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kevinpackard

Re: hph's 400

#171

Home away from home

Lovely. I need to do this to mine badly.

Posted on: 4/18 22:21

Pgh Ultramatic

Re: hph's 400

#172

Home away from home

Good progress today. Got a 56 bumper and grille (upper half) painted and polished, but not yet installed. Replaced the water pump and coolant. The old "nuisance leak" pump appears to be a complete NOS unit, so no wonder. Installed the taillights. Installed the master cylinder; need to bleed the brakes. Am planning on replacing the hoses and wheel cylinders as well.

I could not get the screws to line up at the top of either taillight. Does anyone know what the problem might be? I would likewise appreciate a reference photo of a properly installed one.

Attach file:

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20250430_173429.jpg (3,129.40 KB)

Posted on: Today 16:48

kevinpackard

Re: hph's 400

#173

Home away from home

Nice progress. The grille looks really nice....did you use the same gold paint as the emblems? I really need to do mine at some point. Just a little daunted at getting the grille and mesh separated.

I can take pictures of my taillights but I can't vouch for whether or not they are correct. They've definitely been off in the past for repaints.

Posted on: Today 17:02

HH56

Re: hph's 400

#174

Forum Ambassador

If you are using modern plastic or metal retainers for the top screws make sure the body part of the retainer that is between the tail light and fender is not too thick and preventing the light assy from being pulled inward. Not sure the sequence you used when installing but you might need to completely loosen the lower nuts on the studs and do the top screws first then tighten down the lowers. Also check to make sure the lower holes the studs fit thru are not stopping the assy from being pulled up. 55 bodywork was generally somewhat poor and the subject of many Nance memos to the plant management about poor quality and things not fitting so it is conceivable they always fit poorly. If you find the studs are the issue perhaps enlarging those holes slightly would help.

Posted on: Today 17:30

Howard

Pgh Ultramatic

Re: hph's 400

#175

Home away from home

Quote:

HH56 wrote:
If you are using modern plastic or metal retainers for the top screws make sure the body part of the retainer that is between the tail light and fender is not too thick and preventing the light assy from being pulled inward. Not sure the sequence you used when installing but you might need to completely loosen the lower nuts on the studs and do the top screws first then tighten down the lowers. Also check to make sure the lower holes the studs fit thru are not stopping the assy from being pulled up. 55 bodywork was generally somewhat poor and the subject of many Nance memos to the plant management about poor quality and things not fitting so it is conceivable they always fit poorly. If you find the studs are the issue perhaps enlarging those holes slightly would help.

I am using NOS speed nuts; the holes simply don't want to align. Please note in the photo the "bead" of weatherstripping between the housing and body. In 5:14 and 9:38 in this video, you can see the weatherstrip is installed exactly how I have done it on mine.

My conclusion is that they revised the body to locate the holes differently for the 56 cars that used the extra weatherstripping.

youtu.be/QLLHJbApzO4?si=h_9bvp9NWGKtxNb9

packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/parts ... PlateNumber=26C&partslist=1955-1956

Posted on: Today 18:04

HH56

Re: hph's 400

#176

Forum Ambassador

Quote:

My conclusion is that they revised the body to locate the holes differently for the 56 cars that used the extra weatherstripping.

Very possible. In addition to the vastly improved bodywork for 56 they did do some subtle changes to fender contours. They changed the trunk lid for 56 too so perhaps that had something to do with a fender change that involved bolts or fit. If you are trying to mix and match different year parts then you may need to do a custom fit or tweak the holes.

Posted on: Today 18:28

Howard

Pgh Ultramatic

Re: hph's 400

#177

Home away from home

Quote:

HH56 wrote:
[quote]If you are trying to mix and match different year parts then you may need to do a custom fit or tweak the holes.

The taillight casting itself is the same; the common practice of swapping a V for a hexagon is all that is required to change years. I noticed also in the parts book that 55 was the only year to use the speed nuts. Don't know what they did in 56, I assume just holes. I believe that one weatherstripping was the only other change.

Side note, installing the master cylinder is a real bear. I followed my own advice in this thread, and the car is disassembled the same as in this video, but it still took forever. FYI, I have stainless lines.

Posted on: Today 19:09

kevinpackard

Re: hph's 400

#178

Home away from home

Quote:

Pgh Ultramatic wrote:
Quote:

HH56 wrote:
[quote]If you are trying to mix and match different year parts then you may need to do a custom fit or tweak the holes.

Side note, installing the master cylinder is a real bear. I followed my own advice in this thread, and the car is disassembled the same as in this video, but it still took forever. FYI, I have stainless lines.

That's my concern for when I do the master cylinder. It's hard enough to reach it as is, I can't imagine putting it back in. I think when I do it I may change the lines from stainless steel to copper-nickel lines. I hate stainless.

Posted on: Today 20:25

jw4

Re: hph's 400

#179

Just can't stay away

Quote:

kevinpackard wrote:
I think when I do it I may change the lines from stainless steel to copper-nickel lines.

That it also my material choice for automotive lines. If you get bulk line at Amazon, etc., make sure to carefully check the description. As they often sell copper-coated lines labeled as copper. You can usually tell what it is based upon the price

Posted on: Today 20:36

BigKev

Re: hph's 400

#180

Webmaster

Copper-Nickle lines are great, all copper, never for fuel lines.

I've always used the steel lines from Napa which have an epoxy coating on the outside.

Posted on: Today 20:43

-BigKev

1954 Packard Clipper Deluxe Touring Sedan -> Registry | Project Blog

1937 Packard 115-C Convertible Coupe -> Registry | Project Blog

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