The filters are actually glass and don't seem to deteriorate, but they do get dirty. I have taken apart and cleaned bathtub instrument clusters with fair results--I always paint the inside of clusters in brilliant gloss white to increase internal reflection. A little bit of very judicious flicking with a dry paint brush will remove some of the dead outer surface of the glow in the dark numbers, and the needles are easily painted with that paint the Eric mentioned. In good shape they sure do look cool with the green numbers against a background of purple glow.

The front of the parts book lists some interesting interiors for your 5492 under the "leather trimmed cars": three combos of light/dark in green, grey, or blue in genuine leather. (Trim codes 5-6-7)

Also available were trim codes 25, 26, and 27 which were combos of light/dark in green, grey, and blue in "imitation leather" that is vinyl!

Probably no one knows what these looked like but if you did your seats in the same basic style as they are, with dark bottoms, and a light colored cap on the backrest you would be very close. The dark color should match the color and grain on the bottom of your door panels.

Even genuine leather trimmed cars got leatherette door panels, just like the convertibles and hardtops. If you agonize with the parts book long enough you may be able to tease out if the headliner was then cloth or vinyl. I am pretty sure that "leather trimmed cars" got vinyl headliners. In 55 and 56 many Patricians had leather seats with cloth inserts and those all got vinyl headliners.

So you could do your interior on the cheap and still be 100% correct. I'm going to do my 50 Super sedan in all red vinyl and leather and according to the parts book it will be correct

I have often made and installed "#5" pins for saggy 56s (55s seldom need them). The bodies of the pins are just 3/4"dia mild steel so are easy to make. Cut neatly to length, preferably on a lathe, drill a 7/16 hole about 3/4 deep in each end and chamfer. Drill rod works quite well. Install your old ends. A #5 is 5 1/8" long and is about the upper limit of what will fit in. Each 1/2" increase in pin length, ie, one size, raises the car about 3/4.

If this still won't bring your car up off its knees (I agree the skirt should split the hex, or slightly above for a bit extra bump travel), then install helper spring shocks on the FRONT.

The reason is that under most moderate load conditions the compensator bars are actually holding the back of the car DOWN. If you don't believe me unhook the compensator arms from the leveler and see how she sits. So, if you push up the front a relatively small amount with some sort of helpers, the compensator will bring up the back to match and you get a relatively big bang for the buck.

I find getting the ride height right really worth it--makes a big difference in the ride quality on rougher roads.

I am a bit skeptical of battery tenders--in my mind a product designed to fill a non-existant need.

My elaborate winterizing procedure consists of doing basic fluid checks and having a relatively full tank of gas. The car is driven about 7 miles to storage, backed in place and shut off. I then pat it affectionatly on the fender and close the garage door. If the car has a working clock, I twist off a battery cable before I go. Four or five months later I get in the car and crank it til it starts and drive home. These are cars are machines, not exotic aquarium fish.

Many of my customers use battery tenders and get nowhere near the 5-7 year battery life I get in my fleet of oldtimers. I believe these tenders are most necessary when storing modern cars with computers as they have continuous battery drain keeping the brain alive.

Your car is indeed paint code G, Argentine Gray Metallic. The firewalls, door jams, trunk inners etc. were all sprayed at one go, the same color as the exterior of the car. Many cars have been repainted and reupholstered, but your firewall tells the tale.

53-54 Caribbeans will have black firewalls because they were shipped in primer to Mitchel-Bentley to be changed from standard convertibles to Caribs.

Finally got my picture! This is a 55 Clipper Deluxe. I am aware of two other cars with this same setup.

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About those broken pitman arms: this can happen on any power steering equipped 53-56 when towed backwards without the engine running. Culprit is the steering valve on the end of the pitman arm. With no pressure from the pump there is a good deal of play in the valve. When towed backwards the front wheels can start a back and forth shimmy like a caster on a bad shopping cart, but with enough force that on a long fast tow it will fatigue the pitman arm clean off. TL cars are more prone because the front suspension will settle to its stops when the back is raised which gives more toe-out in the backwards direction, increasing the chance of shimmy. You don't notice any of this in the tow truck until the front of the Patrician comes around and passes you. Use a rollback.

You will likely find that the little sheetmetal stop on the shift lever inside the tranny turned or bent out of the way and the shifter went "too far" into reverse. This has caused the selector valve to come out past the detents. It will not go back into the detents unless you push the little detent plungers back into their bores while inserting the selector valve.
Pinning the selector lever to the shaft with a roll pin is a good idea. I also drill the set screw hole clean through the shaft and tap it 5/16 fine thread clean through. I then install a bolt with a star washer to keep the stop from migrating.

Just in passing, push button owners who don't always get the gear you have selected--chances are this same lever is loose in your tranny and should be pinned in place.

Factory built cars with stick and Easamatic had a low clutch pedal with the pedal turned sideways so it nearly matched the brake pedal in height and in orientation. I have this in my overdrive 55 Clipper Deluxe, and have seen it in a 54 Clipper Super and some '53 I can't recall this moment. The low pedal was achieved with a rubber stop under the toeboard and possibly some change in geometry as the action was quite nice in spite of the short throw. Factory cars with manual brakes got of course a high clutch with a vertical pedal. Oddly enough, I have never been able to find part numbers for any of the "low clutch" pieces, not even the sideways pedal. I'll try to get a photo posted tomorrow if I can master the technology.

15 x 6 with a five on 5" bolt circle. Any 51-56 "senior" wheel will do. You can readily tell these as they do not have the raised nibs pressed into the steel to capture the dog dish hubcaps.