Re: 1956 Packard Patrician Rebuild Project

Posted by Troy Taylor On 2013/11/12 9:27:36

Thanx Ross,

I have gotten a few parts off Mike so I will keep that in mind if it is too far gone. The car was pretty solid until I started removing the rockers. It appears that the rockers were partially cut back and then slip fit a replacement pair on in which the person simply sheet metal screwed them on. Being a Michigan / Indiana car, it does not appear to be have been really rinsed well prior to 25 years storage and the rust took over mainly on the outer perimeter of the pans the middles are solid.. I literally removed 20 pounds of dirt packed into the rockets and front fenders. The rust weakened some of the floor braces and will need to be replaced or reworked.

I just found out I have to have shoulder surgery before year end and be out of commission for a few months, so I am holding off tearing in any further and I am building a couple jigs so I can go ahead and remove the body completely and get a real good assessment of how far I need to go. Right now, I have all the sheet metal for the inner, outer rockers, and the lower rear quarters. Obviously we have some pillar issues to deal with. A Packard is defiantly different than resorting Aircraft where the panels are all made from scratch with simple radius forms. Learning lots.