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Re: Tire Shopping for a '54 Clipper
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OK Back to this,
To the tune of Red Green poetry: It is Spring. I am fine. My tires are fine, but some of the air is showing through. Guess I needed more than 10 psi to drive fast. Cracks are now show on OUTSIDE walls, making me more nervous, and scaring would-be passengers. (Felt more secure when I couldn't see cracks.) New tires $1000 a set. For a 61-year-old car that needs some other stuff. Not likely. Some ideas come to mind following search. Low end: Lucas "Sierra" radial blems. (Brown spots on 1.5" white walls): $86 225 75 15 Middle end: Lucas "General": bias ply. 3" ww $186 (top of my budget) 760 15 (right spec for car) High end American Classic, Coker, Diamond Back: Priceless. Earl's Tires: Used. Guaranteed to hold air for a while: Make offer. Set of 4 guaranteed mostly same size and "will fit". Interesting: L 78-15 Cooper Bias Plys say: "Replaces 9.15-15" Never heard of that size. I am going back in the house and read seed catalogs. Write if you have a brainstorm (about tires not gardening). Thanks.
Posted on: 2015/4/19 12:02
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Guy
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Re: Tire Shopping for a '54 Clipper
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Interesting Tire thread on PackardInfo from 2009.
https://www.packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=3221&viewmode=flat&order=ASC&type=&mode=0&start=0 Apparently '54 Packard Clippers and Cooper Untouchable tires have some history together on this forum. Note also the calm discussion about running 30-year-old bias ply tubeless tires, and even putting tubes in them if needed. I guess there were fewer objections to those practices back in '09 than there are now. But as I recall, the economy wasn't so hot then either, and maybe not as many people had money to burn on a $1000 set of radials. Ah, those were simpler times. Quote:
Yes, JW, Packard is said to have offered the first standard tubeless tires on their new cars in 1954. But maybe the less said about that the better. I know from experience that if you speak of Packard having introduced something first, before other manufacturers, you're liable to open a whole can of worms that will come wiggling out, screaming in unison that it was NOT Packard that offered tubeless tires as standard equipment first, NOR did they offer the first practical power steering (also in '54) NOR the H pattern gear shift, NOR the first automatic spark advance, NOR the hypoid differential, NOR any of the other dozens of automotive breakthroughs that uninformed people claim that Packard introduced. No, you will be advised, as I was, that you don't know nothin' 'bout carz, 'cause Chevy did all those things first. Or was it Cadillac, or the Deutsche Fratzmobile Companie, in 1915, with their tubucularless tyre? (Fratzmobile also introduced the first V12 engine in 1869, I believe.) Anyway, don't breathe a word about Packard coming out with ANYTHIING first. Factory Air Conditioning? Forget it. Cadillac beat them to that with their introduction of the roll-down window in 1922.
Posted on: 2015/3/9 0:54
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Re: Cutting the two hoods to join them together: bottom
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Quote:
... and there are still those who insist that the steel in post-'50s cars is somehow superior. Nice to see the progress on the Panther Project!
Posted on: 2015/3/8 22:46
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Re: multistory assembly line
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I don't recall if it was Brown
Brown did bemoan the quality of the cars, but probably didn't originate the term "cracker box", which is said to be the affectionate pet name given to the Conner plant by those who actually had to build the cars there. By personal observation: Neither of the rear windows rolled down except with extreme effort on our '55 400. We re-worked one of them, but that was enough, and the other one was just left the way it was, as a test of our strength and fortitude. The left rear door on our '55 Clipper Custom was stuck shut. (That's where I sat, so no need for "child-proof door locks.") You could argue that this car did not go through the "dealer re-work" because it was bought at auction, but it sure had plenty of bugs coming out of Conner. Including... The windshield, which rattled in its frame (apparently a common problem). When the regional service manager was called in, he just grumbled to my dad something about "whaddaya expect with a big heavy windshield like that?" So, the prevailing attitude at Packard was, apparently, "fix it yaself." Morale was not high.
Posted on: 2015/2/16 23:01
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Re: 1956 Caribbean hardtop options on a Four Hundred
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Quote:
Quote:
Well, QMopar, not all the knowledge is expert (see disclaimer below), as the quote above indicates. Thanks for the clarification Owen. I agree that it seems far-fetched that a Carib hood would be sacrificed at the factory to send to Mexico, but where in Mexico would anyone have found one? . I wonder if the CKD cars were the last out of there, and got the last leftover body parts. People who can "read" the door plate numbers would know I suppose. I'd still like to see a good pic of the underside of the hood showing the hinges at the back. You can sometimes tell quite easily if a hood has been horsed around with. That, I do know!
Posted on: 2015/2/8 15:04
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Re: multistory assembly line
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Quote:
Didn't believe me, huh? I double checked it in Kimes before I made the statement, because it's such a common misspelling that I couldn't remember for sure myself. It just looks better with the second "o". The building does appear to have a "PACKARD" sign on it in the pic where where a smilin' (unidentified) "Chrysler executive" is handing the "key" to smilin' Packard Manufacturing Manager Neil Brown, who later bemoaned the quality of the cars coming out of the Conner "crackerbox". The "key" still says Chrysler on it. Appropriate, since they held the lease. I wonder if Packard got out of that lease when they folded? (Pic on pg 574 of the Kimes book.) Quote:
Maybe, but maybe AMC didn't think Packard would be foolish enough to spend that kind of money on Conner, and were waiting to see if the deal fell through and sell the Hudson plant to Packard. That would account for the delay, too, I believe. Quote:
He used a Magic 8 Ball. I'm quite sure of it.
Posted on: 2015/2/8 14:29
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Re: 1956 Caribbean hardtop options on a Four Hundred
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A couple of thoughts:
The "CKD" condition of the car would make me tend to believe the Caribbean hood was sent with the car. Why would they switch it in Mexico, if it was delivered that way? And would it make much difference to the guys picking the parts if they put in an upgraded hood that would fit? Quote from DaveB845: "...as things were winding down some Detroit factory parts picker wasn't scavenging the unimproved dusty bits..." Scavenging a Carib hood could have been considered an improvement. As has been said before, lots of strange stuff going on in those days, and probably even stranger stuff with the exports. ONE THING THAT MAY TELL THE TAIL: Does it have a hood prop? The Carib hoods needed a prop because of the extra weight of the "scoops." If it doesn't, it would seem to be a strong indication that the hood was an ad-on. (If it does, I guess it wouldn't mean much either way, unless it looks as though the prop were installed in some odd way.) A few pics under the hood showing the mountings for the hood and prop (if present) might reveal indications of whether the hood was replaced at some point. P.S. Some folks have reported finding build sheets on the glove box. Like gold, build sheets are wherever you find 'em.
Posted on: 2015/2/7 15:36
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Re: Ultramatic by Borg-Warner?
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Tim,
Care to point out the holes in that last post for me? I hate to leave my mistakes unanswered, and a lot of it was conjecture. Sorry for the length.
Posted on: 2015/2/7 14:49
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Re: multistory assembly line
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Quote:
I thought the timing was suspicious on the AMC sale, supposedly announced "the day after" Packard closed on the Conner plant -- it is Conner with an "er" (I looked it up  ). But it might have just been prudent for AMC to see what Chrysler got for Conner from Packard before putting the Hudson body plant on the market. AMC didn't seem to have much luck bidding the price up that way, though, if that was their strategy.Thanks for your thoughtful de-construction of that "conspiracy theory", Steve 203. You have great source material. One good reason for conspiracy theories to exist, I think, is that in answering the questions they raise a more complete explanation for what happened can be found. Ah, living history. Now, if only someone can tell me what the heck was going on with that engraved plaque Nance signed, which listed the cars in the order of Studebaker, Clipper and Packard. That is just weird.
Posted on: 2015/2/7 14:44
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Re: multistory assembly line
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Quote:
Warning; Conspiracy Theories ahead! My previous suggestion that the Conner plant deal was self-sabotage could be way off the mark. Packard might have been doing the best they could while other companies were trying to cut them off. The speculation on how well Packard could have done if things had worked out differently may not indicate Packard's ineptness as much as it shows that there were plenty of others who were working against their success. Who knows the politics and back-room corporate dealings that went one? It certainly looks like AMC was asked to hold off on selling the Hudson body plant until after Packard had signed the deal on Chrysler's Conner plant. Then, wonder of wonders, Cadillac gets the Hudson plant at what looks to be a bargain price. AMC was evidently chosen by the Big Boys to play ball and survive... maybe because AMC didn't have the cars to compete against the larger GM and Chrysler cars, like Packard did. Come to think of it, AMC never made cars to compete in that segment... and neither did Studebaker. Quote:
What's good for Packard may not be what's good for GM, eh?
Posted on: 2015/1/25 19:20
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