Packard Forum Index » General

I am so fortunate to now be in the Packard Family with the exhilerating purchase of my FIRST PACKARD from an Auction in Wisconsin last Thursday, July 25, 2013. The 1939 Packard 120 4 Door Sedan was in the private collection of Delbert DeYoung. This car was lovingly restored and used for his son, Jim's wedding.

The car was started, driven onto my car trailer, and brought home here in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. I have downloaded the 1939 Owners Manual, and the 1938-1939 Shop Manual,(for which I am already so grateful to the PackardInfo.com site!), and now plan to begin a careful analysis of "going over the car, system by system, before putting any time on the road.

Upon inspection and when starting up the car at the USAuctioneers site, it was obvious that "old gas" was still in the tank. Later discussion with a very helpful person who was familiar with the car stated that it was a very careful and thorough restoration about 15-18 years ago and that the car had not been driven much if at all over the last 5 years.

He stated that to start it last week, he had to "lightly sandpaper the points" and then add a few squirts of fresh gas into the access hole on the top of the air cleaner and it started up.

We had to do squirt new gas into that access 4 times before the car started and stayed idling. It did run VERY smoothly!
I was told that it had been "gone over" and I would be very
happy with the performance of the car.

I noticed that there was a new wiring harness installed. I found a basic electrical layout "schematic" in the papers that came with the purchase.

One the day I won the auction, in trying to start the car, we found that the new 6volt battery that installed earlier that week, was dead. We think that the Auctioneers in their being busy with setup forgot to turn off the "Master Switch" installed on the floor. We installed a brand new Farm & Fleet Heavy Duty Tractor 6v battery and the car was started.

We did notice that the rear tail lights stayed lit no matter what switches or knobs we tried to control. The person who knew the car thought that some contacts may be sticking to "ground out" those lights. He speculated on the brake pedal switch or running lights wiring.

The car did have an aftermarket turn signal blinker switch installed on the steering column support. It does engage the front torpedo lamps on the front fenders, and rear tail lights to blink normally. I think those torpedo lights were not originally intended for that purpose but seem to work well as indicators now.

So, I am hoping to find member enthusiasts who are familiar or own a 1938 or 1938 120 who may have already done this process of "clearing a new purchase" to make sure fluids,electrical,engine, transmission,and safety issues are considered before assuming all is well and then doing any damage that could have been avoided with prudence.

I am SO VERY PLEASED, AND EXCITED, to be "Junior Member" of this very elite and awesome line of fine motorcars. I suspect in time I will come across many opportunities to appreciate, afford, and hopefully acquire even finer Packard's. It all starts with your "FIRST LOVE" and goes from there.

Thank You in advance for any help you can send my way to help me get my 1939 Packard Beauty on the road. Please feel free to contact me via Forum, or via my cell phone if you wish to speak directly to me.

I am hoping to very quickly become acquainted with the closest Packard Chapter in Wisconsin and look forward to my
first Packard Meet. Again, Thanks for all the advice and assistance you can share with my "New Kid on the Block" Packard Owner!

All my best,

Dr. Randy J. Prestash

Welcome to the wonderful world of Packard. While I don't know too much of the '39 120, my "1st Packard" was my Grandmother's 1935 120 which I have keen memories of.
I got my first Packard as an adult 3 years ago through a member of this group. So your understandable excitement over your 1st Packard reminds me of my own that day in October of 2010. Mine was enhanced by it being an example of a car that I had lusted after since I was 8 years old: A 55/56 Packard Patrician.
You'll find that joining this group is the best thing you could do aside from buying your Packard. There are many here who are extreemly knowledgable of your Packard and can and will guide you through any problem that should come up.
So welcome to Packard. You and yours will build good memories that will last a lifetime.
Before you go much further you will want to drain the gas tank - either by opening the tank's drain cock or, should that be stuck (a common occurance) pumping it out with a siphon pump you can get for $7 at Harbor Freight or other means. If a filter is present you should change that too. Since gas was evidently left in the tank long enough to get old you may want to check the tank to see if it needs cleaning out. Cleaning is something a good radiator shop can do but check around as prices vary. In any event you want to keep old gas and any "crud" in the tank out of your engine.
Good luck and enjoy!

Welcome to Packardinfo website. You will find a lot of helpful, enthusiastic people here. You will also find a lot of knowledge. Let us know if there is anything we can do to make your Packard more enjoyable.
A young fellow named Mal will be along shortly to encourage you to post a pic of your Packard. Humor him - he's a good fellow.

G'day RandyRebel,
to PackardInfo.

And as another Randy(Berger) intimated, saying this "A young fellow named Mal will be along shortly to encourage you to post a pic of your Packard. Humor him", I'm the aforementioned Mal. And I invite you to include your '39 120 Sedan in the Packard Owner's Registry here on PackardInfo!

Congratulations on your purchase and welcome to the site. Look forward to seeing your progress on your 120.

Randy, congratulation on your "new" Packard. Looking forward to seeing some photos and reading about your adventures with the car.I would recommend a good going over of all the systems and doing service and maintenance on them including changing all the fluids.

(o{}o)

Randy, I just finished rewiring my 39 120. The task was somewhat overwhelming, but as long as you have a friend to assist you, it's not too bad. You will need someone to push wires thru from the top while you're under the car, etc etc. My suggestion is to not remove the wires until you are ready to start installing the new ones. That way you will know how and where to route them. One note of caution - the 39 used headlights with separate lenses, reflectors and bulbs whereas the 40 used sealed beams. If you car has been converted to sealed beams, the 39 wiring diagram isn't going to work. If you are lucky, the wiring diagram consists of multiple sheets, showing each section, with the colors indicated. If you still have the manufacturer info, you should be able to get copies of them. If you don't I may be able to help by copying the ones that came with my harness from Potomac Packards. Look at the electrical diagrams on this website, and compare the light switch wiring on a 40 or 41 to the 39. It should show you how the sealed beams are to be wired.

Also, dollar to a donut, the brake light switch is sticking. It's located on the master cylinder, which is under the car. Disconnect it and take it to NAPA and get a replacement. I found that if you get some of the tire dollies (from Harbor Freight for cheap ones; Eastwood or similar for good ones), it is easy to crawl under the car without having to use jackstands. Also, you can shove the car around to make room in the garage when you're not working on it. If you do use jackstands, I would suggest using more than four, and use the four legged kind, not the pretty ones with one leg. A 120 landing on your chest can ruin your whole day...

What a great car to start with, Randy! You are going to have a lot of good times and memories with that 120. Does it have a name? My Clipper is called the Bumblebee (for obvious reasons ...). As far as advice is concerned, keep coming to this site and be sure to join at least a couple of Packard clubs, especially some in your immediate area. You will not only get some great advice, but you will have all sorts of opportunities to meet some outstanding and fun folks and tour cool places as well. The only other piece of advice I would offer is get out and drive your car. Cars, especially older ones like Packards, really need to be driven and on a fairly regular basis. Unless you bought it as a "trailer queen" which you cart from show to show, which I don't think is the case for you, then you and your family and friends should get out and take it cruising! Congratulations!

As David said above, I would go one step further when starting a project on your car. Make plenty of photographs before and during disassembly. Memory has a weird way of not working the way you recollected it being sometimes.

Amen - I am the world's worst about not taking enough photos, or for forgetting which folder I filed them in. It can save you lots of headaches and money!