Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Hi all,
I recently purchased a 1949 23rd series eight club sedan (2 door). I have the sun visor hardware only. Can anyone please post the dimensions of the complete sun visor and perhaps some photos of the original ones so I can attempt to replicate them?

Also missing are the steel strips that run between the door sill moulding and the carpet. I'd like to have some fabricated and am wondering if they are an L shaped setup, with about an inch of flat steel that screws to the floor before turning into a U bend and meeting with the carpet. Again, any photos or insight into this would be much appreciated.

Kind regards,
Leigh

Good Morning...If you look in the left hand column, and click on the DIRECTORY...there is quite a list of Packard Suppliers who may/will have what you need. Start with Max Merritt and Packards Southwest...Ernie in Arizona

Good Morning...If you look in the left hand column, and click on the DIRECTORY...there is quite a list of Packard Suppliers who may/will have what you need. Start with Max Merritt and Packards Southwest...Ernie in Arizona

Finding some as Ernie suggests may be easier than trying to make new visors but your being in Australia probably makes the freight charge getting them there from the US substantial -- and they would probably need to be redone anyway. No idea what other cars you might have to pick from in at a local scrapyard but suspect the construction of some might allow a substitution and all you would need to do is reupholster in the Packard fashion. Of course upholstery patterns and finish varied by car model but if someone could take photos and measure their 23rd series visor it would be a start.

I cannot provide exact dimensions for the 22-23 series visor but I can for a 21st series 47 Clipper. Maybe someone else could measure their 22-23 car's visor to confirm those overall dimensions. Since your car was a facelift of the Clipper body and style and share some inner body parts and dimensions I would wager they are very close in size and would also bet the overall construction of the visor (allowing for any size difference) will be identical on yours.

The visor has an inner piece of 1/8 thick hardboard with a sheetmetal piece formed on one edge to wrap snugly around the rod and stapled to the hardboard on the other. That circle needs to be snug as friction to the rod is the only thing that keeps the visor from flopping down when parked against the headliner. It is a full circle but is open on one edge so it may be formed to be a tiny bit smaller than the rod diameter in order for the open side to form a spring effect to increase the friction. That inner hardboard piece is covered by a folded over piece of cardboard which has an outer finish of upholstery or vinyl depending on the trim for the particular model of car. An edge binding over the cardboard edges and sewn thru the folded cardboard on 3 sides keeps it fastened to the inner support.


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On the carpet trim piece, even though the rubber sill plates have different tread designs between the 3 series they are interchangeable but I am not as sure if there is any differences in shape between the 21st and the 22-23 series metal piece. Don't know for sure what the material is either but suspect it may be some type of fairly low quality stainless steel. Because of the finish look, I think stainless but low quality because of the fact that it has no trouble rusting. On the 21st 47 It is a single piece running the length of the door opening minus maybe 1/2-3/4 clearance to body at each end where the windlace curves into and terminates under the open ends of the piece. It has a curved top and is bent to form a single mounting point leg which is screwed to body under the rubber sill mat. For whatever reason I could not get a decent end shot of the piece so tried to provide a drawing to give the general idea. The slight 1/8 offset on the leg side lets the rubber sill piece go under but the edge to the inside of car does not touch the floor. As I mentioned, rust is an issue and the mounting portion of this piece was totally gone. I taped a sliver of scrap metal to the leg side so you could get an idea of how the mounting portion of that leg looks. In the actual factory piece the mounting portion runs full length as you can see in the as mounted photo. In that photo you can barely distinguish the leg and mounting screws because I used POR 15 over the sill area but the screws are almost directly over the round holes for the sill plate clips.

Leigh,
Sorry I missed you when you added your '49 Eight Club Sedan to the Registry, for that, and to PackardInfo. Good to see another Aussie on board.

Have you considered joining PACA (Packard Automobile Club of Australia) to make contact with other 22nd/23rd Series owners? PACA has a good presence in South Australia.

Hello Gentlemen,

Thank you so much for your responses, very much appreciated. Howard - I couldn't have wished for a more detailed or timely response, fantastic!

Would it be pushing the friendship to ask if you can shed some light on the dimensions of the B pillar trim pieces? They are also completely missing on my car. I thought I'd be able to draw up a template for them without too much trouble, but I'd like to keep as true to the original dimensions as possible.

Ozstatman - yes, I am interested in PACA. I see they have their annual rally coming to South Australia in a few months. I've got the Packard booked in for a full State Government vehicle inspection next week. If I can get it Registered and the interior in a fit condition by the end of March it'd be great to head along.

Thanks again everyone.

Leigh

Quote:

The sill trim has an outer stainless steel piece that is crimped over a steel liner as shown in Howard's post.
The stainless piece is 44-7/16" long and the horizontal leg of the liner stops 3/4" before the end of the stainless on either end with 9 sheet metal screws holding it to the body sill.
Part numbers from the 1948-54 parts list are 396540 Right and 396541 Left for all 1948-50 two door models.
For some reason, the part numbers for 1941-47 Clipper 2 door models are different but the body shells are pretty much identical.

Quote:
Leigh,

Good luck with the inspection and getting on the road with your Packard. Pity I can't give you a link to the PACA Website, but I have a problem in that I'm blocked from it. I have fond memories of a couple of SA National Packard Rallies to Victor Harbor and Kangaroo Island, these coincided with that years Bay to Birdwood which was also enjoyable and memorable.

Quote:
Leigh, I don't think I can help much with this request as my 47 is a 4 door sedan so the B pillar will have a different shape and width from that of a 2 door.

What I can say is if the construction of the support is anywhere near the same as the 4 door, the piece is made of 1/8 hardboard and is held to the body by retaining pins which look like a fat serrated shank roofing nail. The pins are inserted thru the hardboard with the flat head flush with the front side of the support and held tight to that piece by a push on speednut clip over the shank in the back. The whole assy is then upholstered with the same material as headliner with a layer of padding under the fabric. Retainer pins are pushed into receivers which are inserted into holes in the sheetmetal to complete the job. The serrations of the pin shaft catch in the receivers making the piece somewhat difficult to remove without damaging either the hardboard or the receiver piece in the sheetmetal. Even though the board was dry and very brittle, I was able to remove mine by using a wide but thin pry tool inserted under the board so it was right next to the pins and could catch the head. With gentle persuasion minimal damage was done to the board although a couple of retainers did sacrifice the prongs that holds the pin serrations. No idea where to get suitable replacements on those as the size seem to be rather unique compared to modern stud or pin retainers.







Shapewise, the support is straight in the length portion and stops a couple of inches below the contours of the door or window frames. Based on how they treated the sedan, I suspect the top on the 2 door will also be straight in relation to the headliner meeting point. I have no idea where the lower end stops on the 2 door but suspect in a similar angle somewhere level with the top of the quarter upholstery panel or metal trim piece. Here is what the sedan looks like at the top and my thoughts on how they did the 2 door. Based of the angle of the 2 door B pillar, I would imagine the top and bottom of the piece would be cut at angles making it somewhat of a parallelogram so the ends would look something like the dotted line drawn on an interior view from the parts book.

I could be 100 % wrong on all counts so please don't take this as fact and with luck someone with a 2 door will confirm or correct my assumptions on finish and post photos.