When acquiring this Packard in February of 2007, we found it to be razor straight, rust and accident free, boasting all of its original interior. Only some of the chrome showed some pitting and the car had been repainted, decades ago.

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Always trying to preserve originality where possible, we decided on a sympathetic restoration, taking care of mechanical needs, some chrome replating, and a bare metal repaint in the car's original 1929 colors.

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Rather time consuming, we stripped the first layer of paint using razor blades and buckets of elbow grease, after which we were able to see the factory original, tri-color paint scheme. Albeit sanded and darkened, we discovered that the body was original green-beige, with dark olive accents, matching the original leather; the fenders were Mason's Black.

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We then proceeded to strip off the original paint and primer using aircraft stripper, then a dual action sander with 120 grit paper.

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As you can see, the body survived 80 years and a few major wars unharmed. Amazingly, there was no prior bodywork to be found anywhere!

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We've then taken off lights, fenders, running boards, convertible top, and luggage rack, and are getting the car ready for primer.

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We were able to obtain the original Packard paint formulas, had them converted and then mixed in--very expensive--DuPont Premium single stage acrylic enamel. We chose single stage paint, because that's the way the car was originally painted. It would have been much easier and much cheaper to got with a base/clear coat system, but we didn't want to cut any corners.
Looking at the finished car, we're glad we did!