I'm reviving this thread as I've about run out of ideas to address the grinding of the rear brake shoe against the drum that I mentioned in my original post.

What I've done so far:

1) Checked width of brake shoe and found it to be a 2" shoe with normal wear comparable to the left rear shoe.

2) Adjusted the brakes and test drove the car. Car stops straight and in a reasonable distance but with no improvement in the grinding noise.

3) Performed rear bearing service which included new bearings, races and seals. I set the end play to .0045" with a .024" shim stack on the right and a .020" shim stack on the left. (With the original bearings the stacks of shims were .010" on the right and .025" on the left.)

4) New return springs and hold down hardware were installed while performing the rear end service. Only the adjuster spring was re-used because I couldn't find the correct replacement.

5)Installed new rubber hoses all around, rebuilt all wheel cylinders and cleaned out all hard lines. Brake fluid was flushed and new DOT3 added. Brakes were again adjusted and then the parking brake slack was taken up.

AND THE GRINDING REMAINS....nothing about the nature of the grinding has changed one iota. It still sounds the same and still occurs at speeds above 25-30 mph and almost exclusively when engaged in straight-line braking. It doesn't seem to impact braking competence at all as the car pulls down straight and confidently...just with that awful sound when the edge of the bottom of the secondary brake shoe touches the underside of the brake drum.

The only things I've haven't changed are the drum and the shoes (which don't show much wear). So other than pulling the drum and taking it to someone who can determine if it's warped in some way, I am out of ideas here.

I'm hoping that a fresh set of eyes can give me some ideas. The car was braking fine prior to this issue cropping up and I'm hoping I'm not the only one out there that has run into this.

That's what I was hoping was the case, but this being my first effort with one of these, I didn't want to make any assumptions. Ironically, my son took a bunch of pictures as we took things apart but in the end we needed to hear what things originally sounded like not see what they looked like.

As usual, thanks for your thoughts, Ross.

Scott

This is my first time performing a rear axle shaft bearing service on my '55 Clipper Custom. While I've followed the service manual's directions to the letter, I'm not really comfortable with how things are coming together and hope to obtain some feedback from those who have gone down this road before.

As background, I have no history on the last time the rear axle was serviced. At the time I pulled things apart I was experiencing an intermittent grinding noise coming from the left rear drum during braking. My initial inspection revealed that the bottom edge of the secondary brake shoe was touching the drum just enough to polish the tiny rivets that are arrayed along the circumference of the underside of the brake drum. I figured one of three things may be wrong: 1) the hold-down hardware was fatigued and allowing too much in-and-out movement of the shoes; 2) the end play of the axle shaft was out of spec; or 3) the drum was warped. With this in mind, I decided to address the issues regarding the brake hardware and axle end-play first.

After disassembling the brakes and removing the outer seal, .010" shim stack, and bearing race, I removed the right axle shaft and pressed the existing roller bearing off the shaft. The new roller bearing (Timken 25877) was greased and then pressed back onto the shaft. I checked to make sure the polished side of the thrust block was visible inside the axle tube and then reinstalled a new inner seal, the axle, and the new bearing race (Timken 25821).

The left side was then addressed in a similar manner with the only difference being the removal of a slightly thicker shim stack measuring .025".

I then began reinstalling the backing plates, but stopped before tightening anything as it was clear that the existing shim stacks were of insufficient thickness for the new bearings. After an afternoon of learning how to make shims myself, I settled on a combination of a .024" stack on the right and a .020" stack on the left with an end play measurement of .0045". I did not have the tool to measure the end play as shown in the manual so I used a dial indicator instead.

Up to this point I felt fairly confident of my progress and proceeded to reassemble the brakes with new hold-down hardware and new return springs. But then I spun the right axle by hand and heard and felt a slight "clicking". I checked the left side and found that I could hear and feel the same slight clicking almost as if the bearing wasn't fully greased. I added the drum and the tire/wheel and the noise never changed.

My only experience with automotive roller bearings is on the front wheels where they spin freely, smoothly and noise free so I expected the rears to be same. Can anyone here confirm what the rears should feel and sound like? As I said earlier, I greased the bearings prior to pressing them on the shafts using a grease gun and bearing adapter, and again by hand right before inserting them into the axle tube. I serviced one side at a time to make sure the thrust block didn't spin, and I'm pretty comfortable with my end-play measurement. So what, if anything, did I do wrong?

As always, any experience and advice you can share is very welcome.

-Scott

I rented a UHaul truck and trailer to bring my '55 Constellation home two years ago. The car fit on the trailer fine and the Ram 1500 Hemi pulled it without any problems up to 60mph. Any speed above that and the trailer became a bit squirrelly so the ride home was rather leisurely. I'd imagine that your Packard on their trailer pulled by a modern 1/2 ton (or larger) pickup would be acceptable to UHaul.

By the way, if you do rent a UHaul trailer, make sure the straps are in good condition before you head out. The ones that came with mine were OK but definitely near the end of their service life.

Since you mentioned 359s...

Saw this at the Cleveland AutoRama back in 2018. Makes me think Seme and Sons in Cleveland might know something about Packard Straight Eights.

Although I've never had occasion to use their services, Seme and Sons has a long, long history here in Cleveland. It's a bit of a haul from Kentucky, but it might be worth a call if you can't find someone in your neck of the woods. You can find them here:

Seme & Sons
1320 E 260th St
Euclid, Ohio
216-261-0066
semeandson.com

Edit: I just looked at their website and they also feature a 1930 Super Eight in the Engine gallery.

Attach file:

---

  Packard 359 2.jpg (167.74 KB)


  Packard 359 3.jpg (156.08 KB)


  Packard 359 1.jpg (144.85 KB)

My first thought for reasonably priced hardware is McMaster-Carr who lists many different rubber grommets. You will have to spend some time combing through their charts to see if they stock a grommet with the combination of measurements you need.

Thanks for the reply.

Is the Perrysburg swap that is now held at the Proving Grounds a part of the Fall Open House or is it a separate event? I can't find a listing for a swap meet at the Proving Grounds.

And yes, the last few years of the S-P meet at Summit were pretty miserable and the Packard turn-out low. I still enjoyed the show, though and looked for info on it last year but came up empty. I just checked Summit's website and saw nothing listed. What's your source for the information on this meet?

I know I'm probably really out of date on these, but can anyone tell me what happened to the following:

1)Packard swap meet in NW Ohio. I seem to remember this being held at a hotel in NW Ohio near Fremont, OH maybe 10 or 12 years ago. Does this meet still exist?

2)Studebaker/Packard/orphan show held at Summit Racing in Tallmadge, OH in late summer. This seems to have disappeared during the COVID era. Anyone know if this one is still around somewhere?

Thanks,
ScottG

As a general rule during the 50's and 60's, those stainless interior bows adorned the headliners of hardtops. I don't recall ever seeing a sedan of any make sporting them.

That said, if you wanted to add them, I don't think pulling them from a '55/'56 hardtop will work as the Patrician likely has a different roof contour than the hardtops.

Wow, I didn't know that there was that much of a compression jump between '55 and '56. Too bad really, because I've been in the situation of having to figure out what 'mix' is right for a car and it can be a real pain. It's nice just pulling up to the pump and reaching for regular.