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Hope someone has an answer...and a part. The headlight bucket on the 39 has a hole apx 1" in diameter on the top that appears to be original.
Whatever was there was removed by prior owner.
Looking at pictures on the web and sales brochures it appears that the buckets on most of the Six models had nothing on top while other model show a narrow chrome molding that runs the length of the bucket top.
I can weld the hole shut but if there was something there, I would like to find what it was and replace it.
Any hints appreciated. If someone has the parts....let me know if you wish to part with them.
Thanks
RJR

My first Packard, a 1939 Six Touring Sedan, had no trim on the top of the headlights but I know that the Super Eight and maybe the Twelve had trim on the sides of the pods but not on the top. For 1940 they all had it on top but not for 1939. I have seen some Sixes with it but I expect it was added later, perhaps by special order or perhaps was an accessory.

Hi RJR I have the strips for the top of the 1940 buckets, if that ends up being the route you go.

Mike Chirco
TUCSON PACKARD

weld/fill/smooth the hole. What happened was a prior owner converted from the original bulb/reflectors to sealed beams and installed a parking light of some generic sort on the headlight. For 1940, all Packards had sealed beams, and the parking lights on the fender...
39-110 had no trim on top of the headlight, 39-120 had the "skunk stripe" trim.

Your car was probably converted to sealed beams which eliminate the integral parking lights. It was a law you had to have parking lights so small marker lights were put on top of the headlight buckets thus the holes.

There was no trim on top of the headlight buckets on sixes

Thanks
James From
Kanter Auto Products

Looks like I will be welding the holes shut.

Related question..... I am rewiring the car and intend to incorporate turn signals as a safety measure.
I believe that with an LED bulb in the original taillight and license plate light I can have tail, turn signal, stop and brake lights that will be functional without altering the appearance.
Does anyone have a suggestion about an effective but inconspicuous location for the front turn signal/ parking lights?

Thanks to all.
RJR

Have you bought the turn signal switch and setup? If not I would suggest picking a unit and seeing what their requirements might be before starting your wiring project.

LED bulbs typically do not pull enough current to trigger an average turn signal flasher meant for incandescent bulbs so using LEDs usually need extra work and added resistors unless the system you buy has a special flasher. In the rear, you will not be able to use the same bulb or filament for brakes and turn signals without having a switch and turn signal setup that accepts and splits the brake light signal to determine which bulb to flash and which bulb is steady.

There was a discussion a few months back about front parking light assys and possibly incorporating turn signals in a 39. You might look thru this thread for some ideas or resolution.packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb ... flat&order=ASC&type=&mode=0&start=0

Howard- Just want to thank you again for all of the help on the projects.
I got a complete new Rhode Island Wiring harness from Flack which includes the turn signals
The car had not been converted to sealed beams but I will be going that way and have already made the conversion. Really pretty straight forward with buckets for Jeep obtained from Summit.
I have been going back and forth regarding the conversion to 12 v negative but it may not be worth the effort.
I like to install the Petronix unit and there seems to be some concern about how well it works with 6 v positive ground.
I have access to the parking. Light assemblies shown in the post and that may be a good way to do the front turn signal/ parking lights.
Way too much to do and running into difficulty of finding parts and making decisions.
Just have to keep reminding myself that this is a hobby and with the constant rainy Summers I won't be getting much ragtop time anyway.
Again -- thanks.
RJr

Since my first Packard was a 1939 Six (touring sedan) I've been following this and sounds like you're doing well and getting excellent help and advice.

On the Petronix, it is my understanding that they make a 6v model. I've not tried it yet but plan to do so on my 1954 Patrician.

I think the biggest issue with the 6v Pertronix is voltage drop when the starter is cranking or bad connections or the generator isn't genning properly and not putting out the typical 7v charging voltage which results in a low voltage to the Pertronix unit.

Most of the solid state logic typically used in items like the Pertronix use what is called TTL logic. That requires 5v to operate properly and is very fussy when the voltage moves in either direction just a tiny fraction away from 5v. The voltage is supposed to be regulated at 5v in the Pertronix but the regulators need headroom to do their jobs. When running at 12v there can be a huge amount of voltage drop and the TTL logic will never see it because the regulator can do its job so the ignition works very well. When running at 6v, if the starter pulls too much current or a bad connection has dropped the voltage available to the TTL regulator down to below 5v or even to a point above 5v but where the regulator cannot function reliably then the TTL logic also sees the voltage fall and either does not work at all or becomes very erratic.

Most of the people that reported Pertronix issues seems to have had issues with unreliable starts. That would indicate the starter motor is pulling a lot of current and the battery or cables can barely supply the starter let alone supply an adequate voltage to the Pertronix so it starts to misfire or not put out a spark.