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Board index » All Posts (carfreak6970)




Re: Torsion level suspension
#11
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CarFreak
I am not to sure on the price of doing this job, but Ross Miller at Speedwell garage (in Parkton Maryland, not that far from you) works on these cars and does a really good job. He replaced the bushings in the family's 56 Caribbean and it rides better than it ever has since I remember riding in it as a kid. It doesnt stay level while driving, but I think that is because the upper bump stops on the front are missing.

I did replace all the bushings on my 56 Patrician and that car rides like a dream. Only time it levels it self is when there is a weight change in the car (added gas, or people) or if I raised the car off the ground to the point the wheels leave the ground. It seems any time the system is unloaded from the car's weight it needs to settle back out by pushing on the front or rear bumper once it is back on the ground.

Other suggestions of making sure your generator and voltage regulator are in good shape is another good suggestion.

Posted on: 1/3 10:43
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Re: Vacation Car - 56 Patrician
#12
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CarFreak
A little late in the response but I looked a little further into the rear end of the patrician. I did confirm it has the twin traction (removed the rear cover for inspection) and confirmed it has the 3.54 rear end ratio. So not to bad. I got the axle shafts in and torqued, however the air compressor is down at the moment so I wasnt able to fill the tires back up and didnt have the gasket on hand to install the rear cover. Hopefully those parts will be there when I get back this coming weekend.

next step is to work on the a/c I have a general idea where I am going to mount the drier. I also created a spread sheet with all the connections and what hose goes where, all I need is to take the measurements, find the ends I need on cold hose and get custom hoses made! pretty pumped about that.

then I just need to mount the thermostat, somehow wire everything, fix the horn, an alignment and I would say that about covers the winter work that needs completed!

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Posted on: 12/26 17:02
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Re: V8 Radio Removal Instructions
#13
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CarFreak
I had a similar conversion done on my patrician. it is pretty nifty!

Posted on: 12/21 11:34
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Re: Vacation Car - 56 Patrician
#14
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CarFreak
The car has been successfully transported from Pittsburgh back to my folks place in Lancaster. While it is sitting there over the winter I hope to try and finish up the last tid bits: a/c, alignment, headliner, last mechanical stuff etc.

To start that off I got the rear axle shafts removed and had Ross press on new wheel bearings. I just heard that was done so when they come back I will be able to install new axle seals and yoke seal. When removing the yoke nut, would I have to replace the nut with a new one? I know other rear ends I worked on said the nuts are a one time use item.

In effort to get the a/c done, Howard, what brand of thermostat did you use when you did your a/c conversion? and where did you mount the filter/drier? Do you have any pictures showing the a/c line routing? I have the condenser and compressor in and the filter/drier is the last component before I start figuring out how to route the lines. Howard, did you run any hard lines on the condenser to eliminate having rubber hoses go past the radiator support?

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Posted on: 2023/11/29 16:30
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Re: Vacation Car - 56 Patrician
#15
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CarFreak
Quote:

humanpotatohybrid wrote:
Quote:

CarFreak wrote:
Well I drove it the following day and as I was pulling out of a parking lot I lose power, the radio cuts and it feels like its coasting. Then the radio come backs on and power is back and I continue driving. While this was happening I was hearing some type of electrical noise in the steering column and it started to smoke. It stopped a couple seconds later and everything was fine but the horn didnt work... I figured something shorted or somehow that wire got power to it (it is a ground wire up through the column). Need to look into that. I dont know if this is connected but I also found out my power windows, seat and locks no longer work (need to check the circuit breaker and wires).

I was working on the a/c system and I may have leaned on the connections on the horn relay that allowed contact between the horn relay feed and the horn signal wire? again need to look into that.


Yes, I believe what must have happened your horn relay Bat and Switch terminals were shorted. Then either the horn was pressed accidentally, or there was some other short in the horn switch area, which would cause a direct short to ground. Normally a short to ground at the horn switch would just cause the horn to sound (much to the annoyance of classic car owners whom this happens to accidentally); the wire in the column provides power and it is grounded by the switch during normal operation. This by itself would never cause an overcurrent condition as the current is limited by the impedance of the horn relay coil.

Probably horn wire is toast and the contacts need inspected/cleaned. I know a guy with a whole steering column for sale for like 20 bucks up by Mifflinburg. Unfortunately it's still attached to the car.

If you inspect the wiring harness by the starter probably you will find that the battery wire or connections to the horn relay are also shot. Either the PS, PW CB was spliced into the same horn wire, or it is connected close enough to be likewise damaged by the heat from the shorting horn wire.

Also regarding the original horn problem: see here for the repair to this, page 4. I'm not sure the spacer dimensions but it shouldn't be difficult to figure out proportionally if you can measure the width or depth of the original hardware.https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/downloads/SC/SC-VOL29NO8.pdf

P.S. On the fuel issue, there is also a screen in the fuel pump. If you have the original pump and not cleaned out the tank (I don't remember if you did), the screen would be worth checking sometime preventatively I think.


I do not have the original fuel pump. I went with a 55-57 Ford T bird fuel pump (as suggested by Ross). This fuel pump was rebuilt. Went with this pump as it has a vacuum pumped attached to it to replace the vacuum pump that was originally attached to the oil pump (Im running the olds pump conversion). But the fuel lines are new as is the tank, so it definitely shouldnt be a clogging issue.

thank you for that link on the horn! ill give that a go when I get around to fixing the horn.

I did find the issue with the horn PW/PS/PL. It appears that some how the feed wire for the PW/PS/PL got caught on the column and wrapped around it until it split and shorted on the column. That short is what caused the smoke coming out of the steering wheel the other day. So the electronics and wiring for the PW/PS/PL should be okay I just need to remove the wheel and inspect the damage in the column wiring. I do know that the turn signals still work as they should, so thankfully that section didnt fry.

Speaking on the turn signals, column and wheel. My steering wheel is about 90 degrees off from center. To correct an un centered steering wheel the FSM states to just adjust the tire rod ends until the wheel is centered. Ill have to confirm that the steering gear is properly centered (equal turns to the right and left) but does the output shaft of the steering gear have clocking marks 90 degrees apart? It does it only have one? meaning the pitman arm can be clocked in 90 degree increments on the steering gear.

Posted on: 2023/11/17 10:17
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Re: Vacation Car - 56 Patrician
#16
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CarFreak
I have over 450 miles I put on this thing and its running great. A couple issues have crept up... I tried putting on a different steering wheel and I couldnt get the horn to work (it did before). So I was fiddling around with the contacts in the column and I thought I got it to work right. Well I drove it the following day and as I was pulling out of a parking lot I lose power, the radio cuts and it feels like its coasting. Then the radio come backs on and power is back and I continue driving. While this was happening I was hearing some type of electrical noise in the steering column and it started to smoke. It stopped a couple seconds later and everything was fine but the horn didnt work... I figured something shorted or somehow that wire got power to it (it is a ground wire up through the column). Need to look into that. I dont know if this is connected but I also found out my power windows, seat and locks no longer work (need to check the circuit breaker and wires).

I was working on the a/c system and I may have leaned on the connections on the horn relay that allowed contact between the horn relay feed and the horn signal wire? again need to look into that.

BUT! I was able to get the a/c compressor and condenser mounted. I used the york to sanden mount and milled another slot into it and mounted it to the original compressor's mounting bracket. I used a SD7H15 Sanden compressor. I used an 11-1621 condenser and the associated mounting brackets which just reached the mount holes on the radiator support. There are mounting points all along the edge of the condenser so it makes it fairly easy to mount. I did need to make spacers that were about 1.125" long to keep the condenser away from the cross bar in front of the radiator.

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Posted on: 2023/11/16 17:12
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Re: Vacation Car - 56 Patrician
#17
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CarFreak
Quote:

HH56 wrote:
Just be aware there are different size ceramic elements and I don't believe the one commonly sold in most parts stores for Chevys etc will work in the smaller diameter filter unit Packard used in some years. I think the difference may be AC and Carter brand filters. Someone posted recently they saw a vendor for a small element on ebay. I think it was for a Carter filter but won't swear to that.


I saw that and ordered one. It should be here Friday. I did take your suggestion and soaked the filter in brake cleaner. Surprisingly enough, it was 62 when I woke up this morning and should be holding that temperature all day, so I took the packard. I was able to do a couple hard 2 and 3 gear pulls and so far it is not having that bucking issue!! so I am glad all it was is a dirty fuel filter, so thank you!!

Posted on: 2023/11/7 11:34
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Re: Resurrecting my 56’ Patrician
#18
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CarFreak
Going back to the brake light switch. After hearing the issues with the pressure switches and availability I just went with the mechanical switch route that bolts to the column on the inside of the car. Simple enough modification to do and so far both cars (patrician and caribbean) have been working fine with no issues

Posted on: 2023/11/7 11:27
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Re: Vacation Car - 56 Patrician
#19
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CarFreak
Quote:

HH56 wrote:
I need to do research on the exact OD solenoid action for 55-6 units but with no electric lockout switch, in theory solenoid will get power any time the car is going over cut in speed. With the lockout knob pulled out though, there should be an internal mechanical block to keep the plunger from being extended so the car cannot go into OD. Without the plunger being extended there is a set of contacts inside the solenoid that will not be closed so there should not be any ground available so impossible for ground to reach the ign cut out circuit and cause issues.

If the knob is pushed in, the car will go into OD and the solenoid internal ground contacts will close when plunger nears the maximum extension. Ground will get as far as the kickdown switch but go no farther so again no ign cut out issue. If you floor the gas, kickdown switch will pass the ground and make the engine miss a few revs but at the same time the solenoid will also drop out immediately and open its contact to cut off ground as the plunger retracts so the engine will not die. That entire process only takes a few milliseconds. In one of the OD writeups I believe it said the engine cut out process is supposed to be over within 1-2 engine revolutions at 60mph and within a "few" spark pulses at a lower rpm.

On the fuel filter, as was mentioned earlier the ceramic filters can look clean and pass air freely if you blow thru them. In practical fact, if varnish has deposited in the pores it can restrict fuel flow. Depending on how much restriction has occurred will sort of determine at what speed the engine starts getting starved for fuel.

You can try soaking the elements in acetone or carb cleaner to see if that will dissolve the varnish but in some cases it won't and the elements will need to be changed. If you cannot find the small ceramic elements the filter will need to be converted to a paper element.


removing the ceramic filter and doing a pull doesnt seem all the difficult to do. I will try and clean it and see what happens. It appears amazon and Jegs sell the ceramic filter. I believe I got a new gasket, I cant remember if that filter was replaced...

and thank you for the write up on the overdrive. Could I run into an issue if the cable isnt fully putting the mechanical block into place? Would the solenoid fail in such a way that the contacts would go to ground regardless of the mechanical shut off block? An easy way to test would be to remove the fuse for the relay and do a hard throttle pull?

Posted on: 2023/10/30 16:37
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Re: Vacation Car - 56 Patrician
#20
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CarFreak
Quote:

64avanti wrote:
Points to a fuel prob.
The old timers will tell you- Most ignition problems are carb related!

Super car, BTW.


Thanks! I guess Ill check fuel stuff, but the carb was rebuild by me. I guess I could have done something wrong.

Posted on: 2023/10/30 14:16
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