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Keith, take a good look at the "tank" you referred to and see if you can see an ignition coil wire at the right end. If that is what you are referring to, it is the ignition coil which is mounted there because of the dual four-barrels.

AL: If you intend to take the easy way out, and just try to start the engine without doing the correct prep work first, one piece of advice.

Make sure you have another person with you standing by with a BC fire extinguisher. A BC rated extinguisher is rated for both flammable liquids as well as electrical fires. With out that fire extinguisher handy you may end up a real hot hotrod Packard well done like a burnt steak.

John F. Shireman

This is the car you were discussing on the AACA forums, right? Very interesting. This is an Executive, right? should have a vin tag in the LH door that starts with 5677A, right?
The hood is from a '55 Carribbean, check the brass tag on the carbs, they might be from the same '55

according to the vin tag it is 5667 which makes it a custom constellation. As to the hood being from a 55 that I am not sure. what is the difference between a 55 and 56

Stick or automatic???

A screen shot off the owner registry showing differences between yours and a 56 hood-roughly same view. Main difference is in louvers and sculpturing.
Was going to scan originals but there seems to be a lack of front-on shots of 55 Caribbeans in factory literature. All other models well represented in 55 but not top O'line -- mostly side or rear 3/4--but plenty of 56's.
Having said that, am sure now others will point out the gaps in my collection, but thought it interesting in the several pieces I have.

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OK, the side trim is consistent with a Clipper Constellation, I went back and looked at the Clipper models more closely. Those are not Clipper front fenders. I think that your front end clip is from an Executive based on the trim clip rust holes that align with the top of the white color band. The Executive is the only '56 Senior front fenders to have that trim strip mounted high like that. The Patrician, 400 and Carribbeans all have a diecast/plated piece as their top where your bottom strip is located and another trim strip (stainless) 6" below that, corregated stainless steel black/polished trim panel inbetween on the Patrician and 400, body accent color on the Carribbean (ending with special "upsweep" moulding at the rear). The trunk on your car has the circle-V emblem from a senior car too.

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I'd say that it's a auto judging by the throttle linkage kickdown.

Well in the words of that famous physician Dr. Frankenstien

IT'S ALIVE, IT'S ALIVE IT'S ALIVE
WWWHHHOOOO HAHAHAHAHAHA

Now that I got that out of my system.....

things have gone slowly due to weather, and other functions going on. In any event the initial attempt at starting the car resulted in it running only as long as I pourd gas down the carbs. After eliminating all of the other possibilities, I hooked up an electric fuel pump to the line and lo and behold no gas from the tank. So off with the tank and back to the shop where they discovered that the pick up tube inside the tank had broken off in the cleaning process. The shop put in a new one and I put the tank back in. The next attempt revealed the rear carb to be working but the front carb was spewing gas all over which demanded that I shut the thing down. Off with the front carb and into the workshop for cleaning. I am sure most people are screaming REBUILD IT. Under normal circumstances I would agree, but at $125+ a shot I figured I would try the simplest way first. Put the carb back on and IT LIVES. However the back carb now does not seem to be working so I will pull it off and clean it. Once that is back on we shall see. If all goes well I will be able to start gutting the interior and sending the seats to the upholstery shop to replace the rather crunchy foam in the seats. The vinyl is in need of cleaning with only the cloth inserts needing replacment. Some small parts of the door panals need some stiching. The overall interior condition I would consider as very, very good considering the length of time it sat. While the inside is being done I will take all of the chrome north and get it redone. Before I get the chrome back I need to make sure my iron lung is working perfectly so I can survive the sticker shock. But what the hey!!! Sometime around the end of summer I hope to be able to get it to the body shop for paint. More updates to follow as they occur....

Well, it's past the end of summer and maybe time to bump this thread up. What you got there, as near as I can figure, is a car put together with either an Executive or Senior front clip and definitely a '55 Caribbean hood. One giveaway is the "scallops" at the sides of the hood which were changed to little creases in '56, The hood scoops are '55 and the '55 lacked the medallion in the center. The grill is definitely either Senior or Executive, and the grillwork in the bumper slot says it's a 56.

This is the Packard I would've liked to have built: Caribbean dual carb 374, Clipper/Executive with "slipper" taillights, lighter weight with the same HP as the Carib. I would probably insist on a transmission swap to an automatic that could take all that HP.

Somebody had a good idea and didn't finish it. Or finished it and drove it like a banshee for a while and moved on. Wouldn't be surprised if it had some hard use.

Synchronizing dual carbs can be a bitch, and I've found that one problem is one or the other will start to leak (overflow). I don't know if it's float adjustment or a fuel pressure difference. I'm thinking of putting a fuel pressure regulator on my dual carb V8 boat to try to combat the rear carb leakage.

Sounds more and more like John's right about keeping that fire extinguisher close. You probably know that, but it's interesting how easy it is to leave the extinguisher sitting on the OTHER side of the car from where you're standing. Having two helps. Probably best is to have another fellow on "standby" holding the extinguisher ready. Halon extinguishers will avoid arduous cleaning of any areas that (hope not but possibly) ignite.

I'm really, really glad you're doing this car and maybe fulfilling someone else's dream (including mine). Best of luck. And I agree totally that getting a car up on decent tires so you can roll it around, and getting it running a bit--at least enough to know it DOES run, puts a lot of incentive into patiently doing all the little things. I convinced a friend of mine to do this on a '47 Dodge we worked on, and am pretty sure it wouldn't have ever gotten out on the road had we taken any other course.

John, with all due respect to you and your mentor and how you learned, some alternative methods also seem to work, and heck it's Al's baby. GO AL!

BUT, before any joyriding, be sure to drop the pan and pull the heads. This is all "free" unless you find something bad. Clean the pan of accumulated crud, look for suspicious metal, check bearing clearance.

P.S. I'd like to see Executive or Senior trim on the sides. I don't like the skinny-to-fat transition on the Clipper two-tone.

To tell you the truth, I think the '55 Clippers had it all over the '56s, except maybe taillights. But of course I'm prejudiced.