Tuesday 25th Movember 2008

Just a couple of hours at the workshop this morning. Wade wasn't in so I was left to my own devices. First took down the rear number plate bracket hardware which had been hung up to dry after being POR-15'd yesterday afternoon. Next was re-installing the left rear fender gravel shield, P/N 357492. Impressed Randy? I know I am! Fancy being able to cross reference the part number with the part! But first had to clean up the hardware(nuts, bolts and washers) and make a new MBM rubber washer to replace P/N 326541. There, I did it again!

Then onto cleaning out the old rubber gaskets from the headlight lamp doors. The gaskets are P/N 358078 and the headlight lamp doors P/N 367863. Gee, I'm getting the hang of this now! But the trouble is, I don't want to set a dangerous precedent and be expected to provide part numbers in all future posts! So with that in mind I'll leave the cross referencing for the real experts. Anyway, back to the old rubber gaskets. They were very weathered and perished and falling apart when removed from the '41 many months ago. However the design of the headlight lamp doors has the edge crimped to hold the gasket in place. This creates problems, 1) in removing the crimped pieces of gasket firmly held in place by each crimp, and 2) straightening the crimped pieces so a new gasket can be installed. Removed as much of the old gasket as I could with scrapers, small screwdrivers and small very sharp picks. But left any straightening for tomorrow as I was fearful I would damage the headlight lamp door if I attacked it in my usual heavy handed way.
Besides Wade will be back tomorrow and no doubt will have advice or suggestions as to how this can be done without damaging the part.

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G'day Dan,

Great topic and interesting to see what response it'll bring.

And a question for you. Are you planning to 'scratch that itch' by becoming a Packard owner soon? If so, don't forget to add it to the Owner Registry together with a pic, any known history and how you acquired it.

G'day kevinpackard,

aboard Packardinfo, very appropriate given the topic under discussion here.

Could you please add your Packard/s, usually automotive but marine versions would be welcome, to the Owner Registry together with a pic, any known history and your acquisition of them?

Dave,

Thanks for the pic's of the ex Barbara Hutton '35 and the '37 with the '17 Pierce Arrow body. The transplanted bodies from earlier era's certainly seem right at home mated with their Packards, in fact I'm quite taken with them. I did notice in your museum pic that the Pierce bodied car has a Cormorant in lieu of the Archer in the Life pic. Also notice in your pic it still has small cowl lights.

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G'day Kevin,
for adding your Packard to the Owner Registry. I've taken the liberty of copying and pasting your story from the Owner Registry of how you acquired it as it makes for interesting reading for a wider audience.

Here is a 1931 Club Sedan Project,I just purchased this car on Nov 1,2008 it came from the original family, restoration was started in the 80's and the frame,engine,clutch,and brakes were restored the car was not finished and set inside since,some parts are missing but most are here,anyone with any parts or other info on this car please email me at kevin@malibusportswear.com we will be documenting every aspect of this project,my 11 year old son Devin will be in charge of research,parts cleaning, and decision making as to what parts to retain and what parts to remake,he is a die hard car kid and strives for keeping things original.We are falling in love with Packards more and more everyday.Can't wait to cruise it around the block.You guys have been great thanks for all your help.We have named this the "SAVANNA PROJECT" after the 12 year old girl that found this car on a feild trip.We have a t-shirt company and will be making some t-shirts for all involved.

Your "SAVANNA PROJECT" would make a great thread in the Project Blog Forum especially as you and your family are documenting the restoration.

Monday 24th November 2008

Always thought my "blood was worth bottling" as the old saying goes. However it turned not to be so today because the Bloodbank knocked back my offer of a donation because I'd had antibiotics within the last week!

So with hopes of doing my civic duty dashed, it was off to the workshop to find that Wade, with Rick and John's help, had installed the rebuilt trans in John's '39. So while Wade continued bolting things together and back on, under John's car, I did some work on the '41. Oh, and Wade had an O/D solenoid from Peter, another guy in the club, which he's going to fix for him.

First made a gasket for the cover plate on the firewall where the wiring harness exits from the back of the dash. Only took 3 attempts, and MBM (Made By Mal) gaskets came through again. However mounting the plate on the firewall was a challenge and couldn't access the top screw which is shielded by the 'gutter' at the top edge of the firewall. So undid the screw and nut holding it on that side, didn't help. But then had another problem in getting that screw and nut together again. Dropped the nut and washer numerous time trying to thread them together. And while I finally managed to do it it was with a replacement washer AND nut as I lost the originals. They're on the floor somewhere, but where? During the course of this Wade suggested sweeping the floor in that area and I found the nut I was searching for. But it also resulted in some workshop housecleaning, and I suspect this was Wades real intention all along.

Next job was to remove one wire (No 17) from each side of the headlight wiring harnesses as these were superfluous to our requirements. Then sliding on the internal and external headlight bucket connectors to each side of the headlight wiring harnesses. Also made a new MBM gasket for each connector.

By this time Wade needed a break from his under '39 wrenching and we turned to the remaining rear wiring needing completion. Wade made a couple of ground wires for the taillights/stoplights to ensure a good earth for each side. Then I routed them through the taillight retaining brackets and bolted each to the top bolt then fed them through the grommetted holes in the trunk floor. Then drilled a small hole on each side of the rearmost crossmember, scraped away POR-15 from around the drilled holes and affixed the ground wires. A test of the taillights, and more importantly the stoplights, showed all now workedas they should.

Then turned to the number plate and trunk lights. Cleaned up the cylinder which clips into the trunk handle housing and tested that the bulb and wiring worked, it did. Onto the trunk light, this was disassembled leading to Wade figuring out how it went back together, which he did. This is the place the tilt switch I bought will come into play because the mercury switch in the original is cactus. After a failed attempt to 'modify' the mercury switch made a substitute out of a length of bolt hacksawed and ground to fit. Wade made a new contact and wire up, using one of the brass rivets I'd bought some months ago, and it too worked.

Had also removed the trunk handle because of having difficulty in getting the number plate light socket to fit, couldn't do it. Turns out there's a build up of 'bonky' around the hole it inserts through, so with a little judicious filing a good fit was achieved. But because the trunk handle and number plate bracket were now off some opportunities now arose. One was to clean up and POR-15 the number plate bracket. The other was to take the trunk handle to a locksmith on the way home because I didn't have a key to fit it. Should pick it up tomorrow or Wednesday and it's going to be keyed the same as the ignition key.

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G'day Kevin,

aboard Packardinfo, a great Site.

Could you please add your '31 to the Owner Registry together with a pic, any known history and how you acquired it?

Now there are 260 Packards in the Owner Registry, and 870 Forum members.

To all those who haven't yet added their Packard/s to the Registry -

Do it NOW! Add your Packard/s to the Owner Registry!

Don't forget - Include a picture, history if known and how you acquired it.
And to all those who have added their Packard/s to the Registry

Gerd,

You've brought this thread 'back to life' so to speak.

Because of that I'll now unleash an unproven Packard connection with General Douglas MacArthur. Seems that when MacArthur was in Australia after leaving the Philippines a car was "requisitioned" for him and is believed to be a '37 Packard Super 8. It's also thought to be the '37 Super 8 that Harvey, the guy who woodgrained my dash, now owns. Trouble is it's history can't be tracked or verified during that time. But it's original bail radiator cap does bear the scars of having had an attachment to it for mounting a pennant or flag. The Super 8 has also been restored and any military markings it may have had cannot now be found. My understanding is that there is also reference to this car in an authorative local publication but nothing specific enough to positively identify the Super 8 as having been used by MacArthur.

And another lesser connection to the US military, also unsubstantiated, is my '38 Eight. Story goes it was a Hire Car in Melbourne, was "commandeered" by the US military early in WW2 and used on a fortnightly mail run from Melbourne or Adelaide to Darwin. Decent roads were mostly non-existent and sometimes conditions necessitated driving on railroad tracks, dry creek beds, through scrub and bush. The round trip from Adelaide was about 3,600 miles and from Melbourne about 4,500 miles. Blew an engine on one trip which was replaced with a '37 engine in Darwin. And the gears in the transmission were very worn tending to be "knife edged" when restored about 20 years ago.

A couple of interesting anecdotes which if substantiated would make the history of either Packard just a little more "special".

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Dave,

There's a similar topic on the AACA Technical Forum "Are 9/16" fine thread wheel bolts obsolete?". A guy in Norway is after flange head wheel bolts 9/16" x 2" UNF thread to fit a 1929 Chrysler. Could be an answer will come up there.

http://forums.aaca.org/ubbthreads.php/topics/553678/Are_9_16_fine_thread_wheel_bol#Post553678