Eric,

If I remember right, at one point in time didnt you come up with a HEI conversion for the Straight 8 motors?

I'm just curious how that worked and what was involved.

Well I managed to get a few things done this weekend.

First I got the entire engine painted. I will let it cure till next weekend. Then I will check for and do any needed touchups.

I also painted the manifolds in cast-iron gray. They are ready to go back on the engine after all the touchups are complete.

I also engineered a new alternator bracket. I never liked the universal generator to alternator bracket I was using. First the universal bracket bolted to the generator bracket and then to the alternator. This made the alternator mount further outboard from the engine. It also gave the bottom mount two possible pivot points and required the use of a different top bracket.

So I took parts from the universal bracket to provide the alternator mounting tabs, and then made a new bracket that bolted directly to the block in place of the generator bracket. I made that bracket out of 12 gauge cold rolled angle iron. I made the bracket mounting holes enlongated so it would give me a little bit of adjustment to make sure I could get the alternator pulley on the same plane as the other pulleys.

This bracket worked out very well. I brings the alternator in closer too the block and provides only a single pivot point. It is stronger in design, and provides adjustability for aligning the alternator. Another bonus is that I can now use the original Packard top bracket.

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Sounds like you could buy reproduction wheels cheaper than getting the original ones restored. A set of 4 from Kanters is $1755.00 (shipping included). Thats $438.75 per wheel. While not exactly cheap either, it would save you almost $1,000.

Just a thought.

The heat here is pretty bad today. We are expecting 105 degrees (@ 21% humidity). Hopefully this summer is going to be cooler than last summer or I am going to have to buy a A/C unit for the garage.

We use a swamp cooler for the main house as it works very well in our relative low humidity, and only costs about 1/8 of using central air. But a think a swamp cooler in the garage would cause rust issues with all the bare metal that is currently exposed. So perhaps I will buy one of those portable A/C units that just uses a duct to exhaust the heat.

Last year it was 115 in the garage for a week straight.

Hoping everyone has a safe and enjoyable 4th of July. Hopefully the Hamburgers, Hot Dogs and beer are flowing freely!

Enjoy your mid-week vacation as it's back to work tomorrow for most of us.

I spoke to Bill Hirsch today and he assured me that was the right color. He said it is a med-dark gray. Bill was a very nice gentleman and said that if I was not happy with it he would take care of me.

Also I shook the can of paint, but he advised that I stir the can with a stick and scrape the bottom of the can really well. He said since they are not allowed to use lead in the paint anymore, that the pigment will not stay suspended. So it sinks and sticks to the bottom of the can and a shaker will not break it loose.

I have noticed that as the paint has started to cure (which takes 7 days according to the can) that the color is mellowing a bit and the brownish tones are gone.

I wondering if as the paint ages and oxidizes if it takes on a lighter tone. He cautioned me on going by pictures off the internet as the lighting conditions and camera flash, plus the differences in computer monitors can make things look differnt. He said this is pretty common when people are looking at colors on his website, and then when they get something it looks a bit different.

So my applogizes to Bill Hirsch as perhaps I jumped the gun on this as most of the pictures (off of the internet) I have seen are lighter. But based on PAC's description of it being a "Med-Dark Gray similar to Sears Gray Deck paint", that seems to jive with what I have.

So I am going to let the current draft coat that I painted on the head finish curing till the weekend, then I will finish painting the entire engine. Then I will let it cure for another week and report back.

The paint itself does brush on nicely and appears to be very good quality and all of Hirsch's other paint products I have used so far have worked and looked great. I also bought a can of his frame paint. So I will report back on how that turns out after I get done painting the front clip.

Reworking your garage is a topic I think we can all relate to. We all want our garges fixed up in a way that allows up to work on our cars in a more enjoyable way.

My wife and kids have started calling my garage "Mantopia"

I just noticed Lowes has 8'x4' sheets of stainless pegboard for $20. I may just sheet my garage in those instead of drywall. Then again that may be way too shiney.

Here's something for you V8 guys:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/hot-camshaft-fits-352-374-packard-motors-nice_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ34198QQihZ006QQitemZ160133698080QQrdZ1

If you read his discription, the guy says he has a garage full of 55/56 parts that he is planning on selling.

I know that some boat manufactures used Packard V8 engines. But I am not sure if they were built different from Packard for them.

One of the V8 guys on here with far more knowledge than myself should be able to provide you better information.

I have been busy looking for bargins on Ebay lately. I found a 70" spool of Packard 440 wire, and vintage Delco-Packard boots and termnials sold as a lot. Everything is still in the boxes. Not a bad deal for $40. It just arrived on my doorstep.

So I will make myself a new set up plug wires with these. I bought a set from a vendor about a year ago, but I always felt they appeared to be cut a little short and the wire was a generic unmarked type.

Anyways here is a pic of what was in the lot:

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