1939 Packard Custom
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That windshield frame looks soo good on it, and so do the Buick headlights.
Enjoy the beauty of Customizing
Pic above is a gorgeous Swiss, Graber bodied 120. At least a couple must have been built. Must have gone to Europe as a chassis and cowl and not much else.
My Buick  headlights arrived and they are in fabulous condition. Swapped the swaged headlight rings for the ones on the 39 Chev ones I planned to use. Should really suit the long hood.Â
The whitish headlight is the larger diameter original. Can’t wait to get some Packard time again.Â
I always like to be planning several steps ahead. I really want to drop the floor at least 50 mm. More like 75mm to 100mm. I saw this 39 Packard chassis on display at Gilmore in Michigan last year. Little did I know that it would come in handy .
Working on both Jensens and the 260z recently,
made me think like a unibody. On both, the sill becomes the structure. The original side rails are rusty and thin and come diagonally through the footwell. . By widening the side rails out to the sill line I can drop the floor between the rails. The X member can then be sectioned and beefed up.It might look like a lot of work but I have to do it anyhow.
In most cars that need the extra room because of channeling or because they are just small, it’s usually the seat back and foot well that could do with moving and provide the most benefit. For seat bases you can usually shorten/thin or raise them.
As a reference, my Caddy is approximately 26″ from top of the cowl to the floor, measured at the steering column. I think it would have been possible to reduce that with at least 2 more inches and still drive comfortable.
Thanks for that Bert. I was thinking of asking you for that dimension as a reference but you beat me to it. I’ll check tomorrow.
Good news. Armed with Bert’s 26inch dimension to the top of the dash at the wheel,  I checked the Packard and it’s 26 1/4 inches. So I had a look at the footwell and it is easy to drop down. Sat on a 5 inch chair cushion and it wasn’t as bad as I originally thought. So the chassis can stay as it is. Thanks again Bert.
I know I post a lot but documenting all the small steps is just as important as the big steps. Yesterday I replaced the inner flange and the double layer area around the taillight on the rear guard. Surprisingly the rear guards are straight and strong. Front guards are a floppy mess and will require major surgery but I’m confident to embark on them shortly.Â
Small or large updates, it’s all fun to see. I enjoy the “little” stuff too, it is all important progress.
Mitch
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