Question on painting Packard staff car

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Question on painting Packard staff car

Post by signsup » Thu Aug 22, 2019 9:38 am

A friend has asked for help in turning a civilian Packard into a WWII staff car. And, I want to know how much to bite off. Were the WWII staff cars built at the factory for the military and would every painted square inch be OD green? Or, like the jeeps that ended up at the Navy or Mrines, just painted over the outside or visable surfaces and under the hold, firewall, etc. left the original civilian paint color?

The car does not look like it needs a frame off restoration, but if it all needs to get painted OD green, it will need to get taken down.

Any guideance appreciated.
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Re: Question on painting Packard staff car

Post by Frank USMC » Thu Aug 22, 2019 4:42 pm

Robert
Do not know on factory cars....but someone correct me if I am wrong, didn't the military also buy up cars that were already delivered to car dealerships? and their was a "military kit" that had all the military black out stuff to ad to the civilian car to make it military for night driving. Over the years I have picked up a couple of sets of the blackout light assemblies that mounted on the fenders of the civilian cars.
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Re: Question on painting Packard staff car

Post by gerrykan » Thu Aug 22, 2019 5:19 pm

Like Frank, I have always heard that after a certain date, the Government had control of all 1942 new auto/truck inventory, and diverted the vehicles either to Government agencies including the armed forces, or high priority users (such as defense contractors, doctors, farmers, etc).
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Re: Question on painting Packard staff car

Post by Ernie Baals » Sun Aug 25, 2019 8:35 am

Hi Factory staff cars, were od.
the also had standard military lighting and switches, and depending on model ( Ford, Chevy, Plymouth , dodge etc) quite a few other spec items.
Procurement cars, were just that. Taken from stock for gov use.
they could have been painted od, or left the color it was, there was also a military light kit for staff cars to put standard military lighting on a procurement car, These kits pop up for sale every now and then.
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Re: Question on painting Packard staff car

Post by signsup » Sun Aug 25, 2019 8:42 am

So, again, would a WWII staff car be painted OD green inside the doors, under the hood, engine bay, instide the trunk, axles, frame, etc? If the military procured a factory car off the dealer lot, would they disassemble the car for paint, or just paint OD green what they could without taking the engine out of the car?
Was it factory upholstery? Or did the military rip out the new upholstery and cover with leather or canvas?

I think we can take this Packard down to the frame and paint everything OD green, but the question is . . . is that correct for a WWII staff car?
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Re: Question on painting Packard staff car

Post by Ernie Baals » Sun Aug 25, 2019 9:13 am

if it was made at the factory as a staff car, yes painted olive drab every where
if procurement. either not repainted at all, or just surface shot, like a navy jeep
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Re: Question on painting Packard staff car

Post by Frank USMC » Sun Aug 25, 2019 9:21 am

What Ernie said...
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Re: Question on painting Packard staff car

Post by signsup » Sun Aug 25, 2019 12:49 pm

The owner is thinking a tribute car to either MacArthur or Eisenhower, both of whom had a Packard at one time in their positions. So I am presuming those would be from the factory, not off a lot and given the motor pool treatment.
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Re: Question on painting Packard staff car

Post by Ernie Baals » Sun Aug 25, 2019 12:59 pm

Mac Arthur's Packard was a special order from the general it looks to be 100% od, And Packard did make factory cars in 1942. not many though
It is still around today, i forget what museum it is in.
Most of the time you saw Eisenhower in a Cadillac, That would have been a procurement, probably a request from his staff, as Caddy never made staff cars. and from pictures you can tell the interior is very civilian plush
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Re: Question on painting Packard staff car

Post by 70th Division » Tue Aug 27, 2019 8:45 pm

Hello,

I also believe most the big Packard sedans had factory AC as standard in 1942.
The " Weather-Conditioner ", a trunk-mounted air conditioning system manufactured by Bishop-Babcock Manufacturing.

Packard did make about the best, highest quality American cars ever,
during their glory days !!


I think Ike and MacArthur has AC in their Packard staff cars.
I don't know if Cadillac had that option, but Ike used a Cadillac also.

Good Luck,
Ray

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Re: Question on painting Packard staff car

Post by signsup » Mon Sep 02, 2019 4:00 pm

And, this may be sacreligious, but I have some late war WWII OD green in semi gloss. Might make it look a little more "important" than a entire flat hood, fender, top, truck, etc. That's a lot of surface area. Might do broadcloth interior. I'll start a restoration thread when we actually get it in the shop, end of September.
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Re: Question on painting Packard staff car

Post by Ernie Baals » Mon Sep 02, 2019 5:12 pm

For a high officer in a rear area. semi gloss would not be out of the question!!
Can't wait to see pictures!!
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Re: Question on painting Packard staff car

Post by signsup » Sat Oct 05, 2019 10:20 am

Ernie,
I'll probably start a separate thread for the restoration sometime in the next few weeks, but here is one image to get us started. Ready for pick up in MI. This time next week she'll be in the shop.
tc 1.jpg
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Re: Question on painting Packard staff car

Post by Ernie Baals » Sat Oct 05, 2019 1:09 pm

Looks very solid!!
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