I'll take some photos in the morning, now that it's back down on the ground.
Tried to get her started yesterday but no compression, about 30-40 psi per hole. That means the rings are stuck.It takes about 70 to go varoom so it looks like she is ready to part or sell whole.
If I could just get it warmed up, I'll bet the rings would loosen. It looks great off the jacks & the leveling system has it sitting pretty. Bummer.
I missed a great '57 Pontiac the other day on CL so maybe I'll buy the '55 400 in Oregon?? really want a'56 though.
If you need a rock solid & complete '56, let me know. I will write it up soon for the classifieds.

I have thought that for a 50's car, some of the GM carpet with the metallic thread (think Pontiac) would look pretty sharp.

Progress!
Took a piece of 1/2 inch copper pipe, squeezed it in the vice and it fit the oil pump perfectly so I pumped oil for a good minuet. Threw some jumpers on the car and the TL came up a good foot. Yay.
Hit the starter & click. Good news is there are lights & blower but no windows or horn yet. :(
The starter looked pretty good, though I went through it and it tests fine. Now under the hood,something else goes click. Spun the motor over with a jumper and got a penetrating oil shower...(plugs were out) She might just live! Next the dizzy goes back in, a little gas too and we'll see. The 8 year old niece thinks it's pretty cool, she watched for ? an hour :)

Where were we...
The distributor is out & the pump shaft is round with 2 flats so maybe a tool will need to be fabricated to drive the oil pump? I will re fill the cylinders before trying to turn her over.
We mounted 1 new (to me) tire to replace the 9.00X15 tire date coded 1963! What a huge tire. Also pulled out the old carpet & trunk liner.
Next I think I will try to raise the rear, I'm a long way from putting a battery in the car but can I just disconnect the wires to the TL motor and apply 12 volts to raise/lower it?
Also replaced a damaged trunk hinge, lowered the trunk & wrecked the new hinge. :(
Let's see what the weekend brings?

So I am checking out the Packards in the local salvage yard & I see a '56 Hudson 4dr. I look inside and there is the clutch peddle and a little plastic nob that says "overdrive"
Oh, this could be good! But the hood is stuck.

I check back in the office & the old timer says "that car has the big v-8 in it. The whole stick change over? I'd need about $300 for that."

Well I'm about to have one of those medical deals that could last more than 4 hours...

The guys pull the car back to the shop & piles some tires under it and that oil pan didn't quite look like a Packard. Only one exhaust pipe too..

Seems it had the Hudson flat head 6 in 'er with a T-96

Well, I guess that motor is worth while to the Hudson folk & it's priced right.

For a Minute, the day was looking pretty good!

Took me a while to figure things out, met a good guy at a swap this weekend & I'd like to contact him. once you start looking, there are Packards everywhere!

I would like to do a search of user names.
Is there a trick to it?

I am off on my journey!

The license plate is from California & the sticker is from 1968 so...

Step 1 was to pull all the plugs & hose down the cylinders with PB blaster. I was pleased to see the plugs were very clean with no sign of nasty stuff going on inside.

The valve covers came off & again, everything looked really clean inside. I squirted down all the valve stems just in case things get "sticky" when I try to turn her over.

I will pull the dizzy and spin the oil pump next but I thought I would go ahead and throw a breaker bar on the crank since thing looked so promising.
Well, things didn't budge so I may need to try the starter to turn it over, Or maybe use a bar/screw driver on the ring gear?

My initial questions are: How do I tell if it is a 374.
How do I raise the rear bumper? Can the leveling system be
operated manually?

Just dragged home a '56 400, a rock solid and complete California car.
The black plate say 1968 and I wonder if that is the last time it ran??
It will be a project to evaluate just what I have, it may be just a parts car but we'll see.
Future updates will be in the project blog.
Wish me luck!

First thought is that the second gauge also could be erratic, I have seen it happen.
If the motor is quiet, you could pull a valve cover and see if things are oiling correctly. Maybe dump a can of "motor honey" in while it is warm & running and watch the gauge.
It's always possible a chunk is caught in the pressure relief valve...
My compliments on taking your time and doing it right.
Best wishes!