Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Let me see if I understand you correctly are you saying

DO NOT CUT ANY WIRES????

Is that a fair interpretation(smile).

When you tell someone not to do something it just makes them want to go out and do it more. If only I could find my wire cutters.

DR.JACK?!?! Get out of my head, Fred...I thought I had invented that moniker. Came up with it late one night while I was cutting some wires on a PB.

OK, thanks for that topic. I printed it, now I have to translate it in German, then I will vacuumize it in amber plastic and at last put it in the glove box.

Well, another potential customer called, I am about to receive another unit (not an uncommon occurance) and yes, the wires have been cut. I just don't get it. Thinking is difficult, though.

Mr Pushbutton,

Thank you for posting this unsolicited advise to the PInfo world. The message I am hearing is something close to, "DON'T CUT THE WIRES." Thank you.

I don't have a pushbutton transmission on my 41 Packard (and don't anticipate converting to such a unit,
BUT,
I am wondering. This sounds like advise that might NOT just apply to the elite realm of 56 Packards with Pushbutton shifters.
Would you risk generalizing to other adventures along the old-old wiring harnesses of these relics?

Could it be that "DON'T CUT THE WIRES" might possible be applicable to a broader world of repair work than just 'Pushbuttons' or even 56s?


DanL

This thread reminds me of 1980's SAABs...their engine wiring harness has no junction plugs! You must unhook every single connector individually when pulling the engine. I caught a fellow mechanic just about to cut into the harness and came this close to throwing a wrench at him for doing so. Can you imagine the problems that would've ensued with the fuel injection unless every splice was soldered? Yeesh

Yeah. What amazes me is how few mechanics there are that even know how to make an inline splice. I know of 3 master licensed electricians that make those pig tail type inline splices. Absolutely amazing.

41ParPack-I don't know if it's just me, but it seems that every mechanic, shade tree or "pro" (read into that what you will) thinks they know better than the engineers who wired the car. I have seen the worst monkey work done by "Improvers" who don't take the time, or can't understand what the original design goal was. I have seen orange wire nut hell, blue-butt splice connector hell, "I can't figure out what any of this original wire did so I'm going to re-wire the whole car, with one spool of blue wire", just really scary s__t. In one large collection I worked at we spent some considerable time straightening out some of the cars that came through our hands. They always left better than they arrived, and usually put back to what was originally documented in the shop manual. There was a Pierce Arrow that defied description for all it's sins, electrical, mechanical and cosmetic.
This kind of monkey work would not be tolerated in body work, because everyone has eyes and can see a hack job from several feet away.
I've said it before and think it bears repeating: Packard (Autolite)did not put disconnects on the motor or finger harnesses at the unit because in 1956 the did not have good oil-tight connectors, they know the thing was going to live in the greezy-est place on the car, so they put the connections far away.
Actually, I'm getting to like the cut wires, I've gotten good at replacing the four 12 ga. wires coming out of the motor and should have the finger wiring harness replicated soon, and that makes the job better for me.

Why izzit that it that 90%+ of mechanics are allergic to smoke powered devices...yes, I said smoke. Electrical things actually run on smoke dontcha know? Ever notice that after the smoke escapes that the thing in question no longer works? Case closed.

The real trick is stuffing the smoke back into those teeny wires.

Speaking of blue wire, I had to find a mystery short in a late 70's Ferrari and lost my last marble tracing down the red wire that turned blue, then yellow and ended up green! As they ran out of wire at the factory they spliced in whatever was handy! ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!! Then there was the Maserati that no one could ever keep from overheatiing even after a valve job, recored radiator etc etc...it took a dago to figure out what some other dago had done...the radiator fan's plug had the polarity reversed so the airflow went forward!

I prefer electrical and carbs to most any other repairs...especially if they involve breaking a sweat or barking knuckles.