Constellation

55 Clipper, Welcome to the Club. I own a 55 Custom Constellation that I have had for 11 years. I have done just about everything as far as work on that car that can be done except a complete engine rebuild and rear end work. I had to put a rebuilt Twin Ultramatic from Peter Fitch in it after 2 years. The rest I have tackled with great success. If you use common sense and stay true to the car you will not go wrong. I'll say this they are great driving cars. 55 and 56 Clippers I consider to be some of the best road cars of their time. They roll right along. My wife loves driving the 55 because it has Power Steering and Power Brakes. However, she claims it has too much power, but that doesn't seem to stop her from taking out on the highway and laying into it. I don't mind its just that when I follow her with my 53 Clipper to a show, I have to run that a little harder than I'd like to. Bob

I just want to update you all on the progress on the Phenolic Spacer. I took the 3/8" Phenolic and had it cut and machined out using an original style Carburator gasket as a template. I also used High Temperature plastic bushings around the the stud holes as well, just like a lot of OEM spacers used to reinforce this area. I have now mounted this under the carburator using longer studs purchaced over the counter at AutoZone along with new, hand made gaskets that are almost exact duplicates of the originals. I am still in the process of testing this spacer. Please do not attempt to make this spacer on your own just yet. I wouldn't want anyone to try this and have something go wrong on their car on my say so until I have thoroughly tested this part. Afterall the Factory would have done the same before releasing a new Part and Part Number. So far all the results are encouraging. 1. All issues with the carburator building up a vapor pressure have gone away and the carburator remains cool. The Fuel no longer vaporizes in the fuel bowls. 2. There seems to be no issues with carburator icing either due the car being run in cool damp weather. 3. It also seems that in all preliminary testing that I have performed that the overall performance of the Packard V-8 has actually been enhanced. 4. The use of this spacer has not caused any clearence problems with the Hood and the air cleaner. I promise that in the near Future I will post pictures of the spacer and the installation. I hope you will find this enlightening. Bob

Brian, If my recollection serves me right. I seem to recall reading that the High Range Clutches in the T-U were Identical to those found in the Hydramatics of the era. That Packard bought these high range clutch plates from GM rather than having their own made. I am just wondering if these plates on e-bay are the same as used in heavier duty GMC pick-up Hydramatics from the 1950's. Studebaker abandoned their automatic and used a Borg Warner air cooled unit in the late 50's & 60's known as the Flight-O-Matic. I don't doubt that what you said your dad said about the clutches from a TH 350 or 400 is true. Bob

Rick, You could have a '56 Transmission already. In that case it will have an Aluminum Case. The 56 will bolt right into a '55 with no problem. Actually if you have a '56 Unit your better off. Bob

Rick, Just for the record about the Ultramatic cases. All 49-54 Ultramatics used a cast iron case, bell housing and extension shaft housing. This held true for the 1954 Gear Start as well. In 1955, Packard used a Cast Iron case with an Aluminum bell housing and extension shaft housing. In 1956 Packard was the first automaker to use an all Aluminum Case, with an Aluminum bell housing and extension shaft housing. This changed the weight ratio of the car making it less front end heavey. It also cut the cost of manufacture and allowed greater heat disapation. There are slight differences between the 55 and 56 units in the casting between the cast iron and aluminum cases. I don't think yours is Defective. However, that drain hole should be open. Bob

Rick, I had the very same problem with the "Old" transmission in my 55. You are right when you said it was a bad design. Why Packard chose to redesign that part of the Ultramatic when they came out with the Gearstart in 1954 and carry it over to the Twin in 55 and 56 is beyond me. John Z. DeLorean may be able to help you. I hate to say this, but its true. This Transmission in Concept on paper was good, but never had enough time or money spent on it in R & D to be right. Largely because of the Studebaker deal and the fact that the powers that be wanted something dynamic to sell cars. The question was asked, Will it work the way it is ? The answer was yes, based on the fact that it was based on the old design it should. However, even the engineers knew there could be potential problems. That was cast aside for several reasons. One, was if it was tested extensivly it would have held it up and it would never have been ready for even 1955. Two, they wanted a gimick to sell cars. Three, if you valued your job, you went along for the ride and cooperated, the "Key Men" were not nice guys. It was rushed into production in 1954 and with small changes for '55. That was its downfall and we as owners have been paying ever since. It killed Packard. Between it failing new in owners hands and the warranty repairs, its bad reputation sunk an otherwise good car. The engineers came up with a ton of bandaid solutions after the fact to correct problems that should have been addressed long before production and probably would have had there been more time and money. You see most of these improvements incorporated in the 56 units, which were better, but still far from good. However, your cross shaft stop problem never was. Bob

There was as I have always understood, a last run of about 1000 cars to satisfy Dealer Requirements for the remainder of 1956 at the end of production. Out of that as I have heard tell, the employees that were left at Packard-Conner, were offered new cars at Cost in an attempt to clean up the inventory. Anything and in some cases everything went. This is sad and yet kind of funny. I've seen this with failing firms that were in business for years and were going on the rocks. At this point in the late winter and spring of '56 you have to remember the company was in Big Financial Trouble. There was also the posibility that the whole works was going to be liquidated, including Studebaker and there would be no 1957 Model of either Packard or Studebaker. That probably would have been the case had not Curtis-Wright got involved. The Bankers wanted to liquidate S-P to get back their money. Nance promised the Bankers he'd build out the inventory, because all anyone would have been left with were idle factories and inventory of no use. The bankers bought this idea and it made sense. In truth, the Executive is really an Inventory Wonder. This was done to clean up the ton of Packard trim Parts still in inventory, and using up the pile of Clipper Body and Chassis parts still on hand. Hopefully they'd sell them and they did though not in the numbers they would have liked to have seen. This car at the Imperial Palace was from the last run, supposedly. This may account for the Rochester 4-GC and some of the other options on it. When it came to the employees cars it seems the option list grew when no one was looking. No one cared anymore at this point because morale amoung the Employees and the supervisors was so low on the line it didn't matter. That had been going downhill since 1953 anyway. Nance and his henchmen saw to that already. The move to the cramped Conner Ave. Plant in 1954 disgusted them. They knew by the Spring of 1956 they'd all soon be out of work, because the virtual handwriting was on the wall. The company was broke and in debt, the cars were not selling and the production schedule was way down. The Grab what you can now because the party will soon be over mentality set in. It comes down to if you really want to know what goes on with a company, ask the production employees. They ususlly tell it like it is or was. Take a good hard look at any late 1956 Executive or Clipper. Most of, if not all this late production group of cars of either Packard or Clipper have Delco electric systems, usually found only in Packard Patricians, 400's and Caribbeans. Autolite was used only on Clipper supposedly, except the late ones, Jack Harlin's 56 Super Panama being one of them. You may notice that even some Executives came through with odd combinations in trim and interior. That was not usually the case with Clipper because there were more Clipper Parts available. Near the end it was grab what you could off the shelf and build a car. Executives as Packard only parts were depleated and had to be saved for what orders came in had to be built with Clipper Parts. Don't go by build sheets, they may not be realistic in terms of accuracy to hide the truth. There is also the funny story that the when the last cars were produced just before the line shut down that they had to go to a hardware store to get screws. Bob

Funny that you mention survival rate. Thats interesting. Its just my guess. However, take it for what it is worth. Compared to lets say Hudson, Nash or Studebaker in New England. 1950's Packards have fared well. Granted that there were more Hudson, Nash and Studebakers out there new. It seems the survival rate on Packard has them beat percentage wise and numbers wise. Probably because of several reasons. Rust Out of Unitized Bodies being the major one of them. The fact that Packards were built better in some cases and in the hands of owners who cared about them are another. As far Big cars of the Era, Caddies, Buicks, Olds etc., that were built in large numbers, you might be very surprised on a percentage basis on the survival rate. I do know this. Rosters are kept for Club purposes. Not all the Packards out there are in a Roster. If you doubt it check out e-bay or some other web-sites or Magazines. They are all over the place. Bob

Thanks Boys, The stuff is reddish brown in color. Wish me Luck. Thanks again from the Northern Zone, Bob

Well you are not going to believe it. I didn't either at first. A friend has a sheet of 3/8" Phenolic Resin that he used to make spacers on Boat Engine Carburators and he gave me a piece big enough to make two spacers for a Rochester 4-GC. He knew about the problem with the gas as Boat engines suffer the same problems. The funny part of this is there was this piece of Phenolic sitting practically across the road from me and I didn't even know it. Now to make the piece, using the carburator gasket as a template. This stuff supposedly cuts like metal with a fine blade band saw and can be drilled. This will be a new experience. Bakelite is a registered trade name for a resin based compound, but came in various forms and could be colored. Moulded knobs, handles and electrical parts mostly. It replaced ceramics and wood in numerous applications years ago as it was easier and cheaper to make and thigs could be made more stylish too. Some did have asbestos fibers in it to make it heat resistant as on stove knobs and pot handles, it depended on the application. Shift nnobs on truck transmissions and coil insulators was one of the last Automotive uses commonly associated with Bakelite. Its been largely replaced by Plastics starting in the 1950's. Even Phenoilic is being phased out by glass based resins that do the same thing only better come to find out. There is always something new and better to replace whats out there. Bob

Brian, The more I've been diving into this the more I am beginning to find out you are probably right about the metal spacer. Now the question is which Phenolic Spacer comes the closest to that of the Packard style Rochester 4-GC for 1955 Packards and Clipper Custom. So far No Luck and where do you start. Locally there really are not any places where I can go searching to find one. Most of them are Moulded for a particular application. Now if I had a sheet of 1/4 or 3/8" Phenolic Material I might be able to make one, carefully boring the holes. Incidently, Ford used a Phenolic Spacer on the some of their vehicles back in the 1960's. However, finding one that would even come close to a Rochester 4-GC might be more difficult. For proper fuel mix, (in this case it should be a 4 Holer, I don't think an open spacer would work right) the bores in the carburator, gaskets and spacer should line up perfectly and should be a smooth transition from the carburator to the intake manifold. I like the Maple idea if all else fails. I am also wondering if some other tight grain hard wood would work just as well. That could be done. Is there a Plastic Material that can take Heat and gasoline and do the very same thing ? I see Plastic Spacers and even Nylon Spacers on line. However, I am leary of either because of heat from the manifold Cross Over. Bob

Thats the major problem today with 6 volt batteries unless you want to pay Big $$$ for a re-pro Battery. Most of the 6 Volt batteries available today off the shelf are meant really for agricultural equipment. The Battery that will turn over a 4 cyl. Ford 8N Tractor will not have the same umph to turn over a Packard Straight 8 or even a smaller Ford V-8. The fact about switching from 6 to 12 Volts is correct. The wire only has to be 1/2 the size with 12 Volts than with 6 Volts, because you have 1/2 the Amperage. Remember power accessories like power windows, convertible top pumps and power seats were offered long before the switch to 12 volts in the mid 1950's. However in all due fairness, a 12 Volt system handled the starting better than a 6 Volt system with higher compression engines that were being offered by 1953. Thats why GM went to 12 volts with Caddy, Buick and Olds. By using the correct wire size and 12 volts they could suppy ample current to the starters for adequate starter operation with these engines. Power accessories were really a side issue. By 1956, all the major automakers were switched to 12 volts as it became a selling point. 12 Volts also did wonders for starting the older style engines such as the 235 Chevy 6's and the like. The biggest improvement to charging systems was the advent of the Alternator. Chrysler started that in the early 1960's, actually 1961, I believe as an option, unless I am wrong. Bob

Rick, I remember that years ago my Dad had a 54 Ford 6 cyl. Pick-Up that had multiple gaskets below the carburator. The Holly Single Barrel Carburator on it had a Glass Float Bowl. That was nice as you could see the gas level in it. I'll look around for that gasket material. I am even not going to give up in trying to find some Phenolic Material as well. Someone local must have some of that heavy gasket material around some where. This can't be a mystery and it can be done with gasket cutting punches, which I own. I also like the 1/4" Stainless Spacer Idea too. This may work. When I get one made I'll post the pictures. Bob

carbking, Would you use a 1/4 Stainless Steel plate as well as two gaskets, one top and one bottom ? Would This work just as well as the Phenolic Spacer ? Previously you said that you make Phenolic Spacers ? Where can I buy some Phenolic Material 1/4" Thick ? And would this be better than the Stainless Steel Spacer ? I know I ask a lot of questions. Either way this is not going to be a hard thing to get cut out. As I stated earier, I have access to some very High-Tech Machining equipment. I could have one made for the Packard style 4-GC that would look like it came with the car. Thanks, Bob

J.T., Thanks, You know the automakers used this same woven Fiberglass composite material to do the very same thing for years. I actually have some of it as insulation on the lower end of the choke heat riser that I got off a a 79 Ford Van in the Junk Yard. The stuff is good and would work. Armor Flex which is a black foam material may also work. I have thought about some of that as well. The Phenolic Spacer that the carbking speaks of. Is it a hard Plastic material ? I want to know more as to where to get this material and what it is really made of? What is the best way to cut it ? Or would a 1/4 inch thick or more aluminum plate like some of the Hot Rodder's use work. I have access to some very sophisticated machining equipment. I wonder. Thanks, Bob