Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Ive owned my '55 Patrician for about 6 yrs and the Easamatic brake pedal always seemed to be a bit loose and wobbly..... On closer inspection the bracket that holds the top pivot of the pedal was loose on the firewall....The three 7/16" bolts that secure it turned out to be stripped where they go thru the firewall and would not tighten or loosen.... I suspect they have been loose for a long while....In trying to get the old bolts off I managed to break one completely off its shaft.... So... I made a trip to a junkyard (in Ohio) where I know there to be at least 6 '55 and '56 Packards... ALL of the '55s in the yard were already missing both the pedal AND the bracket. Was this a problem with the '55s?
I was able to find a couple of '56's with the pedal and bracket still present....BUT it seems that PACKARD revised both the pedal, bracket, and assembly (so it must have been a problem at some point). The '55s use a single top bracket for the pedal and the '56s use a much stronger assembly with TWO mounting points along a top center shaft..... I guess Im lucky I still have a salvage yard that lets me in to get parts AND has several Packards..... Here are photos of the pedals...before and after.....I have not installed the '56 one yet....I think I may have to drill 2 new holes in the firewall for the left part of the bracket which mounts near the parking brake assembly..... Anyone else ever changed/updated their '55 pedals to '56 assemblies?

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I removed all the cotter pins and washers/hardware and then wire brushed all the metal parts.... Even though there are new replacement rubber pedal pads available, I thought I would clean up the one that was still on it and see how it looks....actually its in very good shape...cleaned up very well....so I will try it out for a while before I order a new one.....Did a quick black enamel spray paint on it....and it looks acceptable for my purposes....

BTW, here is my '55 Patrician.......all original car.....

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From the photos of the original pedal, you can see that I have also added a mechanical stop light/torsion level switch.....

I don't know that the earlier brackets were any weaker. They used almost the same arrangement 52-55 and I think it was only wanting a wider pedal which needed a more central support on the metal is the reason for the change in 56. Too bad that 56 pedal was missing the stainless strip across the top. Kind of sets it off nicely.

The rubber is probably dry and hard and there is a good chance the retaining lip would have cracked off as it was flexed had you tried to remove it from the metal.. OK if you were going to throw it away I guess. One method I found to remove the rubber without damage is to take the pedal off and put it in a very low temp oven at 150 degrees or so for several minutes before trying. I think about 5 or so is what I used. That seems to soften the rubber enough without damage for it to be fairly flexible. Was more even and better than a heat gun. You do need gloves to handle it though. Of course it gets hard again as soon as it cools but a replacement pad I received was somewhat hard so used the same method to install that one.

The top stainless trim is missing from the pedal because I removed this from a '56 Clipper. I think I am correct in stating that only the senior cars had the stainless trim on the pedals in '56. My intention was not to use the original rubber but since it is completely intact and in good shape I will see how long it lasts....I intend on ordering a new replacement pad in the near future and keep it on hand. I have had zero luck in removing old pads in one piece from cars of this vintage. They almost always break from age....

You may be right. Honestly can't say if I ever looked to see if the strip is on Clippers but they only list a bezel -- which might be what that strip is called --as being on seniors in 56.

I resorted to the heat when I was remaking my pedal assy for one of my attempts at changing the ratio for modern brakes. Wanted to keep the rubber so found the heat worked well in removing and reinstalling without damage.

Jimmy(56AmbassadorV8),
for including your '55 Patrician Touring Sedan in the Packard Owner's Registry.