Eric's 1956 Patrician STS Restoration Project

Posted by Eric Boyle On 2007/2/19 10:14:01

Since our gracious host gave us a spot to chronicle the development of our beloved Packards, I decided to explain mine in a lot more detail here than I have on other areas of the web.

So, let's start out by explaining the title of this thread, "Eric's 1956 Patrician STS Restoration Project", STS of course for "Sports Touring Sedan". The idea here is to make a Packard with the power, agility, comfort, and luxury of the best of today's sports sedans. This will entail updating the engine to a higher output, updating the transmission to include an overdrive, and improving the suspension to include a larger sway bar in the front, a large one in the rear, 4 wheel disc brakes, and, possibly independent rear suspension, with T/L. (that's my BIG secret that I haven't told anyone about yet)

I feel that with these modifications, I'll be well on my way towards my goal of a Patrician STS. Oh, and I almost forgot, it will have full Caribbean trim, and be a 4 door Caribbean, with performance, luxury, and handling to outpace any car of the '50s, and a lot of ones from today.

To give an idea of this rather ambitious plan, here's a few details:

#1 374 supercharged (EFI possibly) engine
#2 T56 6 Speed transmission
#3 Fully independent suspension w/fully functioning T/L
#4 Four wheel disc brakes
#5 Improved sway bars front and rear
#6 Improved luxurious interior, front bucket seats, console, etc.
#7 Full Caribbean trim spec

Now, keep in mind, that this is NOT a street rod of any kind, more of a "What If" in the mold of Craig's Panther project, and to typify what a 2006 Packard Caribbean Sedan would look like. I feel that this can be done rather easily, but I can't reveal all my secrets just yet, so stay tuned!