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If it works half as well as the photos would suggest it might be a good option. No idea if there are franchises but the DIY kit starting at $595 would be a non starter for many unless it works well and you have a lot of parts to do. I would hope their special cleaner works as well as they claim and the spray paint has some filling and self leveling ability. Didn't see much mention of polishing but shiny pits or scratches are just as noticeable as dull and rusted ones.

Someone mentioned trying a Caswell kit and I can speak from experience about them. They do work as advertised but only with specific base metals and the size of object to be plated is limited. I can also assure you the parts need to be polished and absolutely without question totally clean and grease free. A spec of anything not bare clean metal or a preliminary plating layer anywhere and you will have a nice unfinished area in the middle of an otherwise acceptable piece.

I was looking at Alclad Chrome or Alsa Easy Chrome.

Both of them you need a primer, gloss black base, then 1 coat of Chrome.

Alsa is like $150 and Alcald you could probably do it for 1/2 that

Alsa claims a 10 year life without clear coat

FutureChrome has been around for years ad take expensive specialized equipment to use.

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On a stock Packard you can reverse polarity without much issue as long as you do a couple of things. One would be to repolarize the generator, another would be to reverse the wires at the coil so the spark stays as efficient as possible. If it is a car with an ammeter those wires also need to be swapped. Gauges are OK unless they have some modern version of an instrument voltage regulator. The way the stock single direction motors are internally connected you do not need to worry about reversing direction because both armature and field coils also swap polarity at the same time keeping the magnetic relationship and rotation direction constant. This also holds true for the reversible antenna, seat, window, and TL motors. Those have two independent but opposite wound field coils to change direction but the armature and fields are still connected internally and will maintain the designed magnetic relationship and desired direction.

Where you will possibly run into problems is if there are any solid state replacement devices installed. Any radio mods such as modules or vibrators are usually polarity specific and while there are reports the current reworked TL control switch is no longer specific I believe the first versions were. There is no absolute statement from vendors that I have seen stating that is fact though. Any relays or compressor clutches with protecting diodes would also be vulnerable. A gray area is the stock voltage regulator. Some are marked as polarity specific. No one has posted manufacturers info on exactly what makes what are essentially relays polarity specific but I suspect it has to do with composition and placement of the contact metals. If that is the case there might be a shorter life on the contacts. If the car has any replacement modern permanent magnet motors in use those will be sensitive and will run backwards if polarity swaps.

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Today:

- Got the short certificate from the seller and got the title and antique registration paperwork sent in. Should be no hiccups at this point and hopefully I'll get my plate within roughly a month. Old lady doing my paperwork: "They don't make Packards anymore, do they?" "Nope, they stopped making 'em in '58..."

- Polished front turn signals and checked electrical but didn't install yet (see paragraph below). Lenses are very yellowed, and are also dull and a bit cracked but there's not much I can do.

If anyone has a 55 400 or similar, I don't know what some of the correct hardware to be used is because I purchased my car disassembled. If anyone has one and wants to help, let me know. I'll eventually post a list of parts that I don't know the hardware (and probably don't have it either). Planning on buying from McMaster.

- Ordered some trim clips so I can get the front 1/4panel trim on (the short pieces I have are missing their clips). Thinking about redoing the black stripes on the Reynolds wrap with pinstriping tape... I think it would be way too hard to paint. If anyone has suggestions on how to get the old paint off, let me know. If anyone needs trim clips then these will fit most trim on the 55's AFAIK.ebay.com/itm/192791599531

- Cleaned up one upper side panel for the backseat. Will try to get the remaining gunk off the trim with some Goo-Gone sometime.

- Also, guess when the rear ashtrays were last cleaned out...

P.S. The football cards date 1970-72. Clearly whoever Reyman was ferrying around a few years into his ownership of the car was not a fan of football.

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Spray your reynolds wrap with oven cleaner and let it sit. The paint will soften and you can wash it off with a brush.

I end up using a lot of commercial oven and fryer cleaner here as it works very well to remove greasy deposits and dissolves most old enamel paint. Oh, but be careful what you get it on as it is very aggressive.

Thanks for the suggestion Ross, I picked up some "slow acting" (AKA the safe kind) oven cleaner and we will see how it goes.

For the reynolds wrap I'll need 1/8" black pinstripe. Seeing if I can get some in bulk as I'll need like 300 ft.

I talked with "point" on here and he has most of the trim I need at an affordable price so I'll stop by there hopefully a couple weeks from now and pick it up.

I went searching more thru the garage that this car was stored in and found more parts in the trunk of Reyman's 56 Patrician. I didn't search there previously because I assumed there was only 56 parts and it was quite rats-nested in places. Importantly I found a trunk emblem (I believe to have come off of his other 400, replaced with NOS), some better front turn signal lenses, and lettering without the studs broken off, among other odds and ends. Reyman's other 55 400 was completely sorted long ago so of what I find, I can use what I need to complete my car (aesthetic parts).

Photos:
- A literal rat's nest in a parts box. Believe it or not there ended up being 10 bags of parts in that nest pictured.
- A LOT of lettering...

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Friday:

Got my first random compliment on the car, from a ~12y/o kid walking by. We talked a bit about it and I demonstrated the auto-leveling feature by sitting on the bumper. "Woah!"

Saturday:

Got my trim clips in the mail (link in an earlier post). I think they would fit all of the side trim, though for most you need to turn them sideways as they are 1" x 1.09" and Packard seemed to use 1 1/8" ?

On the long trim behind the doors, the trim clips have foam in them. Anyone know exactly why this is, and if it should be on other clips too? I assume just noise deadening... I have some foam so I can easily add more to mine.

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Depends on exactly where on the clip the foam is located. If it is small and thick mostly being somewhat compressed between the clip and outside sheet metal it is primarily a water seal. If it is thinner and extends past the clip sides and will be kind of compressed under the clip in the molding retaining channel then it could still help with water but is mostly noise and vibration control.

Packard used clips with rubber pads or washers on them in places the clip holes were located in such a way any water running down the fenders could leak thru the holes and get into semi finished spaces. Trunk is one place or in some cases where water could get trapped in closed spaces or where they wanted to reduce any getting into the harder to drain inner body spaces. The inner door and kickpanel space is a good example where they could use water control. They typically did not use clips for strictly noise control unless they were the threaded stud with a nut type that could be tightened down to prevent any movement or noise from the molding. There is often one or two of those on the door moldings.

Packard also used rubber washers on the studs holding lettering and emblems etc. Those were often to keep water and dust from entering thru trunk holes. In some cases if the lettering was inside the car or was somewhere it could vibrate they could also be used for noise purposes. Washers were between the sheet metal and speednuts when used in those locations.

Thanks Howard I'll try to look for some replacement foam for the clips. I have plenty of light-density foam but IDK how well it would work, I'll need to experiment. And I think it might hold water too well and get moldy in not too long... I might pick up some door weatherstripping and try that.

Also would like to get some more #10 rubber washers for stuff like the "jet intake" studs.

Today:
- Got my better turn signal lenses installed into the housings. A very nice difference. (Keep in mind that both pairs were thoroughly cleaned!) Also, I have an NOS driver lens (not shown) and if it doesn't break the bank I'll pick up an NOS passenger to go with it.

- I ordered hardware for the rear armrests, turn signals, inside trim, etc. so I should have most or all of the missing hardware for the car. This week I plan on preparing the trim that goes around the turn signals, and the front grille. Whenever I pick up the rest of my Reynolds wrap I'll order pinstriping for it. I should be able to get most of the front trim on the car in short order a few weeks from now.