My hardtop is #1061, MES. The build sheet has a rubber stamp on it indicating the date of January 27, 1956. Don't know if this meant the car was put into production on that date or was completed and ready for shipment. Car delivered in Hawaii and coded as an "export" as Hawaii wasn't a state at that time. Hope this helps.

The 1987 Cormorant I mentioned said that the seat belts were factory ordered by ECA and installed at the factory. There may have been others, but seat belts at that time in history were not thought of as needed or desired. Same thing with the air bag systems GM offered in 1974 through 1976, very rare. My Dad bought a brand new '63 Buick Le Sabre without seat belts but had the dealer install them a few months later. Don't know if they were GM original or aftermarket as there wasn't any logo on the release buckle. On a side note, speaking of rare options, has any seen a '55 or '56 with a rear defroster installed?

According to my 1987 Autumn Cormorant, one and only one '56 Caribbean Convertible was delivered with factory seat belts. This car was #5699-1021 delivered to Earl C. Anthony as his demonstrator. Car was all white on the outside and also had factory air installed.

Leeedy is correct. Had a conversation with other '56 Caribbean owners with the standard 4 colors and they all agreed the wells were white. Engine compartments were also white on the 4 standard color offerings. So, for example, if the car was all black, Danube blue (1 car painted all this color) or whatever the major non-standard upper color was then the engine compartment was that same color.

Basically, trying to verify if the "895" is the PB start relay or is it the "841". The relays used for the power windows, A/C circuit and PB start relay are all 472083's according to the parts book. The relay for the power windows that was in my car when I bought it is an "895". So, I am assuming (I know, I know) that since this same Packard part number is used on those 3 circuits, that the start relay and A/C relay are "895's" also. Confusion is coming from a couple of the original Delco "can" containers I have indicate start relay is an "841". This is what I am hoping to clear up.

These are all Delco-Remy relays.

Does anyone know how to reconcile the 3- digit number stamped on the mounting flange of the relay to the Packard part number? Example: Is an "895" a Packard part number 472083.

I measured the distance from the tab on the vent to the edge of the dash edge, it comes out to approximately 2 9/32". Don't know if any of you can take a measurement on a dash you have but if not, does this look about right?

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Gerry sold that Caribbean about a year or 2 ago. I am familiar with the car. The A/C on that car was a dealer install done a long time ago, not factory. Gerry is the gentleman that took my engine and trans out of my car and shipped them for rebuild to Jack Vines and Ross Miller, respectively. I know Gerry very well getting parts, advice and services from him.

In 2020, there were only 1 '55 & 2 '56 Seniors listed in the local San Diego area per the PAC club roster. Anything beyond Oceanside to the north (Orange County) and Alpine to the east I didn't try to contact. I got in touch with the gentleman that owned a '55 and "56, neither had A/C at all. I Left a message for the owner of the other '56, but he never got back to me after a few tries. I agree with you that it is better to check out an original factory installation.

All I can say is I did the best I could with what I had. All the cutouts I used the templates for came out correctly and had no problems, except this one.

Even if the templates were accurate (and it's always a possibility they were not), I would double-check before doing cuts and installation.

Having worked for many years of my career at the OEM level of the car biz, I can assure you: specifications get changed. Often several times. Were those templates merely templates? Or final specification templates?

Furthermore, paper templates (or copies thereof) passed around all these years through machines, scanners and internet and how many hands just allow for too many bad outcomes.

Even workshop manuals get out in publication with errors in them. Usually such things are remedied with Service Bulletins. But this is just the nature of the car biz.

Again... I always check with an actual production-level car. Compare what you have with an actual system installed at the factory. Take measurements and photos. There are a bunch of Packard V-8 factory A/C vehicles still alive and breathing in this world– even in 2023.[/quote]

I realize repeated copying documents has a somewhat "shrinking" effect of the scale on the drawing. The Packard template number was 475210. I wouldn't think that this "shrink" would cause something to be around 1/16 to 1/8 inch off. R/H side is good, though.

I don't have any service bulletins with regard to the A/C system, are there?

I live in San Diego and at the time I did the dash mods, over 3 years ago, there were no '55 or "56 A/C cars, that I knew of among the club members.