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I recently bought a chassis, a "truck cab", and a couple engine parts with a 29 title for a truck. Note that I didn't say a car. 157-182 on the cowl. 240-755 on the crankcase. The cab was a sedan that was shortened, nicely. I want to correct the title when I transfer it but Pa will require documentation that it's not a truck. I looked on the Google for a definitive source but nothing came up that I'd go to court with. Any suggestions?

G'day k3nn3th,
to PackardInfo. A quick reference to the Model Info pages here on Site didn't reveal anything to help your cause. I didn't however peruse the "Recommended Manuals and Literature" there so maybe those will be helpful? And maybe someone like member DavidM, who is well versed in '29's, could have some info which will help you.

And when you have it all figured out, or even if you don't, I invite you to include your '29 626 in the Packard Owner's Registry here on PackardInfo!

G'day k3nn3th,

The numbers that identify your car are all in the engine bay on the LHS:
Engine number is stamped on the crankcase near the front engine mount.
Chassis number is on the top of the chassis rail just forward of the cowl.
Vehicle number is stamped on the plate screwed to the face of the cowl.
The large embossed number stamped into the cowl is the thief proof number and does not identify the model.

The 1929 6th Series Standard Eight 626/633 cars have engine numbers running from 233017 to 276166. The chassis number and vehicle identification plate number should each have numbers within a few hundred of the engine number. Those numbers only identify the Series of the car ie 626 /633, not body style.
The number that identifies the original body is a small brass plate attached to the floor on the RHS in the rear passenger area. As yours has been converted to a truck it will have lost the body plate. If was a 626 Sedan then its body number would have been 333.

Are you sure there is a dash in the middle of the engine number, I have not seen that before, 240755 would identify your car as a Sixth Series Standard Eight. Check the other 2 numbers which should be very close to that number.

I hope that answers your question?

k3nn3th for including your '29 Standard Eight Sedan in the Registry. If it does turn out to be something other than that, you can always edit the entry if need be. And a suggestion, if you post some photos of the car and features you mentioned in the Registry entry it may assist in its identification.
And David for your input, I trust it helps k3nn3th in his quest to properly identify his Packard.

Hello all, thanks for the input.
First off, the BND and the crankcase numbers don't have a dash a I stated initially.My mistake.The numbers are where you stated. The engine remains (crankcase, crankshaft and block) are in the chassis but it appears from the numbers that they are not matching. I also have another motor, #347667, 1932?
BTW, I am basing my assumptions on the information I found on this website. Kudos.
The number plate on the firewall is gone and the frame is rusted where that number should be.I may be able to recover it with some CSI techniques.
What I find to be odd is that in the pictures and cars I've examined (at Hershey this year) a '29 cowl would be flat, not have the round bead on the cowl which is at the body line height where the hood side hinges.the bead flares before the windshield post and flows into the doors and up and over to a peak on top of the cowl at the center of the windshield.It is at about 23" above the frame rail at the widest point of the cowl.Seven series and '30 standards I've see look like this.(I will post some picture when I figure out how to PDF my digital pictures)but in the mean time I'm thinking it's a late sixth series or early seventh 4 door sedan body and may not be original to the chassis.It was definitely a 4 dr. as the center post remains and the rear door hardware is still there. The rear body header panel was neatly grafted on behind the front seats. I noticed that the rear axle hub requires a smaller hub cap than the front.I think this is also indicates a later model.
Like I said, I bought some Packard parts and a title as a package deal. It came from a Packard collectors barn in Virginia and the seller had a title assigned based on his best guess using the BDN. Not correct I know but I am stuck with it now. I would like to sort out the details before I register it. Pa will allow a correction with proper documentation.
There is so little of it, not particularly rare and in poor condition that I don't think it's worth a real restoration. I am considering leaving it as a truck and add a tow boom (there's evidence that it had a boom bolted to the frame) or, preferably re-creating a Jesse Vincent style speedster of my own design using the parts I have.
I'm looking forward to hearing anything that you may add to the discussion.

The "known" body dash or theft-proof numbers based on surviving cars or records.

1929: 000051-055197
1930: 101015-137116
1931: 138477-153319
1932: 154275-170579

OD:
I have learnt something, I did not know of the correlation of thief proof numbers to model.
k3nn3th:
What is BDN? It seems you don't have much to go on but the smaller sized rear hubs points to 7th Series as do the body mouldings if I understand it correctly, the hubs on the 6th Series are the same back and front.
Photos would help in providing better identification.

k3nn3th:I did not know of the correlation of thief proof numbers to model.


I've got a pretty good grasp on starting and ending points for theft-proof (a/k/a body dash numbers [BDN] or body serial numbers [BSN])by YEAR, but no correlation to body type within a year though when you have enough data to try a meaningful analysis you can sometimes pick out indications of production campaigns. See this page from one of my several articles on the theft-proof numbers; for 1934 it rather clearly hints production campaigns, especially for the Twelves. For this chart I had data on about 340 1934 cars but for 1929 I only have ever recovered data on about 40 vehicles - far to little to even attempt any meaningful analysis.

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David, I'm starting to feel like a boob. I have been looking at pictures of the car until yesterday. I uncovered it and removed the bonnet in daylight. The BDN is 137182. I stated it incorrectly previously. Twice. I think it's pretty clear that it's not only not a truck but not a Sixth Series nor a 1929. What would you say that it is? BTW I tried measuring the wheel base but the steering linkage is bent and is affecting the measurement. That said, I now think it's measurement is 127.5".
Thanks. This is very helpful.

Your BDN or theft-proof number is of particular interest to me as it falls into the unknown region in my database between the 6th and 7th series, so it's either a new highest-known 6th series number or a new lowest-known 7th series. The wheelbase you measure at 127.5" is almost certainly the 126" chassis (which actually measured 126.5") and that could be either a 626 or a 726 but the motor number, assuming it's original to the chassis, would indicate it's a 626 as DavidM has suggested.