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Tuesday 6th November 2012

First Tuesday in November is always Melbourne Cup Day. It lives up to its informal title of "the race that stops a nation" because it certainly does that to the workshop. About lunchtime the shop is shut up and it's off to the pub for the festivities. But me? Home, write this, then off to see 3/4 of the grandchildren, unfortunately Melbourne Cup Day took a low priority this year. But prior to shutting up shop, there was some work done. First the sylphon thermostat was installed in Noel's chassis' radiator. Then some painting of the K steering wheel and the upper column hub.

Turned next to the '33 and it was put up on the hoist and an undercar inspection made. All looks OK but did notice, although there's a Kelch heater outlet in the rear floor there's nothing undercar to connect it to. I was quite disappointed because I'd been looking forward to seeing the setup after I first saw the outlet in the rear floor when the '33 arrived. Also noticed most of the exhaust system is wrapped in insulating cloth. And there's a reason for that, it gets so hot under there that the wooden floor can catch fire! And the underside of the rear passenger compartment floor is charred so it's a necessity on this Packard! Wade also showed me the right rear shock absorber has its own heatshield because of its proximity to the exhaust system. Learning all the time.

But the real reason for putting the '33 up on the hoist was to find and mark the timing marks on the harmonic balancer. To see the balancer from undercar necessitated undoing a cover which conceals it from scrutiny from below, but much more likely to secure it from dirt and debris. Wade said neither of his '34's had that cover. With the cover off, then dropped the '33 down again but before going any further Wade adjusted the choke linkage and setup, it had been running much too fast on startup yesterday. Then the portable fuel system was transferred from the 356 to the '33. '33 started, very easily, no Start Ya Ba$#ard needed this time. Then the '33 went back up and so did Wade. While I watched the harmonic balancer Wade bumped over the starter until there was an excited yell from undercar, #1 had arrived! Balancer marks cleaned off but, before applying some contrasting paint, a check of the manual revealed there were three timing settings which might apply. Which setting was required was determined by whether the engine was fitted with a low compression, standard or high compression head. To determine which head was fitted Wade climbed the repositioned ladder and there on the rear of the head was cast HC. That settled, down the ladder and applied a line of white paint but there wasn't enough contrast against the balancer. Cleaned off the white and applied gold paint. But with the same result, not enough contrast, Cleaned off the gold and onto red paint. Good choice this time, highly visible and a good contrast. Then Wade was back up the ladder with me under car until another excited cry when #6 mark hove into view and it too was marked in red. '33 dropped back down, timing light connected in turn to #1 then #6 with both showing against the marks as being too retarded. Wade tried, with the hot exhaust manifold in close company, to advance the distributor by loosening the 3 nuts under it's body but to no avail. It wouldn't advance because it was at it's limit of adjustment. Will try again tomorrow.

And speaking of tomorrow, Noel is bringing Fleurette over mid morning for a checkover prior to the Packard Club run starting on Friday. The run is to Bathurst returning on Sunday or Monday and has been organised by Larry51. I'm looking forward to it although there has been rain forecast, at least for the first day.

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Mal, inability to sufficiently advance the ignition timing on 33/34 Eights with the original dual coils is commonly encountered when the distributor has been modified to accept a point conversion kit that uses modern Chrysler points. You run out of rotation because the cap clips run up against the rear-most coil, due to the pivot-to-rubbing block dimension being a bit different. If you haven't encountered this, it's an easy fix; the distributor breaker plate is only held down by 2 screws and with no vacuum advance to complicate matters, it's easy to just elongate the two screw holes and advance the entire plate within the distributor body.

Quote:Dave,

That's exactly what's happened and is the solution under serious consideration. Only one little thing, when contemplating a fix, Wade checked his spare distributor and it has 4 screws! But, before Wade looked at the spare distributor, he too was talking about 2 screws holding down the plate. We'll see later this morning when the distributor is pulled from the '33 for the remedial work required, if 4 screws just means more work!

Wednesday 7th November 2012

At the workshop this morning first up was attending to Big Red in the carpark. That bane of Wade's life leaks, whether they be fuel, oil or water, had raised it's ugly head again! This time it was oil, and after all the care and attention Wade put into trying to ensure this wouldn't occur! So after a clean up tightening, of various nuts/bolts/screws, which could be contributing to such an unseemly Packard occurrence, was undertaken. Then once inside Wade gave Noel's upper steering column hub another colour coat.

At this point Noel arrived and because of workshop space limitations Fleurette had to park outside next to Big Red. Soon jacked up and jack stands put in place. Wade then went under on the creeper and checked the trans and OD oil levels, which were OK. Diff level wasn't checked because there are no signs of any leaks, looks like that one is OK! Checked brake fluid level, it was OK, then the engine oil level which did need topping up. Looks like all Noel has to do now is give Fleurette a clean, top up with fuel, and all is in readiness for this weekends Packard Run to Bathurst.

Noel's departure saw attention turn to the '33. Distributor off and onto the bench for a closer assessment on how to correct the lack of advance adjustment with the new modern dual points setup. Solution as O_D suggested was to elongate the breaker plate holes so more turn was available. Meant a number of on and off distributor mountings and demountings, and repositioning of the #6 points set until timing for both sets of points were in sync. A finicky but worthwhile procedure with it being noticeable how engine running smoothed out once timing for both #1 and #6 was synchronised. With the '33 now starting easily and running smoothly Wade's brief on returning it to life is complete. From here the '33 should go to Dave, the guy who's doing the body and paint work. And speaking of Dave, Wade took a call from him while under Fleurette, turns out the '33's fuel tank is beyond repair so a new one will be fabricated.

Then, on my way home, dropped into see Richard, the only top bow maker in Australia and is on my route to/from the workshop. Richard's '24 30/98 Vauxhall Tourer was parked on his front lawn having just returned from a 4 day Vauxhall tour in Victoria. In getting there and back and during the tour he'd covered over 1,800 miles. The Vauxhall also cruises at 60mph, not bad for an 88 year old car, and a Pommy one at that! Because of Richard's expertise working with wood I had a question to ask, referred to Wade from a mate of his. Wade, I can tell you, the short answer is that Richard doesn't do what was asked but has given a possible lead which I'll be able discuss on Friday.

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Tuesday 13th November 2012

Now back from gallivanting around country New South Wales on the Packard Club run, see this thread, so returned to the workshop this morning.

First task there was to pull the plugs on the '33 and perform a compression test, the results of which from memory because the pic's I took of the paper they were written on had too much flashback to read are, 1 = 120, 2 = 115, 3 = 120, 4 = 120, 5 = 120, 6 = 115, 7 = 120 and 8 = 125, very good! Then cleaned, re-gapped and re-installed the plugs. Started the '33 and checked the timing on both #1 and #6 and it was spot on. Then, the workshop portable fuel tank system was removed from the '33 and it's own temporary fuel tank system installed. This entailed cleaning out a 5 litre, about 5 quart, plastic oil container, drilling two holes in the cap 1) for the fuel line, 2) the other as a vent and installed it in the splash tray in front of the fuel pump. Will be enough to get the '33 on and off the back of a tilt tray tow truck and for workshop movements when required. Then the '33 was temporarily parked outside. It's now ready to go for the body and paintwork required to return it to it's former glory.

In the '33's place Big Red was backed in and put up on the hoist for a checkover and oil and oil filter change after being run in for about 500 miles. Big Red had performed almost flawlessly on the Bathurst trip and was being rewarded with some TLC. Undid the sump plug and drained the oil then removed the filter assembly which is a machined aluminium housing containing a modern spin on filter cartridge. Cleaned up the filter housing, changed the filter cartridge, a new pair of MBM gaskets for the oil pipe plumbing system and re-installed the filter assembly. Then filled with oil and ran the motor briefly. This filled the filter and cartridge assembly as well as any empty passages. Then added another 2 litres of oil and up to the full mark again. Next matter was checking the timing, which turned out to be a little retarded, now fixed. Then, with the engine warmed up, the head nuts were re-torqued and the intake and exhaust manifold nuts re-tightened. The rear brakes were also adjusted. All that remained at the time I left was to move Big Red outside, ready for the trip home tonight, and bring the '33 in.

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Mal

Had a great time meeting you all and was certainly inspired seeing the finished product!Really enjoyed the day.

The info I received from a variety of club members was exceptional and will help considerably in my reconstruct.

As with most things in life; having a Kiwi involved (Wade) ensures success and perpetual happiness...kidding!

Wednesday 14th November 2012

Arrived late morning at the workshop to find Wade finishing washing Big Red, all the country grime, dirt and mud from visiting Mat, packard34, on Monday needed to come off. But why was I later than usual? Two reasons, picked up the Santa suit for my festive season job and also picked up a pair of round jaffle irons. Wade had restored a square double jaffle iron for Gina recently but at Bathurst Gina advised she really wanted the round type. My wife Kath, without a word, took this onboard and promptly found a pair of round jaffle irons on eBay locally, bid and won, so I was able to pick them up on the way to the workshop. Speaking of picking things up, seeing I had to pass by Lee Bros, on returning from picking up the Santa suit, I dropped in to pick up the stainless steel dome nut they didn't have last time. Needless to say they didn't have it this time either! But I did purchase nuts, bolts and washers for the pedal pads Noel had given me at Bathurst to go on the Chassis's pedals. At the same time Noel had also come up with a steering wheel retaining nut and I forgot to bring any of these items in yesterday!

So while Wade finished cleaning then Chamoising Big Red, the later done in the workshop, I blasted the pedal pads, steering wheel nut and the jaffle irons. Then Wade tells me Gina really wants a round double jaffle iron! Hmmmm, looks like Kath will be trolling eBay again! In the meantime the two round jaffle irons have received their first coat of stove paint with a second coat to follow tomorrow. Noel's parts were also painted but with that old workshop standby, POR-15. While I was painting Wade, having finished with Big Red, proceeded to start mocking up a platform on which to mount a seat on Noel's chassis. This is so it can be workshop driven and for driving on and off trailers in the near future. Wade's first thought for a seat was a plastic milk crate but that proved to be too high. Next option was one of a pair of bucket seats stored under the ramp going up to the rooftop carpark. They are John's and he was happy to see one of them put to use, albeit temporarily. After recovering one seat from its repository set about cleaning it. A bucket of suds, a scrubbing pad and away I went, although at first I suggested to Wade using the hose but he was averse to doing that. However, nearing the end of the cleaning, he must have thought my suggestion had some merit because the cleaning was finished off with a good hosing down! Took the seat into the workshop and it looked the goods on the piece of MDF on which it will be mounted. By chance it was the passengers side seat so suited the LHD chassis. Noel, cancel your plans for new upholstery. How about a pair of Ford Falcon bucket seats instead? One of which is now quite presentable, the other just needs a clean!

Also had a visit from John, Appin, who had suffered from a blown head gasket on his '40 110 Sedan as well as a manifold gasket on the start of the Packard run to Bathurst last Friday. Although John has a spare head gasket, Wade had a better one on the shelf and John is going to use that instead.

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Thursday 15th November 2012

Had a call from Noel before I left for the workshop. He was enquiring as to my availability late next week to go up to Mudgee, where his mate Tony has finished the body except for the boot(trunk) lid. Noel is going to pick up the body and bring it back to Sydney to be painted. And he and Tony are going to the paintshop this morning which Mat, packard34, had his '55 Caribbean repainted at. Wants to check them out before entrusting them with his Coupe. Noel was also amused with my comments yesterday about the seats and upholstery. Except Noel, I wasn't joking! You'd have the only '41 Packard Coupe like that in the world, one of one!

Then on the way to the workshop called into the hardware store and surprised Wade with nuts, bolts and washers to bolt the MDF to the chassis and the bucket seat to the MDF. To make the MDF level three pieces of 3" x 2" pine were used, 2 laid on the 2" side on the body mounts on the outside of the chassis, while the other piece was laid on the X of the X-member on the 3" side. Drilled a hole through each piece of 3" x 2" then measured up the distances between the holes selected as the mounting points. Thought triangulation was going to work but obviously didn't measure accurately enough as the hole for the X-member mount was out by 2and5/8"! That sorted, then turned to the seat itself. The seat mountings had suffered when removed from the car they came out of, plus one was much too long. No doubt it fits a Ford Falcon but it won't fit an MDF '41 Packard floor. Removed that mount then Wade fabricated a mount from some scrap brackets he has just for these type of occasions. Used about half the bracket selected, the other half will go back for the next call, and with some bending, Voila, a bracket! Also had to cut off the "ears" which held the captive bolts in place, these had been bent in the seats removal. Also freed up the seat travel mechanism by first running brake cleaner over it and operating it repetitively. Then the same procedure using WD40, works quite well now. Then mounted the seat on the MDF and marked through the footing brackets where holes were required in the MDF. This time didn't need a second go at it, although a couple of the holes were a bit tight. It's hard to get a marking implement under a low seat to mark the marks required. Then the seat came off for a welding repair. One of the original footing brackets spot weld had come apart, probably when it was removed. John did that in his inimitable daredevil no welding helmet fashion, he just closes his eyes! He did a good weld so must be fairly practiced in this technique. Bolted the seat in place and tightened up the MDF to chassis bolts then Wade had the honour of being first to sit behind the '41's wheel, which was now firmly bolted to the steering column with the nut painted yesterday.

Wade had also, while I was measuring and drilling holes in the MDF, fitted the painted pedal pads and new pedal rubbers to the brake and clutch pedals. Next little job was manufacturing a temporary fuel delivery system for the '41 and again an old 5 litre oil container of John's was chosen as the tank. After cleaning out the oil residue, I drilled two holes in the cap one for the fuel line the other much smaller as a vent. Filled the container with the fuel remaining from the 20 litre container, almost exactly 5 litres, couldn't have planned it better! Wade cut a piece of fuel line to length and inserted it in the container and to the fuel pump inlet. The chassis is now just about set to roll except it requires a throttle or accelerator. Looks like we're going back, way back, into time and use a hand throttle. But need a bowden cable, which will probably be mounted to the steering column to dashboard mount and that way will be convenient and reachable.

Wont be back in the workshop now till Tuesday, because Wade and PeterL, are off on their annual pilgrimage to the Bendigo Swap Meet. There, Wade hopes to pick up a suitable bowden cable for the chassis. By the way, when I arrived at the workshop Wade had put the '33 under the ramp again and I assisted in the final part of this by helping to put the cover over it again. This so he could park Big Red inside while he's at Bendigo. And this afternoon I'm off to see 3 out of the 4 grandkids!

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Tuesday 20th November 2012

Did it again, lost what I was typing by hitting the wrong button! You'd think after doing that umpteen times I would have learned my lesson, but no, I didn't! Probably wont be half as good, 'cause I thought I was typing up a storm, but that's for others to judge.

So, here we go again......Arrived at the workshop to find Wade and his Bendigo accomplice PeterL there. Peter had left his daily driver at the workshop and was picking it up for the trip home. Once Peter left, Wade dived into the bag of goodies he'd brought back but, unfortunately, there were no Packard parts. Among the goodies were Holden(local GM brand) hubcaps, don't ask, two NOS bowden cables, some cheap Chinese tools and some cheap fuel filters. Peter and Wade even brought back some trinkets for ME! Aww shucks, you shouldn't have! I made the mistake of saying that to Peter who thereupon immediately withdrew the offer. He was going to keep them himself but relented, he is a good guy. The trinkets comprised a 1 hour VCR of the 2003 PI Tour, an old club magazine with a gorgeous '41 on the cover, an old newspaper with a half page ad for the "Kimes" book on the back page and a couple of old photo albums. The albums were a gift from PepePackard and one of which comprised old photos of PACA members Packards. Included were a couple of photos of The Fossil from years ago.
fellers!
Unpacking and putting away done, first turned to the bowden cables. These although NOS, actually how old they were was unknown, so they were disassembled, cleaned, lubricated and reassembled. The shorter of the two cables was then selected for use in Noel's chassis with a trial fit determing where mounting brackets were required. Then into the scrap and bracket box resulting in two pieces being selected both of aluminium. A flat piece to mount the handle end of the cable to the edge of Noel's MDF floor board. The other, a 90 degree angled piece, to mount to the rearmost exhaust manifold stud. This one being roughly in a straight line behind the throttle butterfly lever at the base of the carb. Also sourced from a carb on the shelf, which was originally mounted on Old Blue when Wade bought her 20+ years ago, was a bowden cable clamp. This carb couldn't be made to work by Wade so as soon as he could it was replaced by a correct carb and then it went on the shelf where it has sat ever since.

Then into the fabrication phase. The piece of flat aluminium already had a number of holes in it, two of which were enlarged for bolting it to the MDF and a third so the bowden cable could be run through and bolted to it. This I did, while Wade was measuring and readying the angle for fitment first with the bowden cable clamp then drilling a hole to mount that sub assembly to the exhaust manifold stud. Positioned the bowden cable and tightened the clamp with the free end of the cable bent and through the end of the butterfly lever. Started up the 356, with a bit of a backfire this time, and it worked. Albeit poorly. Needed adjustment of the bowden cable clamp to allow better run of the cable and a new stronger return spring so the throttle closed properly. While doing this last bit Noel arrived and on start up was able to witness a working hand throttled 356, what a sight! Wade also advanced the timing after checking with the timing light, it had retarded slightly.

Noel was there to discuss and organise going to Mudgee on Thursday to pick up his Coupe body which Tony has finished doing except for the boot(trunk) lid. As part of these discussions we were joined shortly thereafter by Tony himself. The plan was to use the workshop car trailer towed by Wades Holden Ute for this job. But it almost fell apart on the spot. Although both Noel and I had mentioned it, there had been no formal approach to John. And literally 5 minutes before that was done John had had a call and lent out the trailer and it wasn't returning until Saturday! I should have spoken up earlier but assumed all was well, and you know what that means! Anyway long story short, John's booking agreed that he would forego Thursday and Friday and that we could use it. So another
is in order, both to John and to the guy who booked it. Noel also took the opportunity to sit behind the wheel of the Coupe, actually it was at my insistence, because he'd arrived at the workshop last Thursday and tried it out then but I wanted a photo now! Just as well he did because he mentioned the brake pedal seemed very low. On checking, no fluid in the M/C and leaks at the junction out of the M/C, at the fitting into the left front flexible hose and at the right front W/C. Wade wasn't impressed!

At this point Tony bade his farewell and shortly thereafter we were joined by IanH. Ian had been referred to Wade by SamI for advice regarding some of the mechanical aspects of his '36 120B Club Sedan restoration. Ian had bought the car about 39 years ago after a Packard club member found it for him and, now that he's semi-retired, is in the throes of completing it. Although there's still has a lot to do judging by his comments regarding the body work issues being addressed. Able to provide Ian with some advice and also a lower radiator hose pipe after it was explained a full rubber hose wasn't a good idea in that location. The pipe is the the one that was passed over once Noel received the NOS pipe that is now on his 356. And of course I had to get into the act wearing my other hat as Secretary of PACA, asking Ian if he'd like to join the club. Ian wasn't averse to having his photo taken and published here and expressed interest in our National Rally next year so there's some potential there. And I'll be following Ian up about that by email, Ian you have been warned!

Funny thing about losing the post earlier, in fact it was much earlier. I was trying to squeeze the post in before visiting some of the grandkids and that was over 5 hours ago. Then in resurrecting this post had most of this post done when we left, didn't shut down the laptop, and on my return an hour ago hit the Preview Button and it accepted it! Usually after a lapse of time the system times you out. I don't know why it didn't this time round but I'm grateful, although I had saved the partially completed post in Word anyway.

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Friday 23rd November 2012

Yesterday morning met Noel at the workshop and then headed off to Mudgee to pick up his '41 Coupe body. Now it's been over 40 years since I've driven a car towing a car trailer, let alone hooked one up, so I was glad to see Wade arrive at the workshop in time to help with this aspect. And so he should, after all, we are using HIS Ute! Don't know if there's an instructional DvD for this type of thing but irrespective, it wasn't needed, Wade gave an expert hands on, real time, tutorial. That done and with the Ute and trailer now downstairs off the roof carpark Noel and I loaded our gear in and off we went. But not far, actually only to fill up, then we were off in earnest. We'd arranged to meet Tony, Noel's mate who did the bodywork on the Coupe, at McGraths Hill about 40kms west although Tony lives locally. Noel rang Tony as we were leaving and, with our fuel stop, this allowed Tony to arrive at our meeting point before us. From there we followed Tony to Glossodia, another 14kms, to pickup a Hyundai Lantra which Tony is going to work on to return it to the road. Lantra on board then it was off in earnest to Riverlea which was another 193kms. But what happened to Mudgee? Riverlea is near Mudgee, but about 20kms short of it. It's easier to refer to Mudgee which is reasonably well known then Riverlea, which is not!

Arriving at Mudgee Riverlea found Tony's 66 acre property is on a cliff the side of a hill. And he pointed to the top of the hill about 1 km away and said "See those trees up there?" "Yes" I replied. "They're mine!" Seems like Tony is lord of all he surveys. Tony had bought the property about 10 years ago and first built a shed, where they lived at times while he built the house. A remarkable effort but Tony still doesn't live there full time although he takes every chance he can to spend time there. Don't blame him with kangaroos in abundance, brilliant parrots flitting around and he's even seen a platypus, a monotreme, in a nearby river. Very few Australians have seen one of these, let alone in the wild! Anyway, enough of the realtors pitch, on to what we came here for, a Packard body!

But first the Lantra. Stopped at the entrance to the property at the base of the cliff on the dirt track inside the front gate. It was so steep that the Ute, with the trailer and Lantra attached, wouldn't hold on the cliff slope with the handbrake fully on and in park. It just started sliding backwards down the cliff slope until this startled driver applied the brakes very hurriedly! Solved that by driving forward and off to the right so the Ute and trailer were across the face of the cliff slope. Unloaded the Lantra and drove the Ute and empty car trailer up to the shed which is above where the house is built. I believe Tony was first going to site the house where the shed is but sanity prevailed as not all his friends have 4 x 4's. As it is the dirt drive to the house is steep enough in itself!

First hurdle overcome next was a little R & R in seeing the Coupe. Tony has done a magnificent job in repairing floors, body, doors, boot(trunk) lid and although it's not quite as it left the factory you'd have to look hard to find where new meets old. Noel is particularly pleased with the job done. Because of my lack of current trailer maneuvering experience Tony, who often used a car trailer when he owned his panel shop, backed the Ute and trailer up to the shed's door. Then with the aid of a large come-along secured to the trailer and with some metal channels, left over pieces of the metal frame the house is constructed of, the Coupe was slowly winched aboard the trailer. To assist Tony in working on the Coupe's body he'd constructed a framework of square tubing atop some solid wheels and to which the body was bolted. During the winching process the channels were repositioned a number of times, the come-along repositioned once and the cowl variously moved right, left or left, right, or left, left, or right, right, you get the picture as Tony barked out commands to his wiling helpers while he operated the come-along. Also entailed a little muscle power to re-align the framework on a couple of occasions. Needless to say, under Tony's command, this operation was a resounding success. However we were short the necessary tie downs to secure this precious parcel of Packard panels. So the Ute, trailer and Coupe body were left as is while we retired to the house, that Tony built, for some rest and refreshments before going into Mudgee for dinner a little later. Yes, we actually did get to Mudgee and on the way purchased some tie downs at Supercheap Auto.

Next morning Tony, being a very early riser, had tied down the body to the trailer as well as likewise securing the steel framework before Noel or I had risen from the depths of our slumbers. Noel reckons it was because of the clean country air that he slept that well! Packed and ready to go Tony asked us to check the tie downs, one of which was found to have some slack in it! I don't know if this was a test or what, but it's always the drivers responsibility to check his load is properly secured! Tie down re-secured, Noel and I were then off on the trip to the body shop.

But shortly after we had we traversed the 3 kms of dirt road and were on the highway, the Ute beeped at me, we were low on fuel. While Tony had filled up at Lithgow on the trip up I'd foregone doing that believing I'd have enough fuel to at least get us back to Lithgow. Should have listened to the experienced traveller and, as well, I'd seriously underestimated the effect on the Ute's fuel economy of towing the trailer and Lantra then with the Coupe. Although the Coupe was at its aerodynamic best being rear first on the trailer, but any aerodynamic effect might have come slightly undone by the fact the boot(trunk) lid wasn't in place! Made it to Capertee, where we'd stopped for lunch yesterday and about 66 kms from Riverlea, so the warning has a good reserve built in. Although I was sweating all the way and trying not to show it! Didn't fill the tank, instead put 30 litres in with the expectation that would get us to Moorebank about 176 kms distant. Instead, approaching Blaxland, a mere 121 kms from Capertee the Ute again spoke to me, again we were low on fuel. Rather than risk another "splash and dash" we turned fully conservative and filled 'er up!

At the body shop, which we were able to make without the necessity for further refueling, arrived just as Frank the owner was outside the workshop. Is that deja vu all over again or what? Parked the Ute and trailer, with its precious pallette of Packard Parts, in front of the workshop then Frank and Noel went round the body with questions, answers and the like being bandied between the two. Then, while Frank went off to organise space and a forklift to aid in the unloading, I took off all the tie downs and fastenings. On Franks return with the forklift, a hand truck type model, it was obvious it wasn't going to work. Instead the boss, Frank, called forth some of his workforce and the front then the rear of the body were lifted and deposited on terra firma. From there the body was pushed around to a temporary parking space until an indoor space could be freed up for it later in the afternoon. Then came my finest feat of the trip, backing the trailer! For this Noel acted as my trailer eyes, standing behind the trailer and calling out directions. The main problem with backing a trailer is it's counter-intuitive to other aspects of driving. You have to fight your senses to make sure you turn the wheel in the opposite direction to which you want the trailer to go! I think that's the explanation but, if not, please be gentle. Explanations aside managed to accomplish that after only one restart, not bad for not having practiced for over 40 years. Hang on a moment, I'll just reach round and pat myself on the back!

Packard delivered, all that remained was to return the Ute to the workshop. Again this was accomplished without further beeps, or refueling required. There found that Wade, over the last couple of days, had fixed the brakes on the chassis. The leaking fittings weren't the right ones. He'd also been working on Big Red. And he'd just finished painting a 320 block with primer to 1) help preserve it and, 2) keep it clean. This was because Wade is travelling to attend a meeting the owner of the block is also attending. Wade's intention was to return it to its rightful owner. Except......he then found out the block's owner is flying to the meeting and thinks it might just be a little too big and heavy as hand luggage for the return flight!

EDIT - Now early afternoon Saturday in Sydney and I've made quite a few corrections to spelling, grammar, insertion of missing words, etc following from my wife's review of the story. Should have run it past the editor sooner rather than later!

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