Hi All,
Not sure if you've seen the horror show going on in British Columbia Canada, on the news, but it is catastrophic to say the least. Over 12" of rain in 72 hours in the city of Hope and extremely high levels across southern parts of the province and the rivers simply could contain the deluge. We were awoken by the local fire department rescue guys at 3:30 AM Monday and when I opened the door, the main street out front was under water and flowing like a river. The fire and rescue folks told us the river had breached the dike and the water was coming up fast. He told us to gather what we could and get out. We did and drove our truck and car through knee deep water and out to the main highway. Unfortunately I had to leave my beloved Packard behind. The shed it was in is fairly high and I hoped it might survive. We got to town and the bridge across the river had been closed. The levels had risen almost 10' and it was barreling along at a rate I had never seen before. Huge uprooted trees, small sheds and even RV trailers were flying down the waterway. We skirted the town to a higher bridge and managed to get to the safety of my Dad's place in a rare, dry area of the town and sheltered for the night. After a day or so, the rains abated and the mass-flooding receded. The damage looked like a hurricane had gone through. We made our way back home to find a basement full of water, but our main floor undamaged. We got pumps going and after many hours, started to see progress. I eventually got over to my Packard garage and, with great trepidation, opened the door. The car looked fine and as I viewed the situation, I could see the high water line on the whitewalls. It hadn't made the center of the hubcaps! I checked the carpets and they were all dry; it looked like the highest it had gotten was the bottom of the running boards. Certainly not good for any car to be sitting in that much water for a couple of days, but it sure could have been a whole lot worse!! So, I thanked the Packard gods (and my God too!) and set about cleaning up the sodden mess in the rest of the garage. Disasters always seem to show us what we're made of, and people are, for the most part, resilient. Clean up, restore, rebuild we must and will, but at least I still have my Packard!! Chris.

Hi Tim,
Condolences on the passing of your Mom.
The Trico kits seem to show up pretty regularly on Ebay; that's where I got mine. I haven't installed it yet though, as it involves drilling holes for the squirter heads and I just can't seem to work up the nerve to do that. I have kind of done the Mexican roof repair adage on it, in as much as I don't drive the car in the rain, seems easier to not drill the holes! Chris.

Big Kev,
Any idea why this thread 'restarted' itself in a new & separate post??? I certainly didn't do anything! Chris.

Hey JWL,
You're right, the 245 six can take a conventional T-stat and I have one installed. As I mentioned in my #1 post, I can and would wire the shutters open, it's just that the Sylphon T-stat auto opening and closing system is such a cool feature, I'd like to keep it original and functioning. I'm pretty near the end of my season up here in Canada, so I have all winter to 'save up'!! Chris.

Greenfield.
On my unit ('39) there are gaskets on BOTH sides of the Sylphon thermostat. I agree with you that the 'receiving' flange on the rad is less-than, but I'm not sure I'd put silicone on there to seal it, as errant gobs can really cause havoc in cooling systems. (or any internal system) The outer cover gasket on mine looked good upon removal, but the 'back' one came off in pieces. I remade it out of some good quality gasket stock and will seal it with a light buttering of 'Form-a-Gasket'. It is a zero pressure system, but hot antifreeze sure can find a leak-path if not perfectly sealed. Chris.

Thanks for the replies. Dave, I did check Bill Hirsch and they list the exact unit, but the availability status shows as 'Currently Out of Stock'.
I did test the unit in a pot of water on the stove and had to boil it to get movement and then only about 1/8". As yet, no answers from rebuild sources.
Chris.

Thanks for taking the time to reply CartRich. I think I have kind of answered my own question here. Further sleuthing online uncovered a couple of sources for these, both rebuilt and reproed. It seems like the old story: nothing that can't be fixed if you throw enough money at it!! The reproed ones are $500 give or take and I am waiting on a callback from a Jim Otto, who can apparently repair them for around half that. I'll see where it all takes me... $500's a chunka, though!
Chris.

Hi All,

My shutters suddenly quit opening. Last time I drove the car they opened fully, now nothing. I checked for coolant level, right up, I checked for any obstructions to the assembly and they open fine if I push on the rod, so I'm down to the T-stat. Can they be had?? Possibly rebuilt (although I have removed mine and it is a solder-sealed unit) or are there any other fixes, short of wiring the shutters open?? I can and would do that if I had to, but the opening and closing of them has always been a cool feature of this car and I would dearly like to keep them functional. Any help or direction much appreciated. Thanks, Chris.

Hi All,

My shutters suddenly quit opening. Last time I drove the car they opened fully, now nothing. I checked for coolant level, right up, I checked for any obstructions to the assembly and they open fine if I push on the rod, so I'm down to the T-stat. Can they be had?? Possibly rebuilt (although I have removed mine and it is a solder-sealed unit) or are there any other fixes, short of wiring the shutters open?? I can and would do that if I had to, but the opening and closing of them has always been a cool feature of this car and I would dearly like to keep them functional. Any help or direction much appreciated. Thanks, Chris.

Quote:
Yeah, I sure get that, I'm retired and have to watch my shekels too!
Couple of things... if you go to buy the hoses, I doubt you will get them off-the-shelf, ready to install, due to the age of the vehicle. On mine, I took them to the local NAPA store, and the guy matched them up 'ID & bend-wise' with my old ones. While not exact matches, they were such that they could be cut down and would work. Again, only talking from my '39 experience, but both my upper and lowers had internal springs to keep them from collapsing. The aforementioned replacements did not have springs and they are REQUIRED. If you can buy correct-size spring stock to insert in the new hoses, that's optimum. On mine, I couldn't, so I took the old springs out of my used hoses, cleaned them up with a wire brush and some steel wool, and inserted then in my new hoses. This is NOT a fun task and requires some patience! I made a little 'harness' out of a leather boot lace, seriously lubed up the tube of the new hoses with dish soap, and worked the springs into place. It took a while, but I got them exactly where they needed to be, leaving a cuff free of wire on each end to go on the hose bibs of the rad and pump. I used leather so as not to damage the tubes of the new hoses. Oh and I rinsed them really well with water before installing so I wasn't blowing bubbles out my rad!! LOL Also, John Ulrich Packard has come up with a stainless steel retaining sleeve for the thermostat, which, IMO, is far superior to the galvanized wire clip that is normally found, rusted to crap, inside the head spout. All of the above contribute to this being a fairly 'involved' task. In and of itself, switching out a water pump isn't that big a deal; it's all the little extra stuff that goes with it, that turns it into a bit of a chore. Chris.