Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

I thought this may be of some interest.

I had my wonderbar radio in and out that many times I am now a qualified professional at removing and reinstalling it. I would get it working on the bench and then put it in the car only for something to fail not long after,

So, is this a refurbished radio? No... This is a newly built from Vintage Auto Radio listed to suit a 1955 Chevrolet but is the same as a Packard. The radio came with Chev controls but I have been able to replace them with the original Packard knobs. It has AM/FM Bluetooth and an AUX input. Will post some photos once its installed but this is a great idea for anyone who wants a nice reliable radio in their 55 / 56 without the trouble of old components.

I utilized the original knobs. The only difference you will notice is the channel selector is black instead of the lighter white/grey color. Also the knobs stick out slightly further than the original. Though I am very happy with it and I think its a good solution if your radio isn't working.

It took 8 weeks for them to send it out, but its well worth the wait.

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Very nice. Not cheap but a good solution for those with non repairable radios or those wanting all the modern stations and inputs. The Ready Rad is an option for those just needing the modern inputs but unfortunately it doesn't offer FM. Nice thing about your choice is the old unmodified radio is still available to be repaired or passed along with the car if the need should arise.

Did you have to do anything to the dash bezel or did the radio exactly slide into the old opening. Reason I ask is in the photo there is a shadow around the radio that makes it look like the bezel was removed. A few years ago there was another poster who bought a modern radio specifically made to fit the Packard dash. Another bezel was included in that package which was to be placed over the old one. Don't remember which company made that radio.

On the website and in your photo there appears to be several extra wires for speakers etc. I take it the power supply is brought in via a couple of those wires and you can wire it for Pos or Neg ground or was your 55 converted to Neg ground when you did the brakes and the radio only works on negative?

Curious what the knob spacing dimensions are and the dimensions of the face rectangle.

"was your 55 converted to negative ground"
What would be involved to convert to neg ground ?

My car was converted to negative ground prior to me purchasing the car so I am not entirely sure what is required to convert from Pos ground to Neg ground.

I haven't reinstalled the chrome bezel that goes around the radio yet but that will fit in with no problems. The dimensions of the face if the radio and location of the knobs are identical to the original radio. I did not have to make any modifications to the dash.

There is a space between the knob faders due to the extra length of the knobs. I will post a photo of this shortly. I'll also get the dimensions of the radio face and knob spacing and post those as well.

The wiring allows for 4 speakers to be connected. The original speaker won't work with this radio apparently from what the manual indicated. There is a positive and negative wire in the harness for easy connection and there is also a line out which allows the unit to be connected via an amplifier or other devices.

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On a stock Packard it is relatively simple although there could be a couple of gotchas.

A few non stock items that could possibly be in the car and would most likely be destroyed with a polarity switch are the radio vibrator, instrument voltage regulator, a Pertronix ignition, and the torsion level control switch.

If those components are originals, no problems but if any is one of the currently available solid state replacements specifically for positive ground then most likely it would be destroyed with reverse polarity. The torsion control switch apparently depends on which replacement is in the car and may or may not be sensitive. To be safe you would need to verify with its vendor whether that particular version is a problem. I can't think of any other solid state devices for Packards that could be bought for use with a positive ground at the moment. LED bulbs or an alternator might be a possibility but don't think you could buy those for 12v positive ground cars.

Once the items listed are sorted out then you could proceed with the change.

If the car has an ammeter the wires would need to be swapped at the terminals on back of ammeter. If just a BAT light then there would be no change.

Once the battery is hooked up you would need to repolarize the generator and then start the car to see if it will charge properly. If the charge is erratic the regulator could be polarity specific and may need to change to a universal regulator. Am not exactly sure what the differences are between regulators that favor one polarity over the other but some are listed for pos or neg ground.

It will work without changing but for best coil efficiency and output you should reverse the coil connections so the distributor points connect to the terminal labeled the same as the battery ground. Dist would go to the negative terminal of coil if you are changing to negative ground.

I haven't taken the measurements yet, but attached is a close up of one of the knobs showing how the knob sits. You will notice there is a space between the 2 parts. This is due to the length of the screw. Note: Click on picture to see clearly as the file rotated when uploaded.

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Don't forget when switching from positive to negative ground the need to reset the spark plug gap. On negative ground systems, it is typically a larger gap than used on positive ground vehicles.

I believe there is a shaft length adjustment on most radios IIRC.

Don, I have never heard that spark plug gaps are dependent on electrical system polarity. It would be appreciated if you would share with us the source of this information. Thanks.

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