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Saturday 15th April, 2017

Haven't updated here for a while, not much having happened. Although in March had intended the drive the Coupe to our Packard Club AGM, but under pressure flooded it and it wouldn't start. Of course it started easily the next day! Have been for several local runs here in the Southern Highland then a couple of Sundays past drove to Wildwood Garden at Bilpin in the Blue Mountains for a Packard Club run, a mere 310 km round trip.

Today was a 220 km round trip to West Ryde, where the Coupe revisited Wade's Workshop. John still conducts his mechanical repair business there and had agreed to replace the Upper/Outer Pin and Bushings on the Coupe along with the rubber bump stops. Reason John was doing this? I didn't think I had the equipment to do so, probably needing a spring compressor, besides he does have a hoist, two in fact.

Backed the Coupe into the workshop and between the hoist uprights only needing one small shuffle sideways to get it in the middle, not bad for me. Before going up, removed the hubcaps and loosened the wheel nuts, although John then produced his rattle gun but the hard work had already been done!

Rough procedure for bushing replacement, as follows:
1) Tie up/back the brake drum so it doesn't droop and stress the flexible brake line.
2) Remove the split pin and undo the nut from the bushing pin,
3) Knock out the pin(Right side required a little gentle persuasion, the left finger pushed out),
At this point, having started on the right side we undid the 4 bolts holding the shock to the top of the frame. Didn't do this for the left side as it was found not to be necessary!
4) Check fit of new components,
5) Small smear of rubber grease and insert two halves of rubber bushings,
6) Insert steel bush inside rubber bushings,
7) Having identified orientation of offset fittings(terminology lapse here, sorry), insert large washers. Mea Culpa - We didn't, working on the right side, but figured it out using working marks. Took more interest on the left side and didn't need to figure anything,
8) Insert new bushing pin, new nut, tighten accordingly and fit new spiltpin.

Fitting of the rubber bump stops was as follows.

For the large lower bump stop:
1) Remove the circlip(Terminology again?) retaining the bump stop to the stamped bracket rivited to the side of the chassis.
2) Reverse procedure from 1) above to install the new bump stop.
Note, you have to align the circlip so it can be knocked out and in.

For the small upper bump stop:
All Occupational Health & Safety Professionals please look away now.
1) Place a hydraulic floor jack under the front suspension member.
2) Place a length of timber on the jack going up to the front suspension member. Fortunately John had a suitable length of timber at hand, about 3' long, which was perfect for this.
3) Very, very slowly and carefully raise the jack, to raise the shock absorber arm just enough to fit the bump stop.
4) Lower the floor jack and, Hey Presto, the bump stop is pushed into place. Wish I'd known this trick/technique about 9 years back when the Coupes front suspension was gone through previously. On that occasion, besides copious amounts of rubber grease, an awful lot of cussing was required to accomplish what I now know to be a very simple task.
5) You'll also need a transmission jack centrally located under the diff housing because when raising the floor jack the whole front of the Coupe started to lift. The trans jack provided a nice counterpoint to the forces at the front of the Packard.

OK - OH&S may rejoin us now.

Reason for this, besides bringing the Coupe back to spec? In June there's a Packard Club run at the Sirromet Winery at Mt Cotton in Queensland, about a 2,000 km round trip and now have a good solid front suspension for the trek there and back. Did a similar trip in 2014, sans Packard, because our Queensland Packard Club members have no specific Packard events to attend. Have attached a link to the article penned for our club magazine.

Another matter, had a starting problem about a week ago. Knew it wasn't fuel(or so I hoped) but checked that anyway. Spark was there but it just wouldn't start. After numerous attempts gave up and brought in a professional, an NRMA man. NRMA is our state Motorists Association who provide breakdown service, at varying levels, for your membership. Young guy, Jaiden, turned up but wasn't fazed by a car about three times his age. Did similar checks to those I'd done, then a number of futile start attempts. But.....he had one of those little jump starter packs which was 6V/12V and with the assistance of that the Coupe sprang to life. Ran it for a little while, turned off then started again(easily this time). Repeated the start and off a number of times, each time started easily. Thanked Jaiden and enquired where I could buy a jump starter similar to his. On enquiring where Jaiden had pointed me, found out they only have a straight 12v model. Pity, it would have been nice to have the 6V option. What I did find though was that my battery, an Optima, was down on charge showing 6.3V when first hooked up to my trickle charger. The following morning it was at 7.2V and since then the Coupe has started very easily every time. Checking this morning before I set out it was at 6.8V.

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Good Morning Mr. Oz...Great post to wake up to...along with strong coffee, here in the desert. We often forget that our 6 volt batteries must be up to snuff or our Packards behave like grumpy women! Those front end parts looked really narley! Happy touring...Ernie

Speaking of suspension parts, I am wondering if anyone has ever tried fitting polyurethane bushings on any front suspension parts (except the stabilizer bar) on any Packard.

Wasn't there a discussion some years back that one of Kanters companies was in the poly bushing business and might be able to come up with some possibilities for crossing modern bushings to some of the Packard items. I believe the rear rubber on TL cars was part of that discussion but don't remember if the front was.

I have a 41 Packard 110 coupe which needs rear shocks, can you tell me what make and model I could use?

Thanks

One poster has added an entry for a rear shock in the parts X Ref and has listed a Monroe 34803 as being a perfect fit for a 41 120. It would probably fit the 110 also so maybe worth looking into. It appears to be a gas shock so with the smaller weight of the 110 I don't know if that would make a difference in ride quality. They are available on Amazon and probably at most parts stores.

Another poster has listed the Napa 94080 as fitting 41 thru 50 rears but he didn't specify if that was only for Clippers or included conventional 41 bodies. It is also gas filled and has slightly more travel than the Monroe so maybe another worth looking into.

G'day 1234,

Don't remember the details but the rear shocks were replaced about 9 years ago with a pair bought off eBay, sorry.

Had a look in the Parts Book, different shocks listed for 110's and 120's. But, even saying that, I'd imagine the suspension components are likely to "fit" both models.

Saturday, October 28th, 2017

Likely to be close to the last post in this Blog. Why? Because I'm no longer a Packard owner! A combination of factors has led me to sell my '41 120 Coupe 2 days ago, being: 1) My mechanical aptitude, or more correctly mechanical ineptitude, 2) My body is not as good as it used to be, experiencing difficulty in getting out from getting under, and 3) My enthusiasm is waning. On the last one, the flame for me once burned very brightly but now while it's not flickering it isn't as bright as it used to be. I'm still a Packard man but now it'll be from a different perspective.

This all came about a couple of months ago preparing the Coupe for a weekend at Temora, a 600km round trip, for an airshow there. An oil change and grease became an unacceptable experience and planted the seed for the sale.

Then, after advertising the Coupe in our Club magazine, warts and all, FrankB from Cowra inspected and test drove it last week and is now its new owner. Frank also owns this '29 633.

Because Cowra is about 200kms from me, as the crow flies, but about 290kms by road, I determined to deliver the Coupe to Frank to save on transportation charges. But....how would I return home? Cowra, a real country town, is no longer served by trains or buses as I soon found out through our friend Google. Frank offered to drive me home while another club member, Geoff offered to follow me to Cowra in his car and drive me home. Both great offers but I didn't want to inconvenience either by imposing on them. However some fortuitous circumstances arose which enabled a meaningful trip to be made by Frank enabling me to return home. One, a fellow Packard club member BigBadBarry had passed away and his funeral service was being conducted on the afternoon of Friday the 27th. The other being that Frank was working on the intake/exhaust manifold off Geoff's '39 TJR bodied Six Sedan and had also procured a new muffler for it. So it came to pass that FRank drove me home on the Thursday, attended the funeral on the Friday and is helping Geoff put his Packard back together today then returning to Cowra.

So, on Tuesday the 26th I drove the Coupe to Cowra but not without incident. For about the last 110kms of the trip there was often a stuttering in the running of the car, which I think was fuel system related. The Coupe never stopped, and I never wanted to stop because while not exactly the "outback" it is very rural with help not readily available if I did break down. So I pushed on checking the mileage posts and counting them down, 75, 70, 65, 60, etc so I had some idea of where I was in case, horror, the Coupe had to be trucked the remainder of the journey! Fortunately it kept on keeping on although stalling when I had to pull up to make a right turn into the main street of Cowra. It also stalled after I pulled up in Franks driveway. And both times it easily restarted. Frank didn't seem too perturbed by this development and was still keen to buy the car.

I was thinking this development might be attributable to a load of "dirty" fuel. I'd stopped on the way to Cowra and filled up at a Shell petrol station. Earlier this year, with my fuel system problems, I'd also filled up from a Shell petrol station albeit a completely different one this time around. Inspection, at Frank's, of the filter fitted before the carburettor failed to reveal any sediment so that didn't seem the obvious cause. However Frank is confident he'll be able to find and fix the problem.

But back to the Shell stopped at on the way to Cowra. On the other side of the pump I used there were a group of young guys(20's/30's?) filling up their van and race car, a Datsun 260Z. Got to talking with them about the Coupe and also about the Z, which had seen better days, there was a front parking light help on by a cable tie amongst other things. They were heading to Wakefield Park, a car racing circuit near Goulburn, and which co-incidently our club had visited during the course of a club run about 2 weeks previously. Note, no Packards took to the track, we were only there as spectators. Later, after leaving the Shell, I pulled over on the motorway and fielded a phone call. No sooner had I pulled over when the young guys with the Z pulled up and enquired whether I needed any help. Thanked them for their concern but was able to advise the circumstance why I had pulled over, but good to know there are samaritans out there.

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Mal, Sorry to hear you are no longer a Packard owner but totally understand the sentiment behind the decision. I too have been blessed with the same maladies and an increasing lack of enthusiasm. The mood wavers daily but the way it seems to be going the 47 is starting to look like a project for the next owner too.

Howard,

Sorry to hear the Clipper could be going on the backburner. Since I visited in 2012 to now, the progress you've made has been significant.

Whatever you decide to do, it is only one car. While the amount of guidance and advice so freely given to others here, and on other sites, has been incredible contributing to getting and/or keeping countless other Packards on the road. Keep up the good work!

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Good Evening Mal...Utter Bummer! Ernie