Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

I ran the car with an eletric pump when the vacume tank was geting repaired and had no problems but I guess you would say I am a diehard guy I like my old cars to run they way they where built. an older hobbiest told me I will never get it to work right.I also wondered if I had the manifold porcelin redone if that would help I was probably going to do it this winter anyway.

29tons, Is your friend referring to the vacuum tank when he says " will never get it to work right" ? If so I disagree strongly, they work fine and if you carry out the tests suggested by Tim you will soon know if there is a vacuum problem. I have three cars with vacuum tanks and I have replaced the pot metal tops with aluminum reproductions which eliminates dodgy threads, hair line cracks and the brass insert seats coming loose in the pot metal.
Recoating the manifold is not going to stop it cooking the vacuum tank.
In the Automobile Quarterly Packard book by Kimes it states in relation to the Eighth Series cars "To accommodate the more volatile fuels then in use , the vacuum tank gave way to a Stewart Warner fuel pump..." We know that the fuels today are even more volatile which is why our cars are so prone to vapor lock. I too like to keep my cars exactly as they were built but without the fuel of the day we are stuck with having to make a few changes to accommodate modern fuel or only drive them in cold weather.
The following provides interesting information about how modern fuels have changed. If the link does not work, Google " Modern Petrol in Vintage Engines"
http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/australia/corporate_australia/STAGING/local_assets/downloads_pdfs/f/Fuel_news_modern_petro_vintage_engines.pdf

here are pictures of my 1927 Dodge Brothers carb and stewart vacume tank, the carb has a bump in the float chamber lid to vent it the packard dose not have this . the parts in the vacume tanks are identical only the outside is different. I tryed to point to the bump with a pointer so you could see it . This car and I have gone thousands of miles and never vapor locks and never runs out of fuel

Attach file:

---

  (91.52 KB)


  (61.89 KB)

Interesting, the vacuum tank is on the opposite side to the exhaust manifold so it runs cooler. The article I attached to my last post refers to venting of the float chamber. When I spoke to the twin six owner and he told me that he had fitted a vent to his float chamber I commented that the float chamber on his car is not sealed, there is clearance around the float shaft where it penetrates the cover and if the cap, if fitted, has small holes however his response was that on his Packard this was not enough to vent the float chamber and it needed a much larger pipe. The "bump" on your Dodge is very small but obviously works.
I have friends with Packards like ours who claim they never vapor lock, like your Dodge. I can't explain that, I have three that all vapor lock.
I thinks it time I got off my soapbox and let others comment!!

I found some things that might work after looking back and forth at the 2 cars.The nurreled piece on top of the carb has 2 vent holes 1 was glogged I also remved the filter and moved the line as far away as possible. also the dodge dose not have a sediment bowl and the packard dose. I could see air trapped at the top of the bowl I took a few pictures of the original bowl housing,which is just like the new one on the car. thanks for all the help Tom

Attach file:

---

  (42.60 KB)


  (43.76 KB)


  (57.81 KB)