Attempting to track down the factory ground strap connection points for my '53 Clipper. The wiring is the original unaltered 6 volt positive ground system. Under the hood, I have the factory ground strap running from the battery post to one of the water pump mounting bolts which according to the Packard Service Manual, appears to be correct.

What I need to confirm is if this is the only ground strap that the car came with from the factory. In checking and tracing the wiring schematic, it does not depict any additional grounds running from the engine to chassis, engine to firewall, body to chassis, etc. etc.

This seems kind of odd to me so if anyone has knowledge of any additional grounds that the later 6 volt systems are supposed to have, please share what you know. Thanks in advance.

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Hmmmm...geez Tim, not sure how much life you are looking to get out of a battery but 4 years is considered above average down here in Florida. I'm the poster that HH mentioned in his post and had been through two Advanced Auto Parts batteries in 2 years in my '53. I had a little better luck with Tractor Supply batteries in my 6 volt Farmall Cub getting about 2 years each out of those. One of the main reason's I chose the O'Reilly's battery that HH provided the link for was because it is made by East Penn Manufacturing, the largest independent battery manufacturer in the world and the same folks that make the Deka batteries. A friend who has been in the automotive electric business for 40 years suggested that I try the Deka or a battery made by them so my research supported the O'Reilly's Super Start. If it lasts the same five years that my previous two 12 volt Dekas gave me then I'll be more than satisfied.

Got around to removing the starter motor on the Clipper last night and found the problem. I believe that the centrifugal forward force created by my locking up the brakes with the direct clutch fully pressurized may have allowed the converter/ring gear assembly to move forward and hit the bendix gear with the engine still running at a fairly high RPM which damaged and possibly cracked it and then my first crank up basically finished it off which was the noise I heard when it flew apart and threw the missing tooth shown in the photo. Then of course the gear was binding itself in the housing and could not move or even attempt to engage. The starter ring gear looks fine and appears to be undamaged which was my main concern thank goodness.

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How about crankshaft end play? If the thrust bearing is worn too much perhaps it is allowing the flywheel to move too far forward and contact the starter housing or bendix. I've seen this occur on two different occasions where engines ran like clockwork but had worn thrust bearings. You can check it by simply pulling, pushing or prying on the crank pulley to see how much lateral movement the engine has. I couldn't afford to perform a permanent fix at the time but substituded with a temporary fix by fabricating about a .060 thousandths spacer plate to go between the starter and bell housing.

Thanks all, it was an eye opener I didn't need but a good reminder of what can happen in the blink of an eye. I suspect that the Tahoe driver was either texting or looking somewhere other than the road to not have hit his brakes. Tailgating a car is NOT a safe practice but what saved the wife and I was the fact that I saw it all unfolding right before my eyes and almost like a recording can replay it over and over again But you just don't have a lot of time to react. The wife has praised my driving through and out of what could have been a disaster for us both but there was certainly a point when I thought the Clipper was going to roll over...I just remember letting off the brakes and counter steering as hard as I could and then hitting the brakes hard again. I don't recall a whole lot about steering through it but she said I was really fighting to maintain control but at the same time doing all I could to avoid hitting the crumpled pick-up or ending up in the woods or worse.

Craig, they are American Classic Radials that I maintain about 38 PSI in. I don't know if it would have made a difference had they been bias tires or not but considering how radials tend to flatten out more at the contact point with the road it does seem like they would have an advantage in "biting" force. I just can't say one way or the other. I'm going to call the hospital today and check on the man that was thrown from the truck...there were people injured in the other two cars too but theirs were not life threatening...I understand one person in the Tahoe had a broken ankle but haven't heard on the other.

Thanks Randy, hoping to check the car out this weekend and see what's got it locked up and of course also hoping it isn't anything too serious.

You know it OD...first time in my life I was ever that close to an accident of that magnitude. Funny, after everyone was secure with the condition of the humans they all wanted to know if the Packard was injured...it's an Ultramatic OD...I didn't think about what it would do the next time I turned it off so when we got to the "Dairy Freeze", I naturally just turned it off and when we finished our ice cream and I went to crank up, all it did was urmph!...urmph!...urmph!...each time I hit the foot switch. Sounds almost like the battery is depleted however you can hear the Bendix engage the flywheel but won't spin the engine over. I tried grasping the fan and turning it over by hand but no dice...I can very VERY slightly move it back and forth but its locked...ended up calling the owner of one of the two local tow services we have who also owns a few classic cars and he lifted by the rear wheels, tied the steering wheel and we headed down the road...luckily I was only about two miles from the house at that point but ready to get there after all that had happened...the wrecker driver backed the old gal in the garage...I closed the door...and that's the end of the story for now. I just hope if a tooth broke off that it came off the Bendix gear and not the ring gear.

It was a gorgeous afternoon here in North Central Florida yesterday after I got home from work so the wife and I decided to wake up the Clipper and drive the 13 or so miles over to a nearby restaurant for some all you can eat catfish. We finished up and headed back home and didn't get more than a mile down the road and right in front of us a late model 4 door Tahoe just plows into the back of a GMC Sonoma or Canyon that was dead stopped and turning left just 6 car lengths ahead of us. We were running about 55 or 60 miles an our and the driver of the Tahoe never hit the brakes. I slammed on brakes in the Clipper and nearly lost control of it trying to dodge the pickup truck that was flipping over and over from the rear impact. Out of the corner of my eye I see a body flying across the road and landing on the shoulder. There was debris everywhere but I managed to stop on the right shoulder of the road without hitting anything, jumped out of the car and was the first one over to the poor man that was thrown out of the back window of the pick-up. He was struggling to breath but other than some road rash on the side of his head appeared to be O.K. One guy was calling 911 while a few others walked up holding blankets and car pillows and all we could do was wait for the police and rescue after that. Once the police had all of my information and we were free to go, I hit the starter on the Packard and although she fired right up, she also made an ugly noise that sounded like the Bendix or ring gear broke a tooth off as it bounced around and then most likely fell down in the bottom of the bell housing. Anyway, we headed home and decided to stop and get some ice cream only to discover when we went to leave that the starter wouldn't spin the engine over. Sounds like it always has when the Bendix engages but it won't spin over at all like it's locked up and I can't turn the engine over by by hand either. I'm not sure what would have caused it with my having to slam on brakes but it has to be related somehow as it has never given me problems before.

Wayne, if you are sure that you are using a compatible driver then make sure the hammer you are using is heavy enough for the task. Not saying you are one of them but some folks fail to match the hammer weight to the job at hand. too light of a hammer will require a harder blow and make the guides feel like they are seized when they are actually just a standard .002+/- press fit. Drive each one down halfway and break it off with a chisel then drive the other half out. Stash the new guides in the freezer or on dry ice before installing and they will drive in much easier. You will need to use some sort of depth gauge to insure that you are installing them at the correct level as the guides you removed.

Rusty is correct in that the method he suggested is one way to remove valve guides in some engines but you have to use a sleeve that is at least the same length as the guide itself and slightly larger in inside diameter so that the O.D. of the guide will pull through the sleeve. This method may or may not work on the 327 but takes longer.

Howard,
Your imagination and creativity with this AC system is nothing short of brilliant. I'm wondering how many bathtub owners will be hounding you for the vital statistics of your design. Right now I'm wishing your car was a 51-54 so I could be hounding you as well.

What type of finsih did you apply to the "X" bracing behind the rear seat and the shelf where the Evaporator will mount in the trunk?

I just checked out the online version of "Old Motor Magazine" and the home page includes an interesting aerial video taken of the Packard Plant from a remote helicopter cam. The helicopter belongs to Harry Arnold of Drone Detroit/ITV. There are also many photos from the Denver Post taken of Detroit showing the decaying MoTown at its bankrupt worst...looks like a war zone.

http://theoldmotor.com/