Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Hey Don -

Thank you - good idea! I'll start on that next!

One thought when you check the distributor. Inside there is a very flexible cloth covered wire connecting the points to the outside terminal. With age, the cloth covering deteriorates. If the covering fails and timing advance moves things so that wire shorts, it kills the spark immediately. Several have reported issues with that wire in the last year or so.

Thank you Howard,

That's good information I wouldn't have known to look for. It's much appreciated!

I had an interesting conversation yesterday with the Packard guy at Max Merritt. I called to order an ignition switch for my '55 and he asked all the right questions about model and such but when we got to the Ballast (coil) Resistor, he said he'd send out an Auto-Lite. I paused and said something about the FSM saying do not intermix! He said they've been doing it for years and nobody said anything but he'd try to find me a Delco.
Anybody have any thoughts on this?
Thanks in advance -

The resistance is about half as much on the Autolite resistor. That would seem to indicate there is also a difference in the coil impedances.

If that is the case, then with all else equal if the Autolite resistor was used with a Delco coil, it would stand to reason that less resistance in supply to a coil designed to need more would result in increased current thru the points which might tend to wear or burn faster. Conversely, if a Delco resistor were used with an Autolite coil the increased resistance might be enough to drop the coil voltage to a level that might not fire the plugs reliably under some conditions.

What is interesting is there seems to be no standard for "Universal" as Max seems to be supplying in the aftermarket. One calls his .8 ohm universal and another mfg calls his 1.6 ohm universal. If Max has had no issues reported, then interesting and there must be a wide latitude the coils can handle.

Thank you yet again, Howard.
I went out to see if I could make out who made the coil on the car and to add to the fun it is a Standard; the brand NAPA and others carry. I think I'm going to need to get model numbers off the coil (if it's readable) and especially off the voltage regulator and other things as I still am not dead sure what polarity all parts are happy with. Fortunately, the Starter and Generator are definitely Delco-Remy. I'm also going to look up on the Delco website (if they have one) to see if they stock Delco parts for these cars - which should make things A LOT easier.
I love a mystery!

I had problems with rough idle, missing on acceleration and generally poor performance on my 55 Caribbean. I rebuilt the carb and distributor, replaced plugs, wires, and messed around with the timing. I couldn't get the thing right and was stumped. I was getting ready to pull the heads. Forunately, as a last act before pulling the engine, I looked at the resistor and found that someone had installed an Autolite. I got a Delco out of my junk pile, installed it and my god, the thing started instantly and ran beautiful. Guess all the tinkering helped, but the main culprit was the wrong resistor.

Hence the caution in the shop manual not to intermix components. The Delco ballast resistor was spec'd at about 1.4-1.65 ohms and the Auto-Lite at .66 to .74 ohms. You can get close to these values with new replacements from NAPA, their Echlin ICR 11 is 1.35, ICR 12 is 1.5, and ICR 17 is 0.75. They are very inexpensive and I'd recommend carrying the most appropriate one in your glove box if you don't have an original spare.

It is interesting the Autolite resistor caused the Delco to run rough. I would have expected a slightly hotter spark at the expense of points but still fairly smooth. Can totally see rough running the other way around.

Wonder if too much voltage or current was causing an issue inside the Delco coil--maybe with heat. Any tune up or ignition experts out there ever had a scope on an engine that was mismatched like that?

As many already know, in 1955 Packard split its engine electrical equipment (generator, voltage regulator, starter, distributor, and coil and ballast resistor) between Delco-Remy (Seniors) and Auto-Lite (Clippers). If your car is a Senior, then it was originally equipped with Delco components. My Super Clipper came equipped with Auto-Lite. Don't know which manufacturer was used on the Clipper Customs.

It would seem that an Auto-Lite generator would work with a Delco-Remy regulator, correct? Likewise, a Delco distributor and an Auto-Lite coil should be compatiable if the coil and ballast resistor are a match, correct?

(o{I}o)