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Fortunately the grill removal procedure and location of the various screws holding it together are covered in section X sheet metal in the SM. They show a 51 200 grille and yours is a bit more involved with some added pieces but the basics are still covered.

Thanks guys, I'll check out the sheetmetal and body section of the shop manual and dig in to get to that one screw/nut on the backside of that part of the grill. Looks like it will include removing a bunch of bolts, but since this was put together some 7, and not 70 years ago everything should come apart easily.

If you use Blue Loctite on all threads and replace any lock washers with new stock, that should permanently keep such a problem at bay.

The instructions in the Shop manual were Spot on. Took me about 45 min to get the grill out. I will clean everything up a little bit, and use some loctite, lockwashers, and maybe some nylon insert nuts this time around.
Luckily, nothing is broken on the grill!

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I got everything back together again. I used blue loctite on the fasteners that go into the grill, since I didnt want to apply too much torque to them. I feared stripping the threads in the casting. Anyway, about 2 hrs to get all the bolts back in. Getting the bumper back on alone was some trouble, but a hydraulic Jack helped.

I need a new license plate for this packard, and dont have any great ideas yet. It has to be HN xx 123 H.
The two Letters and 3 numerical digits xx and 123 are free for me to choose.
Any suggestions? Is there a way to estimate the build month of my car? I remember the back of the clock had a june 53 stamp on it.
MI for Michigan, 327 for engine size, 653 for june 1953.... what else would fit?

Fun topic.

Tacking a different tack, how about HN SW 005 H = HNSWOOSH!
Or if you're a Dentist HN TE 337 H = HNTE337H(HNTEEETH)!
Or a doctor HN HE 417 H = HEA417H(HEALTH)?
You get the idea?

Can't think of anything Packard related, but the more creative might do better?

I like the 653 or 327. 327 would probably be more recognizable. What about "PD" or "PK" denoting "Packard"? That's tough to figure out something with only two letters.

Oops no reply from me about the clipper in months... I wound up keeping the plates that my Brother-in-law got for the car ÖHR P53 H (Öhringen is the next local township).
Anyway Madeline is running well. New side mirrors are on the way, and I am also thinking again about some heat shielding for my exhaust manifold.
This morning I drove the 30 miles on the autobahn (gruising at 60mph and 2000rpm) and then sat in traffic idling for a good 20 min trying to get into the cars and coffe at the mercedes benz museum. The temp usually is at the E in Temp, and it went up to the M in temp, but did not get worse than that. However, I opened the hood while idling, and the fuel in the glass filter bowl was boiling quite well. I didn't get any vapor lock, but on the vacuum gauge, I could see that the idle was a little off....
I will consider some sort of thin metal heat shield to stop the direct radiation from the exhaust manifold up to the fuel line, filter and carb....
The clipper is my canvas for playing, so we'll see what I come up with. Either an aluminum profile, or some "waffle" heatshield that can be formed.

I replaced the clip on mirror finally with a repro that looks like the original packard part. Same thing I have on the Caribbean, and others have used.
This sure looks more integrated into the lines of the car. I have a second mirror for the passenger side, but first need a helper (wife) to figure out where it needs to go so I can see and still open the triangle window.

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