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

Hi

I was under the impression that one decklid was common to all models, that the panel ahead of the decklid is where the differences between two and four door models was made-up. Enlighten me!

Steve

51-4 Continental kits

53-54 Caribbean -Rear quarters started life as junior quarters and were extended by putting the rear "cap" from a 51-4 Senior quarter to allow the mounting of senior taillights. The quarters, thus extended, needed a different gravel pan with deeper cutouts to acommodate the lengthened rear quarters. 53 Carib gravel pan assb was metal, 54 Carib center section was metal, ends were fiberglass.

51-54 All others-Juniors ,Seniors, coupes, sedans, hardtops, convertibles All the same pans, all metal. Other than the holes for trim, all senior quarters were the same. Ditto for juniors

51-4 Trunk lids. Sedans, hardtops and coupes all took the same lids, only difference is holes for scripts etc
51-4 Trunk lids- all convertibles- due to the need to construct the well for space for the top bows, the lids had to be shorter. If you examine the interior bracing on the convertible lids you can see where the sedan/coupe lid inner structure was modified to make it shorter. A sedan/coupe outer skin was shortened at the leading edge and mated to the new inner structure. This saved money as new dies were not needed for the lid and inner structure

Thanks
James
Kanter Auto Products

James, thanks you explanation answers many questions. I guess I got the idea that the '53 and '54 Caribbean trunk lids were shortened from the standard convertibles when I saw work had been done to the inner structure of one on a '53 Caribbean that was at Salado.

Am I correct on the tail lights, '53s being senior look a like pieces bolted or screwed to the fenders and '54s being senior lights and permanently grafted on?

(o{}o)

Hi James

Thanks for the detailed explanation on the interchangeability of most trunk lids and what's unique about the convertible. I've seen that seam on the convertible trunk lid interior panel, though only on a Caribbean.

Now, the question is: are the regular convertible and Caribbean trunk lids interchangeable or is that of the Caribbean even shorter?

Steve

The '54 convertibles had the "attached" senior style tail lights. The '53 and '54 Caribbeans had the senior tail lights grafted onto the fenders in addition to lengthening them and in the case of the '53s, full wheel openings.

Often mistaken, but never confused.

(o{}o)

as mentioned above repeated, the main trunk lid shells are the same for all 53-54 convertibles, Caribbean or std. convertible. My earlier posting also explains about the tailight housings, the 53-54 caribbeans do not have senior tailights "grafted" in, they are simply part of the senior rear quarter panel extensions that are "grafted" in

also as I stated earlier, the continental kit "pan" that attaches to the rear quarter panel is slightly different on the 127" wheelbase senior cars than the 51-54 122" wheelbase cars

If the senior rear fenders were grafted onto the Carribean, then why isn't the tail light bulge the same as the seniors? The senior rear fenders have the bulge extending through the gas filler door while the Carribeans' tail light bulge only goes a few inches. In fact the bulge looks to be what the chrome extentions for the 54's (hardtop-convertable) were modeled from (same size, leangth).

Walt,
for including not just your '51 250 Convertible, but also your '54 Caribbean Convertible in the Registry!

just the end portion of the senior fender was grafted on. if you look at a 53-54 Caribbean you can see the vertical junior taillight fender ending and a senior rear fender grafted on, the tail light bulge is indeed the same as the seniors, same tail light housing used also as the 53-54 seniors (except for the 54 122" wheelbase Convertible and Pacific), the caribbean rear quarter panel is approx. 12" to 14" longer than the std. 2 door hardtop and convertible models due to this custom grafting