Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Trying to find a diagram of the distributor to the plugs need to change wires
Is there one in the Service Manual?

About the only factory diagram of the plugs and dist you will find is on the wiring diagram which you can download from the literature section. Here is the firing order and a snip from the 55 wiring diagram. The distributor rotates counter clockwise.

Be sure and follow the wire from #1 plug back and mark it's actual location on the cap. Just because Packard said #1 should be in a particular spot and has drawn it there doesn't mean someone else that has serviced the distributor followed those instructions. Another poster wasted several hours not too long ago caught in that exact trap. Also if you are changing points and condenser try to be extra careful and not excessively move or disturb the small cloth wrapped flex wire inside the dist that connects points to the outside terminal. The insulation on those old wires can be rotten and fall off easily letting the wire become shorted as the vacuum advance moves the internals.

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If you have any question about where #1 on the cap should be, remove the #1 sparkplug and rotate the motor over by hand or with a helper bumping the starter. (Take off the coilwire) keep your thumb over the hole until you feel compression push past your finger.

Bring it to top dead center on the timing tab or use a dowel in the plug hole until the piston reaches the top of its stroke. Then pull your cap and the rotor is pointing exactly at your #1 location.

Then you can replace your wires according to the proper firing order counter clockwise around your cap. I just had to do this Saturday as the exec I picked up had the wires all messed up.

If I had used the above diagram I would have been off by one plug all the way around. My #1 was at the 7oclock position instead of roughly the 9 oclock that shows.

If your is like mine the cylinders are marked on the intake as well as the firing order. Cylinders are laid out like a sbc 1357 front to back on drivers side and 2468 on passanger side.

Whoops actually my distributer is 180degrees out according to the diagram after looking at it but it seems to run fine in the limited testing I did. Which goes to show how top dead center is so important

The 180 out problem is what the poster I mentioned earlier was up against. He spent hours rechecking his new points, plugs and wires install.

The Packard suggested locations for the Autolite and Delco distributors #1 plug are in the electrical section of the SM and the two locations are one or two holes apart.