I am actually still in need of a speedo, the ones I've found were the whole inst. cluster. Which I don't need because all of the other gagues work.

It seems like the parts dealers want an arm and a leg for them.

I may have to put it off for a bit though because the bushings on the support arm went bad last week. As in completly gone.

My two cents,

Do you know anybody that works at a shop, or a friend of a friend?

I went to a local shop in Portland a while back when I got the thing and they estimated in the range of 7grand for my patrician.

Went back after I told them I "knew a guy" and they told me in the range of 1500 to 2500.

It's always good to know a guy. Heh

Thx for the info for the parts to look for, I will try locally first.

Since I don't have a press I'll have to take it to the shop to get done, but does anyone know what they've paid to have the bushing pressed in/out.

Can I get the original bushing out myself?

Would it be possible to machine a T/l tool if I'd want one someday?

Also I found that plate in my parts book, it was seperated and in the wrong place.

I belive it's the one on the other end. 15.502? Is this availible by itself?

Obviously both sides new replacing but that one in particular is metal to metal.

HH56 why manual did that pic come from?
I can't find it in mine.

And last for now since I have T/L I'll need a special tool or two. Does anyone find them these days or are they all scooped up by now?
.

I was looking at the Rubber today on the pins through the support arm and on one side the rubber is smashed to bits. It looks like they are close to or are rubbing together. I think it may have happened on the gravel road next to my house. It's pretty washboard an I know it wasn't like that a few days ago.

So I was wondering...

Has anyone used Kanters 56 front end kit?

Were you satisfied with what you got?

Were the parts true to size?

So from what I gather the only thing stopping a bolt on conversion is space requirements and pedal trevel.

I mentioned it above but, what if you had someone machine a new plate to bolt the booster. It would move the mounting hole down away from the steering column, in towards the pedal, and also angle down a few degrees to better line up the original pedal.

How many psi does the brake system need to run at?

Yeah my post over at "unidentified engine noise" kind of changed so any other thoughts on brakes will be made over here.

don't get me wrong I don't absolutly hate the BTV, I enjoy the "feel" of the brakes that Packard mentions in them, however I don't feel safe using a single master cylinder unit that is extremely sensitive to malfunctions. And when does just doesn't work. Especialy after having brakes fail in a 4000+ lb car.

If it were brand new and the oe kits were availible or I was driving this car 53 years ago I would feel way better about using them.

But who knows who's opened it, when, and what they used to rebuild it. If it has even been rebuilt.

On another note what about making a floor plate to change the angle of the unit you replace the BTV with? Would that even give you enough travel to actuate them properly?

I was thinking that way you don't destroy the original but you could still pop the unit out the same way.

Why can't the master mount on the firewall like my chevy?

So it looks like im going to have to find a new speedo, it appears i have all the little bits that go in there, i just dont think theres any way im going to be able to re assemble that.

I will give it a go but probably not anytime soon, so if i do ill keep you guys posted on that.

Could someone possibly link me to one of the posts for brake conversion?

I tried searching for one in the forum but couldnt find it.

Ive had it with these brakes. They went completely out this last time (I thought it was just fade from the hills where i live).

Took it to Les Schwabs and they said they couldnt even check my fluid level!?

They thought you would have to take out the steering column haha!

It looks like the last time they would have been serviced would have been sometime in the 80's from waht i can tell anyway.

The only thing i know for sure about my brakes is that i have a bit of flutter, so air cleaner?

However im not really comfortable opening or using this unit anymore. and would like to switch over to something a bit newer so i can keep my Packard around for a while.

I've only seen the inside of the speedo once, but that sounds like exactly what it's doing. Does the parts or service manual have an exploded view of the speedometer? Or does someone have pics of a rebuild they've done?

I have an extra speedometer from a clipper Ive had since I got my patrician but it's unfortunatly in parts. And like I said i've only seen it's guts once.

Also slightly off topic I have a temp or oil gauge that the needle broke off of, are they trash after that happens or is it usefull to someone for repair?

It worked before my friend sat on it. And it's insides work but no needle. It just seems sucky to have to throw it out.

And way off topic, I don't know your guys experience with les schwabs, but they told me that it was too tight to work on and they wouldn't touch it. On top of parts availibility.

Alrighty it's been a bit since I've been on here, I had to park it for a week or so, but I got a chance to take it out yesterday and today. It would seem that noise was the speedo/speedo cable. I disconnected it from the speedo itself and haven't heard that noise since. So I guess the question now is it the cable or the speedo itself? I can see the cable spinning while driving, so it appears to be working but I can't tell if the gauge itself is working because the needle is broken off. It also appears someone let the grease work it's way all the way up the cable.

If I remove the cable from the tranny is it going to let fluid out?

On the nicer side it seems to be running beautifully with the suggestions you guys have made to me. They only thing that gets me is at start up and sometimes at a stop it smokes now, which it didn't do a month ago.

Just a little update, I'll go back through my post to see if I missed anything I brought up earlier when I get to a real computer.

And thanks again everyone!