It is a good example of Packard craftsmanship and deserves a place alongside any Packard at a gathering.

those bezels thread on to the threads on the front-pilot of the individual switch assemblies. There is a special tool required, but you can make one yourself easily. Take the knob off of the shaft of the switches you wish to remove. You will see a hexagonal shape around the shaft on the bezel. That is the "drive" for the nut holding the bezel on. Buy a 1/4" wide x1" long aluminum (hexagonal) electrical circuit board stand-off from radio shack or other electronics supplier. Drill through the length of stand-off (starting with the smaller diameter female threaded end) with a drill bit larger than the diameter of the shaft of the switch. That in essence is the tool, you can mount it in a wooden handle like a nut driver, or simply use a 1/4" wrench to turn it.

Good on 'Ya, mate!

Mr. Pushbutton here!, checking in after his sojourn to Kansas (where I got a ride in the hybrid synergy drive Patrician!)

Check all of the above things the other esteemed '56 owners have pointed out and get back to us. we'll get you running again. Look at my post re: Pushbuttons from about a month ago, I threw out a good deal of info on that one (it is under the V-8 forums)

DON'T TAKE THE MOTOR OFF OF THE ACTUATOR UNLESS YOU ABSOLUTELY KNOW IT IS COOKED (it never is) chances are there is a power problem as Randy recommends or there is a bent finger in the actuator, in which case you'll really want to read my last P-B post re: access to the finger bridge.

Aren't there two versions, one with the extra A/C pulley and one without? I'm not where I can look at a parts book.
I think those were balanced with the crank @ Utica, ergo the differences in the number of holes.

Tom wrote:
"Well even thou my car in not a V-8 you all can swing by my place with some paint brushes and help me paint old Bessie. I will supply the "

You should never paint a car with a brush-never!


Use a roller, it's faster

John--let me first apologize to you for not getting back to you re: the copy of the letter you sent to Stu. I received it, mulled it over and life got busy (My wife and I have a 6 year old and a 3 year old and we both have careers) I put the letter in my "to-do" pile with good intentions and lots of other tings came up.
I have been social with Stuart (and Stella) for about 20 years, we really only talk at Perrysburg and Hershey. Stuart has been the V-8 roster keeper, we both own the same car, and Stella and I share a love for Laurel and Hardy movies. I don't go to PAC conventions, and am not enmeshed in the fabric of PAC politics. I offered to write an article for the Cormorant about the Conner assembly plant based on a rather exciting find I made of some never-before published photographs and records I discovered through my work. Stuart is no different than any other club publication editor, he needs content (most often quality content in the case of the Cormorant, silly 1965 V-12 hoaxes notwithstanding) I could provide the goods, and I did--on a volunteer basis, as is always the case.
If you recall we talked about your sending me all of your thoughts and clarifications on your dear friend Brad Berry (a man I never had the pleasure of meeting) In any order that they came to you, and I would take these and write into a piece that would either be an article or a long letter to the editor that would explain "the Brad Berry that I knew?. The goal being to give depth and understanding to a person you knew far better than Stu. As I said on the AACA forums, ranting at Stuart isn't going to produce a piece he's going to want to see in print in the club's publication, it's not called the
"Corm-O-RANT". A gentle, passionate explanation of the facets of a man you knew well should, and I will urge Stu to run it in the interest of peace and understanding, not that I have any particular state of favor other than having just contributed an article. Send me those thoughts, I pledge to you I won't let it get lost in paper stack 13 in my home office and in one week's time I'll fashion it into an article, and campaign it with the editor. You can PM me here, or send it directly to my home email, 56packman(at)twmi(dot)rr(dot)com (I express it this way to discourage spammers, you know how it should really look). Again, I apologize for not getting back to you on your initial letter, but I'll do what I can to help you clear the air about Brad. If you put your thoughts into a document file it's a good idea to copy and paste them into email text in case there are software incompatibilities (as is often the case) I have made a habit of doing this in my big writing projects (I write for another hobby publication, non-automotive in nature) and that saves a lot of time.

JL

fellow V-8 folks, check out the 1955,1956 and show car catagories, I downloaded a bunch of pictures from my 8 x 10 collection, mostly V-8 cars. I also sent a 41 Cliper photo shoot shot and a 1933 interior shot

JL

I was at the 2006 PAC convention in Detroit, and helped in a small way to help bring it off. The observation of the 50th anniversary of the demise of Packard as a stand-alone Detroit automaker was a big focus of the event, there was a special circle of cars at the Wednesday event at the proving grounds where one of every 1956 model was displayed. The attendance was very good and the number of cars registered was terrific, and there were a large number of 1956 models present. Yes, we did have an emphasis on the proving grounds project, where it has been a cut-bait-or-fish year, several kind donations were made by PAC Packard owners as a result of the convention that have helped that project immensely at this crucial time. The meet did not focus solely on the PPG.
I led a two bus tour of 121 people to several important historical sites of Detroit automotive history, including the Packard plant and the site of the Conner V-8 assembly plant (we actually parked the busses on the site of the plant), so in that way we celebrated the 1956 models, 1955 too!
I did not hear as much grumbling like the comments Mr. Persall made in the Cormorant, and in general have not heard much of that from (most) PAC members. There is another club, one that sells red baseball caps, consisting of self-made men who have Roman numerals following their name and who run businesses started by previous generations of their family (not all, but many) having a vocal contingent who HATE anything postwar, really starting with the introduction of the 120 and 110 models, and who truly wish Packard died with ACD, Pierce Arrow, Peerless, Marmon and the other premium brands that did not survive the 30's. When that talk starts it's time to turn the other cheek.
I just wrote and submitted an article that will appear in the next issue of the Cormorant about the history of the Conner Ave. assembly plant, Briggs manufacturing and Chrysler's acquisition of Briggs, with many never-before seen photos of the Conner plant--Mr.Persall will have to suffer through that!

The Perrysburg weekend dates have been moved to the third weekend in May (18-20th). We could have a Great Lakes region V-8 hootenanny there!