Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Some of you are gonna hate me for this but I'm looking to set the "49 body on a late-model frame with power disk brakes, rack and pinion steering etc...

The "49 I acquired would be just too much time and money to bring it back to the original and I'd be hesitant to take it on a trip for fear of a breakdown and no replacement parts immediately available.

I'm looking for any info from someone who has already done one of these.
Perhaps an F-150 "Frame, Maybe a Crown Vic?

I really appreciate any help you can provide.

I mean you can fix these up for cheaper than you may think. If you tear into it enough and get some miles on it, you should be able to trust it pretty well. Ross has put close to 100k miles over the last 20 years on a couple cars not much different than yours.

Considering getting a donor rolling chassis and installing it would itself be a lot of expense and work.

A lot of work for a vehicle that drives like an old Ford or a pick-up truck

Cannot help with any frame suggestions and have never been around a frame swap to know all the ins and outs or limitations. Depending on how hard it will be to change the driving position, one thing I think you might need to consider is wheelbase and in particular where the front tires will be on whatever frame you find to sit under the Packard body.

Prior to 1951 almost all Packard bodies for the various 120" and 127" wheelbase 6 passenger models were the same with trim being the main differentiator. With the exception of the long wheelbase limo and 7 passenger models which did stretch some behind the front seat, the wheelbase differences between various other models were ahead of the cowl. I believe you will need to take that into consideration and make sure to find a frame that will accept the longer front fenders on your 127" Custom. I think trying to slide the Packard body back farther than the original body to accommodate the front fenders will wind up being a huge amount of extra work -- and that is presuming the rear axle would wind up in a workable location.

Why not just drive the modern car as it is and save yourself a tremendous amount of work and even more expense? Making it look like a Packard won't make it one so defeats the purpose.

PDon above is right. It's no more "time and expense" to create a Frankencar than the real thing. If you just want an "old timey" ride, buy a used PT Cruiser. This is a site for those who want Packards, not F-150s or Crown Victorias.

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Okay, I new some of you were going to hate my idea. Here's the thing. I got the car missing two brake drums, one front, one back. (the previous owner was apparently mid brake job when he expired) Two drums are going to cost me $500 and still need to source all the other brake parts as they are missing. wiring is crumbling.

Got the Engine running, (still needs a decent carburetor rebuild to make it run well but it runs and doesn't knock or smoke.

I'd at least like to upgrade the front suspension to power rack and pinion and disk brakes.

The few body swaps I've seen of Packards looked terrible. The Packard bodies just don't fit on modern frames very well. The wheelbase was off, the car sat too high, etc. Really looked bad.

Regarding the brake drums....what places did you check? There are the major suppliers like Kanter, Max Merritt, etc. Tucson Packards and Packards Southwest are others that have gobs of old parts sitting around. su8overdrive has worked with another fellow, Moose Motors I believe, that has all the brake parts you need. I think you'll be able to find some drums for less than $500.

Most of the other brake parts (lines, hoses, wheel cylinders, shoes) can be sourced from modern suppliers. Napa will have most everything you need there. Or the major suppliers listed earlier will also have them, or rebuild kits. You can easily rebuild the master cylinder and wheel cylinders for cheap. It's not hard to do at all.

Wiring can be done multiple ways. A reproduction harness can be had from Packard Club regions, but they are very expensive. On the plus side they are 100% correct and basically plug and play. The cheaper way is to get a universal harness from Painless Performance and terminate the wires yourself. More work but less expensive.

Carburetor kits are easy to come by and not expensive. You can either rebuild it yourself or hand it off to someone to do it for you.

I would say service the front suspension first before you go about changing it. You may like it after it is working properly. There are disk brake kits (Wilwood) that you can use. They are expensive and quite a bit of work to install. Pretty sure the master cylinder needs to be changed in order to use disc brakes. All things to be aware of....costs add up when you are changing things. Again, maybe get the drum brakes working properly and see how you like it. When everything is functioning as it should the brakes on these cars are actually pretty good.

-Kevin

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You have it easy and the parts should be easy to find once you learn who and where to buy. As for the cost, Packard is a luxury car and expense goes with it and that is true with any vintage car in varying degrees. In any event, that's nothing compared to all the was missing on my 1951 Henney-Packard after it had been a parts car for a good many years. Consider yourself lucky, especially as passenger car parts are not so specialized as those for the commercial chassis such as mine where very little crosses over.

I never thought I would say this, but….
Sell the 356 to someone to power their 40-50 Senior. It has value to a restorer.
Use the modern engine already fitted in the truck/Ford chassis, along with the brakes and steering already there
In other words, add Packard body parts to a truck/Ford to create the rod. The mechanical stuff will at least have been designed to work together. All the mechanical parts will be available for service