Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Does anyone know how to replace the gearbox in the power seat of a 56 Patrician that raises it up and down?

I don't know if just the gears are available but if not, there should be used actuator assys consisting of the gearbox and screw available from Mike Dulinski or, I believe Ross mentioned having some on his shelf. It would probably be easier to replace it as a unit.

Haven't had to mess with the vertical actuator but do know the roll pins on the horizontal actuator in my car were a royal pain to remove. The vertical may be the same. Packard advised making some drivers but I found those didn't work well because of limited room to use the hammer. Modified a C clamp to drive the pins out instead. Don't know if my seat was extra hard but even using the clamp it was difficult in getting the pins to start moving. Once they started then they pushed thru OK. I didn't reuse the pins and replaced them with bolts and nuts.

To modify the clamp, the normal bar on the screw end was removed and a nut welded on. The pad was removed and end tapered so the point of the clamp fits into the end of the roll pin. The opposite end was modified and hole was drilled in the end of the clamp so the pin can be driven thru.

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Thanks for the quick reply. Now I kinda' know what I am getting into. Here's the next question. When you did this repair, did you have the seat in the car and accessed the front drivers side panel, or loosened the seat and tilted it back, or removed the seat from the car? I have a gearbox that I believe I got from Mike Dulinski to use for replacement.

I left the seat in the car but my Caribbean seat is a bit different than yours - and the problem was different. My horizontal actuator stuck because it drives full speed until it runs out of screw. It drove hard enough into the end to cause the tube covering the screw to jam into the gearbox and become wedged. I had to remove the actuator to free it and then decided to install a limit switch to prevent that from happening again. All was accessed from the top.

Looking at the service manual, the 55 front cushion will lift out and it appears everything is exposed from the top like it is on Carib seat -- maybe more so since there are no zigzag springs. If the 56 is similar then you should be able to access from the top and front similar to the way I did mine.

One clarification -- I was looking for photos I took of my seat at the time and realized I left out an important step on using the C clamp. The home made driver is still needed. The C clamp does the work of pushing the driver and pin instead of a hammer.

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Howard,
Thanks again for the quick reply. In all their brilliance, the Packard company decided to make the front seat in the '56 Patrician different from the '55. My seat cushions are not removable. I had to removed the entire seat from the car and leave it at the upholsterer to be re-done. I can try to access the gears from the panel in the front with the help of your pictures, but may have a difficult task getting to the necessary parts. I was thinking that maybe I could do it by tilting the seat back. I don't know. I guess I will just have to "wing it". Thanks again.

Well if the 55 and 56 are different as you say then any info I offer will be of no use. You already had the seat out and reupholstered so preserving original is not necessary. As i recall my seat was inop and I removed it for 3 reasons- repair the seat, repair the underseat htr and repl carpet. Seems these all should be done at the same time . My upholstery is orig and removing cloth and cushions was not an option. One of the actuators was recirculating ball- not sure if vert or horis. All i did was remove the motors with the seat upside down and disassem the tracks n lube and rewire the mtrs. I remember taking apart the recirc ball assem and cleaning and relubing it and there was i bracket that was stressed cracked from the lack of lube and binding and i hit it with the mig and reenforced it with another small piece of metal. Good as new and no disturbing the upholstery.

As I recall the front seat cushion is attached to the seat frame with 4 bolts. Two on each side. Remove these and the cushion should be free and you will have access to the power seat parts. I did this on 55 Caribbean but think will be the same for a Patrician

You know, you are probably right about that. I am sure that when the car was produced that the seat frame had to be separate from the upholstered section. I imagine that I will need to remove the seat and flip it over to disconnect that frame. The pictures above are helpful in that I now know how the motors are attached beneath. I will first access the panel beneath the drivers side and then take whatever measures necessary to further access the gearbox. This may be a lot more than I anticipated. Thanks for all the help. I will let you know what transpires.