Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Mate of mine here in Oz has a '54 Convertible Coupe and needs some help finding a top supplier so he can replace the old top with a new one. Here's the message he sent me:

Having trouble accessing Packard Info. Keeps telling me that my password is incorrect even after sending a new one. Obviously doing something wrong.

Now until I get it sorted I was wondering if you could do a post on my behalf re convertible top suppliers for my '54 that I have researched to date as I need to purchase ASAP. All I want is any comments/recommendations (positive or negative) on company names I have if any have info or experience with them. Alternatively they may come up with additional suppliers that I have missed.

Suppliers to date I have looked at are:

Kanter
Hydro-E-Electric
Bill Hirsch
Convertible Top Guys
Tops and Seats
Convertible Tops

Accordingly any advice you can give Michael, good, bad or ugly, will be appreciated. Plus I'm putting the hard word on him to include the '54 Convertible and a '51 200 Sedan in the Registry once he's online with PackardInfo.

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I give high marks to Kanter Auto, Bill Hirsch and Hydro-E-lectric as suppliers. Both Kanter and Hirsch can supply tops in a variety of materials for your convertible, my own top came from Bill Hirsch and was excellent in all respects. Hydro-E-lectric offers good service but be aware that parts for the hydraulic pump are approaching non-existant. Though there are many vendors of leathers, again I give the nod to Bill Hirsch if you want really fine hides.

OD,
What parts for the pump are becoming extinct? Would a 55-56 pump work for the top only? Maybe a 2nd pump for windows?

Would a 55-56 pump work for the top only? Maybe a 2nd pump for windows?

If the car were converted to 12v then a stock 55-6 pump would work -- but only for the top.

There is a company with an ebay store which advertises 6v pumps in a similar style to the 55-6 horizontal pump. They offer a package as a retrofit for the original vertical but hard to find parts for Dura or Moraine pump. Looking at their offerings today they only show 6v FoMoCo product pumps with special mounts for those cars. When I looked thru their pumps earlier in the year, they also listed Packard but specifically say their retrofit pumps are not for power windows. Unknown if they discontinued 6v for Packard or just make them to order.

For window operation, Packard needed 275 psi for quarter windows so unknown if the retrofit pump has that much pressure. No idea what just the convertible part needs but that could be one reason they say no windows. Another likely reason they say no is fluid capacity. Convertibles have a small amount of fluid in reserve since what is in the cylinder on one side of the piston is expelled and recycled as the top is moved. Window and seat operation requires a large reservoir capacity to store the total amount of fluid in the window and seat cylinders when all are relaxed. The horizontal pump has extra capacity of just a few ounces over what the top cylinders require.

If the pumps have sufficient pressure out then it might be possible to rig some kind of additional reservoir tank and operate windows. The pump rotors are submerged in the fluid within the reservoir so don't draw from any height or distance. It would take a bit of ingenuity to plumb and mount the tank so the pump could use the fluid out of the tank but might be interesting to see if it could be done.

(Mal, I THOUGHT I knew who it would be that was asking about convertible tops! I was right.)