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Thanks Don, great pics!

I came across this car recently. Great body but mechanicals heavily modified. Not sure the extent to which they got into the frame when the did the mods.

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Paul

Don,

its been many many years since i heard all the stories about the other car in Switzerland. all i remember is my grandfather telling me that was the only other one he knew about at the time. not sure how he knew, how he found out, etc, etc....i was only about 11 when he bought that car and he died when i was 12. i'm 30 this May.

sorry i can't give you more information about it. take it for what it is....old information that may not even pertain to anything now, just a rememberance from the good old days.

Hank

It has been awhile since I have last posted on my 1090 138CD blog. It's not because the project is stalled. On the contrary it has been going great. The body has been taken off the frame and was stored for a couple of months in the back of a 48 Diamond T ton and a half. While it was removed, the frame was un-sub framed and put back to original with the donor frame I took to Kansas. Then it was painted and now the body is sitting on wood blocks above the frame about to be re-attached. I have bought last week a stainless steel exhaust system from Waldron's ($625.00) and it is being shipped to the mechanic to install a little later after the body is back on the frame. The project is all back to Packard parts now with the removal of the Cadillac rear end. It was one thing I had thought about keeping as it had disc brakes and it still allowed the original wheels to be utilized.. However, I decided to make a upgrade to the drive train and remove so it. In its place I purchased a complete R-11 OD transmission setup ($150.00) which I will have the top of a original transmission that was restored for the Limo adapted to the newer R-11 so it will still be floor shift. This way it will still look stock and should give me a little higher top end and lower RPM's on the engine. I am having my Brother-In-Law take some pictures this weekend so I can post them to the blog to show the progress on it so far.

I am planning a quick trip towards the end of August to take some parts he is needing, the largest being a replacement trunk floor. The one in the Limo has one fairly large hole. I am in the process of parting out a 37-120C Touring Sedan and will take the trunk floor from it. A few weeks ago I removed the front doors from the sedan and Al took then to Virginia to swap some of my parts for the 55 Patrician he has now for sale, with Ken P who picked up the 55 in Massachusetts for Al. Ken P in turn needed the parts from me and Al took with him to Virginia. A four-way swap I think went off good for all involved. (Al and Ken P. are both here on Packardinfo)

I am not sure how far along I will have work being done in Kansas but so far I am pleased with the results so far. What I am thinking about doing is somewhat crazy but when it is restored mechanically and running good, I plan to drive it the 850 miles home. The kicker is I a getting together attire to wear during the trip from 1940's era. Take the back roads and passing through small towns along the way,' kind of going slow and having an adventure along the way. I am thinking this is going to be in Spring coming up.

I will post some photos as soon as I get them. The mechanic is old school no internet or digital camera even. So that part is a little unhandy. I guess that why he only costs $25.00 an hour for his labor. Also knowing him for 35 years does help some I guess. I don't give out his information. I learned my lesson about telling people about him and his vast supply of parts and Packard knowledge. The one person from Packardinfo I told about my mechanic cheated him out of several hundred dollars in parts so I have learned that lesson.(That person is not on here anymore).

It's taken awhile to get the pictures of the progress on the Limo, but they are here. First picture shows the he frame that was modified to hold the 454, and the second shows it back to original. The red parts where on the parts frame from a 1092 I purchased in Memphis TN. They will be painted black soon.

The third and fourth pictures show the rearend that was removed. I was told by the previous owner it came from a Cadillac. The only thing I liked about it, was you could still use the original wheels with it. Also it was modified with the plates shown to use the original springs. I will be bringing it back to Alabama first week of October to get rid of it. Will take a bunch of parts to Kansas to replace some that were too modified to use in the restoration. ex. front bumper arms, front inner fenders, 6 volt battery to replace the 12 volt and few other things. I will also be taking the new wiring harness so the mechanic can put the rebuilt engine in. I will take the stock tranny back minus the shifter top plate and shifter that will be installed on the R11 I am having put in it.

The fifth and sith picture shows the trunk floor that needs to be replaced. I am taking the floor from a 1092 car I got in Oklahoma I decided to part out. (The front doors are way up North for Ken Packard's 1082 Sedan project) The seventh picture shows the floor I am going to use on the Limo.

frame rework

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Hi Don,

Was great meeting with you and Larry last week to look at his CD-138 Limo and thanks again for dinner!! Thoroughly enjoyed our conversation.

Wanted to share two new/updated ideas for a 5-pass body style on the CD-138 chassis. First uses the Junior club sedan's rear roof and a new decklid and rear quarters. Second uses the Junior coupe's rear roof, business coupe's decklid (elevated a few inches), new rear quarters and forward-curving rear door window frames.

Two questions arose when I created these and was wondering if you might help answer them.

1. What is the CD-138's front door width? The '36 Data Book lists all 2-door Juniors as 38-13/16 inches and all 4-door Juniors as 34-13/16. Am wondering if the CD-138 uses the same front door as the touring coupe or a unique door that is a bit wider. If wider, by how much? If convenient, can you measure and compare?

2. Regarding the second image, is the body width at the coupe's front door aft location the same as the body width at the CD-138's rear door aft location? This will tell me if the coupe's roof would align with the CD-138's rear doors.

Thanks!

Paul West

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It's been quite a while since I last posted on the progress on our Limo project. During this time the restoration has not been idle by any means. Last month I took some needed parts to Kansas where it's being worked on. And while there I took a week long course at McPherson College. I have wanted to do this for a long time. I was taught wood-graining, trim polishing, and even did a little sand casting. This after the instructor found out I knew a little about it. Okay back to the Limo, it was only about 30 miles from the College so I visited it and took pedal assy and a pair of tranny mounts. The 1954 OD transmission had the old mounting surface still in the casting so it was drilled out to accept the original 1937 mounts to work. The engine had been completely rebuilt a few years prior on another car I have and Allen Rich tore it back done fixing a few errors the rebuilder had done. The engine had zero miles , so no harm had been done to it. At last Christmas time I took a rear section of a 1092 Parts car body to donate the trunk floor to the Limo. Since then it had been cutout of the sedan and re-welded into the Limo. That was the only rust the car had at all, so now the body is ready for sanding and re-painting after it is running.

I did need a few parts and I just returned from my third trip to North Carolina where I brought back a 1082 Sedan for the 6 parts I needed for the Limo. Looking at the pictures of this car, one must ask why disturb the dead. Well the 6 parts I need are okay; the rest is destined to become a new Ford or Chevy. In all seriousness this is the last junkyard car I am going to buy.

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Here are the Pictures of the 1937 1082 I just returned with from North Carolina.

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Long overdue update to this project. Mechanically it has been restored, New wiring harness, SS exhaust system, and the trunk floor has also been replaced. I was in a quandary on where to put the car when I bring it home from Kansas. My little garage was way too short and way too filled. With our 120CD Sport Coupe and piles of parts. I also had a small building rented for parts storage. I was chatting with wifey about my dilemma. She told me I need to buy a building just for Our Packards. HHHHHMMMMMM. Who has taken my wife as this is not what she would say. Well I was assured that she indeed did say that, so I began to look for a shop. I looked for a few weeks and found not one but two, on adjoining lots. I told my wife about it. She told me not to procrastinate and buy the places. So I was thinking I better do what my wife tells me and we went ahead and bought them. Below is some pictures of them and some pictures showing me putting them to good use. I have our 120CD Sport Coupe and a 120C Business coupe in the main building. The Limo is not here yet, so no pictures of it. In the other building I am dismantling a 1082 sedan. I needed a few pieces off of it to replace parts I sent to the Limo project.

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Today I took a lot of parts off of the crusty 1937 1082 sedan I brought home from North Carolina this past Summer. Here are a few pictures. The picture at the end show what I was mainly after to put on the Limo. It also added a few parts to the Business Coupe I have for sale. It is just missing a few parts to be complete now. Plus it now has a few more options.

The radiator was actually really in nice shape. I found a few things had been updated. It had what I think was a 1938 or later waterpump,and fan-blade. This is also the car that had the NOROL which I had posted earlier. That has since been sold.

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