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see post above this one so that i can figure out how to paint the rear diff.

cleaned up the garage today from all the residual paint on the floor, what a mess!! i learned my lesson this time and took the painting outside. flipped the frame and got the underside with phase 2 rust emcapsulator. then moved on to the final stage...the satin chassis paint.

flipped the frame again and got the rest of it....don't ask how i flipped the frame...it wasn't the easiest, but it is a good thing i am He-Man....;0) LOL

pictures are of the frame after all cleaned up and put back in the garage. looks alot better with the floor not being black too.

next....rebuilding the rear suspension and drivetrain.

later dudes,

Hank

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alittle bit more tonight. didn't get much done because i spent most of the time trying to get the cushions and bumpers into there respected holes. then trying to mount the torsion motor without scratching much was a bit of a pain and i still scratched a couple of places. nothing a bit of touch up paint can't handle.

i haven't bolted it all down all the way and the control box is just setting on the top of the frame as i have not cleaned all the bolts and nuts for that stuff. i scratched the crap out of the control box so i am going to repaint it, even though it is only the top of it that is scratched and wont be seen....i will know about it and it will bother me.

also i lost the two o-ring style seals that go on the small torsion bars before the bearing/bushing thing....i have the bag...but no part...i must have lost them somewhere...so i ordered 2 new ones...10 bucks down the drain and you know i will find them again one day. dang!

enjoy the pics, more to come, since i am back in the garage for awhile again.

Later,

Hank

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CLI55ER

1956 Patrician named Dolly (found, owned by Todd Stennis)
1937 Packard 138CD on stretched 120 Chassis (FOUND, owned by Lawrence Dolan)
1947 Clipper (found, owned by Mike Rigsby)
1956 Pink and White 400 (not found, any information is appreciated.

How far from home did these cars get with their new owners?????? Do u know how many different owners had these cars between the time u lost track of them and when they reappeared???

1. Gulfport Mississippi. owned by Todd's dad first then inherited by him.
2.sold to a limo company (fort worth, then to the current owner (michigan).
3. sold to current owner, went to houston texas
4. supposedly went to PA, not found yet.

i live in fort worth texas.

it is a good thing i just looked at some old pics of the torsion motor before i pulled it out. the two bolts on top that are holding it in...i put them in backwards. as i have them now you wouldn't beable to remove the bolts as you would have to move towards the body of the car....and the bolts are probably too long. the nuts go on top and the bolt through the bottom. glad i saw that before i tightened everything down. whew!....that would have pissed me off one day if i ever had to take it out. i would have thought....what dumbass put those in that way...and then i would have been like....oh....me..;0) LOL!

okay.....now i am officially pissed the F off!!

look at the last picture of the torsion motor mounted and then look at the solenoids.......THEY ARE MOUNTED BACKWARDS!!!! the nipple end of the solenoid goes to the front of the car, not the back. F!!!!! @@#$%@#%@#%~!!!! check this old pic out and you will see what i am talking about. https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/uploads/newbb/491_4913ab4a82808.jpg

the reason i know is because the limit switch does not get touch at all by the bars. reason is because the way i have the solenoids makes the limit switch sit too far back towards the back of the car. witch is wrong! if i flip them it moves the limit switch towards the front of the car and that will work. the long arm slams right into the front of the torsion limit switch toggle arm....@#$@#$~!!S@#%$@#$$~!!$@#$%!$~!!#$!@$!#$!!

now i get to take it all apart...all that nice painting and sealing for F-ing NOTHING!!!

i have never been more pissed....call it on my youth,....but F!@!@!!!!!@#@#%$R@#!

somehow i was able to fix it without really damaging anything or scratching anything. i didn't do as good a job on the sealing....probably cause i just wanted to get it done right. they are sealed good...just messier than before. ;0(

oh well.....

got the pinion seal back in and the had the new o-ring seal on the diff housing, but i had to take it back off as it slipped. got the pinion sleeve back on....it is really hard to turn, but i guess that is okay as i am sure the motor has WAY more power than little old me

later...

Hank

well after putting everything back together again one side of the torsion limit switch does not work and testing the system through the control box only yields solenoid clicking and no motor moving. i determined this was related to one side of the limit switch being dead, but i have not tested this theory yet as i have not remounted it.

attached pictures show the limit switch's guts. basically a rocking toggle switch, when the bar is pushed one way the contact on that side is lifted and the connection is lost and the motor stops and vice versa. the problem was that, and i don't know how, one side was bent way out and was not making contact when the switch was in the neutral position., which probably has a lot to do with why the motor was not turning, it thought it was at it's limit the whole time. so i bent the prong back so that it made contact and since the gasket busted on one side when i pulled the casing apart i used RTV to seal it back up and then re-bent the tabs over to hold it on good like stock.

it should work now, i hope. now that all the paint is JACKED up, etc...etc... i am not really happy about that! i worked hard on this thing looking nice and now it is hard to reporduce that without stripping everything down again....no thanks...it is under the car...noone will notice....right?? LOL!

more to come this weekend.

later,

Hank

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Glad you found problem although it was probably relay inside control box clicking instead of solenoid. If it was actually the solenoid and no motor drive, you still have a problem. If it makes you feel better after all the hard work painting, you could remove what's left of the paint entirely. Of the electrical components, only the motor & control box was painted, the limit switch and solenoids were natural zinc/steel color when new.

when i took the solenoids off they were covered in a thick rubberized coating, so was the limit switch. plus i wanted to avoid the whole arching issue with the snow, etc....not that it will really see snow, but basically the problem they had with the 55 can be easily solved by sealing everything up with plastic paint and liquid electric tape.

i tested the solenoids themselves. they click, i know because i was holding them in my hand when i did it. mounted the limit switch to the solenoids and tested each side of the limit switch and rocked the arm to test the cut off. only one side of the switch would work and make the solenoids click. but still no motor moving.....but like i said i think it was because one side of the switch was open all the time instead of both being closed. idk. i am sure there is something else wrong....knowing my luck.

i put the positive to the BAT part of the solenoid and the negative to the part that the limit switch mounts too and the solenoid clicks.

since i have repaired the limit switch i have not tested it, so i am sure you are right and something else is wrong. but technically i am by passing the control box even when testing the line connected to the control box, pink or yellow wire....so i am still going to have to say it was a limit switch problem, especially since both solenoids seem to be testing out fine.

i think overall this part of the car has been the most interesting and i have learned alot from it, but i must say i hate it with a passion.

thanks for your help HH, as always ;0)

Hank