Packard Forum Index » Modification Discussion

Here are pictures of the ignition wires and looms. The wire is a general purpose kit by Accel (8mm Super Stock Graphite core Radio Interference Suppression, #4040K). The loom is a general purpose one made by Mr. Gasket (#6018). The plugs are Bosch platinum 4-electrode (#4478) and the distributor is 1956 Clipper (Autolite) refurbished with magnetic trigger and performance tuned by Jack Vines.









Craig

Craig, very tidy ignition wire routing. Hard to tell from your photos, but how did you route the wires for #5 and #7? Packard was having some problems with induction firing between these two cylinders and recommended spacing them on opposite ends of the small 1955 style wire brackets, and then in 1956 revised the bracket to provide even more space between the wires. Just curious... JWL

jw Quote:

Good point. I know about this crossfire problem from Pontiacs which have the same firing order. What I did was crossed #5 & #7 twice before they get to the parallel loom run. Plus, the Accel 8mm wire is pretty good at suppressing RFI in and of itself, so I don't expect any problem. We'll find out.

I did a similar setup on a 1963 Tempest with 1970 Pontiac Ram Air III engine that I restored some years ago. No problem with it.

BTW, the ignition box is MSD (Multi-Spark Discharge capacitive discharge) which is fired by the magnetic trigger. Here are the specs:

Secondary Voltage 45,000 Volts
Spark Energy 135-145 mJ per spark
Spark Series Duration 20 degree Crankshaft Rotation

It also has an adjustable rev limiter which is obviously important with a manual 4-speed trans/shifter. Mine will be set at 6,300RPM.

The ignition system is race-car quality.

Craig

The front accessories are mounted on the front of the engine. First, the alternator.

The alternator is a 140 amp, one wire type with internal regulator and a V-belt pulley from Summit Racing. I mounted the alternator on the driver side rather than the passenger side because the air conditioning compressor hoses are on the passenger side.

I used an existing forward-facing 3/8" threaded bolt hole on the outside front of the head for the pivot.

I used a custom cut piece of threaded rod and spacer to get the V-belt alignment correct for the inner-most belt groove on the balancer (normally used for the generator).

The bracket is an aduster arm type made from 3/16" mild steel specifically for general purpose mounting of the alternator from Summit Racing. The pivot end is mounted to the D-side upper water crossover attachment bolt hole again with a custom cut piece of threaded rod and spacer to correctly get the adjustment end lined up with the alternator adjustment hole.

There will be no problem with clearance to the D-side battery because Panther will have the battery mounted in the P-side of the trunk instead. The battery tray is not used and will not be there.







Craig

Now the air conditioning compressor. It was a much more challenging fabrication than the alternator mounting.

I used a new aluminum case Sanden 508 compressor (R-134A). I also used a general use pair of 1/4in mild steel brackets from Vintage Air. Here's the exploded view of the brackets I modified, a bracket I made and the mounting hardware used:



Here's a view of the finished assembly:



Here are more pictures and explanations on my website here:

http://1956packardpanther.com/Panther/engine_Panther4.html

Scroll down to "Air Conditioning Compressor" section at the bottom of the page.

There is at least an inch clearance to the P-side fender.

Craig

Bump because I modified the compressor and alternator mounting based upon input from the tech support at Vintage Air and a friend who does custom car fabrication. It's not a biggie, but if anyone is going to use what I did for their own future install, then I wanted put out the right info. The pictures above and the website link are updated.

Craig

I like the no weld brackets. Something most could handle fabricating and they look good. Did you happen to make any tracings or plans you could post on your website. Are you going to have power steering in the Panther?

HH56 Quote:

The plans were "eyeball engineering." Of course, not everyone can do that, but on the other hand, it's not "rocket science" either.

Panther has manual steering (with the right gear box), so there's no power steering pump to worry about. I chose manual steering because I don't like the "dead zone" in the middle before the hydraulic ram switch kicks on, such as I experience on my 55 Pat. I won't be parallel parking Panther much though!

Craig

The Panther engine was assembled to the flywheel, clutch and Borg-Warner T-10 4-speed transmission the last couple of days and successfully installed this AM. Here are some pictures:

The crankshaft pilot bushing is a Dorman 690-032. The one listed in the crossref on this site did not work with my T-10.


Engine ready for install on hoist with leveler (yes, it went in with the custom headers on the engine):


Engine installed!


Craig

Here are some details on the clutch that you might find interesting. First, the line drawing illustrations out of the 55-56 Clutch supplement:



To me, the original Packard clutch pedal actuation mechanism is nothing but a "Rube Goldberg machine". I elected to not go that route, but instead went with a hotrod-style modern hydraulic throwout bearing.

Here's a somewhat blurry picture of the Ram (brand) hydraulic throwout bearing I used on Panther:

There's also the corresponding pedal and clutch MC required:




Obviously the hydraulic line is not yet plumbed. Also, I had to modify the Ram throwout bearing because of my mix & match parts didn't quit meet the release bearing clearance criteria. It took several man hours to properly make the modification, but in the end the clearance ended up correct.

Craig