Tall Steve's 53 Clipper

Posted by Tall Steve On 2017/5/16 20:43:28

This should be an interesting venture. My first Packard. It happens to be a 4 door sedan with a 288 and 3 speed manual transmission. A friend found it in Atlanta for me. After hauling it back on a trailer, I began making it ours. I am pretty sure at this point, my wife Pattie is less than impressed with the car. The car is very hard to start and requires a little gas poured into the carb. Starts right up then! I noticed right off the bat, that this car needs shocks. Wow, crazy hard to steer down the road! Ordered from Kanter and decided to take to a local mechanic. Charged me 20 bucks to install. I had them replace the exhaust as well. Lots of holes. While on the lift, I noticed all the undercoating. Looked way to fresh. It was hiding floor pan repairs upon closer inspection. oh well.

Ordered a carb repair kit and will order a fuel tank from Kanter soon. Small leak / seeping noted through the undercoating. I think I will have them replace the fuel line from tank to the carb at the same time.

Drove the Packard on the weekends while waiting on next steps. Lots of looks, thumbs up and guys wanting to talk about it. I was driving down the road when a guy on a Harley pulled up next to me and pulled out his camera. Thumbs up as he drove off!

Found this web site and it was a good thing. I noted that the car needed another gear going down the hiway. Too any rpms for a long trip at 60 or so. Car purred though. Now waiting for my new best friend (Ross) to send an overdrive transmission, oil filter adapter and the metal strip connecting the inside locking button to the door mechanism. Lots happening.

I need to order the fuel tank soon as well as the parts to repair a wore out clutch system. I guess I am about $3k away from a dependable car that I can drive anywhere.

Pictures and more coming this weekend. My car is stored at my farm about 90 miles away from where I stay during the week. Slow project.