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I tried silicone spray with the tube/straw but that didn't seem to help. I'll keep working at it.

I've been running a stiff metal putty knife around under it and prying hard to where the lip is likely to break off and it's not budging in the slightest.

Okay, this should be pretty straightforward. I need to remove the horn button but I can tell whoever installed it last didn't do so correctly. I can make out what appears to be a rubber ring but it's curled partly inside the horn ring and partly exposed from it. The button is cocked a little.

The problem is when I try to pry the button out it's on the verge of what feels like could break it, yet it won't budge. Any tips on how to remove it intact? It's in nice shape and I don't want to ruin it.

Yes, I recently installed LED headlights. What a difference they made. Granted the incandescents were old which probably reduced their intensity from new but they really were like candles compared to the new LEDs. The upgrade was quite literally like night and day.

I didn't get them from that source though. They came from a place called Headlight Experts. They are glass and not polarity sensitive so work in the '55. H6024LED They were $180 with free 2-day shipping. Their profile is a little flatter, not so rounded, but do throw a more defined beam.

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The #57 has a BA9S base, which is a 9mm miniature bayonet -- in SAE 0.35", or 0.41" inclusive of the pins. I pulled the lamp from the socket and that's what is printed on it, 57.

I found an LED lamp with this base that is not polarity sensitive, but does not come in red. Both are 1" end-to-end. A buck apiece.
https://www.amazon.com/Serundo-Auto-3030Chips-Interior-Instrument/dp/B07W8G835M

It's going to be even brighter, but less heat.

Since the high beam indicator lamp does not need to be dimmable, I wonder if one of the #57 LED lamps would fit, perhaps in red. They would put out less heat.

The trouble would be polarity on the '55, but not the '56. The ones that have the electronics to not be polarity sensitive are much harder to come by.

Example:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0911V4J8Y/ref=ask_ql_qh_dp_hza

The high beam indicator is red in my case, not white, so doesn't appear to be dependent on the film but the film would attenuate the brightness. It's not glaringly bright as is, but is illuminated all the time due to the apparent lack of the tube. Seems a resistor would serve the same purpose or better yet a different low wattage lamp were one available.

Interesting, though I don't understand the purpose of the opaque film. The tube is larger than I assumed. It doesn't slip over the bulb but is somehow affixed to the cover.

The speedometer has been removed and repaired in the past as it was seized up. The tube may have been lost at that time though I wasn't the one that did the work so can't say.

On my '55 400, the red high beam indicator at the top of the speedometer is lit whenever the instrument lights are on. Toggling between high and low beam just increases and decreases the instrument cluster illumination.

I'm guessing there's supposed to be some sort of paper tube snugly surrounding the high beam lamp, which is missing. Am I correct? If so, any tips on how to fashion one the correct diameter and length to fit into the instrument cluster?

The point seems to be getting lost. The date of the study is irrelevant. It's the data that's informative and it is what it is. I was sharing it to provide some relevant context, although it happened to be mostly focused on fatality cases as that information is what was available for comparison. Injury statistics weren't available then.

The issue is that with the four door vs. two door you have a quite stout seat frame. Slam on the brakes and a rear seat passenger isn't going to be slamming you into the steering wheel or dashboard as they hit or simply brace themselves against the seat back.

As a driver I don't want my face planted into something by a rear seat passenger, or even be hesitant to hit the brakes for fear of it should a kids ball roll out in front of me, etc. I've already stated my intent to install period correct lap belts to mostly remedy that. Even with them the rear seat passengers can still react by shoving on the seat back with their hands as they are thrown forward, but the likelihood and severity is reduced.

However, more obvious is simply the seat back flopping forward under hard deceleration which I would think would have been apparent to the Packard test drivers and engineers which a simple latch would remedy. Packard engineers weren't prone to overlooking the obvious.

None of this is simply "driving with common sense". It's just driving, which involves conditions and actions not entirely under the driver's control.

BTW, my '55 Patrician came equipped with a single lap belt for the driver only (and leather upholstery). It seems just about any combination could be ordered by the customer, with the exception of a seat latch.

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