Wow! I'm now even more impressed. I had no idea from reading your blog how long the Duchess had been off the road (I may have missed something!). After 26 years of mostly sitting, many congrats to getting it back on the road, on your terms. Seems like a lot of people have cool old cars in their garage that they never get back together and sell off years later. We'll be following along through these last few steps!

I was able to get the driver side drum off tonight, so I'll be able to order the outer oil seals tomorrow. When I was attempting to pull the passenger side brake drum, one of the lug nut inserts stripped out. As it turns out, I will be getting Heli-Coils in the future. I'll need to evaluate, and see how many inserts are damaged. If it is more than one per side, I'll probably look into sourcing different rear drums.

I was surprised to see evidence of an inner oil seal on the rear end- I thought there would only be an outer.

Hoping to get some assembly done by the end of this weekend.

On my '37 115C, should there be a gasket between the intake and exhaust manifold? I didn't see any evidence of one, but that doesn't mean one shouldn't be there.

Also, all three bolts holding the manifolds together were corroded beyond repair. My thought was that stainless steel would hold up better, but I was concerned about the differing rates of thermal expansion between the stainless steel and cast iron. Anyone have any experience with this? Per this table:

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/linear-expansion-coefficients-d_95.html

Gray cast iron has an expansion coefficient of 6, Ferritic SS has a coefficient of 5.5, but Austenitic SS has one of 9.5. Not sure what normal SS bolts are composed of.

Last question: the threads on the two bolt holes where the exhaust flange bolts onto the manifold are pretty weak, possibly beyond repair. Do most people use a through bolt, or attempt a heli-coil or some other repair. As always, thanks!

Forgive my ignorance. Is the clock in the wrong side of the dash, or does it go just above the steering column?

The wood graining looks great! My '37 115c will be in Idaho in a couple months... do you hire out? Joking, joking...

Great work- it's an inspiration to those of us just starting the long slog.

That is amazing! Great work.

I'll probably never feel sorry for myself again about the state of my car's body.

Had a pretty productive weekend. I went down to Roanoke, VA, dropped off a '55 Patrician for AL and picked up 4 doors, a pair of rear fenders, and a fuel tank for the car. The fenders and doors are in MUCH better shape than my pieces, so I'm pleased about that. Also ordered a differential 3rd member gasket and a water pump gasket from Ebay, the next project on my list is to tackle leaks and rebuilding the brakes on the rear end. Still need to get two oil seals, but everything else is just putting it all together. My e-brake cables and pinion seal also showed up, so I have a lot of work to do.

What kind of sedan? If it is a 1937 115 or 120 sedan, the only actual framing is for the roof insert and two wooden strips under the doors, augmented by metal. There are wooden strips between the doors to attach the interior fabric, and the floorboard covering the transmission is also made of wood. The doors are all steel. If it's a senior Packard, I believe there is more wood in the body, but I'm not positive.

Well, didn't get any work done yesterday, but decided to put the rear end back in today. Chased the threads in the rear drums because they were getting a little bit galled. I put the wheels on for the psychological gain; I will have to pull them off next week when I rebuild the rear brakes and install new parking brake cables. I also have to replace the 3rd member gasket and all the seals in the rear end.

Also went over my trailer and truck, plus put a little air in AL's tires. Probably the last time in long time I'll have two Packards (or more) in my driveway.

In other news, my Harbor Freight air compressor bit the big one today. I bought it not very long ago, so back to Harbor Freight with that one, and I'll get the craftsmen one I wanted in the first place. Trying to get by until I stop moving all the time and I can buy a big (220V) compressor.

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Thanks JW!

Got a bit more done today. I picked up some parts from the sandblaster and was able to get some paint laid down. First time using a spray gun; it went pretty well.

Now I just have to let the paint dry; I'll probably start in on the transmission tomorrow, depending on my work schedule.

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Randy, I put most of the pictures into my blog so that I don't have things sprinkled all over the forum! Just for a teaser though, here's one of the frame coming together. I don't have any of the engine yet, because I haven't started painting yet!

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