Attached (hopefully) are photos of the hot air heater register in the rear passenger compartment. Also an attachment to the firewall in the engine comaprtment. All I have as the car is 30 minutes away and my camera batteries died.

O-D, are you familiar with this? I looked and could not find any markings or writing on the pieces. I don't know if this is similar to Bill Wurts set up on his 39 Super 8.

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Very true. As much as I like 1956 Caribbeans, it was basically a just an ordinary Packard convertible with fancier trim and a more poweful engine. The Mark II was designed and built from scratch (except for the engine, which was still specially selected from the assembly line and tested), not a facelifted 1951. The quality of materials and craftsmanship was so high that Ford lost money on every one built. That being said, I still want the Caribbean.

Jreeder. what kind of welding equipment are u using to weld the body panels.

Very interesting discussion of where Packard might have gone wrong prewar. But I think Packard lost the luxury market postwar, not prewar.

All automakers had to come out with cheaper models to survive the depression. But they were not needed after the war in the postwar sellers market. I think any wrong steps Packard might have taken prewar would have quickly been forgotten if they had either made Clipper a seperate division after the war, or dropped the lower price models completely. Probably making it a seperate division would have been the better move so that they would still have something to sell in volume.

But take a look at what they did. In 1935-41 there was an obvious difference between junior and senior models. What was the difference postwar? A hood a couple inches longer, different taillights, a slightly different grill, a little bigger engine? Not enough of a difference to make too many people willing to pay 1 1/2 to 2 times as much for essentially the same car with a few subtle differences. Whereas you could definitely see a difference between a Cadillac and Buick, Olds, or Pontiac. Also the 1951-54 just does not look prestigious compared to the presence of the 1951-54 Cadillacs. To those not familiar with cars, it could easily be mistaken for a Pontiac or other mid-price car.

Also prewar, Packard had power windows, air conditioning, always new innovations, etc. Where was this stuff postwar? Why no V-8 engine? That is what everyone wanted postwar. Maybe Packard's straight 8 had the same horsepower as its contemporaries, but it didn't have that important V-8 buzzword. There were a lot less chauffer driven cars postwar. And there were more women drivers. Suburban housing booms required 2 cars. The wife didn't want a manual transmission, steering, brakes, windows, etc. for when she drove the car. Not when she could get power everything in a Cadillac or even Buick or Olds plus air conditioning. And the husband discovered he liked all the power stuff as well. By the time Packard got in in gear in 1955 and offered everything they should have been since 1949 at least, many Packard buyers had moved on to another brand. And introducing everything at once resulted in quality problems. So those that preferred quality over new gadgetry were disappointed as well.

Advertising was a part of it as well. Cadillac ads showed cars against expensive silk drapery backgrounds or in front of the opera with a woman in exotic ball gown, diamonds, etc. Packard ads showed a middle class neighborhood home or garage with words like "value" and "reliable". If I am spending meagbucks on a car, I want to hear words like "power", "prestige", and "style" not "value leader".

I will never understand why the 1957 Packardbakers were ever made. I hear they were made to keep the name alive while Packard hoped to get financing to eventually get new Packards built. However, I think they would have been far better off doing a minor facelift of the 1956. I cannot see anybody trading in a 1955-56 Clipper Deluxe for a 1957, let alone a Patrician, 400, or Caribbean. I also cannot see anyone buying a 1957 Clipper over a 1957 Cadillac, Imperial, or even odd looking 1957 Lincoln. That wasn't just the final nail in the coffin, it was machine riveting it closed.

Thats just about what the under side of my roof looks like also on my '54.

Since I needed to order a couple of cans of "Tank Tone" paint from Eastwood as well as a couple more cans of Silver Cadmium Paint, I just went ahead and ordered their fuel tank sealer kit as well. You still use muriatic acid and acetone which you can buy at a hardware store to clean the tank, and then the kit comes with a rust remover, an etch, and then finally the sealer. People have reported that the sealer has lasted for over 10 years in their cars with no rust or peeling visible. I will also install a filter back by the tank as anything that happens in the future I want captured there are opposed to the screen in the bottom of the fuel pump.

Anyway, once it all arrives I will go through the process and take pictures along the way.

Also since I ordered today they threw in a free pair of panel dimpling pliers. Not sure if I will ever use then, but hey, free tools is free tools!

Some more pics from this past weekend. Removed the dash, headliner, and a bunch of trim.

I take it the fluid went missing? You can buy the fluid from Mac's Antique Auto Parts, Lockport NY, $2.50 for a vial of it. You will have to make an adapter to connect on the air line to blow it out, use a hand pump, NOT high pressure AC air. The backer behind the fitting on the rear of your gauge may be made of very brittle pot metal.... I fixed mine on my 29 then lost the fluid about three weeks later. Have fixed several Ford gauges which are the same style.

Wayne,
for including your '56 Four Hundred Hardtop Coupe in the Packard Owner's Registry.

OK, I see it. In earlier accessory lists Packard actually listed the trade name of the unit, Kelch, in their listing but at some point they no longer did. Perhaps the units were no longer made by Kelch, perhaps Packard felt it better to give the impression it was their own technology. In any case, take a look at the pictures of the components and see if anything looks familiar.

And I'd be interested in seeing pictures of the parts that you still have.

Apologies to the original poster for having gone astray.