Parking Brake

I am fooling around with about a 53 Packard and I do not see any provision for a parking brake.

It is a hearse with a short wheel base, someone said it may have been a Navy rig.

Is it possible that these did not have a parking brake?

I have a friend with a stick shift 54 Navy ambulance and it has an emergency brake. I would doubt they were manufactured without them. The handle is only held to the mechanism with a spring which could have broken. Once that spring is disconnected it is very easy for the handle and bracket to be removed. Is there any of the mechanism on the drivers side of firewall near the fender. It would be a large narrow curved bar like assy with a rod running straight down to a bellcrank -- or holes for the handle bracket under the L dash edge almost under the ign key?

I didn't really look closely under the dash but there is no provision on the rear backing plates or the back of the transmission. No remnants of cables etc.

It also has a Hydro-vac booster that I am not to sure of how to bleed. My Motors manual has the Hydro-vac booster in it but it doesn't show it on this car.

This is a stick shift eight cylinder car. It may have been an ambulance, however it has no rear side doors, just a big side mounted rear door and the two front doors.

Thanks for any info.

Sounds like a Henney Junior.

It would definitely have had the parking brake originally. No doubt about it. It seems yours may have been artfully removed for some odd reason. As for the lack of rear side doors, if it's on the 127" wheelbase, then it's a Henney Jr. but there were also 156" wheelbase military models without the rear side doors - I have one.

Packard would have had the emergency brake operate the rear shoes via cable and nothing connected to the transmission. Here is a cut from a later parts manual showing a top and side view of the basic layout of both brake systems as was used on regular passenger cars. A bare chassis sent to a coachbuilder should be the same.

Essentially the same emergency brake mechanism was operated by a pull out handle under left edge of dash and was almost unchanged from 51-56. Not having any sign of the small triangular opening toward front of rear backing plates for the cable housing anchors or the equalizer setup on X member is most interesting. I don't know how else they would have prevented a standard shift car from moving so no suggestions on that one.

Power brakes were introduced in 52 and Packard used the Bendix Treadlevac until production stopped in 56 and not the Hydrovac. The parts manual cut shows that arrangement. If you have the remote operated Hydrovac which would be a separate assy mounted somewhere other than the toe plate at base of pedal, then someone has really special ordered or changed the car. I don't know if the Navy would have done that but suppose it is conceivable the car was equipped with standard brakes and a conversion shop or coachbuilder like Henney could have added the Hydrovac. Don't remember ever reading any Packard info where they used Hydrovacs until the 57 Packard was produced. That was a rebadged Studebaker and Stude did use Hydrovacs.

If you do have the Hydrovac and Motors can't help on the bleeding, there is a section in the Stude passenger car manual you can download at packardinfo.com. In the literature section, service, shop and training manuals, item 47 in that category will be the 56 Studebaker shop manual. You can download just the brake section and toward the end is a paragraph or two on how to manual bleed the system. If you have the Treadlevac instead, it bleeds just like a conventional brake system. If the car has been sitting and has a Treadlevac I can't stress enough how important doing or having a quality rebuild of the unit made before putting the car in service. It is not like a conventional master and failure of dried rubber seals and in particular, one rubber covered valve will result in no brakes.

Do the pedals on your car go thru the floor and where is the master? 53 Packard standard brakes would have had the master on the L frame rail just behind the steering box.

Thank You HH56

Upon a better inspection I can see where someone had made some dust covers of sorts on the backing plates. They look like they have been there awhile.

It does have a remote mounted Hydro vac unit on it though. Yes pedals go thru the floor. I could not get into the link without joining the forum.

The MC is under the steering column and just about impossible to get to. It plumbs up to the hydro vac and then back into a block on the side of the MC and out to the wheels. So a bit different than your attachment.

I suspect I could eliminate that thing. All I am contracted to work on are the Brakes.

32, I think you are correct from what I have gathered it is a Henny Jr.

Here are some pics of the POS. I like the red wires, LOL.

The Hydrovac is definitely a non-factory item that was very likely added by some third party after the vehicle was built. As long as it has the stock master cylinder, this unit can probably be removed and converted back to the standard manual brake system. If your customer wants to keep power brakes, then you need to look for the proper Bendix Treadlevac with master cylinder, floorboard plate to which it attaches, the pedal arm and manifold vacuum connector with valve. Installing one into a non-power brake Packard of any type is quite easy and usually requires no modifications as it's all just bolt-in. I've done it with Henney-Packard coaches and I've also installed "factory" power steering so I know it can be done (installing the power steering isn't quite as easy!). The only possible modification stated in the manual is that sometimes you need to heat with a torch and hammer in the chassis slightly if the master cylinder doesn't clear but I've never had to do that.

As for the parking brake, you should be able to get everything you need from any 127" wheelbase passenger car. I'm not absolutely sure but since Packard supplied the chassis, I believe they should be the same with the only option being the color of the handle under the dash. All Henney-Packards I've seen have had black handles, including a blue one very similar to the one you're working on but maybe other colors were used too. If you decide to leave off the emergency brakes, remember that there may be legalities involved as most states probably require them to be there and functional.

One question not related to these issues and I'm asking only for my own interest: on the rear springs, do the rear-most shackles mount outside the frame or inside and does it have 12" or 14" brakes at the rear? I've owned Henney's since the '60s but never had a Henney Jr. so I've always been curious about these two things.

That vehicle looks a bit different than Henneys I remember. Not sure all the changes were done by them but who knows. At any rate with a standard trans and no emergency brake it would be really interesting to know what prevents the car from moving while parked on a hill. Don't think I would trust just leaving it in gear. You do have to register at packardinfo for posting in the forum but I believe the literature section is open -- but it is free to register if you do want to join the discussions. Much more activity for postwar cars over there and all are welcome.

Here is the bit from Stude SM on bleeding. Not much different than regular systems except the hydrovac has to be bled via the bleed screw on the end of the hydraulic section first before moving on to the wheel cylinders.

Don,

I have not had to pull the drums (or the wheels for that matter) as this looks to be a simple bleed job to get pedal. I am finding receipts for a complete brake job in the file dated 2007. The car has been a warehouse and not driven since. The PO got it running prior to this deal but brakes were not part of that deal.

This car is for sale. I do some light tweeking for a local car lot and this is their car so I guess its on them about the parking brake.

Measuring with a tape measure I come up with 13 inch brakes on the rear. So if you are saying that they should be either 12 or 14 inches they are probably 12. Oddly enough the spring hangers are directly under the frame.

56,

Thank you for this attachment, it is just what I need. My Motors manual simply states that the hydro vac needs to be bled first.

Thank you guys for the help here. I pulled fluid thru the bleeders at the wheels but that method by myself didn't get the pedal up, However I can at least pump them up now and there is no old fluid in the system. As soon as I can find a helper I will bleed this system out and go for a drive.

If the owner's are interested there is an excellent and quite comprehensive article on the Henney Juniors in "The Professional Car", publication of the Professional Car Society; No. 145, 3rd quarter 2012. The Henney junior chassis was based on the 127" Patrician chassis with the substitution of the lesser Packard 200 series engines and transmissions. According to "Packard Serviceman's Training Book" prepared for the introduction of the 1951 models, the Patrician chassis had 5 leaves in the rear springs, same as the 200 series, but with an extra thick 3rd leaf. The shackle mounting is exactly as shown in your photo. While the Patrician chassis had 208 square inches of brake surface, the Henney Jr. chassis was provided with 292 square inches- larger drum size I assume.

If the car has been parked and unused for so long, it is really unsafe to drive it even around the block without at least inspecting the cylinders for corrosion or stickiness.

Is that the rear shackle? I have never seen a rear one mounted that way but the fronts are. On passenger cars, they are attached to the inside of the chassis but the senior Henneys had a wider back end with heavy cast shackles mounted outboard and, of course, huge springs. Since the Henney Jr. uses a passenger car chassis, I was trying to find out if it had the wider stance at the rear or if it was narrower like the passenger cars and the shackle mounting is the clue.

The 14" brake drums of the senior Henney would probably have been overkill on the Jr. so you're likely right that they are 12".

I just realized that you are in Oregon. That's where my workshop, Henney and other Packards are located. The owner would be welcome to post a free classified ad on my site linked below to give it more exposure.

Owen,

I doubt the owners would have much interest in this car outside of money. They are used car dealers with an emphasis on the collectable aspect. However I will pass this info on to them. I do know that they googled it and that's where they got to thinking that it was Navy.

Don,

Yes those are the rear of the rear springs.

I agree that if this was my car it would be getting more attention than it is. However you have to remember this is a used car lot I am dealing with. The rubber hoses are still looking new. I found receipts for shoes and cylinders from 2007. and the pedal came up fine and it stops straight. So I have done what they asked.

I am sure that they would want to capitalize on any advertising they could get and will tell them what you have offered.

These guys want my Suburban in the worst way but have not made me an offer that I would go for. I don't hire out for this kind of stuff very often and this was a way to get around it and see just what they have here.

Thanks again you guys, I love the AACA forums.

The Henney Jr. were often bought by the military but not always so, unless it says so somewhere on it, I wouldn't count on it necessarily being military. Interesting about the spring shackles as I have never seen them directly under the frame like that. I need to check my '54 Patricians to see where they are as I'm remembering '51 and '52 mostly because I've worked more on those years.