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Leeedy

That's interesting. I also wondered why there were no paint or trim codes on the plate. I suspect the plate was removed and reaffixed when the car was repainted dark blue in the mid-1980s. It was originally yellow with a white roof, although the interior trim did not changed then and is basically still white vinyl with black piping and black fabric seat inserts.

I have not checked the codes for this colour combination, because they were missing from the VN plate. I assume that the car was not originally painted or trimmed in Australia.

I'll check back with the guy who restored and repainted the car in the 1980s. No doubt he'll remember what happened with the plate. The number on the plate is correct, because it was always registered here with that VN number (56226194) as the chassis number, and with the assigned engine number stamped on the block (V5711150P). I assumed that replacement VN plates were not available that long ago. Maybe that's not right. Even if they were, the paperwork indicates that the VN number didn't change.

Brian

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Hello,

With other Clippers in Australia with RHD and similar plates with blank paint and trim, perhaps this was part of the process there.

All I know for certain is that the factory attached V-8 Packard and Clipper serial plates by spot welds. Never seen one yet in the USA that was pop-riveted that did not turn out to be molested with a repopped plate-usually in more recent times..

Hello Leeedy

Yes, it occurred to me later that the rivets may have been required here. That's the case for other vehicle ID plates such as VIN plates. I know the registration people here object to screws and those little threaded "nails" for attaching plates. I've never seen a car here with a spot-welded plate, but you'd think that would be regarded as acceptable.

And the registration people here are the same ones who insisted on changing the engine number. The logic is hard to follow.

Looking closely at my plate, fairly sure it would have been removed when the car was repainted. Whether it had rivets prior to that, I don't know. But the previous owner will!

Brian

HH

Re the heater unit in my RHD Clipper. Does this look like a Packard heater unit?

Yes, both fresh air vents are attached to the dash control knobs. The flaps in the ducts are working on both sides. There is a new-looking water circuit cut-off switch in the engine compartment attached by cable to one of the control knobs on the dash, but the fan in the heater unit does not seem to switch on when the heater or defroster is operating. Have not tried all combinations of control settings. The working parts of the heater look virtually unused - not surprising with our climate! Not top of my list to get it working, for this reason.

Brian

To me it does not look like a Packard unit but I am not up on all the various older styles Packard offered. Some in the 30s were round but I believe from late 30s on they were squarish with various type and number of doors. The switch to turn on the blower in a stock heater would be a round knob to the side of the heat and temp levers and had off, hi - low positions. If there was no heater then there was a blank fill plate for the space but a knob that did not turn was still present. If there was an underseat heater then both sides had a switch and the left knob by the air vent levers controlled the underseat heater.

If yours was one of the cars with no ordered heater and it has no switch in the stock location perhaps the Australian heater itself has some kind of switch on the enclosure or maybe there would have been an under dash universal type switch. There is also a fuse in the block under the dash for the stock heaters and if that was used for your heater, in many cases corrosion has made for poor connections at the fuse clips in the block and the fuse connection is unable to carry enough current to work the motor.

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Thanks HH

Yes, that diagram of the controls is the same as the one in the Owner's Manual. It mentions there that the heater was still optional on the 1956 Clipper.

I imagine mine came without it and this one was fitted locally. Normal practice and heaters were standard here by then, in case you lived somewhere like Melbourne or Canberra where it might actually get cold.

Mine does have the small fan speed switch (on the left hand side), but the manual also mentions that the fan was not usually necessary when the car was on the move because of the flow of air coming through the fresh air ducts. There is a matching dummy switch to the right of the sliders.

I will investigate the whole setup more closely, although I don't expect to use it except for ventilation.

Brian

The dummy switch was probably a placeholder for the under-seat heater. Not sure but as I recall that's where the switch on my 1956 Clipper is located.

Well - here we go!

I mentioned before the sad paintwork on my 1956 Clipper. It was repainted about 35 years ago, but is now crazing quite badly in some areas. Looks like somebody before me tried to patch it up but to no avail. Only result was slightly mis-matched colour. It's painted in a 1970's Ford Australia acrylic colour called Midnight, which I quite like on the car and intend to keep.

So far, so good. My enquiries regarding a repaint produced quotes which far exceeded the value of the car - which is in otherwise excellent condition and drives exceedingly well. So Plan B is to get it stripped by one guy and painted etc by another. I don't want to dismantle the car any more than I have to, for fear I'll never get it all together and working again! Only plan to repaint the exterior panels - same colour as now.

The catch is that I need to remove as much of the exterior trim as I can myself. In truth, I have no idea how to do this. As a start, referred to the illustrated Parts List but got no further enlightenment regarding how the external trim is removed. I'm assuming I need to get the bumpers, tail lights, headlight surrounds and stainless/chrome side trim off. Oh, and the rear view mirrors. Plus the "Deluxe" and "Clipper" badges, hood ornament and "Packard" badge off the trunk. I intend to leave the glass in and the wheels on to keep it mobile and hopefully driveable.

My first questions are:

1 Is it feasible to repaint the car without dismantling the mechanicals?

2 Is it necessary to remove some or all of the interior trim to get the external trim pieces off?

Cheers

Brian

I noticed when I looked at the 1956 illustrated Parts List (on this site) what looks like a dash cover or pad, presumably fitted to some of the more expensive 1956 models. It's part number 10.0008.

Does anybody know if this can be fitted over the dash on lesser models, such as my Clipper Deluxe? I quite like the look of it and my metal dash top is looking pretty tired. Would these be available? If so, from where?

My car is right hand drive, but I imagine this makes no difference.

Cheers

Brian

I don't know if this placejustdashes.com still makes the pads new or just restores old ones but you are correct in that the padded dash was standard on Packard models, optional on Customs and usually not present on lower end Clippers.

It is possible to field fit the pad but the dash has to come out of the car. The metal dash halves are screwed together and need to separate so the pad edge can insert between the two pieces and get sandwiched in place. You will also need to fit and contour foam rubber to the metal top panel for the proper shape before placing the pad over the foam.

Somewhere on site there is a thread with a description of how the originals were made in a special mold and foam poured in place attaching to the pad. The big difference is since the pads were in two pieces, the factory version was electro-welded or melted together with the seam running around the protruding edge. I had a local upholstery shop make a pad and redo the foam by contouring it to the top metal piece. The upholstery shop version has the two pad pieces stitched together so for anyone concerned with authenticity that visible seam is a non starter since the difference is apparent.

Here is what the stitched version looks like and you can compare with some of the photos showing a stock pad.

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