Bkazmer: The automakers like Toyota and other car manufactures when placing in the top five in this study have
had no problem in blowing their own horns.

In the past ten yeas when American auto makers didn't place high they were branded as building bad cars by the auto mags and press. However when American built cars do place well in the J.D. Powers study they get very little credit.

Having little or no trouble with a brand new car also plays a big role in helping shape opinion if the new customer will be a repeat buyer down the road..

I more than any other person in this forum start more none Packard related threads. If things get to far to the right or to the left Big Kev steps in. If you only limited the automotive talk to only one subject matter such as Packard, then you tend to miss out on a lot of things pertaining the automotive world.

John F. Shireman

Maybe Merc safe. Article on AP says Ford now in talks to sell Volvo so it can emphasize it's "one Ford strategy" and concentrate on core F, M, L brands.

thanks dude.....that was what Micheal had...this minnilla folder thing with fold out pages that had schematics of the suspension and it said yellow, but if you go back in my blog....it is obviously green and blue..

i wonder if one was a replacement bar and it was that color to indicate replacement.

yellow doesn't fade to green i don't think.


later,

Hank

The closest thing to a Packard clipper in the automotive market today is a Buick or Mercury. What will fill the void of Mercury?

I think discussing the automotive industry today is completely relevant in a Packard thread. Packard suffered many of the problems seen in the Automotive industry today. Oldsmobile has become an orphaned brother, and will probably be joined by Mercury.

I'm guessing a 1 on the date because of the spacing of first dash & the cross on the real 4 looks lower than what might be there. A dash in the second number. No idea on torsion bars but would think the numbers would have to have been put on after the black.

EDIT The only reference to colors I find readily are in the engineering assembly line drawings. It says the green band in on right bar and yellow band on left bar. No reference to a blue band seen.

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You might try a wire coat hanger bent into a hook at the end. You could fish the wire up through one screw hole and pull the switch up snug. That would allow you to start a screw in the other hole and then remove the wire hanger - just a thought.

How nice to have that little bit of history, and I applaud your efforts to preserve the information. Wish I could help with the actual #s, but can't see it that clearly either.

You know of course that by the end of 1956 there were 3 different variations of the long bars, regular, export, and 9 degree extra twist. These are identified by the last 3 digits of the part numbers stamped on the ends. I do have a spare set of 55 bars from the same car and each of these is marked with a daub of white paint near one of the ends. At least I guessing it was white, its a bit yellow now but I've assumed that's due to ageing of the paint.

Just a pure guess, but in many industries where certain manufacturing variations need to be sorted and matched before installation, color-coding with paint daubs is common. Perhaps that's what we're seeing with the various color daubs - I don't recall seeing anything about it in the TSBs or SCs though, do you have a reference?

The data John refers to is the Initial Quality Survey - it is was it reports to be, but is often misused. It surveys defects on newly purchased cars - the OEM's like it because it pertains to what they are selling now. It has little correlation (I mean that in the statistical sense) with repurchase decision. There is a much less sexy survey done on defects after several years of ownership. That one correlates highly with repurchase decision. Makes sense.

Please , let's go back to Packards - we don't have the political diatribes here that the Buick forum is plagued with.

i am about to repaint this number on the side of the frame. anyone care to guess the date. is it 3/1/55 or 3/4/55. i can't really tell. and also is that a dash mark between the 4 and 12 on the other number or is it a faded 4?

when Michael Franko was over his book described a yellow and a green strip on the main torsion bars, but mine was blue and green. ever seen that?

one final question. was this painted on the frame before or after the black chassis paint by the factory.

thanks,

Hank

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I have a machine shop and 44 years of experience if you need something made.

As to thrust washers, if you have samples, know thickness required and material (bronze? hardened and ground steel?) they can be made.

At your service.


Private Message me if interested.

John Oder