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Time for our nightly T/L conversation.

Removed the control box from the frame and pulled the cap off tonight.

Picked up the electrical cleaner and got some 1000 grit sand paper to burnish the contacts.

Hooked up all the wiring, made sure I had a good ground and worked the lever.

Once again, when I moved the lever toward the center of the frame the contact made a connection but no action at the motor. When I moved toward the outside there was no movement at all. I could manually move the contact for that direction and it would magnetize as it should but still no movement at the motor.

The bi-metal contacts in the center of the unit are so far apart that the moving contact never actually makes a connection. I could manually move these as well and it "locked" in place but no response from the motor.

At this point, without seeing what is happening for myself I can't advise farther. If the bimetal is moving and contacts are clean and being made, a relay should energize with each direction of the lever. The switch I'm playing with takes the approx 7 seconds with lever moving toward center energizing the outside relay and maybe 10 with lever toward the outside energizing the inner relay. Once the relay contacts close it connects either the pink or the yellow terminal to ground.

I believe you said the solenoids energized and motor ran in both directions when you manually grounded the wires at the control switch which were connecting to the limit switch. Control switch mounted in the car with the relay closing should do the same thing -- at least in the one direction. The fact nothing at all happens in the other direction is suspicious. That could be not making a solid mechanical contact to a burned out heater.

You were thinking of getting another switch earlier so maybe it is time to cut the losses and go ahead with that plan. If you get the reworked switch just be aware of the possible polarity issue. I would be most interested if there is any supporting documentation or cautions accompanying the switch.

If Howard runs out of suggestion its time to replace the part. I don't think that's a bad plan to have.

Fortunately for me these was a 56 NOS unit on Ebay for $50 less then the next lowest price I've seen. I just bought it. Maybe this time next week I'll have a happier ending.

Thanks again Howard.

Its awful cold out tonight but that new delay switch came in today so I went out and to give it a try.

I wish I had something good to say but I do not.

The delay switch did nothing at all, not even a clicking sound from within.

I am getting 12 volts at all three terminal on the switch. I have grounded the box multiple different ways and still no response. I have also tried with positive and negative ground.

Funny thing when I did the positive ground, I touch the negative lead to the yellow terminal within and the motor started running and would not stop until the limit switch stopped it. I did not get the same result when I touch the pink terminal. It ran but did not continue running

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For a NOS switch to not work, as long as the switch itself is good I can only see a few possibilities. One is the ground is somehow not adequate to the switch case. Am assuming the paint on the frame or case was sanded away or some kind of toothed lockwasher is being used that can bite into both pieces of metal. Even the new switch could use a quick wire brushing.

A second possibility would be the wire connecting the green terminal of switch to the battery is not heavy enough or has a poor connection. If you are using a store bought cliplead, some are only 18 or 20 gauge actual wire size so those may be too small to work both the heater and relay simultaneously.

A third but somewhat unlikely problem would be the contacts have oxidized after sitting on a shelf 60 years. As mentioned, that is unlikely but in my other lifetime I have seen it on service parts for medical equipment where components had been in storage under poor conditions -- and those parts were nowhere near as old.

Just out of curiosity; what size should the wiring be?

I am using 16 gauge for the green, pink, yellow and so on.

The main red lead with the fuse is a 12 or 14, I can't recall.

I keep thinking my problem has to be with the ground so I clean up everything like you said next time I am out there. Its going to be cold the next couple nights so it may be a couple day.

The wire sizes you list are all adequate. If I were to change anything it would be to have the wire between the solenoids and the motor terminals the same size as the feed wire but since the 55 run is only a foot 16ga is OK. If it were a 56 with the solenoids far away on the fender then I would have gone one size larger.

A third but somewhat unlikely problem would be the contacts have oxidized after sitting on a shelf 60 years
I had this problem on a NOS distributor and it stumped me for a while. I ran a burnishing tool several times on the points and the Caribbean fired right up.

Randy, how is the Carribean coming along?

I have nothing new to report on the T/L stuff right now. Just trapped at my soul sucking day job.

Thinking ahead (and aloud) and some questions on a couple future projects.

This spring I hope to put the engine and transmission back on the chassis. So before I put the body back on I want to at least get the front half of the exhaust installed. Looking for suggestions on who to buy that from. I'm not sure Kepich is still in business and if they are they have many, many, many bad reviews. I found a place called Classis Exhaust but I know nothing about them (they sale on Ebay as well). I see that Max's and Kantor's offers exhaust kits but don't know who their supplier is.

Anyone have a recommendation for the duel exhaust?

Also, I am thinking about future Paint Color and Upholstery.
I know, I am a long way from either paint or upholstery but they require a good deal of fore thought. Originally my 400 was two tone, Onyx (body) and White Jade (Lower body & Roof). There is no way I am going to repaint my Packard to look like a typical black and white picture. I may consider reversing the black and white. I posted a photo of my father in laws 400 way back on page #1 that used this scheme. I think the reverse looks classy but my original paint combination looks more like an old police car. I also like the White Jade and Sardonyx or maybe Fire Opal combination. I like white cars.

My question is actually in regards to the upholstery not the paint. I also saw a discussion here about possible wait times for materials ordered from SMS upholstery. So, why not order really early so I have it on hand when the time comes. I am looking at the sales brochure for paint and interior and looking at all the possible color combination and choices but I am just not sure what cloth ask for or how much.

The reversed Onyx and White jade has little "0" next to every one of the 5587 interior combinations. I assume that the original Nylon Lurex is no longer made for automotive purposes since it's so hard to locate.

Does anyone have any recommendations on what type of material and yardage is required to completely redo a 55 Four Hundred?

Thanks