Packard Forum Index » General

Can anyone direct me as to where I could get an NOS radiator for a 1956 Packard 400 (374 V-8). I've made inquiries at various Packard parts sources, but no luck.

Thanks
Adam

You really don't want an NOS radiator even if you could find one, chances are close to 100% that it would leak like a sieve after all this time in storage. Best storage for radiators is NEVER empty and dry, they are best stored with water and antifreeze or soluble oil in them, and then closed off. If you have a radiator now, just have it recored, most any good radiator shop does this type of work routinely. If you don't have a radiator now you'll need to buy a used on to get the upper and lower tanks.

G'day packaw56,
A to PackardInfo, and I invite you to include your '56 Four Hundred in the Packard Owner's Registry here on PackardInfo.

Thanks for the tip. I'll go ahead and have the one on the car recored.

I may have been off-base on my comment about NOS radiators, Fred Kanter advises me that they have sold many NOS radiators for prewar juniors and don't have a history of problems.

Read thru this thread:
https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=5042&viewmode=flat&order=ASC&type=&mode=0&start=0

I have such a ford truck radiator in my 56. Executive. Works great for over. 6 years now and with AC. See post #8 of the abpve thread.

BTW i'm near White Bluff TN. Thirty miles west of the capital building.

I'll have to reconsider then. I did try Kanter and they didn't have one.

Did the Ford truck radiator have to be modified to install it in the car? Wish we had an active Packard Club in TN. Never have received any reply for the one listed as Southeast Packard Club.

My 56 Esquire/Four Hundred has a Ford truck radiator that was installed four or five years ago by the previous owner. What kind of Ford truck (year and model) is something I do not know, other than it looks good and operates well. That p.o. is a mechanic and he was frustrated by not being able to find a satisfactory re-corer for the original radiator in four attempts. So he did his measurements and took it to a cooperative NAPA and settled for the new truck radiator. He had to do some modifications on the upper tank brackets so they'd bolt directly to the upper Packard frame. He also did some cradle modifications at the lower end. One big benefit is that the Ford radiator has the inner transmission cooler heat exchanger...might work better than the lower hose exchanger that came from the factory. A downside is that the Ford upper tank has a center inlet fitting instead of the offset arrangement on the Packard original. I had to get around the A/C belt path by putting in a longer upper hose to bend it over the route of the belt.

All seems well with the Ford radiator. He offered me the old OEM radiator that could not be successfully recored. I declined after inspecting it and considering that the new radiator was working well. The new radiator has an increased capacity and I'm told that the engine immediately ran cooler than before the swap.

Yes. Some modification to the ford rad is needed but ez. Read thru the thread of the link i posted above. The mounting brackets have to be removed from the ford rad. Ez to do. Some special mounting braxkets have to be hand made but again not difficult to do with a hacksaw, file and good vice.