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This project is for my dad. He bought this car when he was 19 years old (in 1960). His father was a Packard mechanic and owner of SOS Motors.

Now, in my retirement, I am getting this back on the road again for his 83rd birthday this year.

Brief history on the Patrician status... My dad had rebuilt the motor back in 1978, the car drove 2000 miles, including when his father drove the car from Spokane to Livermore California. The car has sat since @ 1980.

In 2002, my brother in law decided to start the project of getting it running again. For whatever reason, he removed the engine and took it apart to the long block. It sat in that condition until September 2023 when I took over.

I'll add pics to get an idea of what I'm working with.

Since I obtained the project, I have have completed the following:

- Rebuilt all 4 brakes
- Rebuilt master cylinder
- Assembled engine with all new seals and gaskets
- Compression check all good
- Rebuilt water pump
- Rebuilt starter
- Rebuilt Rochester
- Installed all new heater hoses
- Installed new radiator
as well as several other things.

I will be posting my questions here for issues I can not seem to locate in the manual or this site so far!

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G'day 2T300RE,

toPackardInfo.

I invite you to include your '55 Patrician in PackardInfo's Packard Vehicle Registry.

Congrats on starting your project. You'll find manuals and other resource materials in the Literature Archive. You can find reprints at the Packard Club website and in Packard Clubs publications such at Packards International Magazine and The Packard Club newsletter.

Nice! What is the mileage on the car? The V8's had a specific problem where the oil pump would begin to aerate the oil feed as it wore out, causing lifter problems and general bad lubrication. Something to keep an eye out for one you get it running.

The fix is an "Olds oil pump conversion". There's a couple band aid fixes also if you are having minor problems but barely want to drive the car.

You have not mentioned anything on the trans. At the very least you need to drop the pan and inspect it. Most likely it's filled with gunk. The trans should be rebuilt after sitting 50 years. If you barely want to drive the car, you might be able to get away with just changing the fluid, but I can't recommend that. Note there is also a transmission cooler after the radiator which may need recored. Don't just remove it and try to drive.

Unfortunately I suspect the trans will look something like this. Nothing a thorough clean/rebuild can't fix though.https://youtube.com/shorts/8VWbsWP6gmA?si=NgizKlx_FqOx8Vlj

Good advice. The stock transmission oil cooler was a heat exchanger device located between the engine and radiator. They are relatively trouble free, but if an internal leak develops water and oil will mix and harm the transmission. Some have replaced this cooler with one mounted in front of the radiator. One works on the exchange of heat via the engine coolant and the other is dependent upon air flow. I think some even used both types of coolers.

Currently, it has 92k miles. My dad rebuilt the engine at 90k. I disassembled the oil pump and it was like new. I considered the Olds pump conversion, but figured this will still be fine.

My dad gave me the manual which has been my bible. I have used this site for many issues as well!

It is still missing the engine block oil pump vacuum line attachement for the aux windshield wiper, so I plugged that for now. Not sure what issues that may cause.

I installed a brand new Clipper fuel pump my dad had which has vacuum lines I can route for the secondary wiper vacuum.

As far as the trans, I removed the pan (lots of sludge) and found the linkage had pulled past the pins. I had to completely re-work that linkage rod, drill and tap etc to make the system work correctly again. After that, I had to fine tune the external linkage for proper ranges from the column which is now correct.

Today, I completed installation of the 1979 Ford pickup radiator, deleted the stock trans cooler and ran the lines to the cooler in the radiator. Finally, I ran the engine up to temp and drove it for the first time in 40+ years!!!

Everything went extremely well! Ran the car for about 30 minutes. Only leak I found is transmission fluid from the bellhousing somewhere. That will be my job tomorrow, finding that source.

Next will be new exhaust, then carpet kit. The torsion leveling isn't working so I have to look into that. Finish final interior, window seal kit and paint.

Congrats on getting it running!

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Good work. You sound pretty meticulous, so may I suggest installing a seal kit (Kanter sells them) for the trans. There are a lot of seals. In the front, it could be any of these, at least. This will also give you an excuse to disassemble the trans a bit more for cleaning. For example, the planetary assembly is easy to disassemble, but it's important that the needle bearings work as expected and aren't siezed from gunk or flash rusting. It will still spin, but it might damage the gear and shaft races over time if it doesn't dislodge itself.

Speaking of which you can also inspect the play in the bearings. For example the rear babbitt bearing is probably toast in a 90k mile car. You will probably see the babbitt paste somewhere and notice a lot of play, as described herehttps://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=27459&post_id=262768#forumpost262768

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