QuestionQUESTION: My aunt just gave me a 1955 Clipper. It has 48,000 on the speedo. It has been garaged since 1975, basically in storage in a small town in ND. It got out and driven every 5 years or so in the local parade. I trailered it to WI and changed the oil, plugs, dist cap, points rotor, drained the fuel,etc. I changed the brake switch ( the brake lights stuck on the first time i pushed hard on the pedal). That is the background. The car has no rust, and runs OK, but not alot of power. I have a few issues i need help with and you seem to be the expert on Packards! I read a few of your replies and already ordered the Faxon service manual. 1. Positive Ground? THe battery in the car was a 12v and the red cable that connects to the motor is hooked to negative post on the old battery. the black cable ran from the positive battery to the starter. I bought a new battery and hooked it up the same way. I read your comments to another guy and you said "all 1955 Packards are positive ground". THe car starts, runs etc. all lights work. The fuel guage doesnt work. The GEN light will light up at very low idle, but rev a bit and the light goes out. How does the starter work if the DC current is switched like that? #2 The Ultramatic trans works good in Low , but otherwise will shutter in Drive gears, is there a quick fix? band adjustment? how? I have more questions but want to fix these two items before i drive it any more. any help would be great. thanks, Jeff in Wisconsin
ANSWER: Welcome to the wonderful world of V8 Packards! Yes, all Packards are positive ground up until 1956, when they joined the rest of the world, even though their idea was actually better. 12 volts is correct, starting in 1955. Running the battery backwards doesn't do as much damage as you might think, though, but it can be dangerous, unless someone who knew what he was doing changed the coil, generator and voltage regulator polarity. Until you sort this out, ALWAYS disconnect the battery when you park the car, even for a few minutes, as one of the problems running the car with the battery reversed can make the voltage regulator stick, and this will lead to a nasty fire under the hood! The type of motors used on cars are not polarity sensitive, so the starter and blower motors don't care. Most of the gauges don't care, but the radio does.
Since you don't mention that you were unable to find the correct brake light switch, I'm guessing that you don't have the automatic leveling system - right? If so, you have a pretty rare car - almost all of them had the "torsion level"
suspension, except for the bottom line cars.
You need to determine when the polarity swtich was done, and by whom, and how competent that person was. I would't put it back right until you know you have the correct coil and voltage regulator. You will also have to have the generator re-polarized when you switch it back - the shop manual will tell you how to do that.
The vibration when the transmission attempts to shift up to top gear (which is the lockup torque converter function) is a typical problem for these cars - try backing off the thottle for an instant when it is trying to upshift at about 35-40 MPH. Then get back on the throttle - if everything is working right, the car will accelerate without slippage, just as if it were a stick shift car in high gear. (That is one of the reasons these cars get good mileage). If you do find that there is slippage (the engine revs up when you step on it), the transmission is probably worn out - there is no easy way around this -it will have to be rebuilt by someone who knows these units - and those guys are dying off like flies - so join the Packard club and ask around to find someone who knows what he is doing - these are very often ruined by some meatball who thinks because he can do a modern transmission, he can do these! They are called "Ultratraumatics" by all who have rebuilt them, for good reason! When they are done right, they are a very good driving transmission, and with the lighter body of a Clipper to haul around, you should get decent performance. However, they are not a durable transmission - they are good for about 30,000 miles per rebuild, in my experience. It was this problem plus oil pressure problems (clacking lifters in hot weather) that led to most of these cars being retired pretty early in life.
You can do a band adjustment - the shop manual will tell you how - you do need a torque wrench to do it. But the bands are not involved in that second shift (from 2nd to 3rd), so it won't help your shudder.
The engine is either a 320 or 352, depending on which Clipper you have, and has around 200 HP Gross, (165 or so by modern rating system), so it isn't going to be a barn burner on take-off - perhaps 13-14 seconds 0 to 60 on a good day - if you are getting that, it's normal.
Good luck with it!
Dick
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Dick, Thanks for the reply. The Clipper is not torsion with load level. It is coil spring. The brake switch is the two wire, not the 3 wire (I saw the 3 wire type switch on E bay).
As for the car being converted to negative ground...I wont be able to get any info as my uncle died and the info was lost with him. I put a 900 CCA battery in the car (hooked it up negative ground)about a week ago. If it has been this way for a week, should i still unhook the battery each time I park it or is this probably OK? How can I tell if the regulator has been converted? How about the coil? I hooked a VOM to the battery, it was about 12.5 V with engine off. I started the car and the voltage rose to 14.4, rev it up and it stays at 15.2 max. It appears the generator and regulator are working properly? Would you suggest I leave it or change it back to positive ground? thanks again!
ANSWER: The All-Experts site just crashed and lost my response- my fingers are sore! Anyway, this is what I said:
The fact that it is working well as is would tempt me to leave it alone, the only caution would be to look at the regulator to see if it is the original positive ground unit.
If it is, I'd continue to disconnect the battery when parking until you obtain a regulator for a 56 Clipper, (which was negative ground).
There is a part number on the regulator, stamped on the mounting flange or on a metal tag.
Others that will be safe to use are any 12 volt negative ground regulator (or universal type, positive or negative ground) that is designed to control a 35 to 45 ampere generator.
Your car came with an Auto-Lite regulator # VRX-6007A. If that is still on there, it's a ticking time bomb! Get it off (save it in case some day the car is converted back to positive ground.)
There are other regulators your uncle might have put on there if he was tipped off to this problem: An Auto-Lite VRX-6009A is for a 56 Clipper, and that would be ideal for your setup.
Your generator is performing exactly right as is, so whoever did the conversion to negative ground knew what he was doing at least in that respect, because he properly re-polarized the generator. He'd have had gobs of trouble with it if he hadn't, so either your uncle figured it out or had someone help him with it - and so there is a good chance they took care of the regulator problem also, but check on it, don't assume it is OK!!
The only other issue is that your ignition coil is probably not performing up to spec, since it is connected backwards (if it is the original coil). The original coil was an Auto-Lite CAD4001. You will get improved performance and starting if you replace it with a universal type or negative ground 12 volt coil - these are in stock at NAPA stores.
From the fact that is is a "springer", your car is probably a model 5522. That should be the number on the door plate, and also stamped on the top of the engine block, right above the water pump, and just to the driver's side of the oil filler pipe. You'll have to dig and scrape to see it- but that should match your VIN - 5522-XXXXX (the last 4 or 5 digits are the sequence number, starting with 1001 for the first car) - this should also match the door plate. The other numbers on the door plate are the paint and interior codes - if you wish, I can translate them for you.
These are surprisingly nice cars to drive - they ride well, and get pretty good gas mileage - I hope yours works out well.
Dick
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Dick, I checked the regulator...it is still the 1955 6007A! So I unhooked the battery per your suggestion. Why does this regulator still work and charge the battery if the car has been switched from pos to neg ground? You are correct the car is #5522-5163, with paint B6 and trim 11. What do you suggest, leave as neg ground or change back to positive ground? My fuel gauge doesnt work....the clock doesnt work...other gauges OK. I am not sure if changing back would fix or if I should just change the wires around on these gauges and go that route. I am a bit more comfortable with neg ground systems. thanks! Jeff
AnswerIt isn't an issue of whether or not the regulator will work - it will work, either way, but with the polarity reversed, there is a very strong likelihood that the armature contacts will stick, causing very dire consequences, including an underhood fire or even a battery explosion. The difference is in the metal compounds used to form the contacts in the relays inside the regulator. You're very lucky - I had two cars catch on fire on me, for this exact reason, and one was a very valuable Avanti - which is a fiberglass body car - we lost the whole car before we got the fire out. So go to NAPA and get a regulator that will work on a negative ground car!
The polarity reversal has nothing to do with your gas gauge, or clock problems, and probably has nothing to do with the radio quitting either, so consider those as separate problems to work on when all the important stuff is taken care of!
Your color code is probably B G, which is "Tourmaline" (The top color) over "Moonstone", the bottom color. Don't ask me what those colors look like, I'm color blind. If the car is two-toned, it has to have two color codes, the first being the top color, the second being the lower color. The trim code 11 means "silver/black cloth and black cloth".
Dick
