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Knowing that the 120 (138CD) stretch/limo was Packard's attempt to provide all things to all buyers (the 138CD was the junior product line buyer's senior car), they had several upgrade "kits" for the 138 CD...you could stay with the painted (brown per BigKev) steering column or you could buy the senior column tube look (nickel...my factory original twelve column outer tube was chromed, btw, when I removed it). You could also buy senior exterior tail light lense/bezels, sr. dash upgrades, sr. radio/heater, sr. window crank handles, a special oval upholstery button (elongated...not the same as the 35-39 sr. fatter oval buttons), banjo steering wheel. Unfortunately, all of the options arent line items in a parts book and would appear as sales items on the original order/bill, if you are lucky enough to have that.

I believe your 138CD has the full divider window/jump seats. A word about limo's...they were chauffeured, typically, and the front compartment was often downplayed as the driver was "staff" and didnt warrant the rear quarters environment, reserved for the owner/passengers...so, the front features were often downplayed (painted) and the seats were utilitarian leather. Typically, there was a rear compartment radio (I know of one for your car if you are interested), no front radio unless the owner thought the sr. dash/gauges brought some utility to the driver...a front radio did show up if the driver could provide some info about driving, stock reports, etc to their owner.

Do what pleases you since you have all the options available to you and a nickel/chrome column will not detract from judging points, in and of itself...however, more period "typical" is to downplay the driver's compartment.

Thanks, Dan. I won’t be changing my column. I’ll be quite happy with either the nickel or brown paint. Either way, I need to strip off the old black paint. Who knows, maybe it will be like pulling up nasty carpet in an old house to find beautiful hardwood floors underneath.

My car does have everything listed in the CD sales brochure (on this site)…..except possibly the nickel plated steering column. Interestingly, though, the 138CD specific brochure (also on this site) clearly shows all of CD items except….the banjo steering wheel and the nickel plated steering column. And the picture that shows this is for the 7 passenger touring sedan, not just the limo. So, it looks like the 138CD got most of the CD package as standard, but not all of it.

I will lose one part of the CD package with what I’m doing. As we’ve discussed previously, I’ll be going with round tufting buttons on the rear seat instead of the oval. The non-CD cars used round. I know you were able to point me to some oval buttons that are available, but they are much larger than my originals and not having the proper die is problematic

I didn’t know about a rear radio, but that isn’t anything I’d be interested in adding. If I need a radio, my phone and a simple Bluetooth speaker will do.

Kathy and I paid another visit to the shop today. The front clip, doors, hood, and running boards have been etched primed. The rear quarter panel and trunk have had a final fitting and look great.













And just for documentation purposes, I’ve decided to make a list of all “modifications” that I’ve either made or will be making:
1. Added Gano Filter to top radiator hose to facilitate monitoring the coolant and keeping debris out of the radiator
2. Switched all bulbs to LED….all are plug and play, so no actual modification on this one.
3. Added an electric fuel pump…only used to prime system after sitting a long time. (This was added by Dad)
4. Adding a small 12V negative ground battery and wiring both cigar lighters to it. This will allow the cigar lighters to be used for modern chargers for phones, etc..
5. Adding a turn signal kit that does not require cutting into the wiring harness. Easily removed if desired.
6. Adding a third brake light…will be along the bottom edge of the rear window.
7. Adding lap belts…two in front and two in the rear.
8. Installing a 23rd series transmission with R11 overdrive.

That will be all of the “modifications”. Adding OD will make the car much better for touring. That is something I’d love to do. Most everything else is safety related. Wiring the cigar lighters to 12V negative ground is pure convenience.

Just for information for others as I’ve made my decision….

I got a response back from Running Board Rubber yesterday. They are now estimating my boards at about $3300. After shipping both ways, that would likely be about $4500. That’s still quite a bit less than they estimated a while back. But, they also said they are looking at more than a year before they could even start.

Here is what they said about their process…” The fabrication process will include lifting the floor of the boards to one level, installation of a two layer structure matting (base plus ribbing), detailing and final coating in graphite black for UV protection and durability.”

Anyway, I thought I put it out here in case it may help someone else. I’m going to try the spray liner and see how that goes. I’m pretty optimistic.