Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Guys does this look like an original parts list? If so I may try to pick it up for the website.

cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... ewitem=&item=180124374151&rd=1&rd=1

Unless one of you guys has a better one that I can scan.

Could be original. Both repros I acquired (several years apart, different vendors) are dated July 1, 1956 and have rather bland images. While it is hard to tell for sure, the posted pictures appear to be sharper or cleaner than what I have.

Kevin, it is probably original. I would wait for the july 56 version. There are a lot of 56 parts that are not listed in the copy you are looking at. Especially ultramatic parts.

BigKev -

I may be wrong, but I thought the original parts books were shipped to Packard dealers as loose pages (but wrapped with a wide paper band to prevent shifting/shuffling), to be inserted into a rack binder or hardcover binder for counter use. (The hardcover binder was recycled from on year/series to the next.) The intent of using loose-leaf pages was to permit periodic update, to keep up with part number changes.

That's the way parts books were issued when I first worked in the parts department of a GM dealership, many years ago, but I also have an original set of pages that Packard issued in this manner, to update the Packard Service Manual to cover 56th Series.

However, instead of only sending update pages (perhaps also due to the wear-n-tear factor), GM reprinted parts books in their entirety - as often as quarterly, but later semi-annually, then only annually, as the covered models aged. GM did issue some glue-bound soft cover editions, but only at a point when the covered models were so old than part number changes were not very likely - except for discontinuation. For example, the catalogs that covered models 1976-81 were last reprinted in 1987.

Yet, I digress...

Seems to me that every 1955-1956 Packard parts book that I've seen in softcover form has that beige cover stock and a revision date of April 1, 1957 - same as the three reprints I have; the first purchased from Kanter, the second purchased from a club, and the third left in the trunk of the first '56 Pat that I purchased. However, I have seen one softcover edition of the 1955-56 parts book with gray cover stock that appears to be genuine factory-issue (after Detroit operations were shutdown). Therefore, I have concluded that softbound editions with beige cover stock are reprints that one of the clubs had made.

Earlier this year, I acquired an original edition of this parts book in a hard binder. As best as I can recall, all examples of the 1955-56 parts book that I've seen show the same issue date on the first page (November, 1955). However, revised pages show a revision date on the lower outboard corner. The 1955-56 parts book that I now have appears to be updated with revised pages through July 1, 1956.

Unfortunately, I am so backed up with projects at home and work (and with no time to work on my own cars) that I will not be able to scan anything until the snow flies, and several pages in the edition I have will require some cleaning (at least, digitally). If you want the 1955-56 parts book up online sooner and are willing to take on the clean-up work, I can ship the pages, sans binder and the originalindex tabs (the latter is something reprints NEVER have), to you. E-mail me if interested, with destination address, and I'll get back to you.

Brian, South Bend had a lot of V-8 parts books after they stopped making Packards. There indeed are original soft cover books with the beige covers out there. I have several.

The 48-54 Parts Book (which an original and that I bought for the website) is a softcover that you can put three-ring-holed paper into. It uses three brass doo-dads that screw together to hold the pages in the binder.

The 48-54 reprint I have (which I bought for myself in beginning) uses 3 brass brads that you bend the tabs out on the bottom.

The original one looks to have had different updates added to it at different times. As some pages are dated differently, and the paper stock is a little different in certain sections.

Joel -

Yes, I can see why there might have been a lot of parts books leftover - after the 56th Series production stopped so short of a full year. With the ones from South Bend were shipped with beige covers, I can see why the reprints were done with that color cover stock.

Yet, I am puzzled by the one original V8 parts books I saw that had gray cover stock. IIRC, it predated the April 1, 1957 revision, but uses the same basic cover graphic/layout.

The other "original" V8 parts books that I have seen had been in some sort of hardcover binder, but the graphic was completely different than the softcover editions (and darned if I can find a sample image right now).

BigKev -

Yes, every reprint I have was fastened with brass brads. Though handy, those brads tends to chew through the paper if the manual gets much use - in spite of the little brass washers they use.

So, I found some aluminum screws and posts at the local hardware store (now I have to got o Lowe's to find 'em) and use those. Sometimes the thickness of the book is slightly less than the length of the posts and I have used a jeweler's saw (think of a mioniature hacksaw) to trim the posts down so I get a snug fit - and no more torn-out pages. For the set of manuals that I use frequently, I installed a set of pressboard report covers.

The hardcover binders for parts books for counter use are not conventional three-ring (loose-leaf) binders, but use an interesting method with two sets of three straight posts - one set slips inside of the other (which are actually hollow tubes), but with a locking system to hold it all together. These binders can accomodate parts books of various thickness and were used for decades in the biz, with variations on the basic theme.

BTW, the reprints I've seen do have the update pages, but the stock is - naturally - uniform.

I just scanned my hardcover Master Parts and Prices book. It does not have the April 1, 1957 update on page 35. It does have, however, prices in the back of the book where they list parts they do not mention in the main book and it was revised Sept 1, 1956. For instance there are small plastic or nylon inserts that go in the holes where the fender skirt studs fit, part #6478791. A lot of people don't even know about these rare parts. I also have a softbound parts book that I feel is original because of the sharpness and clarity of the pictures and printing. It does not have the prices in the back. I bought it from George Hamlin many years ago and he listed it as original.

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