There is a guy on Killbillet.com who has a roadster with a Packard engine. His is blown and pretty trick. I forget his user name, but if you can't get an answer here, post the question over there and I bet he will have some answers for you. I get the impression he knows his stuff on Packards.
They were actually pretty bulletproof engines. If it ran two years ago, that is a good thing. Here is what I would do:
1) Pull all the plugs and shoot a bunch of Marvel Mystery Oil into each hole, then crank it over (with a breaker bar preferably) to distribute the oil and see how it turns over.
2) Do a compression check on each cylinder. This will tell you a lot of things, like if any valves are stuck, and if the engine is pretty even across the board.
3) Clean each plug and reinstall it.
4) Do NOT put any fuel into the existing fuel tank. It is most probably filled with trash and rust and you will suck that up into the engine. Use a Jerry Can with gas in it and run your fuel line into that clean gas source.
5) Buy one of those litte $ 5 spark checkers that go between the spark plug wire and the plug and light up if there is spark while cranking. See if you have any spark.
6) If not, go into the distributor and see if you are getting juice to the points by having the key on and manually opening and closing the points with a screwdriver. You should get a spark there if it is getting juice.
7) Once you have spark to the plugs, look down into the carb and see if it squirts gas when you pump it. It is probably varnished up from sitting, but I have seen miracles happen.
8) Then try starting it, maybe with some starting fluid to help it kick. BTW, this car MIGHT be 6 Volt, so if you put 12 volts in it you will burn up some stuff. I'm not sure so you might want to see if it is 6 or 12.
Good luck,
Don
