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I'm starting this thread for my 1955 Panama. We've determined the engine was swapped out of a 1956 Constellation at some point.
Per the forum below:
The charging system has been swapped to a negative ground. Charging system works just fine. I'm wondering if there's anything else I need to check to ensure all my electrical will work properly.
Things I know that don't work: Gas gauge reads backwards and the cluster lights don't turn on with the headlights.





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On the list of things the car needs:
Floor pans and rocker panels. I'm missing almost all of my badges. The interior is completely ripped out, door panels are no good and carpet is gone. Also, found a leak on the rear diff, bad enough to leave a puddle in my shop.
I have to look into the bondo on the rear quarter panels, I'm scared they used it to cover up rust.
The seats have already been re-upholstered and the car is straight. Runs and drives great.

As long as there are no modern solid state replacement devices such as a radio vibrator or torsion level switch or a modern permanent magnet starter or window motor installed then nothing else on a Clipper will be damaged or really care about the polarity swap. There is still a question about what exactly is different in voltage regulators to be labeled positive or negative or universal but other than a possibly shortened life, as long as the car is charging then it is working. For best spark efficiency the coil should match the battery polarity so with a negative ground, the negative terminal on the coil should be connected to the distributor.

The gas gauge reading backwards has nothing to do with polarity. All the gauge has inside is a heating coil to warm or cool a bimetal strip. To read backwards, I suspect there is an issue with the sender. Possibly the original sender failed and an aftermarket universal sender was installed incorrectly or a GM sender with reversed resistance was tried. What you need has a resistance of approximately 73 ohms at empty and 10 ohms at full. Repro senders are available from our vendors or some Ford senders of the mid to late 50s are also compatible. With the Ford items you need to get one with the correct arm length.

To test the sender, if you disconnect the sender wire at the tank end going to the gauge, the gauge should read empty. Touch the wire to ground and gauge immediately starts going to full. Do not leave the wire connected to ground longer than it takes to verify the gauge will go to full. To test the sender itself will require an ohmmeter set to the 100 ohm scale. One lead on ground, the other to the disconnected wire from the sender and you should get a reading. With the sender still in the tank there will be only one value depending on fuel level so sender needs to be removed and arm moved thru its range for a complete test.

The cluster lights not working are a well known issue and generally caused by an oxidized or dirty wiper or terminal contact in the headlight switch rheostat section. Sometimes cleaning with contact cleaner or a tiny dab of valve grinding compound on the wiper surface followed by a rapid back and forth movement and then a thorough rinse will restore contact but often the cleaning fix is short lived and other options need to be explored. The switch rheostat section is riveted together and does not come apart easily so any cleaning needs to be done with the switch intact.

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What else can I use for a bezel tool? Has anyone tried drilling through an allen wrench?

Allens are typically hardened (or at lease case hardened) but you can easily do it with a length of hex stock.

Brass stand-offs they use on computer motherboards are nearly the perfect size and already have a hole in them.

Also, at one time, I know David Moe (Seatle Packards) bought boxes of the tool made by Dan Yocum from his estate many years ago.

Also, a piece of brass or aluminum pencil rod could be ground to shape pretty easily.

You don't want to grind aluminum as doing so could cause the wheel to explode. If you do grind aluminum, use lots of cutting oil! As a journeyman prototype machinist, that is one of the first things learned in the trade. Brass and other non-ferrous metals are similar but not so bad as aluminum as it gums up the pores in the wheel.

I use rolock sanding disks. Not grinding wheels.

I like the idea of stand-offs. I'm not a machinist by any means nor do I have the equipment to try.

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Also, did I mention I'm completely new to Packards? I knew of the cars but, was never knowledgeable about them. I got lucky with how I got the car. I've also found myself in the middle of a rather steep learning curve. So thank y'all for the help.