It is a Carter carb, and you can remove the top portion while it is still on the car. When i remove the top, the fuel level is very low. Ive tried adjusting the float, but then it leaks everywhere.

Hi Bob -

Did you look for and download the AutoLite manual for this system? The documents and articles archived on this site are available at no charge and only require Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and (if needed) print.

AutoLite designed and supplied this system to Packard. If you had trouble finding that manaul, here's a direct link:

https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/news/article.php?storyid=120

Weighing in at just under 4MB, I even downloaded this PDF over my painfully slow dial-up connection.

This document has detailed, step-by-step, troubleshooting procedures and diagnostic charts. In addition to a common 12-volt test light and a small screwdriver (something that every hands-on owner should have), you may need to construct a simple set of tell-tale lights, as described in this manual, from a couple of sockets with twelve volt bulbs.

I only mention this resource because you have given us very little to go by, and remote diagnosis is never easy.

When your "transmission is not shifting in any gear", the first thing you should do is check for voltage at terminal of the circuit breaker that's connected to the control relay ont he left fender splasher; it doesn't matter whether key is on or off. Other than that, it could be a problem with the parking relay (if yours hasn't been removed), the motor-reversing shift relay, system wiring, contact segments, or even the motor itself.

However, do NOT waste time removing the motor until you have properly diagnosed the problem. Report back with your finding and we can try to pick up with where the manual leaves off.

I'm sure MrPushbutton will have some quick answers if you give us something more to go on.

How do you know the fuel level in the bowl with disassembly of the carb unless it's a Holley. A quarter inch of fuel is very low so perhaps a readjustment of the float is in order.

Boro-

From what I can see of the spring in your pic, I gotta say it looks fairly robust. The springs I've removed from other (unrebuilt) units were much more delicate. I wonder if your spring has already been replaced with some repro as part of a past work by a qualified rebuilder.

The minor kit should include a new poppet for that valve and you should use it. Just hold the existing valve poppet against the seat and depress the spring from the C-washer retainer, and you can slide that retainer out of the groove, near the end of the stem. Then, remove the spring and inspect it for any weak points caused by corrosion (or nicks). During reassembly, be sure to take the extra step or two in the Packard shop manual to install the valve properly and verify that it works. Otherwise, you'll likely end up removing the unit from the car again. (I'm not sure how accessible the valve is with the unit installed. I've removed the reservoir cover with the unit on-car, but the steering column is an obstruction to doing much else.)

Your C-washer retainer doesn't look too bad to me. I suspect any protective plating has merely failed. If you're upgrading to DOT5 (which requires replacing EVERY rubber part in the hydraulic system and flushing the steel lines to remove all traces of DOT3), there will be no problem. If you're sticking with DOT3, then - every few years - you'll wanna siphon the contents of the reservoir and push a fresh pint of brake fluid through the system, via a full bleed, to remove moisture-contaminated fluid from the system - as the reservoir is NOT completely sealed to atmosphere.

Be very thorough about your brake work on any old car - no matter what system it has.

Well, this car has an electric fuel pump in the tank. That was how they came. The fuel pump is new, however. As far as fuel delivery, everything seems to be in tip top shae. No leaks, always has fuel in the bowl/filter. One thing I DID notice, however, was that at any given time there is only about a 1/4 inch of fuel in the carburetor bowl. Is this correct, or should it have more?

I had heard of the dealer-built "Esquire" editions, but also saw one, in person, at the Centennial Meet in Warren - a two-door hardtop coupe. IIRC, the conversion was rooted in plans by the dealer to make a Caribben heardtop, but when the factory did so for 1956, the dealer came up with the "Esquire" name and even had script plates made to go where the "Caribbean" script would have been.

However, I had not heard that Esquire conversions were made on anything other than a Four Hundred body.

Notice that the subject sedan shows no such evidence of a script plate on the upper front fender. This car is currently listed for sale on eBay, but pix of the interior look like a much more recent type of cloth fabric on the seats. I'd be very reluctant to bid on that car as a collector's item.

I bet Eric will do an even better job with his Pat. The reversible seat cushions might be out of the question, but I'm confident that one could accomplish a treatment on the Patrcian seat that was similar to the all-leather side of the Caribbean cushions.

Meanwhile, I have to agree about the sedan not carrying the tritone scheme very well; light/bright colors make the door window frames stand out like a sore thumb. Darker colors play them down.

Perhaps some of you have heard of the '56 Patrician purchased new by band leader (and marketing force behind the kitchen blender), Fred Waring. He had Carib side trim applied and had the car painted in two-tone - black with some shade of blue/green (perhps Eire Green? )in the area bounded by the Carib side trim. I had opportunity to see this car several years ago, as it had survived in the hands of a private collector in Ohio, but my memories of it car are a bit fuzzy now. I cannot recall whether the roof was left black or also painted blue/green - similar in effect to the two-tone paint schemes on the Executives.

While I prefer '55-'56 Carib convertibles and hardtops in a tritone scheme, I think the two-tone lends itself to the Carib side trim - as evidenced by the attached illustration from a'55 Carib ad. Not sure if I'd like it with top up - which was only available in white.

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These cars are not really much of a mystery, they have been written of and photographed in at least two older issues of The Packard Cormorant, a PAC publication. In general they had Caribbean hoods and a similar paint scheme to the Caribbean, and were done on Patricians, though other sedans might also have been converted. They were produced without factory sanction by a Packard dealer, DuBois Motors of Arlington, VA and carried "Esquire" script. In an old interview with one of the principals, he first thought they build "just a few" but in a later interview he recalls the number might have been about 25 or so (as I recall, I haven't read the articles in years). If you want the specific issued of TPC that these articles appeared in, email me for them.

hello john

this is bob buckler, funston ga-just checking in with you-wondering if you have found the problem--my email is sbabb@alltel.net---=229-941-2598

thks--bob

I don't know, maybe someone could Photoshop this in some different colors to give us an idea what might look best. I'm actually thinking of doing the white/blue/dark gray color scheme. BUT, one solid color will be a lot easier to paint, and easier on my pocket book!

I wonder if the "Carribbean sports sedan" would look better in a solid color (like Black) than the tri-tone Carribbean island colors?


WWDTD?


(what would Dick Teague do?)