Packard Forum Index » Project Blogs

I haven't had a lot of time to work on the car this last month but I did get some paint on the engine and today I got a call saying my starter and generator were ready to be picked up. All appears to be in order with the exception of the windings in the voltage regulator. Anyone know an antique regulator guru?

Attach file:

---

  (61.91 KB)


  (72.17 KB)


  (49.38 KB)

I sent the generator and regulator out to Jason at Advanced Electrical Rebuilders about a month ago and expect to see it back in another month or two so in the mean time I've moved on to other things. First on that list was shortening the driveshaft. Before having the driveshaft worked on I had to rebuild the U-joints. After removing all the bolts I discovered that the original seals were worn out and after finding no suitable replacements I turned up some new seals from brass. They came out quite nice and the U joints went back together with no discernible slop at all. They feel as tight as the day they were made. With the new joints installed I took the shaft to Shaftmasters in Lincoln Park, MI and they took 7" out of the shaft, welded it back together and balanced it for under $250. They also fixed a bad weld that some hack had put in it years ago. The yolk closest to the differential ran out almost 1/8".

Attach file:

---

  (106.10 KB)


  (135.06 KB)


  (56.42 KB)

Next I decided to tackle the oil filter. I'd heard of using the old oil filter as a housing for a modern filter and that was the direction I took. I clamped up the original filter and used a propane torch to sweat the solder joints apart. After discarding the nasty paper element and internals I had two filter canister halves that fit together rather nicely. I then drew up a plan and bought a piece of 1" thick aluminum from McMaster and machined it to fit a new Ford filter. Once the machine work was done I used JB Weld to secure the aluminum block inside the canister and then repainted the unit. Mounted on the side of the engine it looks fairly convincing. I will get some decals for it soon.

Attach file:

---

  (46.92 KB)


  (44.11 KB)


  (45.76 KB)


  (63.44 KB)

I sent an e-mail over to the folks at Apple Hydraulics to inquire about having my dog bones (shock link arms) rebuilt and they didn't reply so I decided I'd do it myself. How hard could it be?

First I put each link in the vice and machined off the rivet heads on one side. Then they all went back in the mill to have the rivets drilled out. If you do this, don't drill all the way through, just drill them out so the tip of your drill is equal in depth to the backside of the link. I then hammered out the rivets with a punch. All the links were filled with rust and crud and half the ball studs were out of round. I managed to find another pair of links to scavenge for parts that were in better condition and I used the balls from these to get four good links worth of parts.

The originals were put together with steel rivets but I don't have the machinery to crush steel rivets so instead I used 3/16" x 1/2" round head brass rivets to put them back together. I made up a pair of dies from some old bolts and made some custom soft jaws for my vice to locate them. I then used the vice to set the rivets and reassemble the links with nice clean parts. This was a lot of work but now that it's done I'm glad I did it.

Attach file:

---

  (68.86 KB)


  (103.64 KB)


  (71.13 KB)


  (113.60 KB)

I forgot to mention that I made new felt oil wicks for the links too as these were almost completely gone from the originals.

Attach file:

---

  (86.83 KB)

The original brake cable guides on the frame of my car were chewed up so I made new ones from Delrin plastic. One of these guides bolts to each side of the frame like the originals and there is a 3/16" slot cut in to each side at a ten degree angle to let the wire pass thru. Hardly stock but I couldn't find decent originals.

Attach file:

---

  (68.98 KB)


  (41.29 KB)

So, here is what the chassis looks like as of this weekend:

Attach file:

---

  (84.19 KB)

Looking really good!

Yes! That deserves a thumbs up!

Beautiful work. Thanks for sharing.

(o{}o)