Taking a Packard inspired road trip! We're taking Al's 1955 Patrician with AC to Roanoke, VA (about 600 miles) and meeting him. He's bringing me 4 better doors, rear fenders, and a better fuel tank from Don Koller. Might try and get some sight seeing in along the way, but we're not really sure yet.

I've done a lot of research, and it appears that semi-gloss black is the correct tone of black for engine components under the hood. My question is why do so many show cars look like all the black is gloss? Case in point:

https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=11255&cid=41

Should I paint semi-gloss, like I have been, or make it shiny, like exhibit A above? I'm trying to create a driver I can show, vice a show car capable of driving, but the body is off the frame, so i'm trying to do everything correctly.

Thanks, as always.

So, I'm planning on rebuilding my transmission while my car is all torn apart. ('37 115c) I was wondering if anyone had any tips. Should just be pull the shafts, clean, and replace bearings, right? Any trouble prone areas?

I have the Kanter kit.

Didn't notice any problems when I drove it a few blocks, but the kit was reasonable and it was coming out either way.

Well, I got a bit more done today. Finished bending brake lines, and I didn't even forget to put a nut on the line before I flared it! I also installed the master cylinder, both master cylinder hard lines, the front hard lines, and all three rubber lines. I didn't install the clips, because paint was still drying.

My most wonderful and patient wife actually came out and helped me out by cleaning off the pedal assembly, so we got it primed.

I also removed the transmission from the bellhousing in prepartation for rebuilding/repainting it. I have the rebuild kit from Kanter, so I'll be replacing the input and output bearings and seals. Not a full rebuild. I will be inspecting all the gears.

One question- is there any reason to not use gasoline vice kerosene when working on the tranny? I have some old gas (not ancient, just not old enough that I'm going to run it in a vehicle) but don't have any kerosene.

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Thanks to everyone for all the thoughts. I appreciate all the thoughts, concerns, and opinions. I am still planning on sandblasting the rear end however. It will be fully assembled, with doubled duct tape and cloth over the pinion. I will also seal the axle vent and the bolt hole for the brake line distribution manifold tightly and instruct the sandblaster to avoid getting too close to those areas.

I'm sandblasting the rear end because it has a heavy layer of surface rust and scale, and I don't see any other way of getting it all removed. I could spend a month with a wire wheel, and I don't think it would get all the rust off. The frame is restored, so I don't want to half-ass putting the rear end back together.

... bump...

Any thoughts?

Quite a bit of work done on the car.

Reassembled the front suspension.
Rebuilt the center steering arm.
Rebuilt the front brakes.
Built four of the six new hard brake lines today.

Oh yeah, and I picked up AL's 1955 Packard Patrician today.

Lots of work has happened, but there isn't a lot to say. A lot of thread chasing, painting, and putting together.

I'm taking the rear axle,driveline, front motor mount, and intake/exhaust manifolds for sandblasting Monday. The rear axle is currently fully assembled, with brake drums and all, and I'm going to get the main assembly sandblasted. After that, I'll disassemble the rear, rebuild the brakes, and then put everything back together again.

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The instructions I was working from recommend a slight chamfer on the outside of the tubing as well. Not going too crazy, just enough to smooth things out. I used the same type of tubing cutter.

I think it worked out.

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Rusty, thanks for the tip. I didn't have a tapered reamer, but I did have a 14 degree metal deburring tool for my die grinder that looks a whole lot like a small tapered reamer. I put it in my cordless drill for better slow speed control and it worked great. A file on top, taper the inside, and a combination of bench grinder, die grinder, and emery paper for the outer chamfer and I made four this morning with no do-overs.

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Nope, I just put a bolt in the tube and bashed it with a hammer for a while. :) Of course it was a double flare, that's why I practiced! Any knuckle dragger can make a single flare. The two tricks I've found: de-burring the inside of the tube with a slightly over-sized drill bit works much better than the de-burring tool on my cutter, and putting the flare tool in a vice makes things much easier to flare.

I decided to go with a coil of steel tubing. My goal is to have a restored driver, not a concours car, but the Cu-Ni tubing is, well, copper colored!

Thanks for all the thoughts.