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Re: Robert
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Home away from home
 
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Ahhh. Just checking. As I said, I have no records that any of these were ever installed at Conner Avenue. As for the spring-loaded/antenna switch or not... with all due respect, as I said, I've only seen one of these systems installed on a car. And indeed working. Actually operational. This car was sold new either at Earle C. Anthony Los Angeles or Frost & French Los Angeles. It was owned by myself and my buddy Joe Clayton in the 1970s. I think we were the second owners. The guy who was (I think) the original owner had three 1956 Packard Four Hundreds (he really liked them). Two were bought new. Joe Clayton's business? Ironically it was called "Packard Information" or sometimes "Packard Auto Information" and was listed in numerous phone company Yellow Pages back in the 1960s and 1970s. Joe also ran the hotline squawk boxes for hundreds of wrecking yards all over the western USA. They got a Packard in or even heard of a Packard? They called Joe. And Joe called me. We bought them, hauled them and parted some. So between us, we knew our Packard stuff (at least on V-8s)! But one thing I do very vividly recall is that the switch on our car was absolutely, positively spring-loaded. And it was not a back-alley DIY job either. It appeared to us to be merely a re-purposed antenna switch (and we were guys who had garages full of parts in those days so we paid serious attention to such stuff). I'm attaching a photo of Joe and myself getting the Torsion-Level suspension operating after sitting un-used for over 10 years. This was taken in 1974 immediately after I just completed tow-barring this 1956 Caribbean 3,000 miles cross-country to California from Florida (note the Florida temporary license). If you were pushing or pulling on this switch and let go, it would automatically pop back to "off" position. Which makes perfect sense to me. It definitely would not remain engaged in either position or pop fuses. Being the only one of these I had ever seen in the flesh or operated, I made a note of this operation. And I always had the Packard Service Counselors and Bulletins (still have them to this day–in binders). So I always knew about this system/feature. Not new to me. Now maybe this particular one on our car was somehow unusual. But it certainly worked. And we demonstrated the operation to other Packard people in SoCal. But... that was decades and decades ago. No idea where that car is today or even if it still exists. Perhaps other switches on other Packards operated differently. Maybe they appear to do so on paper too. Having seen and operated only one, I can't possibly say. But I have learned long ago that what ended up on paper sometimes wasn't always what rolled out of the factory doors or the dealers. So who knows? I'm only relating what I know for absolute certain on one lone Packard. End of story from my side. Thanks. Attach file:  JoeMeCarib2 copy.jpeg (188.98 KB)
Posted on: 2022/3/19 19:37
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Re: Robert's 56 Patrician
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Forum Ambassador
 
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All I can say about the switch and spring load is I bought a NOS kit which consisted of the switch and loom from Max back in the 80s or 90s when he still had a few for sale. It is the exact same 4 terminal switch shown in the SC article in post 20 of this thread and this one was not spring loaded. Maybe there was a change somewhere along the line or maybe your friend who owned the car first modified the switch. IIRC, Randy Berger mentioned thinking about adding a spring to his switch in one of his blogs or past discussions on the forum about the TL system. Since the case is soldered to the switch at a couple of spots to provide the direct ground for the raise or lower positions I never took the switch apart to see how easy or difficult adding springs would be.
Posted on: 2022/3/19 20:54
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Howard
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Re: Robert's 56 Patrician
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Perhaps there were indeed two different switches. Who knows for sure today? I'm not saying that's not possible. But you have to admit... an electrical switch that locks in an engaged position and relies on the user to remember to manually shut it off or it can overload and blow fuses isn't very bright, is it? If I were engineering such a system (and I have on other automotive electrical items at the OEM level– for instance on concept cars), a simple spring-loaded switch such as used on the power antenna would make a lot more sense. And I would not need a consensus of opinions or the internet to come to such a decision. That's one I could easily work out by myself! As I said... only had experience with the one car with the system – and that was in the 1970s before there was an internet or parts sold 30 to 40 years after the company was gone. Who knows what went on in all that time? Or if there were two switches of which one was an "ooopsy"? And who knows if these were hold-back reject prototype systems sold as NOS? I have a prototype full NOS advanced automotive audio system in my warehouse. In the boxes. Now, if somebody got hold of it, they could certainly sell it to someone else and claim it is NOS –and be telling the truth. And it may look like the production system released to the public. But? And no, the original owner of the Packard I mention from the 1970s never modified anything. He just wasn't that kind of guy. He liked the 1956 Four Hundred... but he was no tinkerer. And the cars weren't all that old back then. The car was exactly as it was when it was sold new at one of those dealerships in SoCal. Again, end of story.
Posted on: 2022/3/19 21:12
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Re: Robert's 56 Patrician
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That's just it. The factory manual switch -- with or without spring load -- does not blow fuses because once it leaves the center position the power is cut to the TL control switch completely disabling it. Manual switch then provides a ground THRU the limit switches to one of the solenoids to move the car and nothing can happen automatically until the manual switch is back at center.
It is the use of antenna switches or the like that blows the fuse. On those there is no way to disconnect the power to the control switch automatically so the operator needs to remember to turn off the suspension toggle switch when going manual. If he does not then as soon as the time delay kicks in the control switch tries to override a probably still energized manual switch and fuse blows.
Posted on: 2022/3/19 21:29
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Howard
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Re: Robert's 56 Patrician
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Home away from home
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We're saved! Sounds like you've got it all worked out. Roll with it! Again... end of story. No further comments from me. Have at it.[
Posted on: 2022/3/19 21:53
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Re: Robert
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Quite a regular
 
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I won't be able to register the plate to drive on the street, but it'll be fun for car shows and pictures.
Attach file:  20220324_130810.jpg (129.84 KB)
Posted on: 2022/3/24 13:34
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- 1956 Patrician
- 1990 Miata - V8 swap under construction - 2021 Civic Type R - 2012 Yukon Denali - to tow the other three around |
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Re: Robert
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Home away from home
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Is the plate a reproduction? I’ve never seen one from any state with all zeros!
Posted on: 2022/3/24 13:51
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Re: Robert
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Quite a regular
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It's a real '56 plate, when I found it online I put a bid on it. Afterwards I confirmed that WV produced physical copies of all zero plates as samples, since there are multiples it can't be registered to a specific vehicle. It looks cool though.
Posted on: 2022/3/24 15:48
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- 1956 Patrician
- 1990 Miata - V8 swap under construction - 2021 Civic Type R - 2012 Yukon Denali - to tow the other three around |
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Re: Robert
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Home away from home
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That's quite interesting. As a licensed California VIN verifier, I've never seen a plate with all zeros but I can't imagine where the DMV wouldn't allow it if, 1) it was original; 2) there was a matched pair and 3) no one else was using it. On the other hand, maybe there's some kind of all-zero exclusion.
Posted on: 2022/3/24 17:26
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