Packard Forum Index » Project Blogs

Although this car isn't my primary focus right now, I have still been gathering parts it will need including new door panels. I once took a raincheck with a large deposit on the only sale SMS ever had for its interior and for my 1965 Imperial LeBaron's leather seats and, as they are so far off in delivery, I want to send them the door panels as a pattern sooner than later. The front panels are already off and today I got back to work on the rear doors. I may not get them shipped this time but at least I can get them ready.

I had the front doors' steel panels powder coated but the result was unexpected in that it never occurred to me to specify glossy. Somehow I was thinking that it would be glossy unless I specified otherwise!

They do like nice and the dash will probably have padding so won't show but I'm not sure how it would look on all the window trim pieces. Any thoughts?

Maybe it shows in the photo but with this finish, I can see that one has a tiny bend but it can likely be straightened without damaging the finish. Otherwise they will have to be done again.

Attach file:

---

  IMG_3075.jpg (164.36 KB)

I’ve been going back and forth with one of the suppliers of firewall covers and have gotten confused. This one is listed for all 1955-1956 with factory A/C but I know for a fact that there was no “one size fits all” cover! The hole marked is not there on the actual cover but I don’t see the opening at the left for the A/C blower input and I am not sure about the intake hole below it either. Can anyone help?

Also, I know that the accelerator pedal mount changed between the two year and this has the wide-spreads slots. I’ve gotten confused so is this the 1956 type or the 1955 type? I seem to recall that the 1955 type was close together more like the 1952-1954 with Treadlevac but I’m not sure anymore!

And finally, what about the heater control valve hole at the right? Wasn’t it also different on A/C cars?

Attach file:

---

  03293166-B5F4-4262-8EA6-D8813213A74D.jpeg (91.49 KB)

As it sits, that is a 56 non AC pad with the wide slots for the brake supports. 55 brake is similar if not the exact same mount and pedal arm as 52-4. That mount is shown in the photo below. You mentioned accelerator but that did not change. I do not know if the pads have embossed locations for the added AC holes but don't remember Stewart mentioning any when he was talking about this same pad a few weeks ago.

If they did embossing for the AC holes and the 55 brake support locations so the buyer could cut the holes, conceivably they could get away with one pad even with the 56 slots already cut. On all but the cheapest models a strip of carpet was glued on the bottom half of the pad and would cover the slots if not used. A strip could easily be added for the low end models but the slots are small and high enough they may not be that noticeable. As it currently ships, that is not a one size fits all pad.

In AC cars, the R air vent is not used so the AC evaporator case covers the right side vent hole and in the field install they put a metal plate over the vent opening on the firewall to block air. Have not seen a new AC car pad to know if that green vent hole opening area was there or not but I suspect not. With a plate covering the firewall opening it could be cut and the carpet strip would cover any of the opening not covered by the evaporator in an AC car.

One other issue on having one pad fit AC and non AC would be the clearance holes on the insulation side for the various added and different locations for screw mounts for the evaporator and valve. They would need to have all of those spots cut away in the insulation portion for both models so the pad could slip over them.

The hole for the heater valve is the same on all cars but on the inside under the pad, the screw locations that hold the valve are different because the valve body -- not the tubes -- is what is angled.

Here is a page from the AC field install book showing where the AC blower and tubing holes are located. Maybe there is enough info you could find the locations on the pad. If you want to see what all changed on the valve and added screw mount locations there is another photo in that book that shows what is needed to mount the standoffs for different screw positions.

Attach file:

---

  AC030.jpg (217.77 KB)

Thank you Howard. All the more confusing because they show one with close-set brake pedal slots and another with widely-spaced slots but none show the A/C openings. As I recall, the parts book shows five or maybe six different pads between the two years with no pad from one year fitting the other, yet QuietRide (the manufacturer) seem to think that it is a "one-size-fits-all" situation.

In the first year of the COVID lockdowns, SMS Fabrics in Washington State had a one-time sale which I took advantage of by placing a deposit for the Clipper's interior and for new leather on my 1965 Imperial seats.

SMS contacted ME yesterday to see if I still wanted to order! That was a big surprise which MAY mean that my order, placed so long ago, would take precedent.

On the Imperial and probably why so many Packard people who know quality also own them (and why I run the Packard / IMPERIAL page), the brochures describe the leather, in part and paraphrasing slightly, as being:

the finest available which used Tahitian coconut and whale oils to make it unusually supple. Argentine quebracho wood, bark from the South African wattle tree, the leaf from Sicilian sumac were a few of the ingredients used to give it a softness, strength and patina finer than most costly imported cars. Any leathers that would take out fibers from a soft feather passed across it would be rejected.

The sumac also intrigued me as I run SunVirgin.com, the official site about Peruvian singer Yma Sumac!

We just got a text with these photos from my partner’s nephew, Matt, of his new 1956 Clipper Custom that appears identical to mine other than some other engine. Matt has a propensity to chop up and customize cars so I’m sure it won’t stay as it is now for long.

Attach file:

---

  5CE21734-8A06-40B5-884E-D729CE1A3338.jpeg (173.04 KB)


  400A3047-067C-461A-B59F-6C2F7F70EA69.jpeg (164.76 KB)

That front brightwork looks like it would be worth selling. The rest of the car... it's seen better days. Will be interesting to see what he turns it into.

Yes, I want that bumper if nothing else. Matt hasn't offered it to me, though. As for the rest of the car, it looks no worse than mine which indeed has seen better days and, I hope, better days to come!

Don,

Could you request Matt(ie twist his arm, if necessary ) to include his '56 Clipper Custom in the Packard Vehicle Registry?

Is that a Ford engine in the Clipper?