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Re: Packard plant brewery
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This site and area continues to morph-some up, but a lot of it very down. It is heartbreaking to see the roof damage and all the derelict buildings and vacant lots. Oddly, I can see that the new car drive-away transport building is still intact on Mt. Elliott. Amazing that this little building (the last erected in connection with Packard on this site) is still intact when everything around it is gone! At one time it had become a Baptist church with a crudely primitive hand-made sign in the window. And I see the old Farmer Jack/Food Fair market building that was built at the storage lot (this entire lot was where new Packards were parked and even stored-even after Conner Avenue opened) has now apparently tripled in size while everything around it has disappeared. The Packard Bar building is completely gone too.
I also notice that the intersection of Concord Avenue northbound is now blocked off with K-barriers and both old employee parking lots are now overgrown with weeds. This is amazing and sad to see. There was once a big traffic light here, busy even decades after Packard left. Day or night. Unbelievable to see it now totally barren of cars. On the other side of Grand Blvd, I see that the old (actually new to me) A&P Supermarket building has amazingly survived! Hard to imagine. This was once the site of the massive Packard power plant and coal yard. Farther north... do my old eyes deceive me or has part of the Stone Container Corp. building (converted from part of the Packard Plant) disappeared? Also the overpass for Harper Avenue that once led off of Mt. Elliott over I-94 appears now gone!!! AND... Mt. Elliott, Grand Blvd, Ford Expressway, and end of Harper Avenue ALL vacant of cars??? This would have been like a science-fiction nightmare movie in the 1950s and 1960s. An impossible photo. These were ALL very, very busy streets back in the day. Yet, here it is. I guess you had to be there back then to get a knot in your stomach and tear in your eye by looking at this photo today. This is all very surprising and sad to see! Anyway, the building in question was one of those I never knew about as far as what went on there. The big vacant lot 2 addresses east on the same side next to the tracks was once part of the fuel depot for gasoline, oil, lubricants, etc. for Packard. Another lot adjacent to and west of the "brewery" building also once had something to do with fuel and had billboards there. I'm left with only one word: wow.
Posted on: 2017/12/17 10:58
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Re: What is the most unusual bit of Packardiana in your collection?
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Or how about this stained glass panel??? The donut chaser and hexagon are made of mirror glass to appear as chrome. Photo really doesn't do the colors justice. Glass is all hand-blown ancient stuff.
Attach file:  (91.06 KB)
Posted on: 2017/12/16 13:49
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Re: What is the most unusual bit of Packardiana in your collection?
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And... while Packard Motor Car Company had no hand in making these, here is my 1941 Schwinn Packard Autocycle DeLuxe bicycle. It was top of the line in 1941 and came with front and rear drum brakes, twin headlights, built-in lighted speedometer in handlebar, electric horn and pewter Cormorant ornament. It looks similar to postwar models bit is very different in many details.
Also some NOS prewar Packard bicycle headbadges from various manufacturers. Attach file: (155.59 KB) (59.22 KB)
Posted on: 2017/12/16 13:32
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Re: What is the most unusual bit of Packardiana in your collection?
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Quote:
Wowowow!!! Gorgeous stuff Roger! Love the pen set. Here are some of my Packard keys collected over the years... I have more keys and fobs. The keys in the upper right of the photo are original Packard factory keys that would have come new with your 1950s Packard. Fob with these postwar keys is prewar. Off to the left center is a little child's Packard service ring... Added detailed shot of NOS original Packard keys... And fob you got when taking delivery of your new postwar Packard at the Grand Boulevard plant in Detroit... Attach file: (342.76 KB) (553.69 KB) (68.05 KB)
Posted on: 2017/12/16 13:21
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Re: Songs with Packard in them
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Dare I say that I wrote one many years ago? It has been performed a couple of times at Packard Club National Meets. The title is "Drivin' In My Packard"...
Posted on: 2017/12/15 20:52
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Re: 56 400 Transmission Problem
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If it were me, I'd take the car to a facility where they do power flushes on automatic transmissions. Have it thoroughly flushed and fresh fluid installed-and make sure it is thorough since these guys are accustomed to doing little modern Honda automatics and don't fret over how big a transmission like yours is. The flusher guys just wanna get you in and out-fast. This will take more time than their usual operation, so don't let them rush it. Then without driving a distance drop the pan and do a final cleaning. Also, make absolutely sure to check the cooling circuit for your Ultramatic. ? First make sure there IS a cooler of some kind still piped onto the Ultramatic. If not, stop right there and figure this is part of (if not all of) your problem. Get a working cooler on there. ? If somebody has customized it with an air-cooled type, be sure it isn't plugged up or leaking. And make certain that the air-type cooler has enough cooling area (fins) to actually handle the job of cooling a V8 Ultramatic. ? If it still has the original transmission cooler, check it for flow and internal leaks. Nobody ever does this or pays attention to the cooler, but when things gum up inside the Ultramatic, this has often been the culprit. ANY coolant (especially water or treated water) that gets into the transmission is an eventual recipe for disaster. Check all these points first, otherwise anything you do may be a wasted effort.
Posted on: 2017/12/5 11:59
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Re: Skirt removal
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Yes, the skirt will (or should) drop down at the rear, ready for removal once the bolt is removed. No lever, just a single bolt and alignment pins hold each skirt. The bolt was designed in such a way as to be removed by your lug wrench that was included with each car. Same size. Also remember that factory original center covers on factory wire wheels did not have a painted red hexagon on the center. The red was always made of 3M reflective "Scotchlite."
Posted on: 2017/11/21 22:31
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Re: Brake Drum Studs/Pins
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I can positively, absolutely assure you that at least one of my V-8 Packards had the pins screwed in, not peened over. Absolutely, positively. There was a tiny hex fitting around the base of the pin. I removed them with a small socket wrench and kept a couple in a little bin of clear plastic slide-out drawers to show to people back when who wanted to argue this point. Absolutely, positively. No idea how many were made that way or when or any other details. But they did indeed exist.
Posted on: 2017/11/7 10:40
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Re: Brake Fluid Reservoir
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What you have there is a rare dealer-installed Packard accessory remote safety brake fluid reservoir. Most people who have these cars have never even seen one. So it is certainly a feature that most would never know about... always best to post a photo.
In any event, as originally made, there was a snap-out retainer strap that fit under the glass reservoir jar to prevent unscrewing from vibrations. If your jar is longer, it may be a replacement that someone installed when the original got broken. Either way... the method for adding fluid with this system is simply to unscrew the jar and add fluid, then reinstall the jar. A whole lot easier than going down to the depths below to unscrew the fitting on the Bendix Treadle-Vac master cylinder and try to see the fluid level... which is what most owners of these cars have to do. And the added bonus is that with the glass jar, you can see at a glance if your fluid is low. RE: stop light switch replacement... As for bleeding the entire system for a stoplight switch change... not really necessary... as long as you simply unscrew the old switch and immediately screw in the new one... all without anyone touching the brake pedal. I've changed several of them over the years.
Posted on: 2017/11/6 12:58
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Re: 1955 caribbean dual carb
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All 1955 and 1956 Caribbeans came from the factory with dual quads. If your 1955 Caribbean has a single quad... somebody along the way removed the duals. Seen this done a lot over the years when people thought it would save money or they didn't want to have two carbs rebuilt when they could get by with one. As for modifications to the engine... actually there was indeed a modification to the engine to accept dual quads and this is apparently forgotten today. The breather pipe on the galley cover under the rear of the intake manifold for dual-carb engines was flattened on top. The reason was to clear the extra bulk of the rear underside of the dual quad manifold. Many have been the times when I have heard from someone attempting to install dual quads on an engine that had a single quad. "The manifold won't fit down to bolt it on the engine!!!" is the usual complaint! People think there is something horribly wrong when in fact it is simply the wrong breather tube hitting the underside of the intake and preventing it from seating properly. I have seen people try to king-kong the dual quad manifold into place by tightening the daylights out of the manifold bolts with the wrong breather pipe under it. In one case, the poor fellow could never get his intake manifold gasket to seal and had huge leaks all around the gaskets. So these things can...and have happened. Now IF your engine was the original, chances are the correct flattened breather tube on the galley will still be in place. However, if your engine has been swapped out, the breather tube on the galley cover is likely going to be round with no indentation. No cigar. In THIS case, you will need to remove the galley cover and either replace it with a correct one... OR carefully flatten the top of the breather tube far enough to clear the dual-quad intake manifold. Otherwise it won't bolt in.
Posted on: 2017/11/2 19:07
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