top side, which leads one to believe that the air was filled from inside the car and then went to something under the floorboard.

Is the hose etc easily accessed with the factory air pump setup or did someone need to crawl under to attach it or get it out of storage? If it was difficult to access could the car have been modified so the hose would be left at the ready such as might be the case if the car was some kind of light service vehicle that went out on calls if a driver who did not want to get dirty was in need.

Reading some of the old Popular Science Model Garage stories an ordinary vehicle for service must have been fairly common because many times Gus took the service car out while Stan had the wrecker somewhere else.