Packard Forum Index » General

Here is the link to the excellent article Ross wrote on rebuilding the Treadlevac or Easamatic as Packard called it.

https://www.packardinfo.com/xoops/html/downloads/BTV_Rebuild.pdf

Update!

We put the new starter solenoid in and got the starter to spin, but it wasn't engaging the flywheel. We pulled the starter apart and greased the Bendix. We put it back together and got it to work. This is the first time the car has been turned over in years!

Carb is removed.

Next we replaced the coil and condenser.

Is there supposed to be two condensers? One on the side of the coil and another under the distributor cap?

Points will be tonight after an early dinner. If that goes well, we can shoot some starting fluid down the manifold and see if we can get it to cough to life.

The starter was a huge concern and what I thought was possibly going to keep us from rolling. Glad to have that squared away.

The cap on the coil is most likely part of the radio noise suppression package. There should be another on the generator and on the ign sw and possibly even the voltage regulator. There may also be a plastic resistor in the high voltage lead between the coil and dist. If you change wires and if the resistor is still there it would be nice if you kept it so as to provide some info. Most have been thrown away. If needed a length of modern resistor wire in that short coil to dist run may substitute in its place. The rest of the wires are solid core.

We got it to spark to life!

Got the ignition system figured out, new points installed and gapped, and condenser installed. The carb is off, so we shot some starting fluid down the manifold. It coughed and sputtered and ran as well as it could on sprays of starting fluid. Then it caught on fire at the manifold and we had a few seconds of excitement as we smothered out the flames with a Carhart and some blue Powerade. I think we got some Powerade down the manifold so we might need to pull the plugs before we crank it any more tomorrow.

We tried taking the carb apart and we're kinda stuck on that. We are having trouble with the metering rods and linkage T shaped piece. If anybody in the Molalla/Portland area knows how to rebuild a WGD 2brl carb, I have burgers and beer if you want to come show us how to do it.

Tomorrow we plan to tackle the fuel system end-to-end. Clean out the gas tank, run new gas lines, wire up the 6v pump and maybe a regulator, and fix the carb one way or another. Our goal is to have the engine purring by this time tomorrow night.

There is some info on the carb herehttps://www.packardinfo.com/xoops/html/downloads/CarterWGD784S.pdf

On Ebay someone is selling a rebuild kit and posted a pic of the parts diagram herehttps://www.ebay.com/itm/CARTER-WGD-2-BBL-CARBURETOR-KIT-1949-1954-PACKARD-728S-767S-784S-928S-986S-2102S-/272826551792

If the starter gives out on you, you can get it running by pushing the car and putting it in gear with the ignition on. If you're going fast enough, the engine will start running. Works with manual and auto trans.

We got it running today!

Frist we rebuilt the carb, then plumbed in and installed the new fuel lines and electric fuel pump.

The gas tank nozzle is completely stopped up. We weren't getting fuel. So we took the fuel line off the gas tank and stuck it in a 5 gal can.

It fired right up and sounded great. It idles really smooth at first, runs smooth as you increase the rpm, then idles a little rough when it comes back down. There was a lot of smoke at first, and a little later on. We have some carb tuning still to do.

The oil has some light milky streaks in it. We'll probably do an oil change after we run it a little more tomorrow and see if it happens again.

Water seems to be circulating. I have a new water pump also.

We had it running nice and smooth and backed it out of the shop under its own power, walking along side it with the gas can for now. Tomorrow we will plumb into the gas tank drain line instead of the plugged up gas outlet as a temporary measure to see if we can putter around the farm.

The power brakes had at least some functionality.

I'll try to figure out how to post a video of it purring along later.

Congratulations. Here is a photo Ross posted showing the inside of the 51-6 tank. Be careful of the drain plug. It is only a press and swage connection to the sheetmetal and if the bung twists and starts to leak when the plug is removed or new line tightened there is no easy repair.

The pickup is just an open ended tube that hovers about 1/8" above a small triangular depression in the bottom. Make sure the tank bottom didn't get bent upward or possibly some sediment has collected and can be blown out. If the tank was treated with one of the lining and sloshing compounds and that stuff hardened in the depression the line is most likely blocked for good.

Attach file:

---

  (143.27 KB)

Just thought of another possibility. Is the line actually blocked or could it be rusted and sucking air. It is a steel tube and several have had the rust issue at the top of the U or at the bend just before the outlet. Symptom would be the car would quit when the pump started pulling air at just under 1/2 tank if rusted thru at the bend near the outlet and right at 1/4 tank if at the U.

Cool, any updates or photos?

UPDATE:

Great success today!

We plumbed in from the drain line on the fuel tank, and changed the oil. We ran some aftermarket water temp, oil pressure, and voltage gauges. So far oil pressure is the only one hooked up all the way. Got it running and did some carb tuning. We had some brakes, so we took it for a low speed rumble around the biggest barn.

Once we were sure we were safe, I went in and had my grandma come out and gave her a ride around the barn. It was special for her; this car is one my grandpa bought because it was identical to the one they took on their honeymoon 60+ years ago.

We got back to work after that.

We bled the brakes and drove it down the road a couple miles. The brakes worked ok, but not great.

Good news is the oil is coming out clean and the smoking has pretty much stopped. I think we have a good tune on the carb and there is no sign of milkiness in the oil after 30-40 minutes of run time. Our fuel filters junk up fast but that is expected with how we have routed the fuel system. We will keep changing them as required.

We were pretty sure we had it running good, so we turned to the brakes. We rebuilt three of the wheel cylinders, and found 3 of the 9 brake shoes were probably not engaging. Tomorrow morning we will look at the last one, and I think we are going to have full power brakes after this.

Its time to start thinking about the trip home. If we can get the brakes working good tomorrow morning, we are going to try to take it for an hour or so drive to put it through its paces. We also need to find some light bulbs for blinkers and brakes. Worst case is we can rig up some trailer lights or something, but I'm hoping to find some bulbs tomorrow. We will start buying spare parts and planning our route if it all comes together tomorrow. Otherwise we will have to think about other options, gotta be home before Christmas. We don't want to get on the road any later than Wednesday.




https://youtu.be/A3MT-zjPDrw


https://youtu.be/fzVPWpmHbr8



https://youtu.be/_HRcy6YuDhw


https://youtu.be/cW7grrKcWpI