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Back on the 8th February I posted the following in the Wade's Workshop Project Blog. I stated along the way I was going to continue posting in that blog. But since then I've come to my senses and will ask BigKev to CLOSE that Project Blog. To do so I'm starting this as a fresh Blog and I'm recreating my posts and will "duplicate" the posts made by others.

Wednesday, 8th February 2018

When I sold the '41 Coupe last year I thought that was it, I wouldn't be a Packard owner again. Well that wasn't to be. An email copy of The Colonial, magazine of the Canberra Antique and Classic Motor Club, entered my inbox last week and lo and behold it contained a For Sale Ad for a Packard.

The ad said "1949 Packard Eight, Very original example, recommissioned over the past two years after being in storage for more than a decade. Very good original interior, paint showing some minor patina in areas but very presentable overall. Drives beautifully! Work completed: Fully rebuilt brakes including master and slave cylinders, linings, drums machined, all new wheel bearings and seals; aComplete new exhaust system with stainless muffler; New suspension bushes front and rear; New rear Koni shocks; Rebuilt front suspension including upper out joints, pitman arm etc; Fully rebuilt carburettor; Rebuilt distributor, all new ignition components; New water pump, new radiator core, thermostat, connecting pipes and hoses etc; Thermo fan fitted for backup; Head gasket replaced; New alternator; New 'correct' battery; 5 new tyres. Looking to find a good home, reluctant sale. Number plates can be negotiated in the sale for ACT buyers"

One of main concerns that led me to sell the Coupe was my lack of mechanical skills. Well I think that now can be put to rest as I've found a mechanic, about a 10 minute walk away, who works almost exclusively on "older cars".

Then it was on to arranging an inspection, as it was about 200kms(120miles) away. But near enough to Peter Packard that I was able to call upon him to meet me and the seller at the arranged time and date. All went well, on inspection and on a drive with Peter at the wheel. I thought, old hand that he is, that Peter would be more attuned to this type of Packard. Passed the test, offer made, counter offer proposed and accepted, cash deposit made and I'm now on the way to being a Packard owner.......AGAIN!

Still have to arrange transport, have an inspection made for registration purposes and shepherd the paperwork through our registration system and then I'll be on the road.

Things to be attended to: 1) having the mechanical fuel pump rebuilt, its currently running on an electric pump only, 2) Right headlight bezel needs replacement because of a very rusty bottom section, 3) Check and fill front shocks with oil - little bouncy at present.

Besides things mentioned in the ad, other things the purists will not be pleased with: 1) Has been converted to 12V, not by the guy I bought it off, 2) Running a 350cfm Holley 2 barrel carb, although original carb and air cleaner come with the car, 3) Running radial tyres, 4) Turn key start, I think from a Holden, as part of the 12V conversion and 5) Probably lots of minor things as well. Anyway, this for me is a driver, so I'm quite happy to leave things as they are.

It is fitted with a radio a Ferris, which is Australian built. Not working at present and likely to stay that way as it is 6V and there aren't any decent AM stations where I live anyway!

And YES! I will be including it in the Packard Owner's Registry once ownership has passed.

Will have questions for sure.

O_D, Numbers could be "interesting", I'll post more about that soon.

Photos below are some the seller sent me and some taken today.

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Posts made by others after my initial post:

Owen_Dyneto on 8th February

Congratulations Mal!, looks to be a fine Packard and wishing you many happy miles in it.

Your theft-proof number fits neatly into a block of RHD cars, all 2392s.

HH56 on 8th February

Very nice Mal and congratulations. When you get it home and start doing any of the little things needed or when it is up on a lift I would be most interested if you could take some good photos of the linkages for clutch, brake, steering etc.

I sometimes wonder how much a RHD car differs in those respects from a LHD and how it was done. Did any of the major castings and forgings that were normally built for a linkage on the left side get mirrored or were the linkages extended over to the left and how. You don't see many specific right hand parts listed in the manual and with conversions being done in the field or by an agent, did they make their own castings etc or just modify the LHD item.

Owen_Dyneto on 8th February

.... and with conversions being done in the field or by an agent,..

Howard, curious just what you had in mind when you said this. After the closure of the Ontario plant in 1939, I always assumed the RHD cars which Packard offered were built as RHD in Detroit thru 1954. Perhaps local agents did conversions using local materials on models which Packard did not offer in RHD. And no doubt there was an aftermarket business in conversions.

HH56 on 8th February

Dave I could be confused but I remember reading a road test article from a British version of one of the old car magazines on a new 55 or 56 Clipper which had been shipped to the UK. I think I remember the article saying it was converted to RHD by a Packard agent.

That was what I was thinking of when asking about parts differences. Did Packard make special parts and ship them with a car sort of like the knock down kits and parts # info was only available to their importers or were any needed pieces fabricated in whatever country the car landed in.

Owen_Dyneto on 8th February

Howard, from what I know, Packard Detroit's last factory-built RHD cars were 1954 models, the 2 or 3 55/56 Packards were converted to RHD by Leonard Williams, the London Dealer. I don't think Packard ever intended to build any RHD 55/56 cars and the Leonard Williams jobs no doubt had some factory help but to what extent I don't know, but probably very little - given the survival priorities of the time 2 or 3 cars had to be about zero on the priority list. In any case though, the 55/56 situation is unique and different from what practices before then.

Indeed it's a shame we don't have a better picture of the RHD business; years back I hoped to write an article about it and advertised in the Cormorant News Bulletin for info from owners of RHD cars, but I never received enough info the write a meaninglful article. Maybe someone else can pick up the challenge.

HH56 on 8th February

It is just more curiosity on my part and we saw a small amount of info on the accelerator pieces from the 48 that is in the UK. If Mal can get some decent shots, the items I would mostly like to know about on all years are shift and clutch linkages. Did the trans have mirror image shift levers on the right or if not, how and where did the linkage get over to the left. The standard trans could have been done with mirror parts but I don't see how an Ultra could have any reversed levers. In either case where and how did they position and support things or to get past the engine to the left side if it was needed. Steering might be as simple as mounting a component or two end for end.

Mal's second post.

Thursday, 9th February 2018

Visited the workshop, WJR Automotive, to where the '49 will be delivered to on Wednesday 14th, February. Among the cars currently there were a Rolls Royce(Corniche, I think), an MGB, Jaguar, Mini Minor and a Porsche, pic's of some below.

Have arranged for a tilt tray truck to pick up the car and advise me when he is arriving at the workshop so I can meet him and the '49 when it arrives. Also arranged for Insurance on the '49 to start from Tuesday midnight although the towie tells me he's fully insured. Rather have my own cover anyway, Shannons is basically the company of choice in this State for "old" cars.

Also liaised with the current owner and will transfer the balance of funds to him early next week.

Thanks to the generosity of a Forum Member I have been offered a headlight rim(I called it a bezel!) to replace the rusted one on the '49 '50. Also a rear inside door handle.


But why the "'49 '50"? Because I believe it is an early 23rd Series '50 model, built late '49, imported into Australia and sold late '49. The VN of 2392-5-42982 identifies it as a '50. I don't know yet about the finer identifiers in the Packard Model Info section for a 2392. Will have to check those out when the '49 arrives. I will probably register it as a '49 because that is the way it has previously registered. I don't want to get into an argument with the bureaucracy, where they dig their heels in and won't register it because of a minor discrepancy. In this case ignorance is bliss. And when it's rolling on the road there will be very, very few arguing on the sidelines whether it's a '49 or '50. Will, if the consensus here is that it's a '50, include it as such in the Registry. Engine Number H285603 is interesting in that the 1950 Model Year information says this in the paragraph at the top of the page: "Engine numbers for the Standard/Deluxe Eights were H-200001 to H-291000 for 1949 (Series 2300) models and continued through H-295000 for 1950 (Series 2300-5) models." Seems to be a discrepancy there in that it is a '49 engine in a '50 body. Maybe the Guru's (O_D or others?) can shed some light if I've misread or misinterpreted the info?

Howard, Re your requests of "I would be most interested if you could take some good photos of the linkages for clutch, brake, steering etc.", and "we saw a small amount of info on the accelerator pieces from the 48 that is in the UK. If Mal can get some decent shots, the items I would mostly like to know about on all years are shift and clutch linkages." I've asked WJR Automotive to tell me when it's up on the hoist and I'll scoot over there, only minutes away, to take photos. Might even be the day it arrives that they put it up on the hoist without too much delay. But, concerning the accelerator pieces, because this car has a 350cfm Holley I don't know if that linkage was altered.

Also tried to include a couple of photos of the '49 '50, probably taken in the Eighties. Photos were sent to me by the guy who bought my Coupe, thanks Frank. Couldn't copy them, but this tech Luddite will keep trying.

To be continued.......

EDIT - Sorry for the upside down photos, having the same problem here downunder! I "inherited" my daughters old iphone and I think this a common problem when trying to upload photos taken by them

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Post made by Owen_Dyneto after my second post:

Mal, no doubt that by vehicle number it's a 23rd Series 1950. By the theft-proof, it falls in with other 23rd Series 1950 RHDs but that block of numbers (theft-proof or body serial numbers) is bracketed by normal 22nd series production. Thus we might assume the bodies to be RHD cars were designated, set aside and later finished as a batch production run at a date after the 22nd Series production had ended, in fact after the 1949 23rd Series run had ended. We can see much the same thing with the 1952 RHD cars; they have body serial or theft-proof numbers for 1951 but the cars weren't completed until 1952, and so numbered.

Post in response to O_D's:

Dave,
for the excellent explanation. Clearly and simply explains the situation and circumstances.

Further post:

Haven't been able to fix the downunder photos but was able to scan and upload the photos from Frank of the '49. Sorry for the poor quality.

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In response was a post by Guscha:

Quote:...When I sold the '41 Coupe last year I thought that was it...

Mal, congratulation! The color of the 49 50 is great.
Send to me the scans from Frank to have them a little revitalized.

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Thankfully Gerd's photos came out the right way up after I saved and used them!

Then a post by traumjaegercat:

Welcome back Mal. Lots of fun soon to be had with your new acquisition. Sounds like the radio could be a job for your old offsider Wade? I'm sure he would like to get his teeth into making it work again. Keep us informed with one of your blogs on the getting to know the new Packard.
All the best
T

My responses on 9th February:

Gerd,
My wife also likes the colour, very important!

Because I couldn't save a copy in a format for posting on PackardInfo I printed out Frank's scan and rescanned it so it probably lost a lot of definition because of my clumsiness.

It didn't take you long to revitalise the photos. Now I'll have to try and post them!

Also thanks for turning my other photos right way up.

Terry,

Yes, I'm somewhat excited with the new machine. Probably continue posting here in the Wades Workshop Blog, I've enjoyed doing it over the years and will continue it.

As to Wade rebuilding the radio, I'm sure he would but it's a 6V set in what is now a 12V car. Instead I'll leave it as a show piece and plug something modern into the 12V which can pull in FM stations instead of the 6V Ferris which is AM only. Wade's finishing off some mechanical refreshments on a '39 120 Convertible Coupe then will be concentrating on Eleanor, or as it's been irreverently referred to here quite often "The Fossil", his '34 Club Sedan. Since moving north over 4 years ago he literally hasn't laid a spanner(wrench) on it because he's been kept busy fixing OPP's(Other Peoples Packards) instead of his. That will change soon!