Re: Robert's 56 Patrician

Posted by HH56 On 2022/3/19 18:45:12
Quote:

Leeedy wrote:
Quote:

HH56 wrote:
As is mentioned in some of the descriptions of the compensator, to keep development costs low they used a stock Autolite generator as the starting item. There is a brief mention of using a generator in the SAE article and more details of what was changed in another article. The case and end was used as is so would have the regular stamped A & F labels but then received different windings. The rest of the conversion consisted of a modified armature and a new front end casting for the armature support and mount to the compensator.


Understood about the compensator motor. And known.

I have seen and owned a lot of 1956 Packards over the years. However, I have seen only one of these manual suspension controls in a 1956 Packard. One. And the one I saw basically amounted to an additional power antenna switch mounted vertically under the left-hand side of the instrument panel with a Clipper-style knob attached to it. The operation was the same as the power antenna: push... the suspension went up; pull down, the suspension went down. The switch I used was indeed pring-loaded and defaulted to a center position of "off."

I have the original Packard Service Counselor issue from when this control was introduced. However, this manual control as far as I know was only introduced as a dealer-installed accessory kit. Optional, at extra cost and at the customer's request. Not as standard equipment. S-P was bleeding red at that point and certainly in no position financially or labor-wise to add another line-installed component. They were already having line problems at Conner as it was. I have no information indicating this kit was a line-installed component at Conner.

So. Is there someplace where the company actually says this kit was factory-installed?? Thanks.


Don't believe I said the manual switch was standard but if I did somewhere, it was a slip. In post 18 on this thread I said it was a late arrival and an option. Whether the factory actually installed any on cars ordered fully optioned out before leaving the factory I could not say.

The factory switch was not spring loaded or like an antenna switch though. It has a definite up or down position which once the operator moves it to raise or lower the car stays in that position to continue the action until either the operator places the switch back in the center position or the limit switch stops the motion at the upper or lower limit. The switch is also somewhat unique because it is not a type used anywhere else. When moved out of the center or normal position it has a sort of safety circuit that cuts the voltage coming from the brake light switch supplying the control switch thus preventing the control switch from trying to move the car back to level at the same time the operator is trying to go in a manual direction.

There have been many non factory types of switches used when manual drive has been installed by owners. The antenna switch is common but I have also seen pushbuttons and toggle switches. Many of the home brew circuits connect directly to solenoids and completely bypass the limit switches allowing damage to occur when a heavy hand drives the compensator too far. Another issue is without the unique switch that has the "safety" built in it also behooves the operator to remember to manually turn the suspension off. If he does not as soon as car leaves level and the time delay is over the control switch will try to move the car back to level in the opposite direction the operator is going and usually blows the fuse.

This Post was from: https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=242003