Re: '56 V8 production vs serial #s

Posted by BH On 2010/2/17 13:10:21

When I worked for Chrylser as a D.M., back in the '80s, you often had to provide an MDH number to obtain sufficient tech assistance to get to the bottom of a problem in the field. Even some of their TSBs referenced an MDH number. Found on a sticker on the door of every vehicle they built, at that time, that number was the month-day-hour of build - very precise.

Packard, however, approached things differently. STBs concerning running changes WRT to engines and transmissions were referenced by their unit serial number, rather than VN or build date. Take a look at STB 56T-20, for example.

I can only guess that they took such an approach because the engines and transmissions were assembled and numbered so far removed from East Grand and Conner Ave. assembly lines - in the Utica plant - and without regard to the specific vehicle that they would end up in. Inventories of those units at the point of vehicle assembly may not have been managed on a first-in/first-out basis.

However, those unit serial numbers do not appear to have been recorded on the production record, which may be just as well at this point, since engine transmission swaps are not uncommon.