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Senior Packards all had 5" bolt circle wheels, the only ones with 5 1/2" BC were hearses and ambulances. Clippers in 56 had 4 1/2"bolt circle which is the same as Ford. Hope this clears up any uncertainty.


Thanks
James From
Kanter Auto Products

Thanks James

That's news to me but I dare say you're correct.

Any other Packard models share this setup?

I did not measure the stud spacing. My (modified) wire wheels slipped right on - eventually. I was told they have Ford centres, as apparently do my steel wheels. Although I'm beginning to wonder if those are original Packard wheels. No matter. They fit and the geometry looks right.

Spent a lot of time figuring how to get the rear wheels on and off, until I discovered that jacking under the chassis gives the necessary clearance (with the wheel arch covers off). Needs to go up pretty high, though. Started out with the Torsion Level jacked up to High, as well.

Brian

How is the work coming along?

As for the wheels, the commercial chassis has 5-1/2 bolt circle and used 7.50X16 tires up to 1954.

Hello Don

Making a bit of progress with self-isolation time on my hands. Looking for suitable clips now to secure the new fresh air ducting. May end up using duct tape to secure/seal the ends as before. Would prefer not to. Looks pretty untidy (ugly).

Also been crawling around underneath looking for a Utica engine number on the V8. So far coming up blank, although may be hiding under the paint next to where the new Australian engine number was stamped.

Was reduced to reading my 1956 Clipper Owners' Manual, which contains a 5-page chapter entitled "Driving Your New Car". Someone has thoughtfully added a note on the back page. "How to drive. Place hands on steering wheel. Turn on key." Simple, eh?

At your suggestion, I'm looking for narrower radials to fit to my wire wheels. At present they have 235x75x15 steel-belted thin whitewalls (with tubes), which I guess will be even harder to steer at low speeds than the 215x75x15 radials on the steel wheels which came off the car. May have to go for the Cokers which look like cross plies (same as yours?) but are now quite expensive here. The existing tires look virtually new but are more than 15 years old. Definitely past their prime.

Have liberally greased up the front suspension/steering mechanism.

My paint guy scheduled to do the freshen up has gone home because of the virus. Was hoping to have that underway by now, but guess it will have to wait.

If paint looks like being far off, will get into the Bendix TreadleVac rebuild with the help of an experienced mechanic friend. Can't find local experts to do it. Would love to have someone like Ross Miller do it, but just not practical from here. Have his excellent write-up to guide us, though.

Cheers

Brian

Brian, are you aware of where the Utica engine number is or should be located? Pretty much must be viewed from beneath the car, right side (opposite to the starter motor side) of motor at the very upper rear of the block where the cylinder block meets the cylinder head. There is a small rectangular raised flat spot where it is or should be. I can post a picture later if you need it.

To save Dave the trouble, there are photos in the Packard Engine Serial Number list showing the standard and a possible alternate location used on some late 56 engines of the Utica and vehicle numbers.packardinfo.com/xoops/html/downloads/PackardEngineSerials.pdf

Thanks guys

Yes, I found the pics with Utica engine number locations on this site. Have looked at the locations at the front of the engine.

I assume the Utica number was stamped. It's possible there's another number hiding near the new one at the front near the breather. Will rub the paint back and have a closer look. This is vehicle number 5622 6194 so not very far from the end according to the table (also for Packard sadly).

I did crawl under the car to try to spot a number at the rear of the block, but couldn't catch sight of the location which HH describes. Will get the front up and try again today.

I'm assuming it's there somewhere!

Brian

Brian, in my experience gathering data on the 1956 cars, those with the Utica number up front are the anomalies, the vast majority by a long shot have it at the rear location as described previously.

Utica motor numbers begin with either an A, B, C, or D which identify the car line. A double letter such as BB means the engine was built with a flywheel for manual shift; a single letter means it was built with a flex plate for the Twin Ultramatic. Four digits beginning with 1001 follows.

Examples, C 1056 = the 56th Caribbean engine with flex plate for Twin Ultramatic. DD 1107 = the 107th engine for the 400/Patrician built with a flywheel for standard shift. Its described in one of the Technical Service Bulletins.

Hi Dave

Well I crawled under the car and drew a blank in the rear location you describe. Then scraped away at the paint around the new engine number at the front. It's there, right behind the new one. Hard to decipher but it starts with an "A" and looks like the vehicle number 5622-6194.

I can see the casting number at the rear top of the block. It's 440275.

Here's a pic of the vehicle plate, which is the only thing visible in a photo.

Cheers

Brian

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