You being in Valencia, I think we have pretty much the same weather.

When my wife and I were looking to buy our first house about two years ago, we specificlly looked for an older home that was not part of any home owners association. I just have a problem paying a monthly fee so some association can tell me I can't do something. If I wanted that, I would still be living in an apartment.

There is a guy about 4 or 5 houses down that has a restored 50's F-100 and a 20's something ratrod. Once I saw that, I knew we were looking in the right neighborhood.

How is everyone doing with the summer heat. I think I cursed myself by saying a couple of weeks ago about how it's been a nice summer so far. The last two weeks have been blazing here in Souther California. The heat has really kept me out of the garage.

I really need to insulate and finish the garage. Only the wall that is shared with the house is drywalled. The ceiling is pretty much vaulted, so there is nothing to drywall there. I will probably build one more loft in the garage for storage then drywall the rest of the garage and the bottom sides of the lofts for a finished look. I have been trying to collect old garage/gas/oil signs as I want my garage to have that retro service station look.

I must admit that I love the Southern California winters, as I can get a lot done it weather that is in the low 60's. Last time I looked it was 103 in the garage. I only wish the days were as long as the summer ones during the winter.

By the time I get home from work, it pretty much dark. I think this winter I will be adding two more over head lights to the garage. I have two already, but they are located towards the back of the garage because of the sectional gararge doors. I really need more light towards the front of the garage. The problem is that I really cannot work on the front of the car with garage door shut. The car only has about 30" of clearance with the door shut, and I need that extra space at the back of the garage. So with the garage door open, it would block the light coming from any light mounted in the front part of the garage ceiling. It's almost like I need a light mounted on the underside of the garage door when it's up. I do have a portable shop light that does work. But nothing is as good as regular natural light during the day. What I really need is another 6' of garage depth. But I am sure the neighbors would frown on that.

Anyway enough of my babble, every try to stay cool out there.

The counterweight should be fully up (held by the coil spring tension) when the motor is cold, and down when the motor comes up to temp (as the coil expands).

The spring should just hold the counterweight in the full up position when cold, but no additional tension.

Also it should move freely. If it is still stiff, then keep spraying cause you want it too move freely. You could pull the exhaust pipe and give it a couple sprays from the inside if it doesnt get any looser.

I hope this helps.

I agree with Randy. PB has worked miracles for me. It works great on brake/fuel line fittings also before using a flare nut wrench.

It also works wonders on pertified rubber. Just spray the heck out of a rubber part with PB, and put in a ziplock bag for a couple of days, and you would swear it was a brand new rubber part.

When the dye color is all sorted out, and if this doesn't turn into a club project of some type, then I think it would be useful to post the name and contact information of the mill that is producing the carpet.

Perhaps if enough people called them and showed interest they would produce a bigger run, and then that could drive the costs down for each individual carpet going forward.

Along this same discussion, maybe it would be usefull to come up with a list of what carpet colors/materials/mats/trunk liners/etc were uses in each year. As it was pointed out that the 55/56 carpets are different.

They also may help people in their search for ancient still hidden lots of NOS material.

Everybody play nice. There is no sense it turning valid discussions into pissing matches. We are all here for the betterment (is that a word?) of the general Packard community. So lets leave the personal grudges at the door.

Also for those that have sent me messages and questions, I have been in Vegas for the last 7 days, and I am now back. So I will follow-up with you all sortly.

Now back to your previously scheduled program.....

Well I managed to get the manifolds bolted back to the block.

I still say which ever engineer designed the placement of those two inner stud locations should be shot (if he was still alive). The only way to get to nuts on and off those to inner studs is with a relatively short 11/17 wrench. Impact Wrench, Socket Wrench, Gear Wreach, nothing will fit in there. Not even a socket on a swivel extension. Even with an 11/16 inch box wrench you can only turn it bout 1/6 of a turn at a time. What a pain. I only hope I never have to pull that manifold back off again.

Anyways here are the current pictures. The car is going to sit for the next week or so, as I am off the Vegas with wife for a little vacation time.

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Ron,

No worries, remember the only dumb question is the one not asked.

As far as mechanics go in the Southern Califonia area, there are folks that will work on them, but they typically dont come cheap. Custom Auto Service in Santa Ana specializes in Packards.

Also some of the Hot Rod shops also have mechanics on hand that work on older engines. But they may have a long lead time in actually getting to your car.

John, those are great. Can you leave those comments on the acutal picture? When you view those pictures, you can click the comment button and add that info directly to the picture. That helps me to keep track of everything.

Thanks.

Well I think the Warren pics have sat up there for awhile now, so I think it's time to file them into their appropriate Year catagories. So if you can identify the year and model please leave a comment on that actual picture. That way I know which picture you are referring to and I can move it to the correct year folder.

I will also Tag all these picutres as being taken from the Warren show so people will know where/when they were taken.

Thanks for your help,