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

Upon recently driving a '54 Clipper with 3-speed on the tree and overdrive, I encountered the following:

Difficulty shifting into 1st.
Some of this may have been my unfamiliarity with the car, but it seem that even with letting the gears roll a bit to reach first from a stop, they never wanted to line up on the first try. Also, coming to a stop and shifting from either 3rd or 2nd to 1st, half the time I wound up in 3rd again.

I've heard that the trans is a Ford, which brings back memories of a '60 Falcon that balked like this. Sometimes all you could do was go to reverse, down to neutral, up to second, down to 3rd and finally up to neutral again and THEN down into first. Kind of a pain on a hill.
Any fixes for this?

Steering was loose.
This car had power steering and brakes. Very smooth and tractable around town, but on the highway, it had a tendency to wander and need to be "driven" with frequent corrections. The car has about 80K on it. I'm thinking loose steering box or bad ball joints.
Any other ideas?

Power brake (Crash-o-Matic) pedal was very firm, little travel, but stopped the car without undue effort.
Are the firmness and lack of travel particularly bad signs? What might need attention here? (Besides just scrapping the whole thing.)

What u describe for the brakes is normal for a single line master cylinder. So no problems there. The problem is that u are most likely accustom to driving modern brakes with dual MC lines.


Quote:
"Very smooth and tractable around town, but on the highway, it had a tendency to wander and need to be "driven" with frequent corrections"

If excessive then very likely due to reproduction (period correct) tyres depending on brand. Regardless of tyre type or brand try dropping tire pressure to about 24 psi to see if it helps.

Most likely due to caster setting. Setting caster OPPOSITE of OEM specifications will correct alot of the hunt assumong it is not a tire problem. Note that setting POSITIVE caster (which is opposite of OEM NEg) will create more effort at the steering wheel for low speed manuevering. BUT since u have power steering it won't b noticed. MAYBE dificult to get much Positive caster. Just do NOT set ZERO caster. Zero caster mite cuase some shimmy.

How are the tires wearing?????

The car has about 80K on it. I'm thinking loose steering box or bad ball joints.
Any other ideas?

Very possibly worn or mis-adjusted steering gear box, worn tie rod ends, worn idler arm (if so-equipped), worn or loose wheel bearings, and most especially worn king pins. No ball joints on Packards.

You should check all the above as the first step towards improving handling. After all that is in order, get a good alignment and decide from there where you want to go.

The 54 Clippers used a Packard built transmission. The 55 models used a Borg Warner built transmission, similar to what was used on FoMoCo cars. Was the shifting problem with the OD locked out or engaged? OD engaged, it should be an easy shifting transmission because of the OD freewheeling. You may need a linkage adjustment. Also, there is the question of lubricant in the trans and OD. Maybe its time to change it. Clutch adjustment comes to mind too.

(o[]o)

Thanks, all. The tires are Cooper bias ply. Don't know how long they've been on, but there is no sign of uneven wear. I'm suspicious it's the steering gear, next I'd guess the other suspension parts mentioned. This thing has king pins? Rats, what's it cost to fix them?

The clutch does not engage until the pedal is excessively high IMHO.

What does a clutch go for, if there's no more adjustment left and the friction material is toast?

The OD balks, needs to be driven a few miles and then only shifts at about 50 or 55, and there's really no "feel" of it kicking in, which I'm used to on past 3-spd OD transmissions ('62 Ford Galaxie). Letting off the accelerator is the only way to tell if it's in (no deceleration drag when it's in OD).