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No air bags. One long torsion bar each side connecting front and rear wheels. A motor driven gearbox assy twists some shorter bars to keep the car level. All electric so when you put a battery in, make sure the switch is off (under left side of dash near emerg brake) until you can check it out. Several here will be glad to help and as Brian pointed out, there is a FAQ. There are some cautions on places to lift so would be a good idea to download the service manual from onsite or operators manual as well and familiarize yourself with some of the features of the car. A surprisingly robust system as long as it hasn't been botched over the years.

If you have the pushbutton trans, that is another thing that you need to get familiar with. Another source of trouble caused by mechanics not understanding it.

what should oil psi be? and can i buy a service manual that would have most of the info i will need (such as oil press.) haynes?

ok! thanks again.

Check out the literature and manuals section. Best to do a search by year. Almost every piece of literature Packard did for the 56 is on site & available for download here. Some other third party things as well.

is it safe to assume 56 patrician and clipper are exactly the same? interchangeable parts? (drive train,axles,body,etc...)

No. A lot of the parts will interchange but the Clipper was considered a more junior car & was on a 122 wheelbase. Some lighter components and the styling differences. The Patrician was a senior car, 127 WB, and beefier parts.

The front ball & trunion (U) joint just behind transmission is an example. The Senior piece is heavier duty and almost impossible to find part whereas the Clipper is smaller and was used on several other cars so still relatively available. Fortunately, unless the rubber boot was destroyed and lube ran out or contaminated very few problems there. Rear U joint, should be still available.

Aside from the chassis, wheels, axle assy and some suspension type items, most of the engine, trans, electrical and some trim etc will interchange with relative ease. A lot of the detail parts may be the same but not entire assys. A few items were differently calibrated or of different size or capacity for their respective chassis but could interchange as units or systems-- but again depends on the part. Some parts also carried over from earlier years as well.

Some parts are interchangeable but not all. The Patrician has a longer wheelbase, the front fenders and grill are different and I don't think that all '56 Clippers had the Patrician suspension - though they did toward the end of the model year. I'm still in the process of learning about these cars myself so there are REAL experts on these cars here. I also believe that Clippers use Autolite electricals under the hood whereas the Patrician, 400 and Caribbean used Delco-Remy. I know that was true in 1955 and they shouldn't be mixed.
By the way. The suspension switch under the dash by the parking brake: the "off" position is when the toggle switch is pushed away from the center of the car. I got fouled up on that in the beginning.

Looks like Howard beat me to the punch. He is the expert so take his advise over mine - I know I do!

ok, curiouse because i was reading through the 55-56 service manual and saw a display pic showing a headlight door removal and saw the end of the clipper emblem. it does not specify model.

The manual was printed for 55's and generally used Clipper illustrations. As a whole though all removal or service procedures are the same for 55-6. Where there is a difference, they usually pointed them out. Usually is the operative word there because Packard was not nearly as detailed, thorough or consistent in their publications as some other mfgs were.

Most Packard dealers and employees were long time and familiar with previous models. Unless something was really different from an older model, it was assumed the person knew how to do it or it may have been addressed in a Service Counselor article if warranted. In 56 there were quite a few changes and those, when significant, are addressed in supplements at the end of sections or the service articles. Again, not consistently.

With all the other stuff happening to Packard with management, new people, the merger, new plants, new products, production problems from the new plants and products, I would imagine publications were not high on the priority list either.