August 1, 2001
Reupholstered the rear lower side panels. They consist of three different materials: black carpet on the bottom, gold cloth in the middle and tan leather-like vinyl on the arm rest. The stainless steel trim dividers cleaned up easily and well. I relocated the upper one to the top edge (it was about 3 inches down).
August 2, 2001
I reupholstered the rear upper side panels using just a solid sheet of the "Malibu Camel" (gold) cloth material.
August 3, 2001
I cleaned up and rebuilt the front door arm rests, but was more difficult than would appear from the finished result. Notice the use of a 1/4" foam strip along the top outside edge. This gives a nice smooth finish, something I couldn't achieve by simply cutting the 1" foam (I don't have the right tool or technique, I guess). I didn't paint them because they'll be covered with 1/8inch foam pad and then the "Malibu Camel" (gold) cloth. I also cut out the other door panel using the reverse of the other new one as a pattern.
August 4, 2001
I finished cleanup, polish and repair of both tail light assembies. Here’s a shot of what they looked like before cleanup. I also had to devise a fix for the partly broken and cracked lower edge of the lenses. I used some of the 1/4” closed cell foam from the upholstery part of the project cut to fit and painted black. Here’s a comparison with stock.
August 9, 2001
The 1955 Senior and all 1956 Packard dashes were padded and covered with vinyl. They are difficult to recover because of the double compound curves on the ends. It took me two trial fittings to make up a 3-piece prototype to get a smooth surface on the ends. Now that I’ve got it figured out, I’ll get back to finishing the dash in a few weeks after my sewing skills improve.
August 13, 2001
I finished the right front door panel today and it looks pretty good. Here it is with the finished rear panels and metal moldings. Here’s a shot of the driver side original, in “as received” condition. The arm rest was the trickiest part because of the compound curve, although not as tricky as the ends of the dash pad for certain. Here’s a top view of the arm rest.
August 14, 2001
A new Packard chat room was added to the website of the Antique Automobile Club of America. It seems to fit the needs of the regular Packard chatters.
August 16, 2001
Links to the Packard show cars of the 1950s (in addition to the Request & Predictor) has added to “The Inspiration” section. I’m still looking for a JPG or scannable picture of the 1952 Caribbean show car, the namesake predecessor of the 1953-56 Caribbean production model.
August 17, 2001
Trading fellow Packard enthusiast Keith of TN some parts got me a pretty good lower front bumper for the Panther in return. Both on the Clipper & Executive were pretty well trashed. Thanks for the trade and other good advise, Keith!
August 19, 2001
With the help of fellow and local Packard enthusiast Gerry, we started the challenging (to us beginners) the recovering of the rear center arm rest.. We documented the original’s construction, stripped it down and replaced the rotted composite board and foam with new. We recovered the spring cage with new burlap. Finally, we used the cut up original panels as templates for the new cover. The new cover will be the most difficult upholstery work yet.
August 20, 2001
The commercially made headliner I ordered a few weeks ago from Kanter arrived today. I’ll leave it packed up until it’s needed (hence no JPGs yet). It was cheaper and easier to order than for me to try and make one, for sure!
August 23, 2001
I sold the working power antenna and a couple of good front lower trim pieces from the Clipper front clip to Paul L of Chicago. He’s finishing off a 1956 Executive he calls the “Bumble Bee” because of it’s color scheme.
Continued...
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