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

Since my 1949 is completely apart and the body is being painted, we have started getting ready to rewire the car. We plan to order a new wiring harness for it, however, I am not sure if it has the electromatic clutch. I believe it does, but I want to make sure. It is a 23rd series car, and while on the subject, where would I go to obtain the most accurate, complete wiring harness for the car?

I'm still installing mine, also have a '49 23 series. But my car is just a driver and I ran into lots of different problems. Some by me and some by previous owner(s).

Looked at a lot of different companies and I choose Harnesses Unlimited because they make the harness for your car. You need to tell them everything you have even the trunk light.
They answer the phone and are very helpful.

All the best
B.

The Electromatic Clutch was optional. Frequently it was sold with overdrive but each could be bought separately. If you have all these components on the side of the engine then the car is so equipped and the Electromatic Clutch wiring would be part of the wiring harness.

If you have none or only some of the components then the car does not have EC or at least not working EC so any missing pieces might affect your decision on paying extra for the wiring. Frequently even if a car was originally equipped, when Packard went away the corner mechanics didn't understand the unit or parts were not available so if it failed and was not repaired pieces were removed to better access other items and were not replaced.

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I was very pleased with the wiring harness I obtained from Rhode Island Wire several years ago when restoring my 1947 Super Clipper.

I will look into both of those companies for sure. And, if my car does not have all of those components, and I chose to reinstall them if there were other parts of it there, would it still work? I will check to see if I have those parts on the engine when I am back at home. They do look familiar.

If you have some of the pieces then I would go ahead and get the extra wiring incorporated in the new loom in case you did want to resurrect it at some point. It will not function without all the pictured pieces and interconnect tubing. There are some electrical switches also needed. Any missing items can most likely be found -- although some may be more scarce than others. As mentioned, back in the day when it was just an old used car all too often pieces like the power cylinder or cable assy were removed and thrown away if they hindered access to something else.

If you want to get familiar with all the components and interconnections download the training manual which covers the postwar system Clutch and ElectroMatic Clutch from the Service, Shop and Training Manuals category in the literature section.

What was the last year for the Electromatic Clutch? 1950?

Yes, 1950 was the last. No need for it once Ultramatic was available and accepted by customers.

Interesting that Electromatic had a revival of sorts years later; in 1962 AMC offered something similar in concept (though not in execution) as an option called "E-Stick". I don't think it was very popular, I didn't order it on mine and can't recall ever seeing it on AMC cars of that era.

VW also had what they called a stickshift automatic. It had a vacuum cylinder that disengaged the clutch to change gears. Though it also had a torque converter in front of the clutch. Maybe more like a Plymouth Hi Drive.
If I remember right the twin stick was 2 levers, one was the 3 spd transmission the other was for the overdrive selection.