Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Chrome bolts should be in today and expecting the ultramatic bands to be in this week as well and hopefully have the tranny back next week. Might get this car back on the road before new years!

Finally have the motor and transmission back in, but a couple questions before pics:

I have new bands and clutch/friction discs, and an NOS Packard material direct drive disc. Which kind of fluid should i go with?


I'm using the 53's vacuum, fuel pump, and it's plumbed different than mine.

As best i can tell for fuel, the front of the car side of the pump is the outlet to the carb, and the back of the car side of the pump is for fuel inlet. Is that correct?

The vacuum lines are different on this one, mine were compression and there were two, these are vacuum hose fittings (also two). They are parallel to each other on top of the vacuum pump, both facing back. Assuming one is air inlet and one is the outlet? Or are both vacuum? I have one elbow on my manifold, and one line to my vacuum wiper motor.

I THOUGHT that the vacuum wipers went to the manifold, and then also the pump went to the manifold. But then wouldn't the pump be trying to create vacuum in the whole manifold just to help the wipers? Thinking now it wasn't right before. I'll have to hit the parts books and see what i can find :)

I have a compression fitting coming out of the carb base plate that i don't recognize , between the two mixture adjustment screws. Any idea what went there, or maybe the carb rebuilder put it there?!

What does Kanter Parts recommend for their relined bands and clutches? The original cork seemed happy with type F being closest to the original type A but with a mix with those items relined with GM material, maybe the new combo Dextron would be best. Of course, there was a strong recommendations for Trick Shift in prior posts and that should be good with most materials as well.

The vacuum pump goes in series in the line. Input or suction side of pump to motor, output to manifold.

I believe you have the gas orientation proper but easy enough to move the lever and see which port sucks and which has pressure.

Is the carb vacuum fitting for distributor?

Thanks for the quick reply!

I figured as much for the fuel. When i get power hooked up, i can roll it over and check that.

If i plumb the pump in line between the manifold and the wiper motor, would the pump "pass" the strong vacuum signal at idle on to the wipers or restrict it?

Still going through manuals trying to find the OEM setup :)

The pump is strictly a helper. Plumbed in series, normal manifold vacuum will always be stronger and will just suck air right thru the pump. When at open throttle or load, when vacuum falls off then the pump will be stronger--although nowhere near as strong as manifold normally is--and will take over to provide enough vacuum to keep the motor moving at a reduced speed. I don't recall seeing a complete diagram of the vacuum on pre 55.

That makes sense if it can get through the pump.

Figured out the compression fitting...it would have hit me once i moved to that side of the motor...distributor advance!

My wipers were great at idle, ok cruising and very slow when throttle wide open. I was going to rebuild the 50 pump before i came across this one that looks recently rebuild and had good vacuum when testing it on the bench.

Late 51- 54 the outside fitting goes to the manifold. Inner port is hooked to the wipers. On your 50 the vac was taken off the manifold at the front. Later they changed it to just under the carb to minimize idle disturbance cause by introduction of air while the wipers were on.

Thanks for the tip! I did see that under one of the service counselors they had that issue, it mentioned making sure that the car was well tuned and to make it a little richer. I could hook the vacuum pump to the carb base fitting and then the distributor advance to the front of the manifold i guess, would work either way. I'm still using the 50 manifolds (since i didn't have a carb base plate for the 4 barrel manifold with the electric switch.) and because it already had the 2 bolts that hold the throttle cross shaft...i'd have to drill and tap them on the 53 manifold.

New pump showed up from MM yesterday, i may get a chance to put it in tonight.

Noticed when taking the lines off the old pump that it was seeping fuel into the vacuum part and was pushing it into the manifold the last time i tested it. I probably did that damage when i had it apart, but either way, it's good thing it's replaced now.

Don't switch those two lines; the fitting at the base of the carb is for the vac advance on the distrib. only, as it is ported to shut the vacumn off at idle. You will get weird and unpleasnt symptoms with your wipers and timing if you switch them.