My New Baby, Couldn't Resist...1956 Packard Clipper...Build Thread

Cool story, I dig it. I've heard that its hard to kill the clipper 352, heard stories of people changing the 30 year old gas and plugs and driving em for years after that. I guess you never know, but thats what I'm gonna try with mine. We'll see. I haven't found any hidden compartments yet for hiding moonshine, if I do, I bet I'll be telling some people on here.

 

Beautiful ride, once you lose the wheels it will be a huge improvment. Who ever thought those were a good idea?

 

sweet ride. those wheels belong on a dirt track somewhere...

 

Bookmark packardinfo.com as they are the go to place for Packard into/forums/topics.

 

Nice score, keep us posted and please keep that lovely hood ornament. Everybody shaves these days.

 

Thats just an old windshield washer bottle....can't imagine why it would be expensive, they are fairly common on 55-57 Chevys with parts available to rebuild them. Yours looks to be all there and the bottle/jar is not broken. Glad to hear your nosing your car and running skirts...I think its going to be one good looking cruiser.

 

I'm definitly planning on skirts, and I just haven't decided on the hood ornament. I like it but just haven't made up my mind. I'm keeping the clipper script on the front, but I'm almost definitly getting rid of the ship wheels on the outside front and back. I might keep the one on the inside of the car on the dash. I appreciate all your ideas, comments.

 

Well its been long overdue but I got to start a little on getting the Clipper running, 10 minutes into it, I hit the first snag. The ignition switch had a post burnt and broken off. I got the replacement and some new fuel line. The replacement isn't exact either so I'll have to modify it some to use the factory "starter" bezel that goes around it. I'm gonna try and install the new switch and run the fuel lines tomorrow. Hopefully one crank and she'll come to life. We'll see...if not I'll cross that bridge in due time. I'll keep it updated.




Also does anyone know if there is something missing from this area on the p***enger inner fender, there are wires there but I don't see any screw/bolt holes as if a part has been removed. I can't seem to locate the starter solenoid either and that may be why??? Any help would be great.



Lastly the guy at the beginning of this post was going to send me a hubcap like the one I am missing to help me out, but I guess he decided to hang on to it, no hard feelings but I still need one to get her off these poopy wheels and tires.

 

Does anyone have any literature on parts interchange for 1956 packard clippers, I've been told the windshield out of a 1956 chevy car is the same???? No idea, I really need some literature but I can't find any. Any help will be great. Thanks guys, I'm have so much trouble finding stuff for this car.

 

I think you need different taillights they just don't look right on that car...

 

Best place to ask for info is here-

Packard Motor Car Information - Packard Forums

Don't think any windshield will fit except Packard, but they used the same one from about 1954 to 56.

The Packard 352 is an excellent engine, one of the most powerful of its day. They had a few problems. One that came up from time to time was a defective oil pump. Sometimes they would **** in air and feed air bubbles into the oil gallery resulting in tapping lifters. Especially after pulling off the hiway after a high speed run. But most of them went well over 100,000 miles with no problems.

 

Wheel bolt pattern is standard 5 bolt 4 1/2" dia. Same as old Ford rear wheel drive cars and pickups and vans, rear wheel drive, also Plymouth/Dodge/ Dodge truck/van RWD, Toyota pickup, Studebaker, Hudson, etc.

In other words wheels off an old Ford van, Chrysler Fifth Avenue, pickup truck etc will fit. Front wheel drive will not fit even if they are the right bolt pattern because of the deep offset.

 

Hey thanks Rusty O'Toole, good forum. I appreciate it. I checked at the local auto gl*** company to see if I could just order it and they didn't even list Packard as a category. So I figured that is a bad sign, but thanks for the tips. I should have a big enough window of time tomorrow to get the starter switch in and hopefully to run the gas lines. I have 3 kids, a wife, and a growing business, so we'll see. Thanks again.

 

Alright fellers, I got some time alone with ThelmaLou today. I had to spend about an hour and a half fabbing up a goofy looking little ring thing to adapt the new ignition switch to accept the old starter bezel. I know it seems dumb spending that kind of time on something like this but I really like the dash and all the little bezels on the switches and knobs, so it was worth it to me. Here's what I came up with:


Here it is installed on the new switch to make it the same as the old one:


...and here she is installed:


I hooked up the gas lines next and put in a new battery and she cranked and cranked smooth as silk, but she wasn't getting any fire to the plugs. I tested the plugs and they work great. Next I tested the coil and it sparked once and never did anything else so I'm almost positive its the coil. So stay tuned and we'll see what happens next. ...until next time....

 

Hi Jhutch713.Many years ago,a friend of the family had a Clipper with the ride leveler option.Lord was that a swell riding car.The supercharger was an option on the Packards.BTW.Super find.Enjoy.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

Preshadit, I didn't know they offered a supercharger option on the 352, but that would be sweet to say the least.

 

Recently I had a Chrysler that would fire a few times then peter out. It turned out to be a resistor in the coil wire, the one between the coil and distributor. I replaced the wire and it started right up.

Check your points, clean them with contact cleaner spray and drag a piece of white paper through them. Can't hurt to clean the dist cap inside and out too.

Take it step by step, see that the points are working, then see that the coil is sparking, then see that the spark is getting from the coil to the dist and to the plugs.

You may need to squirt some oil down the cylinders, if the rings are dry you won't get any compression.

If the plugs get gunked up with gas and oil they can get a glaze on them that can only be removed by sandblasting.

 

Gr3eat car, I saw a 56 tu-door hardtop at Utica Bill's in Utica, Nebraska. He likes to sell whole cars so parts may not be an option, He is a 402-534-2054. Good Luck ~sololobo~

 

Help please, I got a replacement ignition coil and I was gonna swap them but there was an extra blue wire hanging there right by the other two and I have no idea where it goes. I need a 1956 Packard Clipper Wiring Diagram. Does anyone have an electronic one they will send to me so I can figure this out. I really want to fire this puppy. Does anyone know what the wire is? There is a black, a green, and this blue one. Any help would be great. This might be why it wasn't working right in the first place.

 

nice!!!!!!!

 

I like your work on the switch!
I have the same switch, and we need someone that makes a more "automotive"style key for that switch than the "golf cart" key that comes with them.
If you are like me, and my 47 Ford, you want to keep the dash as period as you can. It's part of the charm. Nice car! Mike

 

She's alive!!! The funniest thing happened today, I was out tinking around on the Clipper and a couple of older fellas came by to buy some parts from me. We got to talking about her and how I couldn't seem to figure out the problem. They said we don't have anywhere to be, lets get her running. Within 15 minutes of diagnosing she came to life. I swapped the coil and checked the points and the guy advanced the distributor alot and after filled the bowl up wth gas she purred to life for the first time since 1982. I'm am jacked up right now. Thanks for the help perfect strangers. The cl***ic car brotherhood continues...

Next up clean the fuel pump, fuel filter, recondition the carberator and clean the gas tank.

...to be continued...

 

I dig these Packards. The paint combos sound nice. Not sure how well the tan would go with blue/silver though. I will say I do really like the silver interiors of Cadillacs. I like the ship wheels.

 

Concerning the wire on the firewall, 2 possibilities, where is the heater motor? and where is the wiper motor? I see that the heater switch has two speeds, so that might account for the three wires, ad also if the wiper motor is two speed the same might be true.

As far as the blue wire near the coil, look to see if the solenoid has 4 terminals 2 large and 2 small. If so the small ones are one for energizing the solenoid from the start terminal on the ign switch. The other small one is to provide 12V to the coil while the starter is spinninig. When you release the key from start to ign on, the coil circuit goes through a resistor, either a wire or a ballast, to drop the running voltage to the coil to the 8 V or so. Unless the coil is labled internally resisted. Also some time other circuits were powered off the coil (on with engine on accessories etc) so the wire could feed something along those lines.

Nice looking, glad you got it running. Packard engines are smooth torque producers, but they are heavy. The clipper valve covers will look killer whe detailed up.

 

Just did a Packard search on my local C list. Came up with these but can't tell if it's a pair or 3 or 4. Not the same as yours but interesting for packard.

http://syracuse.craigslist.org/pts/3243139837.html

and another pair like the ones above

http://syracuse.craigslist.org/pts/3203182896.html

and a full set but pricey

http://fingerlakes.craigslist.org/pts/3177129613.html

 

Thanks guys, If I do the blue and silver paint, it'll most likely have a blue and silver interior. As far as the "blue wire" goes, its not really near the heater motor or solenoid and the wiper motor is vaccuum driven not electric, so its not that. I did test it and it turns hot with the ignition but so far I can't make heads or tails out of it. I'll eventually trace it into the car and see where all it goes under the dash. The big this is it does fire up and I didn't see any smoke come out of the exaust. Thanks again.

 

None of these are 55-56 "clipper" hubcaps, but thanks for the try. I find them on ebay every once in a while as singles for around $30 so they're not too bad. The only thing is I don't have the right set of steelies that I can run them on yet. I'll be keeping my ear to the road for a good set, maybe even with nice wide whites already on there. I guess one thing at a time and right now I'm gonna work on making her "reliable" for the road. Thanks again.