Re: New replacement radio for 55/56

Posted by HH56 On 2016/8/5 18:44:49
Quote:
What would be involved to convert to neg ground ?

On a stock Packard it is relatively simple although there could be a couple of gotchas.

A few non stock items that could possibly be in the car and would most likely be destroyed with a polarity switch are the radio vibrator, instrument voltage regulator, a Pertronix ignition, and the torsion level control switch.

If those components are originals, no problems but if any is one of the currently available solid state replacements specifically for positive ground then most likely it would be destroyed with reverse polarity. The torsion control switch apparently depends on which replacement is in the car and may or may not be sensitive. To be safe you would need to verify with its vendor whether that particular version is a problem. I can't think of any other solid state devices for Packards that could be bought for use with a positive ground at the moment. LED bulbs or an alternator might be a possibility but don't think you could buy those for 12v positive ground cars.

Once the items listed are sorted out then you could proceed with the change.

If the car has an ammeter the wires would need to be swapped at the terminals on back of ammeter. If just a BAT light then there would be no change.

Once the battery is hooked up you would need to repolarize the generator and then start the car to see if it will charge properly. If the charge is erratic the regulator could be polarity specific and may need to change to a universal regulator. Am not exactly sure what the differences are between regulators that favor one polarity over the other but some are listed for pos or neg ground.

It will work without changing but for best coil efficiency and output you should reverse the coil connections so the distributor points connect to the terminal labeled the same as the battery ground. Dist would go to the negative terminal of coil if you are changing to negative ground.

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