Thanks for the great info, Brian! I called Ed Strain
but it was not during hours. I will call back and get
a quote. Meanwhile, Max Merritt quoted $395.00 for
entire master cylinder/ Treadvac assembly + plus a $150.00 refunable core charge.

PJ

My mechanic tells me I need a new brake master cylinder for my 1955 Patrician. He says that the Treadlevac unit appears fine (I had it rebuilt 15 years ago and it has only about 500 miles on it). My mechanic says that special tools and expertise are required to disconnect the old master cylinder from the Treadlevac unit and to attach the replacement, which I am thinking of ordering from Max Merritt in Indiana. I live in No. California but could ship the parts to anywhere in the country if someone could tell me a shop that can do this work.

HELP WITH INSTALLING NEW BRAKE MASTER CYLINDER - 1955 PATRICIAN - My mechanic tells me I need a new brake master cylinder for my 1955 Patrician. He says that the Treadlevac unit appears fine (I had it rebuilt 15 years ago and it has only about 500 miles on it). My mechanic says that special tools and expertise are required to disconnect the old master cylinder from the Treadlevac unit and to attach the replacement, which I am thinking of ordering from Max Merritt in Indiana. I live in No. California but could ship the parts to anywhere in the country if someone could tell me a shop that can do this work.

Is there a battery supplied by current suppliers which is configured and looks like the batteries that Packard supplied on new 1955-56 Packards. My mechanic is not happy with the look of the Interstate battery he purchased for my car and would like to return it to the supplier. He says that a battery is available which looks like the original.

Guys, my mechanic got the leveler going with all of your great input. He tells me that I need to replace
the torsion cut off switch under the left side of the dashboard and also the stoplight switch under the battery
on the left frame member. Does anyone have a suggested part supplier source for these items? Snopack, above,
indicated to me that he sells the adapter for the stoplight switch.

Something else just came to mind! How many poles does a 1955 control unit have? Since there are only three wires from the harness to the control unit, doesn't it make sense that there would only be three? Since my mechanic is saying that the unit that came from my car has several poles (not just three) doesn't that make it a 1956 control unit for sure?

I sent my 55 Patrician's torsion control unit to Snoqualmie, WA for conversion to solid state electronics. My mechanic has put it back into car but informs me that when the three wires are plugged into the proper sockets for a 1955 the system is dead. The contol unit has extra poles apparently for the 1956 models. My mechanic says that it appears to him that the 1956 arrangement calls for the use of as many as six wires. Also, when he plugs the three wires from
the wiring harness to control unit into some of these other poles the system is hot and partially operates to adjust the level of the car. What I am wondering
is whether the rebuilder in Snoqualmie may have rewired the control unit for a 1956 Packard even though my transmittal letter clearly indicated that the
car was a 1955. I would appreciate any advice and help on this problem.


Here are some additional facts to add to this puzzle. Our car is an end of the model year car, which my
father and I picked up in Chicago when the 1956's were already on the showroom floor. I have reason
to believe, then, that the control unit for our car's torsion bar system was a 1956 control unit which the
factory cobbled to take the wiring from the 1955 harness (When my mechanic recently pulled the
control unit off of the car, he found that the three wires coming out of the unit were differently
colored than the three wires coming to the unit from the harness). My surmise, then, is that the
control unit on 1956's is wired differently than a 1955's control unit. So that when I told Snoqualmie that I
had a 1955 Packard, they naturally gave me back a solid state 1955 unit instead of the 1956
that I possible needed because of the aforemenitioned end of the model year swap at the
factory. If this is true, then, is it possible for me to hook up the three wires from the wiring
harness to a 1956 control unit? As I noted in the original comment, the motor is coming on
and moving the short torsion bars when the three wires are run to other terminals in the
unit than the three terminals to which they were hooked when the unit was taken out
of the car. I am thinking this problem might all go away if I obtain another control unit
from a salvaged car, send it to Snoqualmie and have them re-wire the unit to be a
1956 solid state unit, and, then, hook it up as the original unit was hooked up when
it came off of the car. [Remember, my mechanic says that he read the shop manual
and that it says that the 1956's have as many as six wires from the harness to the control
unit].

Thanks, everybody, for all of the great responses!
I talked to my mechanic yesterday (He has the car
and all of my books). He went through the 1955-56
Packard Shop Manual and found that the tire size
for the 1955 Packard Patrician is: 8.00 x 15
and that the rim size is: 15 x 6L

None of the comments in this thread mentions the
aforementioned rim size. Also, is there a
trustworthy conversion table that converts the
above tire/rim sizes over to the current formula,
which I assume is metric?

Finally, there was mention of Coker, Firestone
and BFG. And, also, of using original mold tires.
Can I assume that one of the above suppliers would
have original mold tires with the appropriate white
wall treatment IN STOCK? Also, which of the above
(or other) suppliers is the best? Also, when my
car was new in 1955 it had a wider white wall than
was issed for the 1956 Packards. I prefer the nar-
row width white wall that was on the 1956 Packards.
What is the width of the 1956 white walls (I believe
it is 2.5 inches but am not sure).

My 1955 Packard's tires are at least
40 years old (car has been in storage
most of the time since 1969). My
mechanic said that the tires are shot
and need immediate replacing. Query:
What is the proper tire size for the
1955 Packard Patrician? Can I obtain
the white wall width that was extant
in 1956. Where can I find a supplier
of these tires? Any expertise on these
questions would be greatly appreciated.
PJ