Re: 55PackardGuy's '54 Clipper Deluxe

Posted by 55PackardGuy On 2014/9/2 20:17:11

HH,

I think your instructions were at least as good as any the manual offered for setting the hood latch. I did not make any adjustments to the "bonnet" but I did get the thing to latch right, as follows:

There is quite a difference, in my observation, between the '55 and later hood latches and the '54 and earlier. I just took a guess and unscrewed (counterclockwise) the plunger about 8 turns, as I suspected that rather than tightening the hood by screwing it clockwise I had just screwed the plunger in so far it was unable to "catch" in the hole.

Well, it worked. After the hood latch was set properly, I tightened the lock nut on the plunger. You can get an open end wrench between the spring coils and onto the nut, but it's a tight squeeze.

The hood is firm as can be now, and has been tested over 500 miles of mostly rotten roads between here and Duluth, Superior, and parts of northern Wisconsin lake country.

When I was up in Duluth, I stopped in to see Mike Dulinski. He gave me the grand tour, and I salute him for taking the time to introduce me to his Packard lode and even give me a ride in the 440 powered Pacsler. Whoo!

Mike suggested that the safety catch on the hood could be adjusted to clear the edge of the hole by just putting a little piece of material under the base by the return spring to hold the hook out a bit further. Easier to show than to explain, but I'm sure it will work. When I get to it, I'll post a pic. This is likely a common problem on '51-'54 hood latches.

A few pics of the trip to come, as soon as I can get them downsized. They're always a couple of megs in their raw jpg state, and I'm jumping through hoops to get them to a reasonable size. I don't have much editing capacity, but there must be a better way, haven't found it yet.