Great to hear you are getting your '49 back on the road. It's a labor of love for sure. Hopefully your engine isn't as bad as this one. Every single valve was seized to some extent. None were free. I'm still battling the last four intake valves with little to no progress.

It's attached to my head, so wherever my head moves it moves too. If I attach to my chest all you see is the steering wheel.

The carb is having issues that I have been unable to fully diagnose. If I leave it in gear too long when coming to a stop the engine stalls. Hence me having to pop it into neutral before a stop. This issue has been intermittent but frequent enough to be a real problem. The carb has been rebuilt but the problem remains. The brakes have been thoroughly gone through recently and work excellently. Slight pressure on the pedal stops the car, heavy pressure will lock up all four wheels. This car is not yet ready for regular driving or touring. Not until I work out all the issues.

@freewake84 It could be that the clutch is not disengaging? Does the net not supply you with some kind of answer?

@@keith4886 It's possible that the clutch is part of the problem. It happens mostly when coming down from speed in 2nd or 3rd gear. I'm leaning towards the carb being the issue because there are other running issues that point to the carb. But if the clutch is not fully disengaging then that could be part of the problem. I'm a member over at the Packard Info forums and we've been troubleshooting over there. But I didn't have much time this last year to do anything with the car so I haven't made much progress. Hopefully this Spring I can really dig into it and get it figured out. There are so many things that could be contributing to the problem that a Google query won't necessarily solve it. I've spent a lot of time looking around for answers, but I think my best chance of success will come from guys who are familiar with the pre-war cars inside and out. I've tried a few things but none of what I've done has solved it.

When I put it back in I will be using the 2 post vehicle lift to put it back. It should make it much easier. The reason I didn't take off the grille was to test how hard it would be to remove the engine/trans with everything attached. I have another car ('54 Panama) that I will remove the engine and trans on, and I'd prefer not to remove everything on the front end to get the engine out. If I fabricate up a bar to fit on the 2-post lift, I should be able to pull an engine/trans up and out of the car in a matter of minutes. Just need to remove the hood and cut the radiator cross bar. I'll weld it back up when I reinstall the engine.

@@PackardProjects That whole assembly is scarry heavy ! I pulled a 52' Buick straight 8 with Dynaflow and the hoist was highly stressed , you got a good handle on it.

@@28704joe Agreed, the entire assembly is very heavy and awkward. With the trans attached and the all the engine accessories the whole thing is just shy of 1000 lbs. Right at the limit of what I had the hoist set to. It will be much easier and safer to use the 2 post lift next time.

I keep the nuts on the t-bolts because it makes putting the tank back in a little easier. Less things to line up and hold in place. But definitely need to use a jack to help get the t-bolts back in place. I agree with the vent tube hose. Pain the rear to get it off sometimes.

I do love the 2-door sedans. I would love to save this one if possible. But a lot of it depends on if I can replace the floors, and the condition of the engine and transmission. I'm not sure that I'll do a full restoration with paint and correct upholstery. This one may end up more of a rusty driver. But if I can get it back on the road I will.

@@PackardProjects I have a '53 Clipper Deluxe 4-door, 327ci, 3-spd+OD. Upholstery is split under driver and under back window. No surface rust, but some perforation in left rocker. Shines when I polish it. I probably won't do a complete restoration. It brings me joy.

Nice. Very similar to this one in options. Except this one has no power antenna.

The owner before me had replaced the Bendix TreadleVac with some sort of a dual master cylinder. I can't be certain but I believe it's out of an older Ford vehicle. He shoehorned the brake pedal in there as well. The set up works, but not as well as the factory set up. It takes more force to brake than it should. But the dual master is nice as a safety factor. I may change it back to original at some point but I would need to repair the damage done when the non-factory master was put in.

Thanks, it's a work in progress still. I'm trying to get it as close to original as possible, but there are some things that won't be correct. The paint is not factory colors, but I likely will not be changing it anytime soon. The brakes were converted by a previous owner to a dual master cylinder, which I will probably leave alone for now. Everything else is as original though.

Glad you liked it. I enjoy the POV-type videos also. I'll do some more as time allows.

Clutches on Packards are vacuum-assisted, as are the brakes on some. Power clutches, power brakes, but they hadn't quite worked out power steering yet LOL - and with an engine that weighs about 900 pounds, parallel parking is a challenge!

@@richardkryston2990 thanks👍. I have 52 Mayfair coupe, but love the 1920s/30s styling.

I have a Mayfair and unfortunately my seats were retrimmed in vinyl years ago. It looks ok, but I prefer the cloth. Do you have radial or bias tires? I’m thinking of getting mine on radials to make it less boaty.

Yes, still getting used to driving this car. On my daily driver(Audi 4.2L) they are known to burn oil due to valve seals and rings, so one practice to avoid this is to pop it in neutral when decelerating to avoid heavy negative pressures in the combustion chambers. Muscle memory from driving that car is tough to break.

Point-of-view. Camera mounted on my head so you see what I see.

Thanks! Yes, Panama was the hardtop in 1954 for the Junior (Clipper) line. It continued in 1955. The Pacific was a one year only name (1954) and it was in the Senior (Packard) line. From 1951-1953 the hardtop was called the Mayfair. On the 1951-1954 models the optional backup lights were mounted below the trunk. 1955 is the year you are thinking of that had the backup lights immediately below the sore thumb tailights. Lots of small changes in the 50's for Packard. Many things were only found on a single year and single model.

@@PackardProjects I grew up in Coastal Virginia and we used Naval Jelly and/or Coke to remove surface 'pits' on the chrome from the salt air.

@@jerrycallender7604 I've seen some similar things done to remove rust pits and such on chrome. I've had mixed success. Definitely an improvement, but not a perfect solution. At some point I'm just going to have to have my front bumper repaired and rechromed. The smaller pieces like interior bits can stay the way they are.

Thanks. I'm glad that I've been able to get it back on the road. It would have stayed in that barn indefinitely and continued to languish and deteriorate. With any luck I hope to bring back to original as closely as possible.

​@@PackardProjectsJust watched your interior dismantle, amazing. You have impressive knowledge and outcomes. Just wondering, does this Clipper still have it's fender skirts?

@@neildickson5394 ​ Thanks. I've taken apart much of the interior before (when I first got the car) but had never done the steering column and dash. Thankfully I had other knowledgeable Packard guys give me a few tips. Once I repaint the trim and dash, get the seats reupholstered, and install new windlace, the interior should be complete. I already did the headliner, carpet, and door panels. Also cleaned the entire interior down to bare metal, repaired rust, epoxy primer, and then applied sound insulation to all surfaces. I didn't take any video of those things though (two years ago). I do have fender skirts that I can repaint to go on the car. But the owner before me did a bunch of bodywork around the rear wheel wells. Apparently there was a good amount of rust there. But one of the openings for fender skirts wasn't done perfectly so the front curve doesn't match the skirt. I've left them off because of that. It'll take some serious work to get it corrected.

@@PackardProjects I appreciate your detailed reply. I have owned several Studebaker's, but never a legendary Packard. My 64 Studebaker GT Hawk had stainless headliner bows, I think 3. No longer own it. Anyway, I think this was a feature passed on to Studebaker from Packard from it's hardtop models. I see you redid your headliner, and it looks great. Did it come with these stainless strips originally? I also noticed the seatbacks ropes were missing. I'm not nitpicking, only observing and wondered if the car came to you that way. Most people who watch these videos are already keen on these cars. An example is that Packard script on the blue 200 sedan you did a video on. As it was a 52, and had a 51 hood, most people would never know, but a Packard man would catch it. You, of course kindly pointed that out. I see your models are pre James Nance Presidency 1952. Do you favor these 51-52 models?

@@neildickson5394 The stainless headliner bows were present on the 1954 Packard hardtop (the Pacific) but the Panama's did not have them, being from the lower priced Clipper line. The ropes on the seatbacks were missing when I got the car, and the passenger seat had been reupholstered poorly. I was able to source some original rope and mounting hardware, which I'm currently cleaning up. I'll have it recovered along with the seats. I do like the '51-54 models. They are relatively easy to find and work on, and parts are not too expensive. The '56 model year is also a favorite of mine. I do like prewar models but I have limited experience with them.

Thanks! It's very much a work in progress but I'm enjoying every minute of it. Next up on the list is to clean up and paint the engine, then figure out what I'm going to do with the seat covers.

Thanks, been working on getting back on the road for some time. It's big, heavy, but elegant at the same time.