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I'll be buying all new 12v bulbs today and I am wondering if all bulbs are created equal? I can find bulbs for under $1 and then the same bulb type for several dollars.

Where are you guys buying your bulbs from?

I had an interesting time yesterday taking the steering wheel off in order to get to the directional indicator switch. After using a puller screwed into the threaded hole (circled in orange) I learned more about insects than I had planned after peering down into the column and seeing that it was filled with mud - I didn't know how the heck it got there and Howard and his never ending wisdom suggested mud daubers. Sure enough after removing quite a bit of the mud I could tell that there were insect carcasses indicating that Howard was correct

I made an attachment to my vacuum out of a can and the plastic from
a 2 L soda bottle to vacuum up the mud that was in the column after breaking it up with some chopsticks

While I was poking around the back of the Dash looking for more mud dauber nests not only did I find one more nest but I also found a cool little manual for the clock that was strung to the backside of the clock

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started the 12v wiring this weekend. Got the wires ran, and all rear lights hooked up and working (off a 9v battery as for testing).

Also rand the wiring for the horns (6v horns) and messed with the diaprham to get the pitch deeper.

Also got the instrument, oil and idiot lights working.

I plan on adding a trunk light and will need to figure that out).

I have the wire ran for the fuel sender but have yet tobuy a sender

is there a particular model of Ford 1957 senders that do/don't work?

Below are some ford '57 sending units I have found

macsautoparts.com/ford_falcon_mercury_co ... YmbDQ9seYaAoY0EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

ebay.com/itm/1957-1958-1959-1960-Ford-Pi ... h=item485b069b75:g:978AAOxy-sRSVFsj

ebay.com/itm/1957-60-FORD-TRUCK-GAS-TANK ... h=item3f98087c5a:g:xJ0AAOSw8LBavTG6

ebay.com/itm/1957-1960-Ford-Thunderbird- ... h=item1a7d873dc1:g:gHUAAOSwhT5c-plq

ebay.com/itm/57-58-59-Ford-Skyliner-Retr ... :n4oAAOSwBLlU3OPi:sc:USPSFirstClass!90230!US!-1

ebay.com/itm/1957-1958-1959-1960-Ford-Pi ... h=item485b069b75:g:978AAOxy-sRSVFsj

I believe it is the 57 Tbird that is the one to choose but won't swear to it. Kanter may still have repro senders but with the tanks sold out maybe the senders are too.ebay.com/itm/1957-1960-Ford-Thunderbird- ... h=item1a7d873dc1:g:gHUAAOSwhT5c-plq

The ohm range you are looking for is 73-10 but the thing to watch out for with Ford senders is the mounting method and that Ford had different capacity tanks. The mounting for the 51-6 Packard tank needs a flat plate and O ring under it rather than a plate held on with screws. Because of the different tanks, some of the arms on the Ford senders are shorter than is needed on a Packard. There is a Ford sender listed in the x-ref but another poster bought that one a few weeks ago and found he had to do some mods for it to read correctly. Not sure why or if the correct sender is the one listed. On any Ford sender you may still need to bend the arm to match the Packard shape.

Unless someone knows for sure which Ford item to buy, for less money than a Ford sender or a repro Packard sender will cost, you might consider a universal Ford-Chrysler sender providing you have a sender at all that you can use and modify the mounting plate so it can mount.

If you want to try the universal approach, I did that before the repros were available or Ford items were a commonly known entity. Here is a procedure to adapt a universal sender and the sender that I used. If you don't have an original sender to use for the plate then the Ford or the repro is the only option.

packardinfo.com/xoops/html/downloads/56fuelsender.pdf

ebay.com/itm/Universal-Gas-or-Fuel-Level ... h=item4b068c6942:g:lm8AAMXQlUNRVaJD

Does anyone know which of these these cigar lighters came
As original equipment with the 51 200 deluxe

And also what is the name of these do-dads the lights hook up to and are they hard to find? I need to source two of them

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The lighter in the second photo with the same knob style as the headlight switch is the correct one. The knob or rather the stud it is attached to will probably unscrew from the element portion and for your 12v conversion you can change the element providing you find a modern element that fits the old style socket in the dash. That may be the harder part because the old styles are a bit different from modern as evidenced by some phone chargers and power adapters that can be fussy and do not work well with Packard lighter sockets. Even finding a 12v old element is hit and miss as evidenced by Packard having a mismatch in 55 and needing to replace some lighters because they were too loose. Those replaced popped out of the socket and fell on the floor or seat when heated.

The do-dads are called junction blocks and were used by most mfgs at the time. Packard typically used the 3 position but they do come in other configurations. To find new in the exact style is expensive but here is one outlet.store.ynzyesterdaysparts.com/chrysler/hu ... kard-3-position-junction-block.html Downside to buying from YnZ is a minimum order but if you need other things then maybe not an issue.

You might also be able to find them on ebay or you could go to a modern plastic base equivalent for less money. It would take some work but it might be possible to make your existing presentable.

You might try autocityclassics.com they still have some of the 1951-56 Packard gas tanks in stock along with mounting straps and sending units. I just bought the whole works for my 1951.
John

They don't have them listed on the web site, but an e-mail to them will get the part number you need. The 6 volt sending unit was F34SU.

Dwight Heinmuller has these for sale.

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Thanks Gents...

Really helped to see what one of these is supposed to look like, both of mine had zero isolation material (guessing rubber?) left on the the wiring was disintegrating so the person I bought it from had just what was needed to fix / test the mechanicals hooked up and the rest disconnected. for safety.

makes sense that when I put a meter on them current was going through all posts, I simply added a rubber strip and took cleaned them up a bit...

Appreciate all your help!!!!