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I had an NOS petrol tank cap waiting for me but it’s not clear if it’s vented or not in spite the label listing Packard 1941-1949 which is the type of cap that 1951-1954 Henney-Packards use. If it vents at all, maybe it does so between the gasket and the housing through the four cutouts but I can’t see that they go all the way through under the gasket. Any thoughts?

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That is what the two ridges on the top surface are for.

I was wondering that too but I don't see them on the underside. I'll look more closely today.

Just a related question.

Prior to the advent of the federally mandated vapor recovery system, did any general production U.S.cars use a non-vented gas tank cap?

PS - when posing the question I completely forgot about the many, many makes of early cars that used a pressurized gas tank to feed the carburetor. Packard of 1910 would be a typical example. So obviously these cars used non-vented caps. Sorry for the mental lapse.

That's a good question that I've often wondered about too. Maybe Ross or someone else has the answer? I know my 1965 Cadillac is non-vented as it has a separate vent line from the tank to the fuel filter but that was only on cars with A/C. I'm not sure how the non-A/C models were even though I used to have one but I know they didn't have the extra line.

Ross, on the cap's ridges, I went back out to the shop briefly this morning to take inside an early delivery of lumber before the rain starts again and had a look at the cap. The inside appears to have a second piece of steel where the gasket seats and if that's the case, then the ridges likely vent through the notches that are on the inner piece between the inner and outer pieces. I can't actually see the ridges at all on the inside but that's the only thing that would make sense.

I think all US cars had vented caps prior to the canister mandate. Some cars, especially those with V8 & factory AC, had an underhood fuel filter that had a return line going back to the tank. Some of these were of the glass bowl type, such as on circa '59 Buicks and up to '63 Cadillacs, and others, and some later ones were of the steel can throwaway type with an extra hose connection and a restriction orifice to limit return flow. The aim was to prevent flooding and vapor lock in hot weather.

Cadillac had the glass bowl type at least through ‘66 and probably later.

I got to my Oregon shop yesterday afternoon and have been here only long enough to get the shop powered up but on the Henney itself, as soon as I got the lights in the shop on and the 1954 Patrician under it moved outside, I made sure that the petrol tank has a good ground which it does. I forgot to do that the last time I was here!

When I go out there again shortly (I was already out briefly earlier this morning), I'll put in some actual gasoline to see if it stays there! With all the sealer there should be no problem but it doesn't hurt to be sure by putting it in little by little. Still much to do before attempting to start it as I need to replace the aftermarket oil filter assembly, fix some head studs that are either gone of are bolts instead of studs, then clean and adjust the points. I also have to remember to put in some coolant as it was drained before its decades-long storage.

My brother’s electric cart broke so I spent some time working on it for him but finally got back to my own work.

Started by putting 5 gallons of gasoline into the tank and so far it has stayed there. I was going to put in more but my other filled storage tank is gravity fed and is too low to get any out and my engine lift is temporarily blocked so I’ll try to get it out tomorrow.

In the meantime the cap is in place and fits like it was made for it which, of course, it was. Inside the filler door is the car’s original color but I wonder if it should be full gloss or a semi-mat under some military specification. Any ideas and are there names for these colors?

I also removed the aftermarket oil filter and disconnected the added on oil filter gauge although the gauge was put in through the dash rather than on a bracket under it. Fortunately, if it comes to that, I have a spare 1951 300 dash without any holes. While doing it I saw that the distributor’s vacuum advance is history so I’ll need to look through all my spares to see if I have another in better condition and the distributor itself is filthy inside from any years of sitting without the cap.

Then I moved onto the head studs and the first thing i noticed was that none have washers. However, with washers, the studs seem too short so it occurred to me that my recent experience was on a 359 with the aluminum head so maybe the others didn’t have washers. If they need washers i have plenty but it appears that adding them would mean taking off the head to screw them out a couple turns. Of course, there are so many bolts rather than studs and nuts that I’ll likely have to take it off anyway. One of the photos below shows where I tried a washer.

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Interesting looking Packard Don, I've never seen one like that before!

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