Re: '57 Packard What-If based on Turnpike Cruiser

Posted by Mahoning63 On 2012/4/18 8:25:13

Hmm. Hmmmm. Everything BH has said seems right. On the other hand, one can do just about anything with enough money.

Guy - this car you are envisioning, we need to know more. For example, what's your target height? The '56 is 62.8" tall. A 60s/70s American sedan is around 54-56" tall. Because Packard's frame may not lend itself to a dropped floorpan in the footwell region, what are you prepared to give up in terms of headroom and seat height, recognizing that both dimensions had already been somewhat reduced by the Big 3 to get to the lower vehicle heigths in the 60s/70s.

What else can you tell us. Is there a particular car you have in mind as the donor? How much of it do you think you want to use? Are you prepared to use a 60s/70s intermediate, which might fit better to Packard's front/rear track?

A good sheetmetal shop can bend anything, it just takes time and money. Other things such as glass need to be used as-is or possibly trimmed (with great difficulty?) but can't be added to.