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

A few days ago I came across this discussion on the subject of oil dipstick. I also wanted to be able to measure the oil level in my 1924 Sport 136 and came up with this solution. I found all the components for this in a hardware store in the plumbing department. They are made of brass and here in Germany they are all sold in inches. I think I even found the connection to the oil pan with a suitable thread. Or I made it fit on my lathe... I soldered the parts to the screwed connections with silver solder and then screwed them together while soldering heat. At the end of the horizontal pipe there is now a matching plug which serves now as a drain plug. The hat was a matching cap into which I milled a slot and soldered in a suitably manufactured 3mm brass plate to help with turning. I then polished everything and had it nickel-plated.

Karl

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Very neat Karl. Why did Packard built these cars without any means of checking for low oil level. It could not have been a cost issue, beats me!

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Because you would change the oil every 1000 miles or 1 month, so checking the level wasn't as important. If your engine was burning or leaking a whole quart in that span, you would know in other ways...

There was petcock. You opened it and if some came out you had enough. Our 1954 Gravely had the same system. When we had it overhauled in the late 60s the mechanic installed a dipstick just like the New Gravelys.