Thought I'd share my '41 120 Coupe Project.

This came about because I've wanted a Packard Coupe for over 40 years, from the time I saw a '37 sitting in a gas station for sale but being young and poor, couldn't afford to buy it. So with career, marriage, family, home ownership and now retirement the time and opportunity, not to mention the financial means, finally aligned.

Now in Australia, as opposed to the USA, Packards are comparatively rare and so about 3 months ago I saw a '29 626 Coupe coming up at a local Classic Car type auction I thought this may be my opportunity to purchase a Packard Coupe although not a '37. So after being outbid at the auction I contacted the Packard Automobile Club of Australia and after inquiring about membership asked whether there was anyone with a Packard for sale and was told of a guy with 2 for sale!

So after contacting Peter, one of the nicest people you could meet, I purchased his '38 dual sidemount 120 Sedan and again although not a '37 coupe it is a Packard! Car was on historic vehicle registration but I have put it on to full street registration to gain the benefit of driving it when and where I want.

Purchase of the '38 fueled my interest leading to the AACA forum & packardinfo.com and not to mention ebay and it's delights, I'd previously had no use for the information superhighway but now I drive it daily. Now I was really into it and through ebay gained an insight of the comparative abundance of Packard availability in the USA as opposed to Australia.

In ebay, I was like a kid in a candy shop, with enquiries directed to the sellers of many pre '42 Packards. Then from a post on this forum a member told of the '38 coupe he intended to purchase. I made contact with the forum member and suggested that if he didn't follow through with the '38 could he think of me. Well naturally the reply came back - NO - and that he fully intended to pursue the car. However not long later he further responded that as I was so keen he would forego this opportunity and let me have the chance to purchase the '38 coupe. Sorry to say I wasn't able to buy the car but I'll always be indebted to Tad for his generosity in this instance.

Then, a little later in ebay, there appeared a '41 120 coupe in Idaho and which from the pictures and commentary appeared to be a nice car. I contacted the seller and after many emails and the seller providing many more pictures, this time being of potential body rust areas, I was prepared to bid and buy the car.

Now I've bought a number of items over ebay in the last few months but not a car with only pictures to go on. So it was with some trepidation that I began bidding and in the end was the successful bidder. Because part of my correspondence with owner revolved around how I could pay for the car an agreement was struck whereby I paid a non-refundable deposit of USD500.00 with the balance to be paid by 3rd August and a very generous offer by the seller that if the car didn't meet my expectations I could opt out of the remainder of the deal.

Having won the car this hastened my planned retirement which I brought forward to 20th July. It also hastily put into place a trip to inspect and pay for the car as well as a whirlwind tour of the USA following settlement of the purchase. Also, I found a shipper through uship who could transport the '41 from Idaho to Los Angeles.

So after retiring on the 20th I arrived in San Francisco on the 23th July and then Boise Idaho on the 24th. Inspection of the '41 as well as a test drive, convinced me that in fact the '41 was even better than represented, so there were no qualms in closing the deal.

I then had the opportunity to visit the owner of the '41 from 1960 to 2006, a dentist. This owner has 10, count them 10, other Packards for sale - see my reply in the forum re this.

Now for the shipper, inquiries late on the 24th revealed that the trailer had blown 2 tires running over debris on the road that day which, coupled with illness to the lady in the partnership had slowed their progress to Idaho. However they expressed their confidence in arriving on the afternoon of the 25th. So the wait began. With their non show by early evening I contacted and left messages on their cell. When they responded it was to advise they'd be there in about an hour as another tire had blown on the trailer and it only had 3 wheels on it now! They eventually arrived about 8:30pm whereupon they said we must think they look like hillbillies, and truer words couldn't have been said. Although doubts were in my mind as to entrusting my prized Packard to their custody and their assurances that it would be safe with them for the trip to Los Angeles, confirmed by an email next day with a reference to Mr S & W being available for security purposes although I didn't think bullet holes would enhance the '41's appearance!

I later learned, that Randy (a real nice bloke and the seller of the car) had had a call from the shippers and they were 4 hours into the trip to LA, and this time had burned out a wheel-bearing on the trailer. I should mention that, fortunately for the shippers, Randy worked at a RV manufacturer and was able to supply the shippers with 2 brand new wheels and tires for the trailer at an extremely good price!

So as I was winging my way round the USA, with thoughts of who knows what might happen to the '41, visiting Joel(Packards1)with his '56's and the Henry Ford in Detroit, the Packard Museum in Warren Ohio, the Smithsonian and a Washington Nationals game in DC - had to see one MLB game while I was in the USA, the Don Garlits Museum in Florida(my hot rod/drag racing background from 35/45 years ago coming through - and for anyone with an interest in drag racing this place is amazing with many famous, historic and trend setting cars from the past on display and apart from the Packards was the highlight of my trip) and RedRon with his '40 120 sedan and the Petersen Museum in LA, the '41 made it's way to LA arriving on the 29th July without further mishap. Although at this point the shipper told the people at the delivery point the car didn't run (although it had been driven onto the trailer in Idaho) and he was instructed on the simplicity of re-connecting the battery cable at the end of the trip to enable it to start and run. However now being amongst car guys this was soon sorted out.

On my arrival in LA on the 3rd August, I went and saw the '41 and left some Packard parts I'd been dragging around with me in it for shipment back to Australia.

So now that I'm back in Oz there are matters to attend to regarding the export from the USA and the import into Australia - these I'll update as they progress and I'll also add pic's when I work out how to do that, or more probably my son works it out for me.

Link to photos of '38 & '41 below

http://picasaweb.google.com/ozstatman/From38To41

To import a car privately into Australia an Import Permit must be issued by the Australian Department of Transport and Regional Services. I applied for mine today by faxing the application form, copy of my drivers license, copy of the bill of sale and copy of the clear title to the Department for the '41 Coupe, and all going well, the permit should be issued by the end of August.
Conversely a car must have a clear title to be exported from the USA. Without a clear title US Customs will not permit it's export.
So the regulatory authorities at both ends of the chain have their fingers in the pie.

Had a call on the 13th August from the outfit shipping the '41 to Australia for me. They needed to know it's value for US export purposes and advised that the '41 should be loaded on a ship by the end of last week. So all going well the '41 is now on board and depending on departure time and the trip taking 21/22 days to Newcastle the '41 could arrive about mid September. As Newcastle is about 100 miles north of Sydney when the '41 arrives I'll be driving up to inspect it and arrange for it's transportation home, may even drive it if I can obtain an "Unregistered Vehicle Permit" which is valid for 28 days. Will further update as info comes to hand or things happen.

Glad to see you making progress and will keep my fingers crossed that you can drive it home. Take a lot of pictures.

Progress -

The Coupe was shipped from California at the end of last week bound for Newcastle Australia and it's expected arrival date is 20 to 25th September.

Part of the import process is obtaining a Vehicle Import Permit which the Department of Transportation and Regional Services advises was approved yesterday 28th August. This is a relief because if a car arrives in Australia without a Vehicle Import Permit there are severe penalties which can be applied including criminal prosecution of the owner and destruction of the car at the owners expense! Whew - looks like I'll be able to clear this bureaucratic hurdle at least.

Still to come though is the Customs & Quarantine inspection on arrival. This is looking for build-ups of foreign soil and plant matter under the vehicle as well as rodent or other infestations. If any signs of these are found, cleaning and fumigation of the vehicle is done by Customs & Quarantine and the costs incurred are charged to the owner. Should be OK as the previous owner cleaned the underside of the car for me and the upholstered areas look good.

A little aside. I rang another member of the Packard Automobile Club of Australia last Saturday to be told he was currently driving his new acquisition, a '37 Super 8 Sedan, down the freeway from Newcastle a distance of some 100+ miles and it was going beautifully. This bloke had bought the car off eBay where it had been in a museum in the US since the early 60's and has only about 23,000 original miles on it. Reason I add this is because he imported it through the same shipper I'm using so it gives me some confidence.

Below is a link to pictures of the '41 as I first saw it in Idaho together with other pictures of it in California and some other cars, all Packards except one, and their owners who I met on my US trip.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ozstatman ... oupeAndOtherPackardsInUSA

Update

Sent an email to the shipper importing the coupe on Thursday 20th September. He replied that a total of 9 cars have arrived, including the coupe, in 3 containers. He also advised that Australian Customs are currently processing the paperwork for these vehicles and he is waiting for them to advise him of their costs. Once these costs are known and the car owners are contacted he will then be very busy over the next few days unloading them.

Once I hear, I will then be able to arrange for transport from Newcastle as I believe it is too far to drive, being 100+ miles, because I am unfamiliar with the car (A test drive in Idaho at moderate speeds notwithstanding).

When car is picked up for Transport from Newcastle to Sydney I will be present and will take pictures and post a link to them here.

Also in the time since I returned from the US part of my activity has been readying my garage so it can now accommodate 2 Packards. This involved basically clearing the floor area at the far end - the garage is approximately 52' long but had been partitioned off at the back end to provide another room with a built in wardrobe backing onto the dividing wall. This leaves about 35' of tandem garage and so I have relocated a large wide shelf which previously hung longways to the backend and sideways with an old kitchen cabinet on one side wall and another shelf about 20' feet long and 1&1/2' wide under an existing high level shelf. On the other side I installed 10' long high and low shelves and another deeper 12' long shelf. This combined, with my eldest son taking his 2 couches and large table we had been storing for him, enabled me to relocate the other stuff off the floor area. Then disaster struck. I had a slim table and a wide bench which I placed down one wall(these 2 items will be gone soon - but not soon enough) and while trying to drive the '38 Eight down to the far end clipped the wide bench which resulted in some damage and paint loss to the left front fender just behind the front wheel. Goes to show I'll have to be very careful in my manoeveuring/parking in the garage in future.

Well the Coupe arrived on Friday 28th September at 2:00pm approximately!

Prior to this, on Tuesday evening I received an email from the importer requesting bank cheques for his charges as well as those of his customs agent.

So on Wednesday, after I gave blood in the morning, in the afternoon my wife Kath and I drove to North Belmont a distance of about 85 miles. As we arrived at the importers property, Barry Smith was backing his car trailer in to pick up the '51 Convertible which had been imported for him. I took some photos for him of his '51 as well as a few of the '41. Barry said that although the '51 has a 327 he is going to drop in a rebuilt 327, the 4bbl version, and with the 3 speed manual and overdrive expects to have his own version of a hotted up Packard using all in-house parts.

But back to the '41 - looked just like I had last seen it in California on 3rd August. I had brought a recharged battery with me, because the importer advised it wouldn't start when they were taking it out of the container. After replacing the battery and with a little gas down the throat of the carb to prime it, it started easily although I didn't take it for a drive, it sounded good and ran well. Then with Barry's '51 loaded up and on the journey to it's new home in country New South Wales at Tamworth, about 200 plus miles north west from North Belmont, we concluded our business and Kath and I returned to Sydney.

I had also contacted a haulage contractor with a tilt bed truck and booked him to pick up the '41 on Friday from North Belmont and deliver to me that day. I had also decided that pick up of the '41 didn't require my presence so I anxiously awaited it's arrival which occurred about 2:00pm. One thing I noticed while it was on the tilt tray was a small "ding" at the bottom of the right rear fender - looks like it could be in-transit damage, but where and when this occurred between Middleton Idaho via Orange California and Newcastle and North Belmont, New South Wales, Australia I don't know!

Backed the '41 off the tilt tray and up the driveway and into the front of the cleared garage. Then, after the truckie had left, took some pictures of it in the garage. Then drove it out to take more pictures in the natural light and with my '38. However, then couldn't start the '41 which had run out of gas as the tank had been almost drained for safety reasons before being placed in the container for the trip to Australia. A couple of gallons of gas later and with Kath directing me into the garage in my LHD '41 and I was off again. As you married men will know, it is generally not a good idea to involve your better half in such an activity - but enough said! Parked both cars in the garage, which I now find needs to be at least a foot longer than it is to accommodate both!

Therefore, my next project must be relocation of the workbench from the back wall of the garage to the side wall(this will involve some major surgery to the workbench because of intruding buttresses at awckward intervals along this wall). I will also have to re-swing the door from the garage to the back room so it opens into the room and not the garage. This way I'll be able to accommodate both cars in the garage and still have access to the back room.

But again back to the '41. Strange, how after the initial adrenalin burst has worn off, some things appear that you didn't previously notice. Like heavier pitting of the chrome around the headlights, handbrake almost inoperative and shock absorbers needing replacement. This besides some of the known - radio missing knobs and not working, overdrive not working, king pins need replacement as well as windscreen wipers. And the unknown - Condition of engine, clutch, transmission, rear end, brakes, cooling system, steering and lights - did I leave anything out? I didn't mention the body as this looks good to my very untrained eye and I am hopeful that it is OK - there will just be some cosmetics with rechroming of the bumpers and over-riders as the major item.

Below are 2 links:

First - pictures of the '41 & '51 Convertible


http://picasaweb.google.com/ozstatman/BarrySmith51Convertible


Second - pictures of the '41's arrival


http://picasaweb.google.com/ozstatman/41Arrives

Will further update as the '41's mechanicals are assessed and work undertaken.

Attach file:

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  41 Arrives.JPG (55.10 KB)

Mal,

Congrats to you it made it there in one piece. Good luck with her. Another good looking car :)

Thankyou Tom,

But it seems to me you're up very late or up very early to be commenting at this time. At least I have an excuse, being in a completely different time zone across the International Date Line!

Both. I go to bed around 10:00 Central Time. Wife and I are up around 4:10 am and we are both out the door by 4:45 am. It does take a toll on me somedays.

Progress on the'41 has pretty much stalled until I can get workshop space to enable me room to work on the car. My tandem garage is filled with the 2 Packards with virtually no room to move. And bringing the '41 out into the driveway is not an option as removing wheels, brakes and other suspension and steering components will disable it and prevent access to/from the garage.

Anyway, until workshop space becomes available I am presently gathering some ?bits and pieces? from eBay and elsewhere in anticipation. And turning over the '41 every 2 to 3 weeks until the workshop becomes available. Until, earlier this week when on going to start the '41 it wouldn't. What followed was an email exchange with my brother who is currently overseas and the mechanic in the family.

Fred,

Yesterday I was going to start up and run the '41. However - there was nothing when I tried to start it. So I took out the battery and re-charged it for about 6 hours, still nothing. When I say nothing - nothing, including no lights at all and manually trying to engage starter, nothing - no clicks and no other sounds. This is with the big battery that came in the '38, it recharged OK when I took it up to Newcastle and it started and ran then and also after the '41 arrived here. Anyway, last night got the battery that came with the car and recharged it, still nothing at all this morning.

What say yea?

Mal

Hi Mal,
Is there a fuse problem or a master switch to isolate the battery, also check that the earth strap is secure, or it could be a case of 2 totally dead batteries.

Cheers from London,

On this advice, checked for an isolating switch and couldn't find one and also ensured the earth strap was secure. With my limited knowledge fuses were ignored. Then my answer to my brother.

Fred,

The answer was 2 totally dead batteries, I took the battery out of the '38 which definitely works as I did about 10 miles in the car this morning and as soon as I connected it up to the earth strap in the '41, this was after the battery cable to the negative terminal was connected, there was a "click" from one of the boxes on the fire wall. So after putting 10 litres of gas in the '41 and priming it with a dash of gas down the carb it started straight away. I then drove it out into the driveway and ran it for 10 minutes, but had to stay in the car with one foot on the brake as the handbrake is useless. Oil pressure went up to just over 40 and stayed there. Temp went to just over 1/2 and stayed there. Ammeter @ idle showed a discharge but with revs went well into charge. And fuel gauge showed about 1/8. As the speedo worked when I was in the US, all seems pretty good in the instrument department.

When I put the battery back in the '38, I noticed that the cable to the negative battery terminal in the '38 had been rubbing and had worn through the insulation. After I taped it up with electrical tape I checked and found it had been rubbing on the tailshaft! So, to ensure this did not recur, on re-installing that cable it was positioned so it did not loop anywhere near the tailshaft.

Another little matter also reared it's ugly head, this time concerning the garage. This was, that on backing the '41 in, the exhaust build-up set off the smoke alarm for the room at the back of the garage. Very annoying to hear a constant "beep" "beep" "beep" until it cleared.

So, another item for the '41 - a battery. May get a gel battery if I can. And although it isn't kosher will probably mount it where "Doc" presently has the battery mounted, on the frame near the starter motor. I will make up a better support and retainer for it, then what can be presently described as a gravity system.

So I'm relieved it was that simple. But when the time comes, I will have Ken Gilbert (Ken restored a '37 120 Sedan) of Tibby Rose Auto Electric at Ryde check out the electrical system prior to the '41 going back on the road.

Mal

So ? will further update when workshop space comes available, and until then will continue to start the '41 up every 2 to 3 weeks, this time with a good battery!

G'day Mal, Good to hear of your progress with the '41. I would suggest that it really isn't necessary to relocate the battery to the front engine bay. Once you sort out the charging system and the battery itself, then they are pretty well maintenance free. How are you managing your batteries for your occasional use vehicles? If your vehicle is not run every week then you need to consider a battery maintenance system, which need not cost a lot of money. If I were 150 miles closer I would drop over and help you. I have about 45 vehicles on maintained battery systems and I currently use battery "minders", which are NOT "trickle" chargers. I find that trickle chargers boil my motorbike batteries dry in about 2 months,whereas the battery minders take about 12 months to do the same. I have 7 Packards on Battery Minders and have no maintenance until 12 monthly battery level checks. I ran my 38 Six on an 8 volt system for 5 years and reverted back to 6V as it was a PIA with a non-temperature compensated voltage regulator.
Let me know when you would like a bit of a hand and I shall come up for the weekend. I could pick up a few dead Roos on the way and we could go through "white line recipies - my favourite cookbook" over a few beers/vinos. Best regards from Canberra - Peter Toet

There certainly were a lot of roo carcasses by the roadside, as we witnessed on our trip to Canberra a few weeks. A little creative socialising to take advantage of this "bounty" may well be a way to utilise this unused resource.

Until the '41 is close to being ready to hit the road, I won't worry about a specific battery for it. I'll just swap over the '38 battery when/if I need to start it up. I won't go to the trouble of a "minder" system.

In the '41, the current battery location is in the engine bay on the frame rail and adjacent to the starter motor. A piece of board is used as a base with threaded metal rods at either end for a retaining bracket. However there is no retaining bracket present and this is why I referred to it as a gravity system. I believe that "Doc" Gulley, the owner of the '41 from 1960 to 2006 did this to all his Packards just for accessability purposes. And although it isn't "correct", I quite like the concept, and intend to mount the battery there but in a secure manner.

And thankyou greatly for your offer of a weekend's assistance. I hope NOT to have to take advantage of this very generous offer because I have already received offers of support from the blokes up here. For a man with as many Packards and Motorcycles, I can't imagine how you think you can spare the time! Unless there is a specific problem, we'll let that rest for the time being. Again many thanks Peter, you're truly a gentleman of the highway.

Things are progressing in the matter of finding workshop space in order to be able to work on, disassemble, repair, replace and re-assemble the '41 in an appropriate environment. A fellow Packard Club member, Wade, has space in a workshop about 2 miles from my home in which he has room for 4 cars. The workshop is actually much bigger, can probably hold about 14 cars, but the majority of it is a Mazda Rotary repair business.

So as soon as Wade gets his spare rolling '34 chassis outside under the ramp, where it will be weather protected, and this is expected to happen this weekend I'll be able to move the '41 in and put it up on stands and start the inspection and disassembly process with brakes, suspension and steering being the early priorities.

Before that though, I'll be putting a new head gasket on the '38 which is displaying the symptoms of tiny bubbles oozing out between head and block when up to running temperature, not a good sign!

Monday 3rd December 2007

Wade's spare '34 rolling chassis was moved out of the workshop and parked under the roof parking ramp. Wade is also going to put a waterproof cover over it to further protect it from the weather.

With space now available, took the '38 down there about Noon. After some shuffling of cars, because parking and space is at a premium, backed the '38 into the workshop.

Then, under Wade's tutelage and advice. proceeded to take off the head in order to replace the head gasket. Quite a struggle for a fat guy to manoeuvre under the dash to undo the three nuts holding the rear of the hood in place, but I managed eventually! Then had to tackle the two front nuts, got one, but because of my girth, couldn't get into a position to get the other. Fortunately Wade came to my rescue and managed to undo it. Then to remove the hood Wade ended up hacksawing off the end of the base of the "Goddess", 1/8" at most, and I can hear the cries of outrage from here at this apparent sacrilege. Relax - it won't be noticed, it's not a show car, and it was necessary to remove the hood in order to provide reasonable access to the top of the engine. Anyway to cut a long story short, removed the head and found signs that there was leaking occurring, also the head nuts required hardly any force to break them loose! Ended the day after cleaning up the top of the block with a scraper and scouring pads and brake cleaner fluid. Tomorrow will clean up the head and reinstall with a new head gasket and this time torque and re-torque the head nuts including after the motor has run and warmed up until certain it has settled properly.

Reason I've put this in the '41 blog is the '38 is occupying the space the '41 should be in now! Tomorrow after the '38 is finished I will take the '41 down to claim it's rightful due. Will further update tomorrow and include link to photos.

Tuesday 4th December

Back to the workshop this morning and cleaned up the '38's head while Wade, having found and tested a thermostat, was making up a retainer to hold it in place in the water outlet neck. Wade also secured a loose stud into the block. The head gasket was then fitted to the tops of studs on the block and the head was gently lowered, well as gently as an inert piece of cast iron can be lowered, onto the head gasket with gravity having it's effect taking both pieces firmly to the top of the block. Then followed replacement of the head nuts and the laborious tightening sequence taking them up in 10lb increments until the correct tension was reached and then repeating the sequence to ensure all were correctly tightened.

The other pieces removed to provide reasonable access were then re-installed, being: vacuum pipe to distributor, lower radiator hose, air cleaner, fuel line and choke cable, then spark plugs one of which I broke(needs a new set anyway) and the plug leads. By this time Wade had completed the retainer and the head outlet, thermostat and upper radiator hose were also installed. Filled the cooling system with water and put on the radiator cap and we were ready to roar.

So into the car to start it up. But after much cranking with little result, including a burst of aerosol starter helper into the carb, checking that spark was there - NOTHING. Just a lot of grinding by the starter. So checked the carb, and found the apprentice(me) hadn't tightened the choke cable properly so fixed that. Wade also said because he'd sprayed a hell of a lot of WD40 into the cylinders the previous day that there would now be probably little compression available because the rings would have been washed clean of oil. Then Wade produced a 12 volt jump starter and proceeded to crank the car directly from that - After a while the desired result was gained when she roared into life, but spoiled a little by the mis-firing of the cracked plug.

The car was allowed to run for about 10/15 minutes, during which a leak from the top radiator tank was observed, But Wade thinks it might be in-car repairable - I hope so! No other leaks or signs were observed however so our work appeared to hold up well. Then came a re-tightening of the head nuts, twice, to make sure they were all well settled. I'll also do this again in about a months time after a few miles and heating and cooling cycles have been put on the engine.

Then, and Peter Toet told me by PM that removal of the hood wasn't necessary to do this job, was re-installation of the hood. Now, being fumble fingered, I asked Wade to do the 2 front nuts just above the radiator but because the car was still hot his first attempts were frustrated by the still very hot radiator. So the fat man, AKA Mal, had to re-install the 3 nuts & washers which hold the back of the hood in place way way way up under the dash. Suffice to say a man of my proportions should not have to be placed in a situation requiring dexterity combined with confined spaces complicated by sweat running into their eyes while doing so. But contrary to what you're all thinking I DID IT! That's one for the fat guys! By this time, and quite a considerable time had passed because of the dexterity challenged individual re-installing the back nuts and washers, Wade was then able to re-install the front nuts & washers 'cause the radiator had cooled sufficiently to let him operate without fear of hot metal burns!

Drove the '38 home, swapped the battery from the '38 to the '41 and after not starting, a little gas down the carb of the '41 saw it spring to life! Then drove the unregistered '41 the 2 to 3 miles to Wades workshop and found the experience of driving a LHD car on the left side of the road not too uncomfortable in the circumstances. That is besides reaching for the column change on the left side of the steering wheel instead of the right on a number of occasions and imagining the law was going to grab me any second.

Made it safely to the workshop, then Wade directed my backing in to the workshop bay which will be the '41's home for the foreseeable future.

Link to photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/ozstatman/WadesWorkshop

Wednesday 5th December

Yesterday, after the days activities with the '41, I typed a post to go into the Project Blog but after an hour and 6 long paragraphs hit the cancel button instead of Send! Not happy!

Now that I look back, you're probably lucky as it was a blow by blow, nut and bolt, account which I now realise would have bored the pants of everyone! So you're been spared.

What it did involve was jacking the '41 up and putting it on stands. Then started dis-assembly of the front suspension beginning with the drivers side, suffice to say there were two firsts, 1) Used a rattle gun and 2) Used a mechanics creeper. I think Wade is still getting over this fat man's attempts to get up and out of the creeper, you know the expression like a beetle on it's back - well, that was me.

The other thing is I am now a blood brother to the '41. In trying to undo one of the inside shock bolts, the long bar I was using slipped and whacked me on the bridge of the nose and I didn't know until I came out from under the fender that blood had been split. In view of the amount of grease and good Idaho dirt caked under the car that I had scraped off it was payback. But a '41 never has to say sorry to it's owner!

During the course of events found the following:
Shocks - shot
Coil Springs - shot
Rubber Bushes - Look very perished
Drivers side location bar - bent
Drivers side sway bar rod - bent
Both front tyre rubbing on steering rod ball ends.

Apart from that all seemed OK.

6th December have things to do this morning but will go back this afternoon to tackle other side of front suspension.

Link to photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/ozstatman/WadesWorkshop

Thursday 6th December

Only half a day available - arrived at Wades Workshop 1:30pm. Since yesterday Wade had pressed out the large bolt at the top of the king pin that the shock pivots on, we were unable to get it out manually and ended up taking off the shock first. Wade had also taken out the lower control arm.

So today, still under Wades guidance, I dis-assembled the passenger side front suspension with the same problems as the other side including the same large nut and bolt stubbornly refusing to budge and my impression again of a beetle on its back.

The shocks are going off soon to an old shock guy that Wade knows who will rebuild them. Tomorrow, Friday, I can't make it to the workshop because of another commitment and on Monday morning I am donating blood, just a little more than was spilt yesterday, so won't see the '41 again till then. At that time Wade and I will sit down and see what we need to rebuild the front end. New springs, all bushes and rubber components are apparent. Will also check whether the drivers side lower control arm is in fact bent and determine what to do if it is.

If some of the terminology I use is unfamiliar or wrong, don't panic. There are some differences in automotive descriptors down under. While my inexperience and unfamiliarity probably account for the majority.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ozstatman/WadesWorkshop

So next update on Monday

Mal,

Wow wish I can be that descriptive. Looks like you have made some good progress. Keep up the good work?