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

I drive my 1950 Packard at 60 to 65 mph. The recently rebuilt Ultramatic does shift into a locked up mode. I have Diamondback radial tires with the stock 29 inch diameter. The rear axle ratio is the stock 3.9 (I just put in a new gear set). At this speed in the slow lane I keep up with the trucks and get run over in any other lane by the typical cars. In San Diego the average freeway speed is about 75 mph.

Obviously I did not buy a Packard for gas mileage (I have 2 Morris Minors for that purpose). I intend to rebuild and tune the Packard carburetor after I get my rebuilt distributor back from Chirco. The car runs rich because you can see carbon on the outside of the chrome exhaust tip.

I will report back once I get all tuning done and let you know what the results are.

Here is a twist on this thread....a 1954 Packard versus the OTHER cars that sit outside for 23 years. The videos are crude, but not lengthy and by #5, it runs under its own power!

youtube.com/watch?v=Uxaar3b-2pI&feature=related

Thanks for posting, that was worthwhile. What I found particularly interesting once it finally started was how quickly the (apparently) sticking valves seemed to free themselves.

and it smokes less than my car!

I notice they did not appear to follow our usual recommendations for checking out a car that has been sitting. That oil looked as black as the day it came out of the ground.