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Kev, please let me add my congratulations too. There is nothing like being able to clean out a garage that has been full for so long. Great job!

(o{I}o)

pepepackard,
Well done Kev, I found my 54 clipper a bit savage on the brakes when I changes the booster, just a matter odf adjusting your drining to suit the car.
Regards Pepe

What a great feeling it is to take a car (that most people would walk away from) and bring it back to life !
What a fantastic job your doing ! Congtats on the car!And a big thank you! For having the knowledge , guts and patience to build such a great website for all of us to enjoy.And for having the guts and patience for putting another great Packard back on the road. Not easy to do while raising a family and a 9 to 5.
My hats off to you Sir !
Thank you Kevin.

Kev,
Congratulations! You have robbed a car from the crusher and have resurrected it (and are resurrecting it) from the dead! What a special feeling it must be for you to finally drive that Packard on the road after so much hard work!
Ken

Hearty congrats and well done. The fun is just beginning. I'm a little surprised that the steering is heavy and the brakes fuzzy. With radials they usually steer light and the pedal should be quite firm. Maybe your kingpin thrust bearings are stopped up with fossilized grease. Try warming them gently with a torch and while still hot grease the bejeebers out of the kingpins. Rude, crude, but effective.

Pattern for the trunk divider is coming as soon as I get home in a few weeks.

Congratulations on taking the car out for it's first spin. The front end is lookin' real good.

Regards,

Stephen

Thanks guys for all the kind words!


Ross,

The steering is feather light with the car off the ground. No resistance on the steering wheel at all. I can also rotate the steering wheel side to side pushing one of the tires in and out with little effort.

But with the full weight of the car on the ground trying to turn at low speed, the steering feels like a modern power steering car....with the motor turned off.

Perhaps I will try to relube as you suggested and work the steering back and forth as I do.

Kev, of course you know this but just to remind, inflation pressure has a huge effect on ease of steering especially at low speed and stand-still. Also radials and/or oversize tires will give more resistance to turning at a standstill than bias ply, all else being equal. My 48 Custom 8 gave easy steering at even very low speeds with inflation pressures about 3 or 4 psi below the rated maximum pressure. Of course what one person might consider light steering another might consider heavy - matter of perspective I guess.

Kev,

Congrats on getting the ol gal up and running! With regards to your steering, is it possible you might need to adjust your steering gear?

Tom

What I meant by heavy is that I have to bear a considerable amount of weight into the wheel to get it to turn at low speed. (two hands on the wheel leaning alot of body weight into it)

The best way to describe what it feels like is to try to steering a modern power-steering car with the motor turned off (no power assist).