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You'll need a benchtop power supply that puts out at least 10A but even a spare 12v battery will work.

I thought your car was 6v?

I used a benchtop power supply like this. They are handy to have around anyhow:

On Amazon for $50:
DC Power Supply Variable,0-30 V / 0-10 A LW-K3010D Adjustable Switching Regulated Power Supply Digital,with Alligator Leads US Power Cord Used for Spectrophotometer and lab Equipment Repair

Quote:

Does the radio operate off 6V or is it stepped up to 12V?

The radio operates off of 6v. Remember, everything Packard (and practically everything from every other manufacturer) operated off of 6v until 1955.

Internally, there are parts of the radio that operate at much higher voltages than 12v, that's what the vibrator does, change DC to AC, then the AC can be run through transformer(s).

I have found that variable power supply is handy to have around for lots of reasons. For instance, I used it to test the electric fans on a 2000 Jetta just this past weekend, and if it's in the garage you can easily test automotive components, bulbs, fans, etc., but you can also pick it up and prop it up into or near the engine compartment or what-have-you, much more convenient than trying to run jumper wires from a/the battery.

6V positive ground as typical of Packards up to 1954. 1955 was also positive ground but was 12v.

For some reason I was thinking that the voltage was converted to 12V for the radio. Not sure what I was thinking there. Thanks for clarifying!

That wouldn't make sense as most cars at that time were still 6v!

I'm going to put pause on trying to get the radio up and running. I don't have a working power antenna (broken off), and the radio is AM-only anyways. Using my bluetooth speaker for music is working great. Maybe I'll pull it back out later and tinker with it for fun. But right now there are more important things to do.

I've replaced the non-working Bowden cables with new ones from Aircraft Spruce. They are slightly larger diameter but still work fine. They are definitely stiff, making reinstallation of the heater controls difficult.

I'm going to put the radio back in, but will leave the fuse out. It won't be used anyways.

Here's where I need help. After I removed the radio I realized that the headlights no longer work, and the turn signals in the front no longer work. I can get the parking lights to turn on and off though. I had previously rebuilt the headlight switch and everything was working perfectly. What happened? Where should I look first? I'm trying to get the lights working again before a cruise-in tonight....the last of the year.

-Kevin

Two completely separate circuits.

For the headlights, if they were working previously and nothing has broken inside the switch I would look for a pulled out wire at the headlight switch terminal or to the dimmer switch and grounds. Headlights are fed from the headlight sw terminal, goes to the dimmer switch common, and two wires out from there to the junction strip on the left fender and the left bulb. A short loom section connects the left strip to another junction strip on the right fender and to that bulb putting the filaments in parallel. Ground from the bulb sockets is brought back to the junction strip mounting screws on the inner fender. A separate wire from the high beam terminal on the dimmer switch runs back inside to the high beam indicator light. Dimmer switches have been known to stick or fail.

For the turn signals, if the fronts are the only issue look for an inline connector which I think is near the left junction strip. Individual bulb feeds from the turn signal switch come out of the round connector plug and via the loom are connected to the large filament at each front parking light bulb via a double on the left and then another single inline connector on the right. Corrosion on connectors could be an issue. Grounds to the parking light sockets are provided via a path of multiple pot metal pieces in the grill finally touching the fender sheetmetal and are always an issue with 51-4s. Since you do have the parking lights, not likely the issue this time with the signals but something to keep in mind.

Here are the terminal locations. The switch is 55-6 but aside from a different shaft the layout is the same as 51-4

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Thanks Howard. It's been so long since I rebuilt the headlight switch that I couldn't remember where all the wires were. And I had to switch computers since then, and my old one had all the schematics and pictures. Thanks for providing the picture again.

I finished swapping out the heater cables for new ones (the wire is very hard to bend). I reinstalled the radio as well. I pulled the instrument panel so I could get a good view of the wires connected to the headlight switch. Everything was connected. I checked to be sure they were tight, which they were. I checked all the other connections and didn't see anything amiss. After all this the headlights and high beams worked fine. No idea what happened.

Front turn signals still don't work....I'll have to look at it further. But I got the headlights working, which was needed for tonight.

Did a quick cruise up and down the main part of downtown for a while. Met up with a few other cars doing the same. Nice guys. Then my wife and I got some dinner and went to a free concert in the park. I was expecting to get more air coming out of the heater. It was barely anything, even with the fan running. I'll do some troubleshooting on that later.

-Kevin

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  Posing.jpg (77.77 KB)