Craig, nice to hear from you.
I've looked at your site a few times.
I liked the F100\150 swap that Paul did, I did
not see much info on it except when he said it's not
a bolt in. As I posted I bought a set "pulled"
which are being shipped to me
On the other hand his new MC\booster is not
what I am thinking of.
Best

hello
Well it's been some time since I posted (cheap brakes)
Graig has not been on or replied to my posting.
I am going forward with the switch to Disc brakes
using the method Paul had done. That is swapping
out the spindle\steering knuckle from a F100\F150
from later 70's. the bore size for the Packard king pin
is .866, the Ford is .85xx so a honing should bring
it up to the Packard size.
I am sure some machining of the Ford spindle will need
to be done, other then the king Pin.
I am also going to a newer M\C and or powerboost.
Wilwood has a manual MC with about 1200 psi
A 7" dual diaphragm will also be used.
what is funny for me, living in LA county, not one
wreaking yard showed a F100\150 for those years.
and I really don't want to go searching then have
to pull the part myself.
an out of state yard has both left and right
with everything attached for $45.00 each.. seems like
a good deal
Best

While replacing the rear brake lines on my 56 400
I dropped the rear cover might as well change the gear
oil, and replace the gasket.
I found numbers for both the "cover gasket" and
the "carrier" gasket
both from Vintage Gaskets
Carrier gasket #10199e
Cover gasket #10116E
can anyone confirm these numbers
price seems OK, but shipping is about $8
I'll call and see if they will ship bundled
probably buy 2 sets...
anyway any info...
could not get a listing from Fel Pro on their site.
best

I just came across an article from 2003 about
using 1972 Ford 1/2 ton spindles on the 55\56
Packard. I was written by WCraigH, as far as I
could tell all the links were ended and the
article was the only entry.
http://forums.aaca.org/topic/38756-another-front-disc-brake-conversion/?hl=%2Bdisc+%2Bbrake+%2Bconversion

Does anyone remember this article. was any further
writings done regarding this.
Best

I would say in the years I drove my 56 400
I never had a failure while driving the car.
I already stated that I had the booster rebuilt twice
once professionally an I rebuilt it myself, when I found
that there was a vacuum leak from the booster.
On a side note, about brake failure,
the first car I bought was a 68 cougar 289, auto
front disc. One day driving up Vermont Ave at about
55mph a women drove through her red light right in
front of me, I slammed on the brakes, and nothing
I turned the wheel left as fast as you could imagine
which caused the car to jump the center island. To say
I was pissed, I whipped the car around chased the women
down and drove her off the road, it took me about a mile
to get the car stopped. I went back to her car
grabbed her keys and through them in the field.
I did drive the car home, about 3 miles very slow
in first gear.. Then I checked the MC, no fluid
I checked all the fittings, I checked for signs of leaking
at the wheel cylinders, at the calibers, all along the
brake lines, no signs of a leak, I took the MC
off the booster to see if any fluid was leaking back
into the booster no sign, of a leak.. Then I took
the booster apart and there was the fluid, just a small
pool. Took it up to a rebuild company and they exchanged
it... Never had that problem again.
I don't know what happen to the women, guess I might
have over reacted, but Damn,
I was 17 and I worked for every dollar I paid for that
car.

Thanks for the info
I should just put the Packard off for a bit
as I'm rebuilding my 62 wagon, but once something
gets into my head it's hard to let go.
just realized I have no "brakes" in the Packard
so going to pull all the lines and hoses and replace.

My apologies for not being more accurate about which
(318 lifter) is used.
Everything I learned about the 56 Packard came
from reading any article I could find, talking to
the guys at Custom Auto in Santa Ana Ca, and members
of the PI club and buying a Hollander 32nd Edition.
Remember this was 87\88 no internet back then.
We still had some good Auto parts stores along with
NAPA and Pep boys, along with Kanter's and Max Merritt.
IC that this site has a listing of Packard dealerships
I had made a list for San Pedro and Long beach back in
88, I did it by going back in the yellow pages of old
phone books and looking them up. I had been working
at Blvd Lincoln Mercury on Long Beach blvd and found out
that the building was built in the early 50's as a Packard dealership about 2 years later the dealership moved across the street to a newer more modern looking building, which still stands.
In fact at least two of the Packard dealership buildings
are still in Long beach the one which we had used
just about at Anaheim and Long Beach Blvd is now the
parking lot of a chain parts store.
the two remaining one is on Long Beach blvd and the
other is about 2 blocks west on Anaheim from LB blvd.
On the roof of the dealership I found the old
neon Packard service sign, sans the neon. bought it for
$50.00 from the owner of Blvd L&M.
Come to think of it, the San Pedro Packard dealership
building is still standing.
While I'm thinking of it, I was never happy with the
replacement carpet I had installed, does anyone have
a picture of an original carpet. I believe it had a
sorta flap over the front of the transmission tunnel
mine does not, and I'm looking to get new carpeting.
best

It's probably been covered, I did do a search on here
and nothing came up, so if your looking for new
valve lifters Egge sells them for $144 a set.
The 374 uses the same lifter that Chrysler used later
in their 318 engine. Autozone $6.00 each or $98.00

Hello All
My friend and I went to the Automotive Driving Museum
in El Segundo, CA to attend a " Woodies" picnic.
We then toured the Museum, and I was so surprised to
see so many Packard's in under one roof
It's a $10 entry fee, I didn't count how many car's
were displayed, or have often they might rotate them.
But it was worth the time and money.
Best
Dave

610 Lairport St, El Segundo, CA 90245
(310) 909-0950

I know this is a little late
You don't need to use a GM brake setup,
Ford, Chrysler all work the same.
Ford has been using Bosh dual action vacuum canister
for a few year, like 15 or so.. they are used on the
big Crown Vic, Merc's and last of the big Lincolns.
They mount directly to the fire wall.
Also the dual master cylinder is much smaller then
what was used in Graig's setup. Nothing wrong with
what he has done, just different options out there.
You don't need to mount a modern M\C to the frame
rail or the fire wall. Do some research and you'll
see Hot Rods mount them in many different places
given the small engine compartment size.
Back in the late 80's after I got my Packard
I was looking for way's to change the TV to more
modern, then other things got in the way...
you know how that goes.