Leeedy wrote:
The very, very first thing you'll want to do it you plan on instrument panel swaps and switch and control swaps is to get yourself the special tool for doing so. I made my own using a precision drill press but I understand someone has been selling these tools online in recent years. In most cases, you cannot remove a switch or bezel from the instrument panel without this tool-at least not without takin g a chance on wrecking the bezel or switch/control. To remove or install the bezels and thus switches/controls you will need the equivalent of an allen fitting with a hole through it. The stem of the control/switch slides up into the fitting hole while the hex edges of the allen fitting can then reach the bezel attachment and unscrew or tighten in place. So. I strongly recommend if you are going to go this far, get the tool first!

As for the A/C fittings at the firewall. there were tools to install/remove these, but once installed they were never really intended to be removed. All of which is why they are so extremely difficult to disassemble. AND the very reason why I strongly recommended using two flange wrenches. Most people use one wrench and king-kong it into submission for removal-only to find later that they have destroyed the delicate bottom of the evaporator core. Which leads to a whole bigger bowl of worms.

As for the instrument panel mesh trim... why not simply have it re-anodized? Or remove it, clean it and spray with any of the wonderful coating sprays on the market now?

As you may guess, I'm not a big fan of swapping engines and other parts and customizing a Packard into a hybrid morph. Of course, then the next guy gets it and has no idea how to un-molest it or how to my the hybrid morphs work.

My dad was terrified of having an orphan car where you couldn't just saunter down to the dealer parts department and place an order. That was why he wouldn't buy a Packard in 1955-56. However, I see things just the opposite-especially today. To me, it is always a whole lot easier to simply put an old car back the way it was when new and be done with it. If the power steering goes bad-fix it. If the Ultramatic goes bad-fix it. It may be necessary to alter or substitute some A/C parts, for instance. But you can never go wrong with keeping a car original. Some of this stuff is like going after a mosquito with a sledge hammer. But this is just me.