Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Hello - I have been doing some searching for information about body mounts/brackets. It looks as though most of mine are rotted through. Curious if there are replacements? I have searched but have not turned up any results. Possible to replace with the body on?

Would appreciate any information you can provide. Thank you.

Conceivably you could replace the cushions with the body in place as long as you loosened all the body bolts so none would present a bind and then had a method such as a floor jack or similar and some kind of support at the body to raise the area where you were working and then replaced one or two at a time. Not an easy undertaking IMO.

Unlike the 51-56 models, I don't believe anyone reproduces the exact 48-50 factory type rubber cushion material. Clipper style 42-50 bodies used thicknesses of reinforced rubber material that was square with different size holes. Metal shims in different thicknesses were used along with the rubber for added adjustment in those areas needing some fine tuning.

The 48-50 models use 3/8 and 5/8 thick material. Kanter sells 2' long strips of reinforced rubber material for use as body cushions which needs to be cut and drilled but he doesn't mention the thickness. McMaster-Carr sells a reinforced conveyor belt material in 3/8 thickness very similar to the material Packard used but no 5/8. For the 5/8 thickness you could get some 3/8 belting and some 1/4 reinforced rubber to make up the 5/8 thickness. You would still need to cut and drill each cushion.
https://www.mcmaster.com/#2009n1/=1buepfh
https://www.mcmaster.com/#8698k75/=1bueq6n

If you have an industrial supply house locally perhaps they would have some conveyor belting that could be used. Sometimes they have scraps and might even have some in a good thickness.

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Thanks Howard. More specifically the metal body hold downs themselves are rusted/rotted. Are these available for purchase anywhere or even replaceable? I will see if I can get some photos to better illustrate what I am looking for.

Found this in the Parts List

8.001
BRACKET-BODY HOLD DOWN

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Believe the hold downs are all riveted on and generally not something that is replaced today but they can be removed and new ones installed with bolts. If anyone would have them it would most likely be Kanter but I would not count on it. The solution will probably be someone with a parts car that would be willing to remove them with a cold chisel.

Excuse my ignorance here. I climbed under there and the hold downs are okay, it is what is mounted to them that is rotted. See photo.

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That looks like a cross brace and portion of the sill that is seriously rusted. If there are a lot of areas like that I don't know how cost effective it would be in trying to repair them. If you are one of the gifted body and sheetmetal guys that are on the site then surely doable but if you need to have it done at a repair shop it would cost $$$. Whether it would be worth it depends on how much you like the car and what else needs doing.

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Thanks for the pics Howard. I am not one of those skilled metal guys, yet. At some point I will replace the outer and inner rockers.

I plan to continue to get her road-worthy and then focus on cosmetics.

Hi Icescreamer,
A few points not to be taken as criticism and offered respectfully.....
I'm aware of 2/3 Packard owners that bought a Packard and found similar issues that you have. In two cases, the owners decided to start with interior work (so car would look good) and one did paint after the interior. Both owners had decided to take care of the cosmetics before they moved on to the engine, trans, brakes, dash, gas system, electricals, etc. The cost of the interior was probably in the 5K range and the paint job/body work was 10K. The cars looked okay, but didn't have any of the mechanicals taken care of. Both owners, found that they had done the restoration backwards and the potential cost of the work needed to get the car to a state of mechanical reliability was UUUge!! My point:

They dumped a bunch of $$ into the car and neither car could move on its own merits.

The potential cost of what laid ahead to fix the car far outstripped their resources and probably could have used the same $$ to buy a primo already restored car.

Consequently, the $$'s spent was for naught, both cars lost favor with their owners and languish becoming mute testimony of a nice looking car that doesn't run and can't be sold to cover the costs for interiors and paint.

Page 2. Sorry to be so long winded......
additional:
Take stock of everything that needs to be done by a thorough investigation, disassembly, etc., then assess the project.

Given in the spirit of: Been there, done that.

Best Regards
Steve

If, as you say, "most" of the body mounts are "rotted", your car may have serious structural issues. Replacing the rubber won't correct that. Depending how bad, it may not be safe to drive as is.
Properly repairing the under structure and pan metal is not a buy parts, bolt in, type of fix. It's a large commitment of hours of skilled body work. Not to scare but be aware.