Yes thanks Mal and O_D. Your words confirm my thoughts. I will approach it initially with some thicker cork gasket material and shellac as you describe. Later I may source a replacement if budget allows. Thanks.

Before and after clean-up pictures of the water jacket cover/distribution plate. My father had this one hand-made in the mid 80s because the original one had rusted badly. It's a bit rough but it's type 316 stainless steel; good corrosion resistance.

The mechanics who fitted this in the 80s used far too much silicon sealant. It had squeezed inside and half-obscured the inlet. I hope to reuse this plate but with a thicker gasket material and minimal sealant. Got an enormous amount of work to do before it goes on though.

J

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Thanks very much for your thoughts Peter and Mal.

Crikey that flushing process is spectacular Peter! And thanks for the encouragement to continue with the in-situ resuscitation.

Thanks too, Mal, for your thoughts and info. Yes I was very careful to cover the oil inlet, except for while taking the picture, sorry.

I am almost ready to remove the sump / oil pan, too. It was to be next job on the list. I spent quite some time yesterday tweaking the supports to make it safer under. I have it nicely supported on big jack stands now, so I feel it's safer to go under. The front pair are under the spring brackets and the rear ones are supporting the diff housing. This task was made easier by a big floor jack I bought last week. It seems pretty stable to me now; I would like the front stands to be further apart but that doesn't seem possible because the steering gear interferes with the right side.

Don't worry about corrosion in the water cover plate and its internal distribution plate. It will shine up as good as the day it was made. It's type 316 stainless steel, there's not a speck of rust on it. My father had it made in the 80s because the ancient one was past useful service.

Whichever way I go is now going to take a while. I can't pressure clean it until I roll it outside, and I can't do that until I clear the agricultural junk from outside the adjacent shed door, fit a scraper blade to dad's tractor and clear the pile of earth there, buy a load of gravel and resurface the approach. Maybe by spring if I'm lucky.

Every job and obstacle seems to lead to another job and obstacle!

Cheers, John

Thank you both very much for your advice, Ross and Owen_D.

Feeling a bit daunted by this discovery. I was so hoping to delay the inevitable engine removal and complete rebuild for a year or two while I prepare for it.

I'm weighing up my options now.

Still 50% tempted to try Ross's suggestion with optimism, but that's only delaying the inevitable, isn't it? With a fair chance of other immediate problems being exposed.

Also 50% leaning towards the realisation that I might have to embark on an adventure unlike any I've ever experienced before; the removal and rebuild from scratch of this engine.

I know you blokes will help a lot if I do that, thanks. And I'm sure going to need it because I'm no mechanic. No dunderhead either; in fact with a past career as a manufacturing engineer I should have the courage to try.

Can't just farm it out to an expert for two reasons; 1 affordability and 2 lack of readily available and appropriate expertise.

Still thinking... and maybe planning.

Cheers, John

Grim day in the shed today.

Took the water jacket cover off; knew there was a likelihood of bad corrosion inside it that would need to be cleaned out. Almost too afraid to post the pics, but here they are. How depressed should I be?

Flying virtually solo down here so I'm appreciative of any advice.

Thanks in advance,

John

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Not a Patrician, sorry Peter. Not enough doors on this one for a Patrician. :)

Pleased to report great service from both far and near:

1 The newly rebuilt fuel pump has arrived from Arthur Gould Rebuilders in New York, and to my inexpert eye it looks fine. It was well packed, flew quickly and didn't get stung for import duty. Also included was a generous bag of various fittings for the fuel and vacuum lines. Thanks Chris Wahl of Arthur Gould Rebuilders!

2 The Stromberg EE-23 Carburetor now gleams like a piece of jewellery! I bought the Carburetor Rebuild Kit from Daytona Parts, but I found out about a local carburetor geek in my home town who loves to play with old ones. I thought "who am I to deprive a true carb aficionado of his pleasure?" And livelihood. I plonked the whole lot down on his bench, and for a very reasonable fee he has rebuilt it from scratch. This guy is seriously into carburetors. Loves them passionately! When I went to collect it he talked me through every intricate detail of the rebuild. He needed to machine some components from scratch and I'm convinced that either his hourly rate is low, or he puts in extra time for the love of it. He's run it on his test engine and proclaims it good to go. It sure looks beautiful!

Pics attached, including contact details of the carb bloke; Ricky Hunt.

Cheers from a cold, wet, wintry Tassie,

John

PS: Also included is a view of the 1200 I went to see last week for reference purposes. Might be glimpses of a couple of other Packards begging restoration in that pic...

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Hands-on progress on the 35 Coupe has been negligible this week because of work commitments, but I can report on a mind-expanding (or mind-boggling) visit to a Packard enthusiast in Melbourne last night. I won't name the gentleman (to ensure a degree of privacy) but I expect some readers will know the man to whom I refer.

Background: I've been spending countless hours doing research in preparation for more ambitious work on my car, but felt that I really wanted the chance to look under the bonnet of something similar to mine, to help me understand what I'm dealing with.
A short-notice overnight work trip to Melbourne gave rise to the following scenario.

I recently received the Membership Directory of the Australian Packard club, and found listed within it a member in Melbourne with a Twelfth series Eight; potentially ideal for me to see and from which to learn. Having a few spare hours in Melbourne yesterday evening, I placed a speculative call. In receipt of a generous short-notice invitation and directions to his workshop, I found myself soon after the call entering a veritable labyrinth of beautiful old cars in various stages of restoration or simply static preservation. I was able to look under the bonnet of his 1200 Sedan, and gained insights from it, but that was merely the start of an incredible evening. The gentleman in question has an astonishing collection of lovely old Packards, some Cadillacs, a Stutz and numerous other interesting projects. There was a beautiful 1936 Super Eight (Dietrich?) Convertible Victoria, for example, and a 1934 Twelve 5-Passenger Coupe amongst many other magnificent if tired Packards. The newly friended enthusiast is chipping away at these and many other projects, but is currently most heavily committed to the rebuilding of a quite spectacular V-16 Cadillac. These are merely highlights of row upon row of beautiful semi-completed projects, any one of which would satisfy the desires of most classic car enthusiasts.

Equally astonishing was his parts collection; so many shelves packed with highly desired components for many classic makes and models. For example of the 1930s Senior car fuel pumps, I saw a pile of I reckon roughly a dozen!

I was enthusiastically guided through the restoration collection until midnight. What an amazing experience! Incidentally, he has a brace of lovely 1954 Packards he wants to sell to make way for two 34 Packards waiting under tarps in the back yard. Very cheap; great restoration project. If you're genuinely interested in the 54s, let me know and I'll put you in touch.

A little progress to report this week:

1 The new fuel pump and my dead one are both on their way from New York. Maybe a week or so to arrive.

2 I've been spending countless hours researching various aspects of this project on the web. One research breakthrough is the solution of the carburetor mystery; if "carbking" of the AACA forum knows his stuff. I've been baffled by why my carburetor seems to be a hybrid, but it seems a hybrid EE23/EE22 is the real deal after all (see picture 1). Source:http://forums.aaca.org/topic/97192-36-packard-help-with-a-few-items-carb-ee22-ee23/

3 I've purchased and ordered more necessary tools, including a set of ratchet spanners and a set of hollow punches to improve the quality of my home-made gaskets. Still need to source some thicker gasket material for some of the old crumbled rubber and cork gaskets.

4 Some more scrubbing under the bonnet. Sorting the green from the black and the alloy. It's no longer a uniform dark brown.

5 Visited the local auto paint store with this website's X-ref detail for the Packard Engine Green (Dupont 546A Bell Green); in the hope of repainting the oil filter and associated tubing before refitting. Despite the store having Dupont software and paints, the bloke was unable to make sense of it. More study needed in that regard...

6 In order to faithfully follow David's guidelines for hibernation resuscitation, I need to remove the oil pan to clean and check. Simply too difficult with the vehicle on wheels. Today I battled for hours with my car jack and set of jack stands to gain some elevation. I'm still not happy with the result, but the car is sans wheels and is a little higher than it was. To get a better result I think I need to obtain a decent floor jack. It's a little low at the rear and slightly asymmetrical left to right, which can't be good for structural integrity. I'm not going under it until I've improved the placement and height of the jack stands.

The next week or so looks hectic with work trips to Melbourne and Hobart, so it might be a fortnight before I get back to task.

Cheers from Tassie,

John

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Gould's have responded with the attached fuel pump, and will send it to me rebuilt, so Dell yours can be kept in reserve for future needs. Thanks very much for the offer though! I really appreciate the mutual support and unreserved helpfulness of yourself and this on-line community.

No evening Packard time for me this week; it is very challenging just getting around the valley at the moment. Worst floods since 1929; I'm just commuting with some difficulty between home and work, and staying well out of trouble.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-08/tasmania-floods-launceston-suburbs-on-high-alert/7488734?section=tas

G'day from Tassie,

John

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