Craig,
The ABS system cost about $1,000 and the other parts about $200. With labor the entire installation was right about $2,000. It's a little pricey but considering how much I have in the car, it's worth it to me to have safe brakes that I can count on.
Jed

Mat,
King's Restorations in Cloverdale, Virginia installed the system for me. They did get advice from ABS on the system while they were installing it but the design of the installation was not ABS.

The pump and reservoir went under the fender where the vacuum tank normally resides and the master cylinder was installed on the outside of the frame rail under the driver's door.

The brake pedal is an aftermarket unit that was installed in the hole in the frame where the manual brake/cluch rod would go on some Packard models. The end of the aftermarket pedal that normally would extend through the floor was cut off and a rod installed from the pedal arm to the Packard brake pedal. This allowed us to leave the Packard pedal in its stock position.

A rod at the base of the pedal extends from the pedal base through the hole in the frame to the outside of the frame rail just forward of the master cylinder. Here an actuator rod extends to the master cylinder to activate the brake system.

It sounds more complicated than it really is and this setup really works great! If you'd like to give Montie King a call (King's Restorations) his phone number is 540-966-3911 and he would be glad to answer questions. He may even be able to put together a kit whith the pedal parts for you. I'll also be posting pictures soon.
Jed

Thanks everyone for the advice, it's appreciated. Kev, I did check the oil and it looked normal. I don't know if that means I don't have a blown gasket or not. I'll replace the tranny cooler and see if that solves the problem. Max Merrit has them for $225. I'll post the results when I get it done.

Packard34
Mat,
I just installed the ABS electro boost system in my 56 400 and I absolutely love the system. The brakes work better than they ever have and the pedal feel is far superior to the BTV. The only drawback is the noise the electric pump makes, about the same as the leveler. It cycles when you use the brakes, more so in traffic, less on the open road. I'm planning on posting pictures and explanation of the installation soon.
Jed

I am looking for some advice in diagnosing a problem with my '56 400. I just returned from a Blue Ridge Packard tour and heard a hissing noise from under the hood. When I opened the hood I saw what looked like chocolat milk bubbling out from around my radiator cap and a puddle under the car from the overflow vent.

The car ran absolutely perfectly on the tour with no overheating problems at all. I checked the oil and, while it was at the low mark on the dipstick, it looked normal. I checked the transmission fluid and it doesn't register on the dipstick although Bob Aller rebuilt ransmission shifted perfectly during the tour.

So, I'm thinking I have a leak in the transmission cooler allowing the tranny fluid to get into the coolant system. I'm also wondering what the "chocolat milk" mixture will do for my cooling system and if I can flush it all out. And I'm also wondering if I have that same mixture in my transmission and what it could do in there. Nothing registered on the dipstick which could be a good thing (no chocolat milk).

Any thoughts or advice on what to do next?

Any idea how to contact Bob berg? Do you remember how much he was selling them for?

Does anyone know of a source for a J-6065 tool? Is anyone reproducing them? Is there a need for them? I've seen Craig's solution using a chain and this method looks like it would work well so maybe there's not a need for them.

I've also seen the bluprints in another section of this forum and it seems as if fabricating new tools would not be very difficult nor very expensive.

If there were a source of new tools would there be any interest in them? Say, if one of the PAC regions took this on as a project would there be a demand for it? Anyone have any thoughts?

Well I heard back from Mike Dulinski in Duluth. He now has 95 parts cars from 55-56 and not a single one of them, not one, has manual brakes. They must have been rare indeed. So I'll most likely use an aftermarket pedal assy.

However, Mike did give me an idea on how to use the stock suspended brake pedal. A rod pinned at the brake pedal going to an aftermarket brake pedal shaft that's cut and pinned to the rod. This should compensate for the different arcs of the suspended pedal and the pedal shaft coming up from the pivot point. It could work. We're going to get together at the shop after Christmas to lay it out. I'll take lots of pictures and post them as we progress.

I found the attached photo and I think it shows what your referring to. The shaft is stationary and the clutch and brake pedals rotate on the shaft. Got it.

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That's a really good point. The MC has the fittings on the passenger side when placed to the rear of the brake pedal. We'll have to see if there's room for the lines in that position.

Just springs and a clip hold the brake pedal rod in place? There's no brackets or bushings?