Some of you may be getting tired of hearing me make this pitch for the Proving Grounds, but if they're to be successful in meeting their obligations to Ford, get the other 7 acres, and continue the improvement programs, they need our financial support. Forget the factory, it won't be saved and this is our only chance to save something significant.

From time to time I look at the list of supporters and am suprised not to find the names of some of the people here who profess to be lovers of Packard cars and the company. It's important, and it doesn't have to be a lot of $ to make a difference, even a few bucks helps.

Thanks for that link, I wasn't aware of it and it surely has some great photos!

My 56 Caribbean has the Bendix system and there are no interference problems with the two short hoses (or the others either). As someone else stated, the two short loops do extend down a bit below the frame, perhaps an inch or so. I'll try to remember to take some pictures when I have it up on a lift for an oil change next week.

Why(so)ever, I've never heard of Packard Proving Grounds (PPG). Would you please amplify a bit?

Ford has a proving grounds, GM has one, all the car manufacturers of any note had one or more. It's easier for me if you visit <www.packardmotorfdn.org> than for me to try to describe it. It's a project very much worthy of our contributions if we want to save any physical remnant of corporate Packard.

Corbin hose clamps, though distained by many for their "cheap look" are correct for all hoses save one on the water pump. Red heater hose was all the rage some years back for its flashy look but is incorrect. Last time I looked it was still available.

Not sure if your Clipper has an armored cable between the ignition switch and the coil, but if so decaying insulation within the steel cable and intermittent shorting has driven even more mechanics to drink. Often in cars sporting new wiring harnesses you'll find this one single wire was never replaced, I've seen a few that barely had any insulation left at all. There is a symptom you can occasionally detect, the armor wrap gets excessively hot.

Also, remember that intermittent ignition failure, especially when the engine is hot, is (as noted by others) often a condensor problem, but is also a symptom of coil failure.

Synchronizing dual carbs can be a bitch, and I've found that one problem is one or the other will start to leak (overflow). I don't know if it's float adjustment or a fuel pressure difference

In a closed system (i.e. with both fuel chambers full and the needle and seats closed) hydraulic (fuel) pressure is equal at all points so that's not likely the problem with one carburetor overflowing; it's almost certainly assuming correct float levels, either a leaking needle and seat or a sunken float, or less likely a cracked casting on the inlet (Rochester used a poorer quality alloy than Carter, and generally thinner walled castings!).

Following either Rochester's or Packards procedure (both more or less the same) for setting up the carburetors can get you extremely close to "spot on" as long as you pay attention to any slop in the connecting rod link between the carbs. Carefully done, all you should have to do is adjust the idle speed (front carb only), and tweak the idle mixture screws in the sequence recommended. Setting up the fast idle speeds is a bit of a pain because you can only access the screws with the throttles wide open (meaning, when the engine isn't running), thus it's a bit of a trial and error process. Different fast idle cams and recommended speeds on front vs rear carbs. Don't forget that the dual Rochesters are quite different between 1955 and 1956, though I'd guess interchanged in pairs would give reasonably satisfactory results.

I've enclosed a copy of the Rochester installation instructions. The only real difference between them and Packards relates to the idle speed, I believe Packard recommended 450 rpm in drive but I've not been successful in getting a good smooth idle at that low a speed, I find about 480 rpm about ideal.

Attach file:

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Excellent point!

West, memory is a bit fuzzy here but I also have seen the AC script on both the sidemount cover and hood side cover on 1941 models, but I don't think I've seen it at all on the 1940 models.

Sorry we didn't get a chance to meet in Hershey.

I believe the 55/56 plates are the same and have a location for paint and interior trim codes. The word "Packard" is reduced in size from 1954 and is in the center with the vehicle number above it and the paint and trim codes below. Also somewhere in the 50s, perhaps 51-52 or perhaps just early 1951, the tag was larger, silkscreened in black and was somewhat similar only smaller than the cowl-mounted plates used thru 1950.

BTW, though no doubt enforcement in the hobby is probably nil, tampering with VIN plates is a violation of federal law.