So the Caribbean is still running well. I had some issues with the carbs sticking in high idle. One time it was the secondaries not closing and the next was the linkage binding. But the more I drive it the more comfortable it gets with just being a car.

Had an issue with the suspension, turned out the on off switch needed cleaning. So that was addressed.

Filled up the new tank that was installed and noticed it was leaking and no amount of tightening the line would get it to stop. Found out the female connection in the tank was spinning. So I had to get that repaired. Now no leaks!!

I also got a 56 CT plate for the front! the wife got me one for Christmas and was able to finally put it on. CT because the sticker on the windshield is from a submarine base up there, so I am assuming it spent some time up there after it was purchased new in DC.

This past weekend was the first time the top was put down on that car in YEARS (by us anyway)! it was nice, until I had to put it up. I had to essentially push the top back up while having the button pushed in on the dash. It went down fine, slow like it always did, but it just stopped when it got a couple inches out of the top well. Would this be a weak motor? low on fluid? is there a process to go through to check this out?

Thanks!

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Slowly getting work done to it. Got the sound deadening, thermal stuff and carpet installed. Also got all the p/s stuff hooked up and with fluids. The gas tank is connected and appears to not be leaking any fuel, so that is good.

Had an issue with the passenger tail pipe not being bent correctly. I was able to find a shop that was able to adjust one of the bends. I am hoping that I will be able to get it installed sometime this week (or at least check that it fits). Other than that I am waiting on the seats to finish at the upholstery shop, the tires to come in, and getting the time to install the sway bar. AFTER all that the car should be good to drive!

Ill try to keep that in mind the next time I have an issue!

TXgoat, The light fixtures were polished, painted and new lenses and gaskets were installed. I dont know how I missed the corrosion in the socket. Maybe I didnt think it would be a problem... and yes the battery is always disconnected on cars that I am working on/stored inside/not currently driving.

Howard, the springs do seem to still have good enough pressure and the fiber board back there still looks good!

I got some extra time to work on the electrical issue last night and thanks to those whom offered suggestions in my Electrical thread .

I got consistent power to everything now due to a bad ground. Dash indicator lights work as they should, headlights work as they should as do the parking lights and turn signals!

Now on to other tasks to get it road ready

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THANK YOU everyone for the help!! I guess I was just really tired by the time I was working through the electrical stuff on Tuesday.

I appreciate everyone's suggestions. I did get some time to work on it last night and after some playing around (and insight on where to look) I confirmed it was a bad ground. Initially my dad converted it to manual steering and this past weekend I installed the power steering pump to get it back to a power steering car. Well the ground cable is attached to the mounting bolt for the pump. So I just sanded that part of the pump bracket, put some dielectric grease on it and everything worked out! I am getting consistent power to everything that should get it.

verified that my headlight issue was me wiring the high beam switch wrong. with the wires where they are at now I have low and high beams.

figured out the reason for the dash turn signal indicators lighting up with dash lights and not blinking was because I had the indicator sockets in the wrong spots on the dash. Swapped some sockets and they work as they should!

verified that the bulb in the passenger parking light is good and the wiring is correct, the bulb just needed to be wiggled/positioned correctly to make contact in the socket. I am going to pick up a small wire brush that can go on my rotary tool so I can clean the corrosion out of the socket to get better/consistent contact in there.

Well on my way to getting this car on the road! thanks again!

Another thing that has happened with this wiring harness is that the ignition wire 17B-Y & 17A-Y completely burned through its insulation at some point in its life. When the dash and wiring was out of the car I replaced that wire. So maybe that is related to this?

I will check the posts and cables. But the ground straps and positive cables are brand new from max merit. The battery is is only a couple months old.

The battery was showing 12.4-12.6 volts.

If the symptom of not showing power underneath the dash board goes away and comes back randomly, but showing power at other points under the hood at all times, how would the battery/cables be at fault? wouldnt I be getting consistent test light readings at all points if it was a battery/cable issue?

Would a faulty ignition switch or headlight switch/breaker cause me to not get power randomly at wire 2B-Red, 2A-Red, 2C-red or 61-Red while having power at 2-Red in the engine bay at the voltage regulator? Those are the wires that are connected to those components, can splices in the factory harness go bad?

The past couple days have been fairly productive. I met some packard owners at a local car cruise which prompted me to create a list of all the tasks that need completed to get the car on the road. Not done, just safe enough to drive and iron out the issues.

I would say I have a little over half of the list completed with two major items out of my control: when the tires ship and when the seats are done. Tires were ordered last week (or the week before) and I finally got notification that the seat covers have shipped on the 29th of june. The seats are all ready at the upholsters, and the tires could be here in 2 to 3 weeks.

My biggest issue is an electrical one that I just posted in the V8 section about. But basically I am having power issues. I am getting power out of the voltage regulator at the red wire, but I am only getting power sometimes at the ignition switch/fuse block/cigar lighter. I have no idea why. Only thing I can think of is an issue with the headlight switch or the circuit breaker on the switch going straight to ground. I did not test this theory. would anyone have an idea of what to look for and where?

I will start this off by saying that I did have the 56 Patrician running last year. I did get all the windows to go up and down. I was able to actuate the door locks via the button on the underside of the dash. I was able to manipulate the suspension via the solenoids, the motor, and the leveling switch as of last week.

Now my issue:

Yesterday I got to the point of wanting to test some of the parts I installed on the car and got connected. I attached the negative cable to the battery and turned the key to on and nothing. No giant click from under the hood, no interior lights, nothing. I start probing around with a test light and I see I have no power to the fuse box, the battery terminal on the ignition switch, or the cigar lighter. The windows and door locks are not working. I probe in the engine bay and I see I have power at the red wire coming off of the voltage regulator and power at the circuit breaker connected to the power window/seat/lock relays on the firewall. but nothing under the dash was showing power.

Now Things I have done in the past week was connected the license plate lights, tail lights, reverse lights, fuel tank sending unit, front parking lights, and headlights. The suspension, windows, and door locks were all wired up prior to this weekend and did work.

I will also point out the dash lights are LED and I am running a headlight relay harness that has the signal/switch wire to the relays from the junction block on the passenger fender. One relay is for high beams, the other is for low. The relays are getting their power from the red wire terminal on the voltage regulator.

I kept probing looking for issues when all of a sudden I saw I was finally getting power to the back side of the ignition switch. I tried turning the key to on and I lost power again. This happened a couple more times until I was able to get power to the ignition switch and it stayed on. With the key in the on position and the headlight switch in the parking light position the dash lights illuminated, and both turn signal indicators on the dash. tail lights worked, reverse lights worked, and license plate lights worked, brake lights work. left front parking light turned on and off with the headlight switch, the right did not. No Idea why the passengers did not work, the orange wires going to and front were showing power, and the bulb socket was showing it was getting power, I even used a jumper wire from the housing to a good ground and the light still wouldnt illuminate. the bulb ohmed out good, so I dont know why that wouldnt work, any ideas?

The head lights would not work in low beams, but a press of the high beam switch and both turned on. I thought my new high beam switch was bad but after checking with a multi meter I saw I had the switch wired wrong. So I unplugged the battery, swapped some wires around, plug the battery back in. With the key off I pulled the headlight switch all the way out, lights came on, hit the high beam switch and then lost power to everything again and could not get power back again. Again, this is no power to the back of the switch, but power at the red wire on the voltage regulator.

What can cause this no power to the dash intermittently? One thing I noticed is when nothing is working, I pull the headlight switch to either park or headlight position and any good ground is causing my test light to light up.

Is this what a short was? if so, I didnt see any smoke and everything I touched didnt seam to get hot. I didnt smell anything either. Well that may not actually be true, I did smell what I thought was fireworks since the neighborhood was firing off fireworks for an hour at that point. But again no smoke.

What would cause this power issue? both indicators being on the dash but no the tail lights? and the passenger parking light not working?