Hello Don

Making a bit of progress with self-isolation time on my hands. Looking for suitable clips now to secure the new fresh air ducting. May end up using duct tape to secure/seal the ends as before. Would prefer not to. Looks pretty untidy (ugly).

Also been crawling around underneath looking for a Utica engine number on the V8. So far coming up blank, although may be hiding under the paint next to where the new Australian engine number was stamped.

Was reduced to reading my 1956 Clipper Owners' Manual, which contains a 5-page chapter entitled "Driving Your New Car". Someone has thoughtfully added a note on the back page. "How to drive. Place hands on steering wheel. Turn on key." Simple, eh?

At your suggestion, I'm looking for narrower radials to fit to my wire wheels. At present they have 235x75x15 steel-belted thin whitewalls (with tubes), which I guess will be even harder to steer at low speeds than the 215x75x15 radials on the steel wheels which came off the car. May have to go for the Cokers which look like cross plies (same as yours?) but are now quite expensive here. The existing tires look virtually new but are more than 15 years old. Definitely past their prime.

Have liberally greased up the front suspension/steering mechanism.

My paint guy scheduled to do the freshen up has gone home because of the virus. Was hoping to have that underway by now, but guess it will have to wait.

If paint looks like being far off, will get into the Bendix TreadleVac rebuild with the help of an experienced mechanic friend. Can't find local experts to do it. Would love to have someone like Ross Miller do it, but just not practical from here. Have his excellent write-up to guide us, though.

Cheers

Brian

I loved Joe's video. You can almost smell the fresh air!

So here we are in self isolation. Police waiting outside to ticket us for $1000+ if we venture out and can't convince them that it's an essential journey.

What to do? Take a virtual trip!

Get in the car. Start 'er up. Lights on and hands on the wheel.

Savour the purr of the Packard engine. The comfort of the seat. Then imagine rolling through the countryside with the windows down and the overpowering smell of fresh air.

Tragic, eh? Well it's better than staring blankly at the TV or a computer screen. And something to look forward to when this is all over.

A technique perhaps previously practiced in northern garages in the clutches of winter...

Brian

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Hello Dave

Hope the Easter Bunny came to your place. Maybe still on the way, given the time difference.

Doctors say chocolate is good for you. Who am I to argue?

Registration documents in Australia offer the option of chassis or VIN number, hence the odd nomenclature. The vehicle plate on this car is in the usual location - left hand front door jamb looking forward - despite being a right hand drive car.

Engine numbers are part of the registration details here, so a change of engine has to be notified to the registration authority and the new number recorded. For older cars with no VIN number, a chassis number is also required. This does not mean the car actually has a number on the chassis (or even has a chassis), just that it's pre-VIN. Sometimes an inspection is required following an engine change to ensure everything is in order, before the change is approved.

I will ferret around under the car for any other (eg Utica) engine number/s.

Cheers

Brian

PS Had a quick look for other engine numbers. There's nothing else at the front of the block as shown in the pic at Engine Serial Number Reference on this site. The number stamped at the front of the block looks like an afterthought, but would have been required for registration here. No sign of any other number ever having been stamped there. I can't see the lower part of the engine because of the pressed metal shield underneath. Will try using a mirror down the side in the engine bay, when I find a suitable one. BW

Guys

That's interesting. The number stamped on the front of the engine block (next to the oil breather tube) starts with "V" which is not listed anywhere as a prefix for the Utica numbers. I haven't crawled around under the car to see if there is another number, but will do so and let you know.

The engine number stamped on the block is "V571150P". Also, the engine is painted red, but that may date back to when the car was restored in the mid-1980s. This engine number bears no resemblance to the car number - on the door jamb plate - which is 56226194.

I'm pretty certain that the engine has never been changed.

Cheers

Brian

Easter Greetings, Don.

Yes, interesting point you make about titling a 1956 Clipper. My 1956 RHD Clipper Deluxe was first registered (titled) in Australia. It has the small Packard badge on the trunk (see pic), and was registered here as a Packard. All the documentation says "Clipper". Guess it's a bit like many of the earlier Packards which were titled with the TPN. Of course, both are wrong but perhaps not surprising.

Another little twist is that the Clipper needed an engine number for registration here. I was told that one - V571150P - was stamped in a visible spot (see pic). I don't know whether the V8 engines had a factory number on them or where it might have been located. Perhaps you or Owen-Dyneto will know? The frame number - per the plate - is 56226194.

I guess the dealer who sold my Clipper new here called it a Packard on the registration (title) to help justify the price! And Packard seemed to backpedal a bit themselves by (reportedly) handing out the Packard badges to Clipper owners in 1956.

Odd behaviour occurs when things are not going well. So all of this is perhaps not so surprising.

Cheers

Brian

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Thanks James

That's news to me but I dare say you're correct.

Any other Packard models share this setup?

I did not measure the stud spacing. My (modified) wire wheels slipped right on - eventually. I was told they have Ford centres, as apparently do my steel wheels. Although I'm beginning to wonder if those are original Packard wheels. No matter. They fit and the geometry looks right.

Spent a lot of time figuring how to get the rear wheels on and off, until I discovered that jacking under the chassis gives the necessary clearance (with the wheel arch covers off). Needs to go up pretty high, though. Started out with the Torsion Level jacked up to High, as well.

Brian

Yes, there are scumbags in every crisis. Trouble is, when somebody makes a killing somebody else usually loses.

Have you tried buying a surgical mask recently? Hospitals don't have enough of them. They are about a 10c item being sold online by the scumbags for $1.50 each, and quite likely stolen. Wouldn't buy as a matter of principle.

Jim

Great post. Reminds me of all the years I "lived" in Chicago and New York. Barely existed from one summer to the next, and didn't even own a car then - let alone a Packard. Lovely part of the world where you live now. I remember escaping up there from New York on weekends in rental cars.

Have not heard SWMBO for a long time, but used to follow Rumpole religiously since the lead character was Australian.

Lucky bear!

And you actually found some eggs!

Cheers

Brian

Don

Good to hear you're taking precautions with your parents. It's getting ugly in the US. My son lives in New York, and hasn't been out for a week. Seems to be turning the corner here, though.

I'm a one Packard guy now, having sold my 1941 120 Club Coupe. Still working on a space problem, which I have with the Clipper, three modern cars and something over a dozen motorcycles.

My wife complains about how much space the Clipper occupies, but I'm not listening!

Brian

Hello Don

Sounds like you're down south now. In self isolation? What do you do with no cars to work on?

Not sure, but I think your 1954 Patricians are senior models? If so they would have the 5 1/2" wheel stud spacing, and would not fit my Clipper which has 5" stud spacing per junior cars. That's where the problems started for the previous owner. He purchased aftermarket Packard wires in the US, then found they would not fit. So modified the centres (Ford?).

When I bought the car, I retrieved the wires from a Patrician-owning friend of the previous owner, who had also discovered that they would not fit his car so still had them on the shelf. A set of five with good tires. My good luck.

Cheers

Brian