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Hello,
I'm new to the world of Packards and am going to be looking at one this weekend. I was wondering if there is anything Packard-specific that I should be looking for as a sign that the car has a lot of problems. I know the normal stuff like checking the frame for rot, running a magnet on the sides to check for bondo & that. I'm just wondering if there are anything that comes to mind as a problem in Packards that I should look for.

It's a 1952 Packard 4-door. Images are below (sorry they're small. they're from it's posting online)

http://images.craigslist.org/3n23kf3p35Q25S35R499a0f7a7dbc01801510.jpg

http://images.craigslist.org/3n93p93l45O95Pd5R799ab892842256c21d1d.jpg

http://images.craigslist.org/3n63p53l35Qe5P95Ra99aff4b8a18faef1eef.jpg

Appears to be the bottom of the line model 200.It should have a 288 cid straight eight with solid lifters.If it has Ultramatic Transmission, you will want to make sure that the trans shifts smoothly.These can be costly to repair.These are nice cars but do not have much value so make sure that it is a solid car that will not require an arm and a leg to repair.

Thanks. The car is under $1,000 with a parts car & service manual. The owner says it runs, drives and should be roadworthy. I'll make sure to check the shifting.

Thanks for your help & if I get it, I'll be sure to add it to the directory.

Be on the look out for our old friendly enemy Mr. Rust...especially on an upstate NY car!

I've got my refrigerator magnet and I'm also bringing my laptop & a digital camera. I find that sometimes you can't see underneath very well, so I stick the digital camera under it & aim it in the general direction, take a photo & look at it on my laptop. It saved me from buying a car that looked good everywhere you could easily check without putting it up on a lift.

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G'day and to PackardInfo. in advance for the commitment to add it to the Owner Registry, saves me going into my usual spiel at this point! Besides the major items mentioned by others, don't overlook the smaller things like knobs, handles, trim pieces, etc try to ensure it's as complete as possible.

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Great minds think alike! It's astounding what you will see in a photo that the nekkid eyeball misses. Besides, except for the batteries digital photos are free so go crazy and snap away!

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East Grand Packards Car Club is The Upstate New York State Region of The Packard Club.http://www.eastgrandpackards.com/index.html

Might be helpful to join the club?

Depending on how you see the "final product", that is if you plan on doing restoration work to improve the looks of the car, be advised that the grille shell on that car is one-piece die cast, and expensive to replace or rechrome. Mechanically those cars are fine, with the proviso about the Ultramatic already given.

Thanks for that. From the pictures I couldn't tell if it was 1 piece or 2. I'm guessing it would be what... about $1,000 to re-chrome the front piece? Maybe a little more?

If I get her, I'd want to fully restore it. I probably won't get it all re-chromed right off, but I'm definitely going to get the rust sanded off of it. I envision the final product being painted in an original color (probably one of the two blues that were offered in '52) and fully re-chromed.