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Success! I got that old muffler out! It had a stovepipe wrapped around it covering the holes. I was hoping I could leave the downpipe on the manifold, and remove them as a unit, but that will not work. There is not enough room. Now I need to decide if I want to take more things apart, to make the ex manifold look new, or just put things back together....
I think I may just clean things up, seal with new gaskets, and try and get on the road sooner than later.

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That muffler looks pretty rough. I assume you'll be doing a new exhaust system front to back? Classic Exhaust did mine and it was excellent. The shop that installed it needed to do a little extra work with the bends over the rear axle. But besides that it was great.

The muffler was really falling apart, but the pipes are still OK. They're rusty, but not rusted through like the muffler. I can still use them.
...well, let me trial fit the muffler with the other pipes before I do my happy dance. -Hope everything fits!

Allright, made some progress today. I removed all 4 drums and inspected the brakes. The rear drums didn't even put up a fight! I was supprised they came off with a few wacks on my drum puller. I guess having a quality puller paid off. All the brake hardware at the wheel ends looks good, so I will just do the parts that I have. Treadlevac, lines fittings, hoses and cylinders.
I got one front corner apart to replace the upper control arm bushings, and also got the coil spring out without killing myself. -I still get nervous removing coil springs!
The muffler also fits fine, so I am happy about that. New shocks from Rock Auto are on the way.
Happy Mother's Day!

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I would like to start a thread "Secrects of the Caribbean", but I will keep all my car related posts on this blog. It is interesting to see all of what is different than the clipper. For one thing, what are these holes in the inner rear fenders? Is that some sort of drain for the convertible top?
Here is also someting I never knew existed! There are little clips that go into the holes in the drums! Wow, I have 2, which is better tham my last packard that had none.
Third mystery for today. I found an extra wire not attached to anything. Black wire, thin gauge, and goes into the harness under the drivers fresh air vent. It has a round eye crimp on it now, but that does not look original. It does not have continuity to ground, but I did not do any other electircal tests on it. Could it be for the washer switch?

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The clips in the brake drums are actually covers and were supposed to be there on all of the Packards but by the time we get them they are usually long gone. In other words, it's not specific to Caribbean.

Slowly making progress, I recieved a shipment from Kanter. They offer this cast aluminium thermostat housing, which I purchased. It seems like a nice part. It came with a gasket and 180 deg thermostat. It is thicker than the original, so I exchanged the 3/4 inch long mounting bolts for 1 inch bolts. I used some gasket and thread sealer, and hope it will be water tight!

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Doing the brakes today. Looks like the Orange and yellow springs were wrong!
That is the front right brake.
Orange is for the Primary, and therefore the front shoe.
That's right, right?
-the picture here is wrong.

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I can't comment on the colors, but the weakest of the two springs goes on the primary shoe to ensure that it activates first. Giving the springs a tug with pliers can usually tell you which is the weaker or stronger.

Mike (Tobs), let my guide you by help of Ross.