Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

55Packardguy, the "short" story of the "green dragon" is in the owner registry. it will tell you more about it. As for "II" she is in a million pieces still. if you want more info on the set-ups pm me. as for a blog, well once i get "II" moved close enough for me to go back to working on her i'll do the blog.

dragon,

That's a nice Clipper. I can see why someone would see it and want it. Excellent color. But why the engine swap with a 352 from a Custom. Did the '56 Panamas come with a lower-powered version than the Customs? The trophy is a great addition. Be sure to bring it to the show. Few cars at "classic" shows have track trophies! Do you have the e.t. slip?

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A Ford T10 4 speed prior to '64 will bolt right up to the Packard V8 manual bellhousing, and uses the same clutch disc, pressure plate, pilot bearing, and throwout bearing. The '64 and later transmissions that have the dual bolt pattern will also work, but watch the bearing retainer size, some are too big to fit and will have to be turned down on a lathe.

Eric,

Sounds like you've done this 4-speed swap. It's not as correct as the original type 3-speed overdrive, but even so if a 3-speed replaces a Twin Ultra it isn't "correct" for that car anyway. So if this is a bolt-on 4-speed, I would think it would make more sense to go with it as a mod, with a way-cool floor shift!

Oh, the heresy!

When you say the "Packard V8 Manual Bellhousing," how does this differ from the Twin Ultra bellhousing? I thought all Packard V8s included the top of the bellhousing in the block casting.

Anyway, was the Ford T10 4 speed prior to '64 synchronized in all forward gears, or any of them? It sounded like greendragon's 4-speed was a "crashbox," which would certainly lower the desirability of the mod.

Nope, haven't done it, but I know someone who has, and it's a bolt on. As for the Packard V8 manual bellhousing, it looks like this:

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OR, you could go hog-wild like I did years ago and try to do this:

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The T90 Kaiser O/D trans is too weak for the torque of the Packard V8, so I never used this. I also had to put a different input shaft in it, a longer one from a mid '60s Jeep to get it to even come close to working. It probably would work, but I don't think it would last long. It's better to just find a manual bellhousing and a 4 speed T10 from a Ford. Bolt on is just so much simpler than "make it fit", although not as fun.

The engine swap was due to the o.e. engine having a busted piston. The custom was the only good running parts car he had. The trans in the "dragon" is an unsynchronized 47 ford school bus trans. uncle tried the modified t/u bellhousing like eric has pictured and was not happy with it. no one in the are at that time had a Packard bellhousing available. however. uncle did find a couple offenhouser? adapter plates for putting ford trannys behind the packard v/8.
so he snapped those up, used one in the "dragon" and one in the new stock car he was building. he put a 3spd o/d from some kind of ford product (a linc. zephyr i think he said?) in it first and was not happy with it. so he went looking for a 4spd. the bus trans was all he could find that he could afford. so in it went.

As for the time slip. no i don't have it. i wish i did. the one man who knows all about the times she turned we can't find. And the track was sold a few years before i got her back and all the records and photos were destroyed by a disgruntled employee.

i called him and verified that he did in fact destroy the records. and he remembers the car and the runs, but not the times.

So i doubt we'll ever know the times, I'll just have to be happy with the trophy and the photos i do have.

I'll try to get them on here soon.

Dragon & Eric

Both of you have me wondering how these bellhousings fit the Packard V8, with it's cast-on upper flywheel housing. There must be an adapter that bolts to the engine as well, right?

OK, so now we're thoroughly off-topic, but someone will bring it back eventually after we settle this tranny thing.

Thanks for the pics.

Sorry to hear about the timeslips, Dragon. Your uncle is only the second person I've heard of who raced Packard V8s. I'm assuming he did circle tracks as well as drags? Check out the pics in the Photo Archive for 1955 to see Jack Harlin's ol' #50. Jack's no longer with us, but he did provide some interesting racing memories via AACA and also through our e-mail correspondence. Long story, but more details later. Maybe another thread.

But, Jack's racing actually does relate to suspension issues. He, like your uncle, used a conventionally sprung Panama, and once tried to run a TL in a NASCAR event, but got black flagged... the good ol' NASCAR boys said that the springs were "broken" because Jack had lowered the rear to try to get it to handle right.

Long story short, he never attempted TL racing after that because he said the system couldn't be adjusted properly for track conditions. I always thought it would be great on the track, especially seeing how well it performed at the Packard Proving Grounds at very high speeds. But "real racing" apparently has different requirements.

PS--like the "Hurst" T shifter on the Kaiser tranny!

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The manual transmission flywheel and bellhousing are stock parts and bolt right on, no adapter necessary.

The OEM Packard used the Borg-Warner T85 3-speed overdrive, which was the basis for the T10 4-speed. Ford used the same bolt pattern until '65.5. They also used that bolt pattern on their top loader 4-speed until that date. Most of the post-65.5 top loaders have both bolt patterns, but use a larger front bearing retainer. Either the T-85, T10 or early top loader will bolt on, or the later retainer can be turned smaller on a lathe. There small block and big block input shaft lengths on the Ford T10/top loaders, so a different pilot bearing is required, depending on which is chosen.

Having done all three conversions, the T85 is my preference. I've got three T85s and two T10s on the shelf just now.

thnx, jack vines