Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Just as background, I have been working on old cars/engines for 30+ years and have a complete shop, so I am not a novice as far as older vehicles are concerned. My daughter and I are just finishing up rebuilding a 58 Chevy truck so we need a new project.

My wife's great grandparents bought a 53 Patrician new and took a road trip to go pick it up from the factory. It has been sitting parked at their farm without being touched since sometime in the early 80s. No one in the family can really remember exactly when it got parked. I have the opportunity to buy it from the great-uncle that currently owns it and am planning to pick it up this weekend.

My question here is if there are any special tips/tricks for moving it safely? Given how long it has been sitting, I expect the drums all the way around to be frozen. My intention is to winch it up onto a trailer to get it home and tinker on it there.

From looking at the manual for the ultramatic, I think I should be able to just put it in neutral to let it roll. Is that correct? There seem to be a lot of unusual things about that transmission that I don't fully understand yet, and I want to make sure that I am not going to do more harm than good trying to move it in neutral.

Are there any other tips for unsticking the brake drums that are specific to the Packards? I know the usual tricks of tapping around them with a ball peen hammer, using a strap wrench on a 2x4 and trying to drag it, heating it with a torch, etc.

Any other gotchas that I should be aware of? I am not going to try starting it until I change all the fluids, make sure it isn't seized, prelube everything, etc.

I have a 53 Cavalier and you're going to love your 53 Patrician. I've recently been learning lots about my Ultramatic and they are certainly different than a modern transmission!

Put the transmission in neutral and winch it up! You may be surprised that all the wheels roll, and even if they don't, I don't think you'll do any damage sliding them 20 feet onto your trailer.

Post some pictures of your new car when you get a chance!

Here is the official Packard position on towing the car. The Ultramatic does have a rear oil pump so as long as oil is in the trans it will be lubricated so can be towed a few miles but at a slow speed. Without knowing the reason why the car was parked though, it could be the transmission was the issue and towing it could farther damage or destroy the transmission. Unless the car is only going on a trailer or car hauler I would recommend disconnecting the drive shaft at the rear axle and tying it up safely out of the way to tow the car more than a fairly short distance.

Even though Packard mentioned the possibility of towing with front wheels down, I believe that only apples to manual steering cars. It has been found by hard experience that if the car has power steering DO NOT have a tow truck pick it up at the rear and tow backwards with all the weight being only on the front wheels. Without the engine running and oil pressure in the power steering system the front wheels will whip back and forth a couple of degrees which can damage the control valve. Tying the steering wheel does not help! The geometry with a majority of the weight only on the front wheels can also stress the pitman arm to the point of cracking where it is splined to the steering box.

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For a car that is not running, every gear except Park is neutral on an Ultramatic. The transmission requires either the engine spinning at idle speed, or the rear wheels spinning at least 25 MPH, to build enough pressure to work properly (so you can roll start it if needed). There is a SLIGHT possibility that it would be stuck in Park, jack up the rear wheels if so and spin them a bit while someone tries to shift. Or just remove the driveshaft with 8 bolts.

Parking brake: twist CCW about 30° and push in to disengage. Though if it was pulled, you'll have stuck brakes for sure.

Can't think of anything else. If it rolls it rolls.

Thanks for the confirmation. I have been going through a lot of the documentation you have posted the last few days in preparation. I am kind of surprised at some of the parts that are still available to but for it. Things like Egge selling a complete engine kit (head gaskets, bearings, pistons, etc), Rockauto having master/slave cylinders for the brakes, Wilwood selling a bolt on disc brake conversion, that kind of stuff.

I figure it will be a fairly long process to get it actually safe to drive, but it should be fun.

One quick question: I saw in the spec sheet that the engine number can be used to determine if it is a 288 or a 327, but I have not figured out where that engine number should be. Is that a simple question? Maybe the Patrician only had the 327 based on the owners manual for 1953?

Engine number should be stamped on the block just below the head on a smoothed pad above the starter motor. A Patrician should have the 9 main bearing 327. A 5 main block in 288 and 327 versions was also available and was used on lesser models.

Engine number herehttps://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=2727

Yes parts are widely available, both wear parts, and parts car parts. Anything you need someone has on these. Except the 359 9 main bearing engines they did in 54

Edit: half an hour and already 7 responses. Gotta be a record.

By the way Fibonachu:

There were more replies while I was typing...

Yeah, I don't really like/trust tow truck drivers given the choice. I am going over with a couple buddies and a lowboy trailer to move it ourselves.

According to the Uncle that I am buying it from, it was in great shape but his dad was getting old and couldn't drive anymore so it got parked and forgotten. According to the one who currently owns the farm that it is on, it was parked because the transmission was slipping and the engine was starting to knock.

I have slightly more faith in the one who is not trying to sell it (and has been its caretaker), so I don't really know what I am going to find once I get into it. That is half the fun of projects like this. The body is pretty straight, the chrome is all there, and the windows are all intact so I figure I am off to a good start.

The local junkyard here has a 53 and a 54 on the lot, so once I get it home and inspect it, I will probably go rooting around in those for any parts that I think I might ever need.

Thanks again for all the feedback.

The transmission will probably be disgusting on the inside after 40 years of sludgeification of the fluid, but chances are it's nothing a rebuild kit and DD clutch can't fix.

Engine knocking... be prepared to spend $$$... but then have a like new engine once you're done.

How many miles?

I don't know how many miles yet. I went and looked at it over the winter, but it was locked and I couldn't get inside. I will have much more info in a few days.

I have a growing list of questions, but there is a lot of documentation in the literature archive that I want to look through before I start making a nuisance of myself.

It looks like there is at least one other member here in the Treasure Valley, so that's cool.