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Often wondered why Craig had so many motor issues. Perhaps his car had a damaged regulator too.

I believe the photos he posted of his conversion disappeared with the server move but I might have one or two showing the basics of the work if I can find them.

Do remember he chose to remove the Packard regulator setup entirely and adapt a street rod window conversion kit that included a new track type drive system. Required some new metal support structure for the mechanism. His electrical changes worked on the same polarity change principle as is needed with the Dorman motors but as I recall, was a bit more involved because he used different type relays.

H

I see his post on mod.

But like you said

No pictures.

Quick Update:

The windows are now fixed. I got a great deal on a used motor and regulator from PSW. I needed express two-day shipping, which was shipped and delivered on time. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THEM

Seat belts are added. I used the retro belts.

The engine is running much smoother after taking it to the mechanic.

The starting issue was more user error than mechanical error. (I'm 30, and this is my first non-EFI car).

The fuel gauge doesn't work as that would require taking out the gas tank and replacing the sending unit. For now, I'm good with just remembering to keep it full.

NEXT ON THE LIST OF TO-DO:
-Get door locks to work
-Turn signals to work
-Get the interior door handles to stay on
-Put in a glove box
-stereo


BUT HEY! I took my 4 yr old out to get ice cream in it yesterday, and we cruised around Santa Cruz checking the surf. It was a lot of fun.

I forgot to add. The driver's side windshield got fixed, and yes the knob was in the wrong position.

Talking with Ross the other weekend we were discussing the viability / point of restoring old car radios. The obvious problem is that there are very few AM stations anymore unless you live in the city. Even most people don't listen to FM anymore, so not much point to FM conversions either.

One suggestion is to mount a self-contained BT speaker behind the dash. Maybe the easiest way would be to attach it to the defroster duct with pipe-hanging strap + small sheetmetal screws + foam or tape to eliminate rattles. If you can't find a 12V unit, you could use a USB unit plugged into a 12V adapter wired to the ACC terminal.

Or wire it directly to the radio knob if you're comfortable messing with that.

Just an idea of course

I had my radio repaired by a local vintage stereo store, works great. The tubes and vibrators are seemingly all available still.

Lots of sports, news and also Spanish and Indian music stations on AM around these parts.

I also installed this which allows one to play music from your smartphone through the speakers.spa Works great.

redirad.com

At some point was going to hook up something to allow the smartphone to charge (just need 5v) but haven't gotten around to that. The batteries on these phones have gotten a lot better lately so much less need.

You could also have the stock radio repaired so it was working if you or the next owner wanted to show the car. Add a RediRad to do the first stage conversion which is just a plug in device so there would be no mods to the original radio.redirad.com

Since most personal electronics no longer have earphone jacks or line out audio, I expect RediRad will have direct bluetooth functionality before too long but until they do you could use their earphone cable to plug on an inexpensive bluetooth in to audio out adapter. Amazon and others have rechargeable battery operated devices for less than $20 and for a bit more, USB powered more permanent units if you wanted a more hidden mount.

Quote:

Good luck on this one. It was an issue even when the cars were new. Packard changed clips which helped but as the cars age and clips weaken or the door panels sag outward or someone has used replacement anti-vibration springs that are a bit stronger the clip often just gives up.

Some have had a bit of luck placing some foam rubber in the handle square behind the side of the clip to force the retaining lip outward for a stronger grip in the shaft slot but for others even that was not successful.

There is an older thread where others discuss this issue and mentions some of the causes and attempts to fix. The one solution that has worked well for me so far is the setscrew.

The radio turned on today while driving. Not sure why it turned on since I have been driving the car with the dial and speaker on for the past two days with nothing coming out. (The joys of an old car)

The most cost-effective stereo fix for me is to bypass the radio for the moment and install something with Bluetooth hidden in the glove box. This will give me the usability and functionality without removing anything for the next owner or changing the appearance of the dash.

It sounds like your vibrator "resuscitated itself". They are electro-mechanical, so after periods of inactivity can get "stuck". Lots of info on that here:

packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb ... c_id=25295&order=ASC&status=&mode=0

The redirad thing is inexpensive and doesn't affect the appearance or modify the radio in any way. You just plug the antenna connection into the redirad instead of the radio, and plug the redirad into the radio, then hang a switch under the dash, all of which is removable.