Spreche ze duetch? Fantastic work Gerd. Always the man with a plan.

I lived on Mozart straza when I was little. My dad was in the usaf and we were stationed in Berlin for a time. Funny, we had a Chevy Vega at the time.

My 1954 Clipper Super Touring Sedan #5462-5901 (Chassis #5411) we determined in an earlier post has the 1953 Clipper brakes with 12" drums. I was hoping one of the knowledgeable Packard owners could straighten out a conflict I'm seeing regarding positioning of the shoes. There are "primary" and "secondary" shoes. According to a booklet on brakes (which I downloaded from this site) under "Bendix" brakes it shows a diagram of the brakes. The primary shoe has the shorter brake shoe material, the secondary the longer amount of material. It shows the primary shoe as being the "front" shoe during "forward drum rotation." The booklet goes on further to say, "Irrespective of the position in which the brake assembly is mounted on the axle, the Primary or Forward Shoe is always the one "ahead" of the anchor in the direction of forward rotation of the drum." That tells me that whether you are looking at the car on the left side or right side the primary shoe (the one with less braking material) is the one in front. This is the way the old brakes shoes were mounted when I began the brake job. In my 1954 Packard manual it seems to contradict that. It cites the "adjusting screw nut" for reference as follows, "On the left wheel brakes the adjusting screw nut is toward the secondary shoe. On the right wheel brakes the adjusting screw nut is toward the primary shoe." On this car on the left side the adjusting screw (star wheel) is oriented toward the front of the car. On the right side the adjusting screw is oriented toward the rear. Following the directive of the shop manual that makes the secondary shoe the front shoe on the left side and right side whereas Bendix says the primary shoe is the front shoe. Maybe it's another case of the 1954 manual being irrelevant because I have 1953 brakes. I sure am confused or "challenged!"
(Incidentally Northwestern Auto Supply in Grand Rapids, MI was a great source for relined shoes. They were even riveted. Shoes for all four corners were $120.)

On a related topic do one of you know the procedure for repacking the rear wheel bearings?

I have a 47 super clipper which has the 356 engine with a couple of different paint colors. Both are close but interested which is correct. I have seen pics of the 356 with same slightly different green colors. Then I checked the web sites and no one has a color chip-but describe it like the "Bell Green" which makes me wonder if the Kanters etc know what the stuff is suppose to be. I am always a bit leary of Kanter anyway. Thus the reason for the post.

Yo homie. Just wonderin what type of tranny fluid you were using before the gear oil boondogle? These ultramatics were designed to use type F not merc 3 or whatever.

Sign day pity on the runnin kind...

How about Pat, Trish, and Ann?????

I believe that Carib hardtop is in the Johnson County Museum in Coralville, not Coral City, Iowa. Coralville is a major suburb of Iowa City, where my daughter lived while her hubby went to law school at U of Iowa there. Much of Coralville was flooded 2 yrs ago in the big Iowa floods, we saw pics on the web of the damage - hope the car was not damaged.

On a related topic, I know of a very nice unrestored Carib hardtop that has been sitting in a barn since 1963. It is dirty but extremely solid, original and restorable. The guy that's owned it almost since new used to have a repair shop that worked mostly on Packards, starting in the 50s. Now he's had treatment for cancer and told me he'd sell it, as his son has no interest. It won't be cheap as he knows exactly what it is, but is fairly priced imo, considering it's rarity and condition. I've known about this car for about 10 years and talked to him just last week. If anyone is interested let me know by PM and I'll put you in contact. The only caveat is I have dibs on the Pat that's also in that barn and NOS parts!

Gerd, how many are on your staff? Are they all located in one bulding or are they scattered geograpically?? Or, are you perhaps a true magician? The pictures you bring to this forum are a true wonder. Thanks

to resurrect an old topic, I've seen what I believed to be original car/original engine 288's in green as well as gray.

But to the first point, don't try to match paint from a scanned chip - it's not even close to accurate.

I have had very good experience with the engine enamel mentioned - I think this is a good place to pay a few $ for an existing solution. It might be workable to match the gray, but I've seen generic green paint jobs and if you encounter another Packard you will immediately note the difference. The correct color is a gray shade green without much yellowmore of a sage - it looks nothing like 50's Olds V8 or Duesy greens.

Excellent illustration - now even I understand! ... Gerd U Da Man when it comes to explanatory pics!

What's wrong with the Treadle Vac currently instaled in your car???