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If you want a reliable touring car that you can drive with confidence, "mission creep" is an essential if you don't have a thorough prior history of a car's servicing.

If you don't know when the wheel bearings were last repacked and seals checked, do it. If you don't know when the differential and std. trans/OD gear oil was changed, do it. If you don't know when the oil pan was last dropped and cleaned, do it. And on and on and on. Once done, you have a baseline for future maintenance and can drive/tour with peace of mind without risking possibly expensive repairs due to not attending to such work.

You are so right, by the time i have finished on my Packard all would have been checked, but when would you recheck again? - thanks for the tip. Bill

but when would you recheck again?

Good question, and probably good answers vary quite a bit. The original factory service intervals were intended for cars driven regularly, perhaps 12,000 miles a year, so how to apply them to lower-mileage use is a worthy topic. You've got to separate those needs that are time-dependent from those that are mileage dependent. For example collector cars often don't get the prolonged driving that tends to drive moisture from things like rear axles, so changing gear oil more frequently makes sense.

I can just tell you what I've followed over the years. Almost regardless of miles I change the oil in the fall when I lay the cars up for a few months so they sit with fresh oil; I do a grease job at the same time. I flush and change antifreeze every other year. I change differential and standard trans gear oil about once every 10 years. On the car with hydraulic brakes, I try to change out most the fluid every 2 or 3 years - not actually flushing but just bleeding to replace most of it. I drop the oil pan about every 10 years. I repack wheel bearings and check/replace the seals whenever I do brake service or pull the drums to check brake condition. I oil the 3 or 4 lubrication points on the distributor and those on the starter and generator each spring. On cars with refillable shocks like the 34, I check them each time I do a chassis lube. I clean my oil-bath air filters every 5 years or so. For ignition tuneups like plugs and points I pretty much stick to the old rule of thumb - every 10,000 miles or when performance begins to tail off.

Hope that's helpful. It's easy to make up a little spreadsheet in Excel or something like that to keep track of when whatever service was performed.

To further O_D's advice on changing lubricants, I always run my vehicles at least 35-40 miles to get moisture evaporated before a oil change. Then drain oil/lube while hot and then let it drip for a while to get any other condensation out and gone before refilling.

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Yes, it is quite amazing what "red neck engineering" efforts and "fixes" that some guys will go to rather than actually fix the problem correctly. One of the worst I remember recently was not on a Packard but a 1963 Tempest 326HO, another rare car. The previous, previous owner had installed a high torque mini-starter that bellhousing mounted. However, to get the "right" alignment, he had shoved a short 2x4 piece of wood between the block and starter and then tightened up the mount bolts! The previous owner did him one better by ignoring the fact that the brake single reservoir had leaked -- hence no brakes at all. He was driving it on the E-brake! The latter guy was convicted of 2nd degree murder (not with the car) and is in the NV "Big House" for 15-30, which is why I got a good deal on the Tempest -- he needed the $ for an attorney, which didn't seem to work out so well.

Sorry, for the slight thread hijack, but the Tempest story is too good to not relate in the context of "red neck engineering" fixes. IMO, "Rube Goldberg fixes" are a quantum level above "Red Neck." Getting the drum off by itself is rather clever, certainly in the realm of "Rube Goldberg-ish".

Craig

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Most check brake fluid by leaning way over the fender--sometimes with help of a small stool. You can see the level when the cap is off. You can also do it from underneath by feeling the level with your finger and guessing a bit. If you have factory air then unless you can contort yourself in several directions, you can almost forget about the top method because of the blower location.

Those end bushings are not too bad. With frame supported on stands, you can raise and lower the rear axle with a jack to relieve the tension. The top ones are the royal pain. Some are between two plates which are riveted to the frame. Rivets have to be cut and plates separated on those.

Hi Tim,
I became a '55 Packard Patrician owner almost exactly one year ago. I had hoped to be driving it by now but "life" got in the way. I still have my '51 to console me.
Like has been suggested by others, I went through a complete service on the '51 before driving it: dropped the oil and Ultramatic Transmission pans and cleaned them along with changing the oil in the rear end. I also did the wheel bearings and seals at the same time. Now I know that everything has at least been checked.
If you think checking the brake fluid on a '55 Packard is fun try it on a '60 Imperial. The master cylinder top is covered by the Power Brake Booster so it is usually easier to wedge your little finger under all that (once you get the top unbolted) as see how far it takes to get your finger wet.
Checking the brake fluid on a '51 Packard (under the car) is more fun yet. I'm looking for a remote filler that was optional for the '51.
I fell in love with the '55-56's since I saw a '56 in the local Packard dealer's showroom when I was 8. They are great cars and there is NOTHING that you cannot find out from this group.
I'll be following your postings with great interest.

Jim L. in OR