Saturday 31st January 2009

Earlier in the week I'd arranged to meet Wade early at the workshop this morning. We were going in Wades Dual Cab Ute to view the 40's Packard engine and O/D trans that Wayne, in the Packard club with a nice '36 120, had told me about back in November, when I met him at the show and shine at Wyong on the Central Coast of New South Wales. Wayne lives at Toowoon Bay while the Packard engine and trans were at Long Jetty a short distance away, all being on the Central Coast. It's about 55 miles north from the Workshop and we were met there by Wayne in his 'yard'. The yard comprises a house up on platforms waiting to be transported, a portable office that was locked, a large extra-extra wide trailer for hauling large oversize portable buildings and a semi-rig with a fork lift on board and longer trailer also for hauling portable buildings. The rest of the yard had lots of "stuff" spread around it including the Packard parts in question. What does Wayne do for a living? Why move large portable buildings of course!

Wayne told us there are actually 2 engines and both had their heads off and are sitting outdoors. Have identified the engine lying on it's side as a 1948 288 thanks to the Packard Engine Serial Number Reference chart here on PackardInfo -https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/article/view.article.php?246 The other engine's serial number couldn't be deciphered because of the rust and crud on it, so we'll find out what it is later. There was also a complete rear end assembly with sway bar and I noted at least one of the tyres was a 7:60 x 15". Other parts were a couple of oil filters with oil lines attached, a tailshaft, a badly broken carburettor, a steering box, a front engine mount, a distributor and some other bits and pieces. After looking them over Wade asked Wayne how much he wanted for it all to be met by the reply "Nothing, it's yours"! That was a surprise! Apparently Wayne had envisioned putting the O/D trans in the '36 but that was some years ago and other things intervened in the meantime and he didn't end up doing it, obviously. He's now looking to move the parts on before they get too much further degraded and end up going to the tip. And by moving them on into Wade's and my hands whatever is excess to our requirements will be available to other Packard club members should they require it.

That was entirely unexpected, especially as I'd stopped at an ATM on the way to the workshop to ensure I had cash in my pocket. But there was a snag, the engines were difficult to access, there were a couple of concrete drainage pipes between them and the Ute. Plus Wayne didn't have any lifting equipment on site. So we loaded up the O/D trans(which might be a R6 - EDIT, It's an R9!), which is without a solenoid or governor, the rear end and the rest of the parts literally lying around in the weeds. It also transpired that the portable office was locked and the guy with the key is in hospital at present. The head for one of the engines is definitely in the office and there could be some other parts in there as well. Wade said if Wayne could get the 2 engines on a pallet it would probably be easiest that way as the palleted engines will fit in the back of the Ute and would also help in unloading at the workshop with the forklift there. So I'll call Wayne next week to find out whats happening and then we'll take things from there. When we got back to the workshop used the forklift to lift out the rear end, a lot easier than getting it on board at Long Jetty, and then used a hand pallet trolley to get it over to Wades work area. Also used the hand pallet trolley for the O/D trans with most of the other bits being carried to their resting place. Monday will see some tidy up, culling and initial dis-assembly and cleaning to help determine exactly what we've got and whether all the parts are worth keeping. And leaving the workshop to go home after the unloading found I'd lost my glasses, so there was a cost to this after all. They could well be in amongst the weeds at Wayne's yard.

Quote:
Dan,

Thanks for the good wishes. Just a little correction, it's "ONE941"

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Now that most of the work on the '41 Club Coupe is complete I need to find another outlet for the mostly Packard related happenings that I'll be coming across in Wade's Workshop from time to time. I'll keep updating the '41 Coupe blog as things specific to it occur but that should be a less regular event. While the '41 was the main focus of my first blog there were a lot of other Packard related matters commented on or pictured and these will be the main stories here together with the many auto related diversions I'm prone to include.

Today, Friday 30th January, marks the start of this new perspective and commences with my '38 Eight Sedan which has been sitting in the workshop since Thursday 22nd January when I took the Coupe home. A list of things to be looked at on the '38 goes like this:
- Check shock absorbers
- Check brake fluid level
- Check trans and diff levels
- Grease all grease points on car
- Rotate tyres
- Adjust brakes
- Fix clock(Stopped working)
- Fix radio(Works but volume is on maximum and can't be adjusted)
- Adjust clutch(Very heavy operation)
- New starter solenoid

Reason I want to do these things on the '38 is that I will probably be selling it in the next few months and want to bring it back up to a reasonable operating level for the new owner. Have done over 3,500 miles since I bought it in May '07 and apart from a re-built water pump, new head gasket, the Peter Packard radiator and block flush treatment, a new set of sparkplugs, a couple of oil changes, a welded up clutch rod and a wheel almost falling off I've done nothing to it since then! I think one Packard is sufficient for my needs at the moment plus my garage is absolutely chock-a-block with 2 Packards in it!

So this morning drove to the workshop in the '41, again it's very nice to be able to say that, and for the first time it didn't go into the workshop but was parked on the roof. Was just getting the trolley jack in place under the front of the '38 when Wade arrived. His right ear looks somewhat swollen after yesterdays mishap and he has some pain too but otherwise is fine. Jacked the front up and put a pair of jack stands under the frame then with a few words of advice from Wade commenced to adjust the front brakes. Started on the left front and of course turned the adjuster the wrong way to start with, but after realising the error of my ways managed to adjust the brake to Wade's satisfaction. Then right front, learnt from the left front so that was done a little quicker. Front wheels back on ground, jack stands out and moved to the rear brakes. Jacked up diff, put jack stands under frame, let down diff and result? Tyres back on the ground! So jack up diff again, jack stands out from under frame rails and repositioned under axle housings. Result? Diff, wheels and tyres stay up where you want them! Much more difficult to adjust the rears because of accessibility mainly because the spring hanger nuts are right where you don't want them. Prevailed and, apart from starting by turning the adjuster the wrong way, adjusted both rear brakes.

What next? Decided to rotate the tyres because the fronts are more worn than the rears. Had Wade hold his foot on the brake while I broke the rear wheel lug bolts free with a long socket handle. Also broke free the front wheel lug bolts while they were on the ground then jacked up the front again and more jack stands in place. Did the left side first, taking the front wheel/tyre off and replacing it with the rear from that side. But before doing the actual swap Wade had a look around to see if there was anything evident that needed fixing. All looked OK except for the fuel filler tube which has a rubber hose section between the tank inlet and the actual filler tube. The rubber was somewhat perished so while access was good took the opportunity to replace it. Getting it out was easy enough but replacing it with the new rubber hose section, provided by Wade, was somewhat more difficult, but we made it.

During the fuel filler hose replacement, Jeff our Rally Director for the Packard National Rally in March arrived with some paperwork for Wade who's the Treasurer of our Packard Club. Proved a nice little diversion in the middle of a hot day and provided me with the opportunity of touching base with Jeff regarding the tour of the Restoration Shop I'm organising as part of the Rally. However you could have knocked me over when he said he had 54 people wanting to go to the Resto shop! Right up till only a few weeks ago we seemed to be struggling to get the minimum 20 people required. Then about a week ago Jeff informed me that 38 had nominated and now it's 54! Called the Resto shop this afternoon and Sarah tells me they can cope with up to 60 by splitting them into 2 groups, so it's working out well.

But back to Wade's Workshop. Wade had been taking it easy today offering advice and guidance where required but not doing too much physically. He did help Rick who was having trouble getting the trans out of a little Suzuki 4 Wheel Drive and he also fixed the clock in the '38. The clock worked when I bought the car but hasn't for about the last 12 months. Wade opened the glove box door and said I only had a wire for the clock light and nothing to power the clock. He took the back off the clock to find it has a battery powered mechanism now driving it and doesn't require an external power source only a new battery. And he even provided a new AA battery and cleaned out the mechanism because the old battery was leaking. And putting the front wheels/tyres back on noticed the upper outer front bushings are ratty and need replacement. Will order these tonight and once the '38's back on the road will have a front end alignment done on so we keep heading in the right direction! Looks like there'll be a few additional things along the way in addition to those on the list

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Quote:
G'day David,
to Packardinfo. Please take advantage of the Owner Registry and include your Clipper there together with a pic, any known history and how you acquired it.

John,

I can allay your concerns as split pins, or to use your terminology cotter pins, are being used for the front wheel bearing nuts. The method, sequence and hardware including the special lock washer in use are exactly as you describe. I was surprised that this happened, as was Wade seeing he's done many Packard front wheel bearings over the years without this occurring.

Thursday 29th January 2009

Drove the '41 down to the workshop this morning. Gee it feels good to be able put those words in print! Put some gas in on the way down, about 30 litres, and the gauge reads about 1/2 full. One thing though was when I started up, after getting the gas, there was a knocking sound for about 2 seconds! After that it ran fine. At Wade's suggestion checked the oil level and as it was down a bit so topped it up with about 1&1/4 litres. Will monitor oil level regularly as there seem to be oil leaks up front and also at rear, but not excessively. Looks like the re-built engine will be coming sooner rather than later.

Reason why the '41 was back at the workshop were the front-end adjustments required as shown by the alignment check last week. Jacked the front up, put jack stands under frame and took off both front wheels. First thing Wade found was that both front wheel bearings were loose! Literally could just about rattle them! And this after I watched Wade tighten them up months ago! Anyway, apart from that, needed to adjust the camber on the right front and caster on the left front.

Did the right front first. Undid the upper arm nut and bolt and removed the bolt and also the tensioning nut and bolt for the shock arm which doubles as the upper arm. Pushed the upright out and tied it up so it wasn't held up by the hydraulic brake line. The offset bushing in the upper arm was positioned so that it was "in". Took a measurement for reference and then reversed the bushing so that it was "out". Result of this was that the top was now about 5/16" further out than before. From the advice Brian gave us last week we were looking for 1/4" and think that 5/16" is close enough to suffice. Then bolted the upright, upper arm and tensioning back together.

Next the left front. Took off the sway bar link so the 15/16" bolts holding the torque arms could be accessed. Using a long bar loosened the bolts then undid them to give enough play to allow 2 of the shims to be inserted. Sounds easy but it wasn't. Took a bit a persuasion to get a gap of sufficient width to allow the shims to be inserted. And of course had to slightly re-cut a couple of the shims I made on Monday for a better fit and also finished them up on the emery and wire wheels. Tightened everything back up including the sway bar link which was the tough part. Also took the opportunity to re-tighten the right side torque arm bolts necessitating removal and re-fit of the sway bar link for that side also.

Then the wheel bearings. Put both wheels back on and then Wade did the right side first. Easy enough, but it took a number of turns to bring the bearings back so that there was no slack or play. Wade got up to stretch himself at that point so I thought I'd finish the job by putting the grease cap back on! But before I could do that I heard a THUD! behind me as Wade hit his head and right ear against, the side-mount on the '38 as he crashed to the floor. Scared the whatever out of me as I jumped up and went to his aid. Just told him to lie still initially but after a minute or two he propped himself up against the fender of the '38 while I went to get him some water. Wade has a little jug of water on his desk and I made a beeline for that but what about a glass? On my way to get one, stopped Rick in his work and pointed him in Wade's direction to help. Located a glass and back to Wade, with Rick now in attendance, and that's when I discovered that Wade's jug has a glass as a stopper in it's top. Now remember Wade showing it to me months ago, but in the stress situation it just didn't click in. Wade's hand was shaky with the first mouthful or two, probably shock, and then settled down. After 5 minutes or so we moved to Wade's desk area and sat down and just took it easy for a while. Kept the fluid up to Wade while asking him if he should be going to hospital or seeing his doctor. Wade insisted he was OK, of course, except for his bleeding ear and the bump he copped in that area! After about another 35/40 minutes then returned to finish the right side wheel bearing. But this time with Wade sitting on a stool giving advice and directions while I did the work part. That was the way it was supposed to be but Wade did still got his hands dirty, can't help himself.

Also took the opportunity to check the oil leaks while we could. It's not apparent where they are but could be from the fuel pump or pulley up front and possibly rear main at back. There is also still a small leak from the O/D solenoid which a thicker gasket might fix.

The other thing I'd mentioned to Wade early in the day was the speedo and speedo cable. So after I got the jack stands out and let the jack down, there was Wade upside down under the dash! He undid the speedo cable from the speedo, see pic, and found that there was a small piece of the cable separate from the main shaft of the cable. Is this right? Sorry I didn't think to take a pic of it. But with the cable now disconnected the inner cable can be seen and next time I have a passenger will have them monitor whether it's turning or not. The other option of removing the dash to take out the speedo is NOT an option at this time and I'll drive without one for a while if necessary.

But back to Wade. I left early so he could relax at the workshop for a while and impressed upon him to need to get help if needed. John and Rick are there and will keep an eye on him I'm sure. I also told him the reason I was so concerned for him was because "where would I find another Packard mechanic like him", so he knew my true intentions! Seriously though, you'll notice there are no pic's of Wade on the floor after the fall or propped up against the '38 so my papperazzi instincts must need fine tuning! And I wish Wade a speedy recovery as I told him I'll see him tomorrow morning at the workshop!

EDIT - Pic added of Wade's disassembled '34 grill ready to go to be re-chromed.

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Kev,

Thanks for that. I didn't realise you could change the heading that easily.

Quote:
Kev,

I was confused with the headings on many of the posts on this thread saying "Re: Packard Swap Meets. Where are they?" until I backtracked and found Carl's post to change the thread from where some of the posts originated from. Is there a way that all the posts in this thread can be titled with "Re: Packard A/C"?

Mike,
for adding your '40 110 Club Coupe to the Registry. Interesting history there, I'm eagerly awaiting the continuation of the story. And would be interested in seeing some pic's too.

Monday 26th January 2009

Australia day -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_Day

Yesterday was not a good day. I've been tossing up whether to come clean or not, but in the end conscience won out and I must confess my sins. What happened you ask? Two things, both bad and both avoidable! First I scraped the right rear fender in the morning.
And to top it off scraped the right front fender in the afternoon. Constant readers will recall I had also scraped 3 fenders on the '38 and had them repaired last year. So it seems I don't learn from my mistakes, only repeat them.

Day started out badly, when on backing the Coupe out of the garage, thought I had enough room, from my vision in the right side door mounted mirror, to clear the garage entrance. I did, but not enough to miss the chest of drawers near the entrance which put a "crease" about 10" long in the right rear fender. Not too noticeable and I was going to live with it because the surface hadn't been broken. Anyway after that had a nice run up to Rouse Hill and back, about 35 miles all up, to see Kath's sister Maureen and her husband Steve who were both impressed by the Coupe. Took a pic on the way back at about 40mph, estimated, because the speedo isn't working properly and the cable is making noise but all the other gauges are working(even the fuel gauge, but I'm keeping a close eye on it). Apart from that the Coupe performed admirably. So later this week it'll be back to the workshop to be attended to along with any other matters requiring attention.

Then it got worse! My eldest son Luke, and his wife Donna, came over to join my youngest son Greg's day before Australia Day BBQ, a ritual at our place for him and his friends for the last few years. Took Luke, Donna and Emma, Greg's girlfriend, for a ride to show off the Coupe and on backing it out of the garage contacted a brick step with the right front fender just in behind the wheel opening about 3" x 1&1/2". And this time lost some skin off the Coupe. OUCH! So with this injury It'll be back to Col, the guy who fixed the '38's scars for some remedial treatment for the '41. I'll also take the opportunity and have Col touch-up the various chips and minor scratches that were already there.

This morning backed the Coupe out of the garage, and this time without incident. The chest of drawers on the right side inside the garage has been moved and the big wheelie bins just outside the left side of the garage door have been re-aligned. I now realise it was because I was avoiding the bins on the left side that the much blinder right side took the battering. So this time it was easy, came virtually straight out without having to worry about manoeuvering to avoid anything. Another costly $$$$$$ lesson learnt. The only thing was, I found an oil spot on the garage floor approximately where the crankshaft pulley is, so another matter for a workshop looksee.

One positive for the day though. I cut out a number of "shims/spacers" from some thin aluminium plate to use in adjusting the castor for the left front suspension.

Confession over, soul cleansed, penance to be paid but Packard still injured.

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Hank,

There is a Packard part obscuring Leslie's signed poster to you. What did you do to deserve the poster and what does the obscured inscription say? "Can I be your next ........" Is it girlfriend?