Thanks for the advice! I keep learning valuable information.

Hi,
Why shouldn't you use silicone gasket sealant? Anywhere else it shouldn't be used? Thanks
John

Hi Owen,
Just curious, what is the concern with a stainless steel water pump shaft?

Hi Jim,
I am still looking for a few items for a 1929 645 Sedan. One of them is an intact battery box. The bottom of mine has rusted through, and I was going to undertake the unenviable task of re-creating it. If you have one that isn't corroded, I would be interested. Please pm me and we can discuss the possibilities further. Thanks!
John

jwogec

Hi,
Bruce Blevins in Grand Blanc Michigan (blevins33@aol.com) makes all the drip plugs and connectors for the Bijur system on many of the pre-war cars, among a host of other items like shackle pins and various specialty bolts, nuts and washers. His stuff is extremely high quality because he is a machinist and he works from factory blueprints which he purchased many years ago. He is also a great source for those same factory blueprints which he will photocopy...for a price. If you send him a request for a blueprint for a specific part, try to get the factory part number from a catalog because he researches them by part number. They have saved me from a fair number of quandries as I have replaced missing and/or incorrect parts on my car. Bruce is spending less time on this part of his business and more time travelling, but his nephew is thankfully picking it up.

The Bijur Company is still in business (www.bijurlubrication.com) and has the original drawings showing which drip plugs are correct for each lubrication point on the early cars. If you email them, they will send you a copy of the drawing for your car. They were very accommodating a couple of years ago when I was on the same quest. You will need that drawing if you don't have it already as the replacement plugs that Bruce Blevins and Classic & Exotic sell match the plugs on the original drawings.

I have a sixth series car and the drip plugs do not come apart nicely to be cleaned, and replacing that tiny piece of wool crammed down inside is impossible on the early plugs. Unfortunately the plugs are made of aluminum and if you bend or damage them at all, they do not seal well. Good luck!

Yup,so there is at least one other car out there that has that same little piece bolted on to the end of that filter. Thanks for legitimizing my funky little part!

Hi,

I have an original owners manual published in August of 1928 for the sixth series cars, that for some reason actually shows a picture of this odd little contraption. I also have an owners manual for later in 1928 (again for the sixth series cars) which does not show it, on the same page!. I also have an original copy of the parts book. Packard continuously released updated pages for the parts book, so the pages in my copy range from 1929 to 1930, but it still has parts for the sixth series cars. Page 176 of the book shows the filter that Classic and Exotic is now making for the 1930 cars (7th series). Oddly enough, right next to that filter is a picture of the gasket for my crumbling valve (I included a picture because you just cant make this stuff up!). I am beginning to figure out that Packard made a change from the nuisance valve to the integrated unit some time between 1928 and 1930. Interestingly, the page in the book that references the oil filter for the 645 (updated to December, 1930) references the part in the picture, so unless I can find the "nuisance valve" that was clearly factory equipment in August, 1928, I will probably be investing in the updated canister which was in use in December, 1930. Wow, what a journey!

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Hi everyone,

I have heard that someone may be making brass reproductions of the valve that bolted on to the end of the oil filter. I'm not even sure what you call it, but the model number stamped on it is "Type SL". I have an original made of pot metal that has seen better days. If anyone is aware of the existence of a reproduction of this thing, please reach out to me. Many thanks!

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One more piece of advice: treat those little coiled brush retention springs with respect. One of them on my generator end cap broke, just to remind me of how helpless I am in the face of 1929 technology and I spent months searching for a replacement, to no avail. I wound up doing what most restorers do when faced with the same dilemma: I found something close on Ebay (there is still a group of small engine brush holders out there that use similar coiled springs). Best of luck!

Hi again,

I just finished restoring my starter a few months ago so I am familiar with that starter end cap. It fit a little roughly in place and I remember wanting to hit it with a hammer to have it seat completely. Thankfully I resisted that urge because that 90 year old casting may have reminded me of its age. Perhaps someone forgot that lesson at some time in the past and cracked the specimens in the picture then just put them back together in pieces? I don't have any other thoughts on why the end caps would fracture like that. They seem pretty heavy duty, but I am a novice at material science, so there may be some aspect of old, dirty castings that makes them give up the ghost after 90 years of stress, heat and oil impregnation.

As for the cost associated with casting versus 3D printing: I researched 3D printing for my footrest brackets and some guy in the midwest wanted $1,500 to reproduce them using 3D printing then CNC milling. He explained that the cost came from the milling which would take about 8 hours of machine time...at $150 an hour. My final cost for both castings was less than $400, then a few hours of time for a machinist to clean up the precision spots. The other huge benefit of using someone with casting experience is that they can recommend what type of metal to use. I remember my machinist commenting on how impressively hard the bronze was that Alcast used, which was intentional, to help them survive another 90 years.