Re: TrevorK's 1955 Packard Patrician

Posted by Trevor On 2017/5/6 8:51:49

So a brief recap:

I purchased this Packard in January 2017 from Fred Kanter himself. It had been in storage for many, MANY years as part of his private collection. Fred reached out to me on this forum when he saw I was searching for a Packard. I know it's a little silly but it felt very serendipitous since as a teen and young adult I used to drive by Kanter Packard on 287 in NJ and just stare and wonder what was inside and when I could get my Packard....turns out my Packard was sitting in there all this time. Ok enough of that, on to the work, in order performed:

Fred & his guys did the following:
1. New gas tank
2. Rebuilt carb
3. Rebuilt original brake system
4. Installed 4 new tires
5. Stripped & repainted the passenger side front fender to correct a long ago repair - that Fred had nothing to do with - which wasn't holding up

I am know there is more I'm forgetting that Fred & his guys did, but I didn't write it all down to begin with (lesson learned) so that's all I can remember.

I did...sort of:

1. Hired someone to extend my garage the necessary 6 inches to fit the car lol It was the best birthday present ever.

My local mechanic did the following:

1. Replaced points (which I "burnt" out)
2. Replaced accelerator pump, failure was assumed caused by EOTH (picture below)
3. Found a bad splice on coil wire, soldered & heat shrunk connection
4. Corrected timing as it was 5 degrees retarded
5. Replaced primary floats which were partially filled with gasoline
6. Tested bouncing speedometer to confirm it works properly, it does
7. Flushed speedo cable, lubricated core and reconnected cable, which turned out to be bad.
8. Ordered a new cable but it wasn't the exact right one, however bouncing is much reduced. Wasn't able to locate a NEW cable only used, which he didn't feel comfortable using without my OK
9. Replaced condenser
10. Rewired coil which was found to be wired backwards
11. Added oil supplement to quiet ticking lifter
12. Replaced missing bolt in shift linkage and adjusted
13. Gave me orders to drive the car as frequently as I can

So what's next for the car (which I've dubbed Vincent Price)?

1. Work on the throttle linkage for the transmission to get the direct drive to "kick in" at the right time. Currently it's waiting until 40-50 MPH. But I will also say that as the car warms up it gets harder to tell when it kicks in so I need to go on a drive in an open area where I can really listen and "feel" it.

2. Install new weather stripping, I'm ok with not keeping this original lol

3. EVENTUALLY have the weather stripping for the windshield replaced, it is hard as a rock and whistles as I go down the road. But I also don't want to risk breaking the windshield. So this is pretty low on the list.

4. Figure out how to get the Mag-Nu-Matic working. Right now the reservoir is empty but I would think even if it were when I pushed the button in the wipers should activate. Maybe not?

5. Get the ATF changed out again after I put a few hundred miles on it.

6. Hit up all the lube points that I found on a lube chart


Oh and I did get the car detailed to bring about the shine you see in those pictures. The storage Fred had it under really kept it in great condition.

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