Re: hph's 55 Clipper Project
Posted by humanpotatohybrid On 2024/3/10 12:47:00
I made some good progress on my Clipper yesterday. I'm prepping it to pull out the old engine/trans and drop in ones that I will be rebuilding soon. This is covered in the Fenders and Sheetmetal section of the manual, but mostly without pictures.
The first step is to remove the splasher held on with 20 screws. Be careful when removing these as the ones in the grille can damage it if they are stuck (note the left side is broken). They are basically held in with speed nuts / clip nuts spaced around.
Next remove the wires from the junction blocks. This varies based on whether you are taking off the side fenders or not. The running lights should be disconnected to take off the grille. The rest can stay attached if you're not pulling the side fenders off the car, but I disconnected the wiring harnesses anyway to make it easier later if I decide to do that.
Next, remove the headlight doors.
Next, remove the 6 nuts holding the side trim on. There is a rubber washer behind each nut. Two are shown here and the other 4 are accessible in the wheel well. They are just studs that bottom out in the trim so sometimes the whole stud will come off. Also, there's one on the driver side that might be slightly different because of the radio bracket.
Next, remove the two side bolts on the grille. The bolt and nut are both 7/16". This and the next steps may be eased by removing the headlight assembly (4 Phillips screws).
Next, remove the two bolts under the headlight. These are usually very rusty so good luck. I was able to remove only the outer bolt on both sides. The inner I had to cut off with a Sawzall. Fortunately not too difficult to cut, nor replace later.
Then I thought I was done, but I missed two more screws. The passenger side screw was easy to get out. But I think someone must have tweaked the bumper up in the past on the driver's side since I had to use a quite peculiar arrangement to open up a gap enough to get the screw out. And a very specific socket and adapter to angle it in.
Then just removed the radiator and trans cooler after that.
By the way, would you expect much of a problem keeping the car on blocks like this? Obviously they are under the frame, not the body.
P.S. Here is my current "setup". And yes I did all this eork yesterday in constantly raining 45F weather
The first step is to remove the splasher held on with 20 screws. Be careful when removing these as the ones in the grille can damage it if they are stuck (note the left side is broken). They are basically held in with speed nuts / clip nuts spaced around.
Next remove the wires from the junction blocks. This varies based on whether you are taking off the side fenders or not. The running lights should be disconnected to take off the grille. The rest can stay attached if you're not pulling the side fenders off the car, but I disconnected the wiring harnesses anyway to make it easier later if I decide to do that.
Next, remove the headlight doors.
Next, remove the 6 nuts holding the side trim on. There is a rubber washer behind each nut. Two are shown here and the other 4 are accessible in the wheel well. They are just studs that bottom out in the trim so sometimes the whole stud will come off. Also, there's one on the driver side that might be slightly different because of the radio bracket.
Next, remove the two side bolts on the grille. The bolt and nut are both 7/16". This and the next steps may be eased by removing the headlight assembly (4 Phillips screws).
Next, remove the two bolts under the headlight. These are usually very rusty so good luck. I was able to remove only the outer bolt on both sides. The inner I had to cut off with a Sawzall. Fortunately not too difficult to cut, nor replace later.
Then I thought I was done, but I missed two more screws. The passenger side screw was easy to get out. But I think someone must have tweaked the bumper up in the past on the driver's side since I had to use a quite peculiar arrangement to open up a gap enough to get the screw out. And a very specific socket and adapter to angle it in.
Then just removed the radiator and trans cooler after that.
By the way, would you expect much of a problem keeping the car on blocks like this? Obviously they are under the frame, not the body.
P.S. Here is my current "setup". And yes I did all this eork yesterday in constantly raining 45F weather
This Post was from: https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=268667