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Got the limo out for the local cruise night tonight. The weather was great. Kathy provided transportation separately to get my Mom and Dad there. We had a really good time and I think Dad had a lot of fun answering questions about his time with the car. The family history of this car is priceless for me.












There was one little guy that really wanted to get in the car. It’s not like he was gonna hurt my duct tape faux pleather upholstery!





I also stopped by Mom and Dad’s later in the evening. The car looks good in Dad’s driveway!

It’s been a long time waiting for the new heater core followed by more waiting when I had to send it back…long story that I won’t bore everyone with here.

Anyway, I finally got the new core and got the heater put back together. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. Now, it will spend a lot of time packed away as it will likely be the last thing to be installed after the body work and the interior are done.

The heater looks beautiful! I rebuilt one of those once, a little different but very similar, for my 1940 and while it looked good, it didn't look new as yours does.

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Thanks. I’m really happy with how it turned out. Originally, I was just going to clean good due to the textured finish and not knowing how to replicate that. But, Dan (DM37) pointed me to the wrinkle paint and gave me some pointers. It took a couple of attempts to get it where I was happy with it. Even then, I’m sure I could get it better now that I’ve had some practice with it. That said, I’m probably the only one who will notice the flaws.

I did have a bonus in that both motors were in good working order. I cleaned them up internally and gave them there first lube in 87 years. They seem to be working well. When I finally install it, I may have to work on getting a good ground from the body of the car to the heater, but that will be pretty easy.

Don B:

Glad to aid/abet a fellow Packardian in resuscitating your heater...the wrinkle is the original treatment and it is a durable baked enamel (as you found out to enable the wrinkling), so it resists scuffing, is diffuse and doesn't reflect light into the drivers eyes and just looks smart.

btw, I have several of these identical Senior Deluxe heaters, with defrosters, in rejuvenation progress currently. I typically overpaint the black wrinkle with satin enamel matching the interior trim color.

Historical Data:
a) This style, introduced in mid-1937 carried through the 1938/1939 model years
b) There were two options available for Senior Packards, both manufactured by Harrison Co. under agreement to Packard; your 138CD is considered a "Senior" upgrade to the 120 as it had many components, trim and features of the Super8...it is a unique configuration.
c) The H-81 (my picture) was the Senior Standard style; it had lower thermal output and typically didnt have the defrost blower (since it would be working hard to do any good with its smaller water core)
d) So, typically the single (or dual optional) windshield defrost diffusers would get an upgrade to this H-82 Senior Deluxe style (your Heater). This Deluxe had the higher detail center emblem, larger thermal output water core and two nickel-plated horizontal spears; whereas the H-81 had the simple center emblem, smaller water core and no horizontal trim.
e) I've seen an H-82 in a 1936...I debate this with purists/judges who assume the original buyers were as obsessed as Pebble Beach judges are presently...I always posit that nothing is "wrong" as the holes/interfaces were often the same across all those years...I ask them to put themselves back in time to people who actually bought these vehicles originally and "made the history" we all pretend to study; assume, during the cash-strapped depression, that people often bought the core vehicle and then when finances improved a year or so later, may have asked their dealer to install an accessory (which the dealer used the then-available model year item if it fit properly)...this is also the same "theological" discussion I have regarding which trunks are "correct" on a cars trunk rack.

You did a heck of a nice job on that wrinkle paint and the unit overall.

Dan M (DM37)

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  Packard Standard Harrison H-81 Heater.jpg (9.50 KB)

Thanks, Dan.

Continue having an issue with my brake lights not turning all the way off. Cleaning the brake switch terminals helped, but the nuisance persists.

The best I can tell, the brake light switch is not fully disconnecting when the brake pedal is released. Any thoughts?

Related to this, but not the only reason, I also designed a part and had it fabricated to mount a battery disconnect switch. It’s switching the negative (not ideal, I know), but made the connections MUCH simpler. I thought about mounting the switch in the cabin, on the fire wall. From the inside, that would have been great, but I didn’t like it in the engine compartment with the Hot terminals easy to touch accidentally. So, instead I designed the part in the photos and had local shop fabricate if for me. Then, I primed, painted, and installed it. I upgraded my battery cables while I was at it…from 0 to 00.

It turned out like I wanted.

If installing a new hydraulic brake switch doesn't cure the problem you might check the residual or sometimes Packard called it a check valve located inside the master to see if it might be keeping too much pressure in the line. If you are using silicone fluid you might need to completely eliminate the hydraulic switch so another option would be to convert to one of the mechanical brake switches activated by the pedal arm.

I’m not using silicone fluid and the master cylinder is new. That doesn’t rule it out, but makes it less likely to be the culprit. Sounds like I need to start with a new hydraulic switch.

If the master is new probably not an issue but if the switch doesn't help another thing to look at in the master is the bypass port if it has one. I don't know if the new master you have is the same type master configuration as stock but on the original masters there are two ports visible when the cap is removed. The port in question is almost directly under the cap and looks like a regular hole from the top but has a very small hole of only a few thousandths diameter drilled in the center.

The purpose of the bypass port is when the fill port is covered by the piston when the pedal is relaxed the bypass port is there to let heated fluid back info the reservoir as it sits and expands after the brakes are used. If some kind of debris fell in and the tiny hole in the port is blocked the expanding fluid can build up enough pressure to turn the light on. If fluid gets really hot and stays trapped in the master after repeated use then the pressure buildup can even keep the brakes partially applied..