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All of us that live in the city envy your shop setup. Our family was from Princeton, KY. I have fond memories of spending summers there as a kid.

Packard1, We do love the country life/setting.

Henry, I was using a photo that you posted (page 2, Jan 08)as a reference. You have the fender off but that top chrome piece is still on the car. Going by that I guess I don't have to remove the chrome just yet, just those two nuts inside the fender to actually remove the fender.

All these questions and I'm just getting started.

Stewart,

Pull out your 55-56 Packard Parts & Accessories List (book). To save two vital pieces of chrome moulding take a look at plate 2. Pieces 30.7805 and 30.87401interconnect! Yes they can be a pain in the neck to separate. Break either and they are expensive to replace. Been some years since I separated both, but take it slow. Once those pieces are separated, the entire front grille can later be removed as a unit.

Stewart, take a look at the 55 Pat for sale in Lewistown MT. It looks like the same color scheme as yours. It is in good shape; maybe you should get it and have a matched pair....

Stewart,

David has a very valid point. While building my 400 here in my garage I always had a '55 Patrician to "fall back on" during those times I needed parts or orientation. My old parts Patrician served me well and long. Looks like you have ample space, maybe there is a derelict Patrician or 400 somewhere close to you? In my experience it was $$$$ very well spent!

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To remove the fender I believe you will have to take the two bolts in question off as well as a third and also the complete half of the upper grill bar because it wraps around the fender slightly. Wouldn't even attempt trying to maneuver around it. The grill bars won't tolerate much stress or twisting and break easily. Fender removal and bolt locations to be removed is covered in section 10 of the service manual. You can download the section if you don't have one.

Got the fender off tonight. It now looks just like the image Kevin posted above. The two bolts inside the fender turned out to be no problem. Now those other two bolts underneath the head lights that hold on that top piece of chrome were another story.
That parts car idea is a good one but I don't see it happening.
It will be a couple days before I attempt the other side. Its pretty hot here this week. Not Death Valley hot but to hot to work out there.
I am a DOD employee and thanks to government furloughs I now have 3 day weekends until Oct 1. That gives me three cool mornings to work on either the Packard or our garden.

Got both front fenders and all the dental work pulled this weekend. Spent a couple hours trying to strip everything else off the fenders. The turn signals are going to be the hardest as several of the screws have deteriorated to far to get a bite.
I need help getting the antenna removed. Can someone tell me what tool is used to remove the chrome cap. I need more then "spanner wrench" as that name is used to describe many, many different types of tools. Some of them that look like they may work on my Google search are $70 so I really don't want to be guessing.
Also, got asked the other day what type of restoration I was planning (complete restoration or other). My reply was "complete restoration" but after giving that some thought I realized that "complete restoration" to me may mean something entirely different to others. A better answer may be "complete restoration but not opposed to modifications that improve handling, performance and the life of the car". Having said all that I definitely want a Packard powered vehicle but that Chevy transmission conversion I was reading about in another thread sure looks promising to me.

Thanks for all the advice on the fender and grill removal. Its nice to know you Packardteers have got my back.

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Believe this is the style wrench Packard used only theirs was a fixed width, not the adjustable type. This wrench is an Amazon offering for around $25. A little expensive for a one purpose job but cheaper imports should be available.

If the nut has not corroded to the antenna, some have had success by wrapping several layers of tape over the nut to protect the chrome and then use channel locks. That might be an option to consider.

EDIT: McMaster-Carr has the fixed type in various diameter circle sizes -- $10 or so for those around 1".

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Thanks, there may be some corrosion under there. I tried the channel locks and it wouldn't budge. I'll take a look at this tool in the morning. As expensive as these antennas are I don't want to damage it.