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The vent on the 1956 Dana rear axle was a simple small hole drilled thru the housing. IIRC it was in the axle shaft part of the housing structure, drilled at an extreme oblique angle.

First of all, best wishes for your ride. Second, I see that you're in Williamsburg and I saw your invite. I'm in east end Richmond most of the time, which ain't that far. I'd be happy to drive Black Fred Sedan II down one weekend day and commiserate with you over our orphan car money pits. And I'd love to meet the cat.

I have heard of the pick-up tube in the gas tank but could never locate a photo of how and where the tube picks up the gas. My experience in the past has always been a pick-up screen attached to the sending unit. Since I have a new tank, I decided to cut my old one in half to see this tube. Note the one photo showing the debris that was in the tank. Never found the float for the sending unit. I am so glad that I followed the advice of a member and bought a new tank.

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Is the rusted vertical mess between the bottom and top of tank some rust falling from the top or something else?

Hard to see the pickup tube in all that rust but here is a photo of a 51-6 tank Ross posted a few years ago. This one shows the tank inside and the tube a bit better. The tube end is open and unscreened and just sits about 1/8" or so above the depression in the bottom of the tank. Dirt, rust flakes or anything else floating around can be sucked in or if large enough, block the opening. Rust pinholes are known to form in the tube at the bends. If the gas level falls to approximately half a tank and the pump starts acting up or it seems like the car is running out of gas, suspect a pinhole allowing the pump to draw air at the bend nearest the outlet fitting. If it drops to about a quarter, suspect the top of the U shaped bend above the pickup.

For anyone who uses a slosh around sealer, it is important to get as much of the excess sealer as possible out and then be sure to have the tank on a slight angle when allowing the remaining sealer to dry. If the tank is flat the excess sealer can run into the depression and cover the tube inlet. That has been the cause of many a tank that comes out of the sealing process with the pickup in most cases permanently blocked.

Earlier tanks are similar as far as the open end on the tube but from the rather poor photos posted that I have managed to collect would seem like the pickup tube lies mostly flat on the bottom with the opening to the side or slightly pointing downward into a channel or depression.

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Nice sawzall. Many of Wat's tools are red, too.


You have a text from last week . . . .

The good news, is that my exhaust came in. Bad news, no instructions. Really don’t need any, but a picture of what goes where would be nice. It’s just too hot outside to work on it in the driveway. Exhaust parts heat up very quickly in the sunlight. Went to my manuals. They discussed the exhaust but no photos. Looked through the literature archive but failed to locate a photo or diagram. Hoping perhaps someone could steer me in the right direction. Plus any advice is always appreciated.

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Marvin, looks like the cat has it under control. Just do what he/she tells you. (That's what Wat does.)

If the new exhaust is a fairly accurate reproduction (minus the resonators) then check out plate 29C in the parts manual for a layout of the pieces. The view is from the passenger side and while some of the pipes are shown shortened for space it looks complete and you would substitute the eliminator pieces instead of the resonators.

You might need to visit a muffler shop for fine tuning. On my set one of the bends was a tiny bit off and one of the pipes would not bolt to a manifold without some stress and a small leak.

Handsome cat!!! I see that he found a box . . . .

Still too hot to want to try handling steel pipes in the sunlight. Today was 95⁰. So, I decided to read in the forums and came across “safe highway speeds”. This got me to ponder, the Patrician and safe highway speed. I live close to I-64 and use it all the time. I never really thought it would be a problem especially since I had to pay a gas guzzling tax for the large V8 under the hood. Trying to figure out if the ultramatic has an overdrive.
Once I manage to get her started, deal with the cooling system, braking system, lighting, and instruments my plan was many short drives (like around the neighborhood) before I dare farther and interstate travel. I also want to take the car in to have the transmission serviced and flushed. Haven’t a clue where to get a transmission filter. Highly doubt the local shop has one on the shelf.
So my question is, what is a comfortable cruising speed of a 1956 Packard Patrician?