I like it! I'll be ordering soon. I wonder if they come pre-stained or if I'll have to do that myself?

I knew you "old timers" would come through for me with the shade tree fix. At 30, I don't have the years under my belt yet wrenching on these classics. I started wrenching on 80's "muscle" cars (irocs, monte SS...), and only in the last few years have I wondered into the 50's era.

PackardV8- the problem is slop in the steering wheel. Delayed movement between the steering wheel and the front tires.

I'll put the adjusting screw back to where it was and do it again with the car on the ground as it's been suggested.

Should I try to remove the current fluid before adding more? Or just top it off with fresh stuff. I think I've got some 80w-90 gear lube on the shelf out there.

PackardV8- do you do this with the car on the ground or up in the air? I did it with the car in the air.

Thanks for reminding me on the lube issue for the box! I didn't see a grease fitting so I'm guessing that you have to lube it by some other means. Anyone done this? There is another bolt on the top of the box. Maybe that's for adding the gear lube.

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I'm aware of the shimming process for the worm gear adjustment. What I'm talking about is the cross shaft adjustment that the pitman arm is connected to. The adjustment screw on the top of the box moves shaft and gear closer together or further apart. I don't happen to own any spring gauges or anything else that can measure down to 1/2 lb of pulling force. I'm looking for some seat of the pants experience here. I can adjust it, but I don't want to go too far. I was hoping someone could tell me where too far is. Also what are the signs of a steering box in need of removal and rebuilding?

I need some advise on adjusting the slop in the Manual Steering Box. I've got good tie rod ends but the idler arm has some back and forth slop with the wheels pointed straight ahead. I moved the adjusting screw clockwise a little over 1 full turn and it seemed to help but I don't know how far is too far with the adjusting screw.

Anybody have experience in this. Also, when do you know when it's time to rebuild the steering box?

Thanks fellas!

midtwnman - Welcome to the forum! The car looks good. I'm pretty new to Packards myself and have come to rely on this site heavily. Keep us updated on your project.

March 22, 2008 Update

Well, the King Pin kit came from Kanter this week. I took the knuckle up to my tire place and they pressed the old bearing and bushing out and put the new ones in for me. $10 well spent since I don't have a press. As you can see from the pictures, the new bushing is all brass, whereas the original was steel with a brass sleeve. The diameter of the new king pin was 0.865 and the bushing had a 0.855 ID after it was installed. I thought about taking it to a machine shop to have it reamed out, but I decided to try it myself first because it sounded cheaper in my head. I bought a three stone brake hone from the local parts store for $12 and just went to town honing the brass bushing. I had to use a good amount of WD-40 to keep the stones from loading up with brass, but it ended up working just fine. It probably took about a half hour of alternating between honing and checking the bore with my calipers.

After honing out the bushing I started reassembly. I found that the shim that I took out originally was now too big for the fresh parts. I guess that the new ball bearing is a little thicker than the old. The shim measured 0.069 and my feeler gauges told me I needed a 0.059 shim to do the job. I tried to find one locally here, but struck out. I decided to try and grind mine down and if that didn't work I'd order a new one. Luckily it worked out and I was able to get it put back together without finding a new set of shims.

Finally, I could get it buttoned back together just like the driver's side with the new wheel bearings and new shock. I also employed the suggested tightening procedure for the hub and went back and did the same to the driver's side. Thanks again for the advice BH and Owen!

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That looks great! What type of paint are you using?

Hey, it's your car. Everybody's got their own opinions but the only one that matters is yours when it comes to your car. I like the idea of a Packrod! Right now mine's looking more like a Packrat but not by design.

What style of flames were you thinking of? Classic, realistic, tribal. A nice traditional set of white/yellow/red fade would be cool.

Good luck, you'll find a ton of help here just as I have!

Drake, I like it. Love the solid black. What's sticking through the windshield?