Thanks, Joel.

I had only seen the post at the AACA from one person about the event moving to Fremont, with no follow-up, and it had me wondering.

I've been going to Perrysburg since 1990 and it had always been at that same hotel - and a pretty good one at that, with plenty of restaurants and shopping nearby. Now, with a substantial remodeling nearly complete, it struck me odd that the event would be moving down the road. I normally get off the OH pike at Fremont and drive up US 20, but the Fremont area seemed a bit sparse in comparison to Perrysburg.

Having seen 100+ cars at Perrysburg and the best selection of Packard parts for sale in one lot for several years, it was obvious to me that attendance was way down this year. I don't know whether that was due to the threat of rain, but the ridiculous price of gas sure doesn't help. As such, perhaps some Packard owners decided to forego this event in favor of the S-P meet in South Bend in June.

I know there was talk of this being an unofficial Packard V8 Club eastern meet, but while none of my cars were anywhere near being road-ready, you can clearly see from the panos that V8s were well-represented.

Shortly after noon, I was about head out, but stopped in at Joel Ray's tent to check-in, and we finally go caught with a rain shower. Thanks to that delay, I got to meet MrPushbutton, who popped in to show off some parts finds, and we talked at great length about V8s and the pushbutton control system. I suspect some great things are in store for people who kept this unique system intact, rather than retrofitting to a manual selector.

All things considered, it was a good day and a worthwhile trip, and I hope make it to Perrysburg again next year. However, in another forum, someone posted that the event is moving to Fremont, OH - about a half hour east on US 20. Can anyone confirm this rumor and elaborate?

I didn't make it out to Perrysburg until just before 10AM that Saturday. Since I haven't been working on my Packards much in recent years, I really wasn't shopping for anything specific, but wnated to take this event in, which I hadn't been out to since 2003 - maybe 2002.

I meandered around the lot to see what was there, and picked up a few STBs to help fill in some gaps in my collection of originals. After a couple of passes around the lot, I went inside to get the panoramic view shown above. As I made my way back to the lot, I found a car that I had missed - must have been refitted with a flux capacitor.

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I know I'm a bit late in reporting on this, but I've been busy with a change in jobs - plus work at my folk's house. I didn't have much time, but made it out to the even last weekends (May 19).

Since one picture is often worth a thousand words, I've attached a panoramic view of the show and swap meet field. The image is composited from two separate frames - so you'll have to excuse a bit of distortion (the lot is more level than it appears in some spots).

With Windows Explorer, you can double-click on the attachement to open the pic in a new window, but you may have to zoom in to get the full detail. Otherwise, you may want to right-click on the image and save it to your computer so you can examine it in its full 1600-pixel width.

While other sites have featured pix of some of the vehicles, this is the first site to give you the full view.

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Eric -

That's a good tip for modern caps (like the HEI distributor you put in your Pat), which have a terminal much like the top of a spark plug.

However, BigKev is using the old point-style distributor, which have terminals more like the coil tower.

While BigKev has a new cap, attached is a pic of the tool I was talking about.

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IIRC, there is a slight groove down inside each tower on the dist. cap, and a rib on the terminal end catches on that groove to help retain the wire to the cap.

There used to be a special tool with a wire brush on the end for cleaning the inside of those towers, but you had to be careful not to overdo it - else the terminal will not release once installed.

For wires, I suggest you get a spool of Packard wire, some boots, terminals, and a crimper and make yer own. That way you know they're right - provided you have access to a correct set of wires to go by as an example.

Thanks for coming back with an update.

I am relieved to hear that your coolant and ATF are merely co-mingling on the floor and not in the tranny cooler.

Be advised that I met up with MrPushbutton at the Perrysburg meet last weekend, and after talking with him at great length, I can say that anyone who lacks the confidence/patience to attempt to service the push-button trans control system need look no further than MrPushbutton. Know that he speaks fluent "pushbutton-ese" - a series of clicks representing the proper movement of the actuator in response to the specific button pushed.

The steady stream of fluid coming from one of the bolts that secure the inspection cover for the converter could mean a failed front pump seal, which is what I expreience on the trip home with my first Patrician. Fluid comes out almost as fast as you can pour it in. It required removal of the trans to replace that seal. In my case (with evidence of previous substandard repairs made by the previous owner), the trans probably should have been overhauled, but the only pump seal was replaced, and I never had another problem with massive fluid loss - though with only ocassional use - since.

I have one of the Melling HV Olds pumps and adapter kits, but because I have not yet installed it, let's hear from others who have.

MrPushbutton -

The videos are cool, but your text and captioned still photos tell the real story.

This has been the most informative stuff I've seen published on the system in decades!

Dan

I wouldn't run or drive the car until you determine the source of those leaks. Since both tranny fluid and engine coolant pass through the oil cooler, that could be the source of your trouble, but I hope not. When coolant gets inside an automatic transmission, I have seen it ruin the clutch discs, requiring a full overhaul.

However, it is not uncommon to find coolant on the ground below these cars since they did not have a recovery system. The cap merely vents excess coolant/pressure through a small tube that runs down along one side of the radiator.

If your lucky, the tranny fluid on the gournd may have come form a flare fitting that may have lossoende up whe you manipulated the cooler to install the loser hoses.

Let us know what you find.

Big Kev -

I landed an ORIGINAL 1956 edition of the 1955-1956 Parts List (parts book). It will take some time for me to scan, and a few pages will need some digital clean-up.

I also have an ORIGINAL 1956 edition of the Parts Price List, which the parts book made room for (under a separate tab), but is often missing from most examples (and never included in any reprint).

Last but not least (for now), I have a nice clean ORIGINAL example of the 1955-56 Flat Rate Manual to scan for you.

Alas, it will be some time before I get to this as we are still cleaning up from the usual aftermath of winter, here, and trying to get caught up on spring yard work.