Thought I'd post the first pics I have of my new car. I found this car near my work. This is what I saw from the side of the road every day for the last 8 months. Well I desided to place a call to see if this was a stalled project and to see if they were interested in selling....Well it turned out to be the guys Grandmothers car, a 1956 Packard Clipper Executive. He said "Funny you should as about it, sure I'll sell it" It was originally bought in Flordia by this guys grandmother, she passed and left it for his mom. He thought it would be cool to get it running one last time for his mom...he unfortunately lost her before completion and it has sat for 12 months since. He had replaced the fuel pump, cleaned the gas tank, new mufflers, new brakes, had the carb professionally rebuilt...you get the idea. Well I go take a look and inside is all original interior, untouched and covered! The fender skirts are there as are the hub caps. The engine is perfect....42800 original miles! The car really just needs paint and some fun touches. It is not your normal custom as there were far less 1956 Packards made than 1956 Chevys. And Packards were built to compete with Cadillac so the interior is posh! It has a similar look but much cooler design. I'll post follow up pics tomorrow. I'm so excited!!!! Look for her at a local SJ show soon! Crossing my fingers! Jon
Very cool. Unusual to see those taillights in their natural home, since they're so prized by customizers. That'll be a great car to repaint and leave stock, since it's already so nice. I'd like to see some more pics of it.
wow, thats gonna be a nice cruiser. got any pics of the hubcaps? i got a pair that i think are packard, but dont know for sure. its got a "clipper" sailing away in the center. ncg
I believe this car has a motorized torsion bar set up and you can slam the back end with the touch of a button,stock from the factory. Not positive but pretty sure. sam
Yeah they have an eletrical torison bar set ...I had it in my 55 packard clipper it was ok you can never low the whole at the same time though only the rear front sits way up or lower the front rear sits way up its kinda like a see saw...lol...And is that the 352 cu inch or the 374 cu inch????? Also yes becareful of that trans mine didnt last long and my car was an orginal 50,000 mile car too, I started driving it and it went fast......Wish you luck if you need any info feel free to ask i learned ALOT about those cars.......Kustom??... Oh yeah always run an extra quart of motor oil in it...the reason for that is because they were proned for bad oil pumps and lifter problems...I converted my lifters to small block chrysler type it helped a little but they still made some noise...the reason for there down fall with the motor's were the used the oil pump to drive the windshield wipers and that plate would warp and create a vac leak in the motor causing the oil to foam up and caviate causing the lifters to loose oil and make a racket......you wont notice this just starting it and let it idle you have to drive it on the highway at about 60 then get your ear muffs on...because all 16 lifters colapse and make some noise.....Hope this help you.....
oh yeah here is some pictures of my old Packard to get some kustom ideas if you want to make it a mild kustom... http://members.cardomain.com/geespackard
The AACA forums have a nice Packard support group and you can research all of the peculiarities, plus possible ways to improve upon them, there. http://forums.aaca.org/ubbthreads.php There is an adapter out there to install a Chrysler 727 in place of the Ultramatic; the manual trans used in these, if you were to find a donor, is a beefier version of the same trans used in 55-56 Ford, so anything that would adapt to those would go on the Packard bell. The only tough thing is most Packard "guys" are restorers - I know one - and for example he has about 10 pair of those taillights on a shelf, he wouldn't even sell -me- a set if he thought they were for a "hot rod".
I would stay AWAY from the 727 conversion big problems i spent upward of $4000 dollars 100 miles later the flexplate shattered another 500 later and about 50 miles after that the front pump blew due to the strain of the flexplate breaking.....So if you could get a 4 speed conversion but wish you luck with that LOTS OF MONEY ....just rebuild the ultramatic thats what i should have done......
Just wanted to give an update. I was sick for a week and it was a 110F for the week before, so the Packard didn't come home till today. Gave it a good well deserved bath. Kustom - thanks for the link to the 55 custom. Awesome. Thanks all for the tranny help. The tranny on mine needs work. Biggest issue right now. I can understand about the older Packard elite desiring stockers. I have not thought about it. I know I want it low and a new paint is very much needed. Driver is most important. I like simple details. Any help on trim pieces for the rear tail lights? One is in need of repair. Thanks again and any other stories or helpful hinks would be greatly appriciated. Jon
Sweet! Those tailights look funny on that body, hehehe. Keep us informed. My buddy at work Matt Pack53ard here just bought a 53 a couple months back. We might make a rod out of it just to honk off the uptight restorers
The 56 Packard;...lent the coolest tail-lights ever to customizing! when I was a teenager, a local customizer grafted a pair of 56 packard tail-lights onto his 56 BelAir hardtop. You had to see it to appreciate how cool it looked!
i was looking into buying a '54 Packard once. i bailed out after doing some research about the Ultramatic trans...
Yea, the trans seems to be an issue. Talked with some Packard guys over the weekend. They gave me some good pointers on going through the tranny and also recommended the original shop manual (which I already picked up.) the shop manual has all the specifics to maintain and rebuild the tranny. So we'll see. Thanks for the nice post everyone. i love the tail lights and now the search begins for a paint scheme. Jon
i have a '56 Packard engine and drivetrain in my car, I'm a sucker for punishment. At least I don't have the Ultramatic, mine's a 3 speed stick with overdrive. http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e327/Rumblernads/Picture010.jpg Best of luck with your car.
I hear superchargers really wake them up. This one's a '56 that a friend of my father owns. I believe this one's a 352. He had a 2x4 intake for it, but found this supercharger and went that route instead. He's got his electronic suspension set up on switches so he can manually adust the ride height.
Something he fabbed up for it. He's a mechanic at a local Ford dealership. I remember him pointing it out, but I can't remember what it came off of. I do remember he put a Ranger heater core in it, but hadn't finished the job (that's why its got all the green tape on the box). Its also got a Mopar master cylinder on it too.
i love the tail lights and now the search begins for a paint scheme. I suggest Tri-Tone ala Packard Carribean in your favorite metal flake colors. Packard had great colors.
From what I've seen, most restorers only deal with the 2dr HTs and converts. Sedans are cool too! Now swap the suspension and driveline with some other car and you'll really have something! j/k
Tri-coloring is very neat but I think I'm leaning to something more subtle to highlight all the brightwork. Beemer - Any more info on that Supercharger set? PM me. Also any info on how he electronically controlled the the suspension. thanks for the ideas everyone. Jon
What do you want to know about the supercharger setup? It's my car, so I can help you on anything you'll ever want to know about Packard V8's.