Packard Forum Index » Project Blogs

Made a lot of progress over the last couple of weeks. I was able to re-seat the load arm into the support arm 'stirrup'. Ended up putting a floor jack under the frame near the rear wheel, and another floor jack under the center of the rear axle. By moving the axles and pushing the car, the two lined up.

Once the wheels were back on the ground, I was then able to get the Watts linkages re-attached to the studs. Wasnt too hard, but took pushing the back end of the car down (via water jugs in the trunk) until it all lined up. Then I was able to install the new shocks (KYB 343149 as per Dwight's Cormorant article).

So rear end is ready to go. Now back to the carb saga.....

A few posts I mentioned that I bought a new primary shaft off of ebay for my WCFB carb. It is a little longer so sent it to my nephew in Colorado to try to transform it into the original dimensions. That is in work, so we will see how that works.

In the meantime, I saw a 4GC for sale on ebay for $69 so I bought it. Received it last week and it needs some work, as expected. Both the primary and secondary throttle shafts were seized (as disclosed inthe ebay auction).

Soaked the bottom in Evaporust and used a lot of PB Blaster and was able to free the primary shaft. It turns very easily now. Still working on the secondary, but slowly getting there.

Has anyone used and have any recommendations for carb rebuilders? It is hard to find a company online that doesnt have a mix of good/bad reviews.

Carb-X will sell me a rebuilt one for $350 (plus core), but their Yelp reviews have a both great and bad reviews.

Sparky's starts at $325.

Quadrajetpower.com, they do 4GCs too, $300

Carburetor USA is $239 for 6 mo warranty, $330 for 1-year & shipping

An Ebay 'auction' for rebuilding services offers $250.

ebay.com/itm/ROCHESTER-4GC-CARBURETOR-RE ... 37?_trksid=p2385738.m4383.l4275.c10

and there is The Carburetor Shop (mikescarbshop.com) but I haven't called yet to get a price.

Anybody have any experience with any of the above companies???

I know I can freshen it up with a great home cleaning and a carb kit (not sure which one, there are no numbers on it). But was thinking a professional shop would be able to make it look a little better, plus test and adjust it on a real engine. Trying to eliminate problems to get this thing running smoothly

Who do you use????

(I am in Houston)

thx
Bob

Attach file:

---

  (268.12 KB)

IMO Daytona Parts is still the top of the food chain in carburetor rebuilding. Note they have discontinued doing the exterior cosmetic refinishing to the same standard as they previously did.

I have purchased a number of kits/floats from Mikes and their customer service is great. They have a lot of awesome resources and videos that help guide you through the rebuild process.

If you have a question you can email them a photo and they will help point you in the right direction.

Never used them for a full rebuild however.

thanks. Decided to go with Daytona Parts after calling them and O.D. and other's strong recommendations. They quoted $325 + return shipping. Going to drop it by UPS tomorrow and Tim at Daytona said it should be about 2 weeks. I didn't get that secondary shaft to move freely yet and it seems like it might take some extra care so I opted for the professionals. I will post pics when it comes back.

Now on to the ignition system. Ever since I got it in 2016 it would idle somewhat smoothly yet have an irregular miss. Thought maybe it was the carb, so I rebuilt with no change. I put a timing light on and it seems like it was randomly not firing, did the same with a spark tester.
Since 2016 (and almost no miles) I have replaced:
-Spark Plug wires
-Spark Plugs (Champion H10s, then AL 437)
-Coil (twice as post on 1st NAPA one stripped)
-Dist cap
-Dist rotor
-Wires to dist from coil
-Wires inside dist
-Points and condenser (tried a couple), have NOS ones now.
-Cleaned Dist but did not completely take it apart
-New battery
-Dist vacuum advance rebuilt by Terrill

External resistor on firewall measures 1.7 ohm, which seems about right.

Just pulled it out again and looked at the unit. I put it back together just like I got it, but it is different than the service manual. In the manual, the condenser lead is separated from the points breaker lever spring and the lead from the primary terminal by an insulator. But in mine, they are all in contact with each other. Wondering if that is causing my intermittent spark problem? Thinking I will see if I can change it to match the manual to see what happens (once I have a working carb so I can run the engine).

Attach file:

---

  (221.40 KB)

Size: 163.64 KB; Hits: 59

Electrically it won't make any difference which side the wires are on. Can't see the side of your points well but is it a separate screw like the manual shows or does your points have a fixed stud molded into the insulator which cannot be removed. If a stud, by necessity the wires are on the same side. If the black wire is the cloth covered flex wire to the outside terminal make sure the insulation is in good condition and no chance vibration is letting the wire intermittently touch ground somewhere.

What kind of condition is the upper bushing in? If the bushing didn't get regular lube and is worn so shaft has any play or can wobble that can cause some issues.

Did you actually change the ballast resistor or just measure the value? I have seen them heat up and change value!

Howard,
yes, the way I have it connected is electrically the same as in the manual; both lugs are connected to the same fixed stud. Wasnt thinking when i posted....

I don't feel any significant wobble in the shaft, but I would guess I would need to take the top end apart to know for sure. There is no indication in the cap of any irregularity, or offset wear.

Jselph- I just measured across the terminals with it installed, wired, and cold. I would think that a resistor changing its value with temperature to be normal. But is there a better way to test this one to be sure?

thanks for the comments.

You could measure it after running for a while and experiencing the misfiring. I would try to either redirect an airflow to the resistor or temporarily relocating it as far as possible away from the engine heat, just to see what happens. Intermittent problems are the most difficult to diagnose, but usually if it's heat related, it will be a bad ground or component changing value. I've experienced a lot of crazy problems because of a missing braided ground between the engine block and firewall.
Edited: Was just thinking that you said you measured the resistor wired and cold. To get a true reading, you would have to disconnect the resistor wiring so that you only read the resistor and not the connector or wire, depending on where you place your probe.

55s also had an issue with intermittent crossfiring but that was mostly noticed around 20-40 mph and not at idle. It might still be worth looking into though. Packard changed the plug wire supports in 56 because of the crossfire and the new supports were to be retrofitted to 55s if warranted. If you have the original approx 4-5" long supports where the wires are in a bunch right above the rocker covers and held in rubber coated slots approx 1/2 inch apart, check there and also along the wire path for closely paralleled wires. If you have the replacement 10-12" long pieces that raise and separate the wires approx 2 inches apart then you might check and see if the wires are closely paralleled for any appreciable distance somewhere else along the path. Details are in 56 service counselor Vol 30 #3.