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Thanks again BDC and Owen_D for helping me move forward.

1 BDC, I found the petcock as you described but I haven't been able to budge it. Its actuator is broken off and it is quite corroded, so I tried to remove the whole valve. No go. I've used penetrant and will approach it again in a day or so.

2 The fuel pump service kit has arrived from America. I removed the fuel pump. Gave it a rough initial clean. The bottom (vacuum section?) fell apart with a nasty mess of rust inside it (pictured). The inlet side of this part of the pump was connected to a crudely plugged dead end on the firewall, and the outlet side was not connected to anything, so I'm still trying to wrap my brain around how the vacuum system should work. I suspect there should be a reservoir somewhere and lines running to the brakes and windshield wipers. Are there any other vacuum assisted parts? Maybe I'm not searching right, but I'm yet to drop on to a good description, photos or diagrams of the above system...

I removed the fasteners from the top and bottom caps, but they stubbornly remain closed yet. I've been reluctant to pry them apart too forcefully for fear of damage. Will have another look at them tonight.

3 Still awaiting the carburetor rebuild kit from America. I opened the carburetor and its internals look good to me.

Thanks for everyone's interest and input; past and future.

John

PS Hope you don't mind my delayed response to your last assistance. To keep my posts more productive, I thought I'd hold my thanks until I had some new progress and questions for a combined post. :)

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Vacuum-operated items are the power brake booster, windscreen wipers, and the Bijur chassis oiler. There is no reserve tank, not needed. Your vacuum section looks really bad and some parts like the large spring are not included in kits so I'd recommend a good professional fuel pump rebuilder. In the U.S. I'd recommend Gould Rebuilders who did any equally poor one for me as a spare and didn't charge anything above and beyond the usual charge. Hopefully someone similar in your neighborhood.

I have a core pump if you can't find one down under. Dell

I bought a rebuild kit for my fuel pump from Then and Now, my vacuum spring etc was broken and they had all the parts I needed. Dave's (O_D) suggestion of Arthur Gould Rebuilders is also a good one, not sure if they sell kits for you to do it yourself but if you sent it to them it would be done right and not overly expensive (for you the big expense is shipping). I sent my water pump to them and it was really no more than a kit. Those are the outfits I can recommend from experience at least.

Thanks Owen_D, Dell and HA.

I'll place an enquiry with Gould as suggested. Realistic and useful advice, thanks.

A bit disappointing though, because I had hoped my Then and Now kit would be all I would need. The pump sure is a mess inside. I spent another 3 hours cleaning it this evening; the rusted internals were very grim; a lot of metal slurry washed down the sink.

I'm trying to convince myself the money spent on the Then and Now kit (and its shipping down under) wasn't wasted; I can shelve those parts as spares.

Seems like I'm getting further away from firing up; not closer. Need more patience.

Dell, thanks for the offer, I'll pursue the rebuild option with Gould, but if that doesn't bear fruit I'll be sure to follow up with you. :)

Cheers for now, John

Arthur Gould Rebuilders provided a quick and reasonable estimate, so the fuel pump is off to New York today.

J.

While the fuel filter is jet-setting half way around the planet; I'm still working on cleaning up the left side of the engine.

1 I've figured out that the casting in the water line is an oil temperature regulator that has been bypassed and gutted many decades ago. Should I plan to reconfigure it or leave it bypassed? Opinions welcome.

2 I need to replace the bypassed oil temp. reg. cover plate gasket and other gaskets, and I'm considering cutting my own; hoping to source material from a locally available industrial supplies company. Any words of caution? Or key words on material choice and thickness?

3 I've taken the oil filter out to facilitate cleaning. Should I back flush it with a solvent? Advice appreciated.

4 I finally managed to remove the old broken petcock from the base of the radiator. I used a Loctite product; Freeze and release. Worked effectively! So I can now flush the radiator and water jacket thoroughly. :)

Thanks everyone.
John

1. You can bypass the oil cooler but you must leave the oil flow circuit intact as it's a full flow system and the direct and only feed to the engine internals. Or you can fabricate an internal bypass to replace the cooler core that is now missing if you don't wish to restore the functionality of the unit. With today's multi-viscosity oils the unit isn't as important as it once was.

2. Nothing wrong with self-made gaskets - to some it's an enjoyable task. Most auto supply stores here and industrial supply companies offer assortments of gasket paper.

3. Don't back-flush the old filter; even if it were possible (and I don't think it is, it should have a backflow preventer inside it), the age of the filter media is such that it's likely to fail and the paper filter media residue can and probably will plug the smaller oil passages in the engine. For the same reason don't consider the use of an NOS filter unit either. Either decide to do without it and change your oil more frequently, or buy the reproduction unit from R&A Engineering which uses a modern spin-on filter inside a replica of the original Purolator L-8 housing,.

4. Glad to hear it.

Great information again, thanks Owen_D.

I feel like I'm making progress now, but am still impatient to hear the engine purr again.

Other imminent tasks are to flush the water jacket and radiator. The radiator will be easy now that the petcock is out.

Not sure how effectively I can flush the water jacket without the water pump impeller turning yet. I guess I'll have a play and see.

I also still need to get better access under if I'm to remove the oil pan for inspection as recommended. I squeezed under last night for a closer look but the pan bolts are encased in a tenacious and thick mixture of baked oil and soil. So thick that you can barely find the outline of the pan bolts. So there's a lot of cleaning yet to be done in a confined space. I have a set of jack-stands but they are quite small. I will put them under and see if they help.

Cheers, J.

Delightful surprise visit by Phil from Tassie today!

Great to have a second set of eyes casting over a few of the immediate problems under the hood.

Phil helped solve a few of the small mysteries, such as how the oil filler tube is fastened to the crankcase. Phil also kindly took home a door hinge screw to replicate on his lathe.

Phil is one of the few currently active owners of Packards in Tasmania (although there are several Packards squirrelled away in sheds down here), and is the proud owner and restorer of a beautiful Third Series limousine:https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/registry/index.php?Action=view&ID=565

In other news, I received an e-postcard from the fuel pump; it has arrived in New York on its whirlwind holiday!

The carburetor rebuild kit has arrived; so I've now got to teach myself how to do that.

And I've obtained some gasket material so I can replace some of the more basic gaskets myself. Planning to make my first one tonight; for the cover plate of the oil temperature regulator.

Cheers from Tas,

John

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