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I followed the Service Counselor notes, and separately grounded the two outside terminals in the box....orange and blue. I will note that the pink connector is super loose inside the terminal. It barely stays in at all. I'll see if I can find a way to make all of them tighter.

I'll check to see if power is present at those locations. I did not check the torsion bar links, but will do that this evening when the car is back in the air. Also did not check the bushings yet.

-Kevin

The under seat heater was never part of the seat frame. It bolted to the floor under the seat but its connectors were under the car so any loose clamps would just leak to the ground rather than inside the car. Of course, a bad core could leak inside but my guess (and as already point out) is that the heater control valve inside the firewall under the right side of the dash is where the coolant is coming from.

Regardless of where it’s coming from, you need to get the carpet and padding underneath dried out as soon as possible before it starts to mold. I just went through this on a newer car and it wasn’t pleasant after I let it go too long!

Weird....I was just looking at a Mojave Tan 400 in Pennsylvania and was going to pull the trigger. I called the guy and he said it sold that morning. I guess it wasn't mean for me. I wonder if the car went to a genuine enthusiast or someone who saw an opportunity to flip. Good luck on your Mojave Tan 400. It looks awesome.

Mark

Kevin,
for including your '56 Four Hundred Hardtop Coupe in the Registry.

Don - the seat frame question was in regards to the lower seat cushion. The lower seat cushion on my '54 Panama is integrated with the frame, so to remove the cushion means to remove the entire seat from the car. I haven't looked closely at the 400, but if it just pops up and out that would be great. I was in a rush last night going through things to try and make a list of priorities, didn't have time to do much more than a cursory glance at everything. Hope to have some time this weekend to dig in.

Mark - The Mojave Tan color is definitely growing on me. Initially I was always drawn to the Scottish Heather or the like, but the more I look at the Mojave Tan the more I like it. Especially the interior colors. Hope you find a good one.

Mal - You're welcome!

I was talking about the rear seat heater but I must have misread as I thought it was suggested that it was part of the seat. Either way, the seat and rails have to come out in order to mitigate the water issue.

As far as the cushion being integral with the frame, it is separate on both of my 1954 Patricians.

Hardtops are not the same as sedans. For sure this seat cushion does not just lift out. I'll need to pull the entire assembly together.





Question, can I separate the motors and that assembly from the rest of the seat? If I can get the seat out of the way, I can take the mount off the passenger side and move the carpet out from there. I can dry the carpet in the car if I can get it up off the floor. I probably won't need to take off the driver's side mount

My mistake, but that change is between 55 and 56. Possibly also different on the manual seat. All 55 400 seats lift out as I described and I believe all 55 seniors as well. 55 Clippers are as you show here.

Hard to remember.

I would suggest removing the 8 nuts from underneath the car, disconnecting the red wire, and removing as an assembly. Oh, and there is a 9th bolt by the front of the footrest inside. The service manual points it out.

Separating the seat bottom from the frame via the tracks is a can of worms, but I have a video on it. Only worth doing if the power mechanism doesn't work well to begin with.

Before you pull it I would check the power operation. If it seems to bind at any point, be sure to clean the leadscrews and relube it when you have it out. Probably Bob already did this but it's worth doing again as unfortunately there is very little protection keeping the screws from magnetizing dust, hair, etc. and all but jamming themselves solid after a few decades of that.

As others suggest, I think you will find it easier to remove the bolts from under the car then lift and move the seat backwards toward the rear seat to clear the front carpet. The studs will stay with the tracks and if not lifted clear can be a pain to deal with as they will catch and damage the carpet. To make it easier a helper lifting one side will be an asset or if by yourself, you could use some lengths of scrap wood or sheetmetal two or three feet long. Place the scrap under the track studs and then slide the seat down that length toward the rear one side at a time. On a power seat there are actually 4 bolts per side plus one additional bolt sort of even with the rear track bolts but located about 18 inches toward the car center. IIRC it is on the other side of the frame rail from the track bolts sort of above the TL motor. That bolt holds the plate the front-back power assist actuator end fastens to.

To remove the actuators from the seat frame is a royal pain in the you know where but it can be done if you prefer that approach. The actuators are held by roll pins which are extremely tight in the holes. Not much room to use a hammer to drive them out but with patience it can be done on the regular frames. Not as easy on the 56 Caribbean seats. Packard published dimensions of some special size roll pin drivers and because I have the Caribbean seat I found the use of a modified C clamp shown in the linked thread was better in providing the force to push the driver and pin rather than trying to use a hammer to drive the pins out.

I was under the impression that for 1956, the actuator anchor brackets were on separate pieces that came out with the seat slides rather than being attached to the body floor as they were on earlier models. Is that not the case or was it different on 2-door hardtop models?