Bobby,

When you have a chance check your email. I have checked with our packard department and they had tried calling you early, but were unable to get hold of you. So they had followed up with an email to you.

I have done some research on the shocks and have the following information available about our shocks.


Collapsed Expanded
delco orig specs 11.182" 19.037"


Kanter's Shocks 11.500" 19.250"

Something to considered is the type of tires that you are running on your Packard. Are you using bias or radial tires? Also what size? As with radial the tread is wider which may cause your clearance issue when removing your tire.

Thanks
James From
Kanter Auto Products

Hey Bobby,

Please private message me your invoice number and the address that we shipped your parts to. I will pulled your paper and see what I can found out on our end. Also can I get measurements of the shock that we sent you? I need the extended and collapse length.

Thanks
James From
Kanter Auto Products
1-800-526-1096
Ext 316
jfrom@kanter.com

Steve,

Thank you for the kind words. My intentions here are not to push Kanter, but rather observe and beware of any issues with our product and services and offer my help when needed. I want people on the forum to feel comfortable in contacting us if they have questions. I enjoy following the posts on this forum and seeing others perspectives on the different issues that arise when working on these cars. As we all know there is more than one way to get the job done. For me these antique cars are my passion whether it be a Packard or any other. I am here to listen and help.

James From
Kanter Auto Products

1OF750,

Let me know if you still need the two copper washers we would be more than happy to assist you. We normally do not include these in our kits as they were not considered a perishable part in a rebuild. The copper washers are an item that can be re-used, the only time that they should need replacing is if they are cracked, bent, lost, or deformed, we will get the occasional request for them for those exact reasons. The purpose of the copper washer is to take up any small imperfections in the two mating surfaces.

The majority of the aftermarket suppliers over the past 60 years did not supply the copper washers whether it was Wagner, Packard, Raybestos,napa or any other Packard specialist . I think of how many times over the years rebuilding power or manual master cylinders and all the kits that I used came with rubber parts only and no copper washers. Something else to think about the next time you are at the parts store (which I was this past weekend). I need a front brake hose (Dorman brand) for my late model pick up truck and it didn't come with two new copper washers to mount it to the caliper. Should they have supplied them? If it is a perishable item we supply a replacement, we have mimicked the kit that would have been supplied from the original suppliers back when these units were new and we have sold 20,000 plus rebuild kits over our 50 years in business. So if you have an issue, please contact us and we will work with you to help you get back on the road.

James From
Kanter Auto Products

We have faithfully reproduced these mats for the 1955-56 for the past 40 years to the same spec and look as the originals. The one pictured in the ad above is an artist's rendering and the shading is to add contrast and depth to the ad.

Duane,

You have done a great job so far and your wife is one lucky gal. This thread reminds me of the restoration of my wife's Fairlane. Before it was restored she would drive it all the time, but once all the paint and body work was done she refused to drive it as she would always say "I don't want to scratch it" LOL. My response was that's why I ordered an additional gallon of paint just for that reason.

But back to your engine issues at hand. I would first suggest get your hands on a service manual if you haven't already. It is a great quick reference to have when you are working instead of stopping to jump on the computer.

Secondly do you know what kind of mileage is on the engine and did you have the engine running before you pulled it to start the restoration? In general before pulling an engine apart I like to do a compression test to get a general idea of what cylinders are having issues. Next I normally do a cylinder leak down test. This will tell you if you have a intake valve, exhaust valve, or leakage problem past the piston rings.

Since you have already pulled the head and discovered the intake valve issue I would pull your side cover to investigate further. You could have a couple of different things going on a bent or warped valve or possibly a valve that is frozen to the guide. At this point the only way to know is to dig in a little deeper and open up the side of the engine.

Again Kudos to you and your lucky lady on a very nice car.

James

Hey Mike,

Thanks for the email and the follow up. I did find your order and it was from Feb of 2012. I will be following up with the Packard Department and Dan Kanter to see if I can track down the emails that were sent.

Thanks
James From
Kanter Auto Products

elwoodp44/Mike,

Can you pm me with your information so that I can make sure that we attend to the issue that you are having with our kit. I will need your shipping zipcode as I would like to stay on top of this.

Can you also send me a copy of the email that you sent.

Thanks
James From
Kanter Auto Products
1-800-526-1096
Ext 316
jfrom@kanter.com

Quote from post #12:

"Secondly if you stay with a BTV you may need to install a residual valve to the brake system."

Did u mean to say proportioning valve as opposed to residual (pressure) valve????? The BTV already has a residual (pressure) valve in it from the factory.


I did mean residual valve


Residual Valves are used in both front and rear brake systems in the following ways

2 psi residual valves are used in the front of a disc brake conversion when the master cylinder is at or below the height of the calipers, the residual valve acts as an anti siphoning valve preventing fluid siphoning back to the master cylinders when the brake is released. But be aware in the case of a BTV unit, as they are equipped with a check valve. The check valve would then have to be removed as it would be redundant and caused the calipers to stick.

You would know that your system would need a front residual after converting if it takes more than two pumps of the pedal to get a good strong high pedal.

10 psi residual valves are used in a rear drum brake setup (when converting to front disc) to prevent air from being sucked in to the system when the pedal is released. Typical wheel cylinders seals will only seal when there is pressure behind them. In a system without a residual valves the rapid release of the pedal cause a vacuum inside the brake system which relaxes the seals and can cause either induction of air to the systems or leakage of fluid. By keep a 10 psi on the wheel cylinders this prevents this from happening. Depending on what master cylinder you are using it may already be equipped with an internal residual valve.

A proportioning valve goes in the rear in the case of a disc brake conversion and provides CONTROL of the rate at which pressure within that part of the system rises.


Thanks
James From
Kanter Auto Products

Hey Guys,

I don't know if this will help anyone but, I went out and weighed the parts to our disc brake conversion kit compared to the stock drum setup. The drum(composite 2 piece) and back plate fully dressed was roughly 31 lbs(one side) and the rotor, pads, caliper , and brackets were roughly 40lbs(one side). So if weight loss is what you are trying to achieve this is not going to help. But from a safety upgrade point of view it is a good one.

Our kit can be used with your original BTV but keep in mind that as disc pads wear, more fluid will have to be added to the system to make up for the increased volume of fluid displaced by the calipers. You may want to consider adding a remote reservoir to your system or upgrading to a tandem cylinder master cylinder.

Secondly if you stay with a BTV you may need to install a residual valve to the brake system.

I hope this information help. If not ask away and we will try to help.

Thanks
James From
Kanter Auto Products