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Thursday 18th December 2008

Arrived at the workshop to see a little Mazda Ute parked outside. I've loved little Utes ever since a mate of mine had a Morris 8/40 Ute over 40 years ago. It was like a sewing machine on wheels, well it sounded a bit like one when it was running and it wasn't very big!

Anyway, once inside the workshop, started finishing off the tightening of the front fenders and inner fenders and the front inner grill panels. Got all the remaining nuts and bolts done for the fenders and inner fenders with Wades help. Then we turned to the inner panels between the radiator and the side grills. Although they were in place when installing the fenders we'd put them inside the fender when they should have been on the outside. So took off the bolts holding them to the radiator frame and because the nuts & bolts to hold them to the side grills hadn't been mounted we were able to re-align them. Had to also loosen off the two lower nuts & bolts holding the front fenders to the bottom piece that runs under the grill. Then came the trickier part aligning the holes to bolt the panels to the side grills. A fair bit of effort was expended doing this and because of the position of the holes Wade, in his natural position under the car, had difficulty in inserting the little bolts but in the end got there. Also installed, loosely, the front bumper irons and Steele's rubber irons to body gaskets.

During all this Tony, a friend of Noel's the guy with the '41 160 Coupe, arrived. When Tony and Noel were here some months ago, Tony took my good lower front fender stay(the other one was "butchered") and said he could make a new one. As it was also time to remount the fender stays Wade had rung Noel earlier to be told that Tony hadn't made only one stay, but four, and Noel would deliver them on Monday. Therefore we were pleasantly surprised to see Tony today with my original and only one of the one's he'd made in his hand, the rest could be for Noel for his Coupe? Didn't stay long, as he could see we were busy, and when Wade asked him how much we owed him, said "I don't know", shrugged his shoulders and grinned. So I said I'd have to buy him a drink and what did he like. Thereupon he replied "Port, but not too expensive, or you'll spoil me". What a guy! And I forgot to take his pic, to add to the rogue's gallery of characters here, or pic's of the original and replicated stays.

Next we turned to the headlights. Wade had swung WFI(Wade Fabrication Industries) into gear a week or so ago and made a spring that clips the headlight holder to the headlight bucket. There are 2 for each headlight but the '41 came with 2 on one side and only one on the other. Then came the fun part, trying to clip the springs once they were attached to the headlight holder to the mounting hooks on the headlight bucket. Wade tried various long nose pliers, screwdrivers of different lengths and sizes but all to no avail except frustration. Wade figured out he'd have to modify a screwdriver so it had a slot or groove on the on the blade to catch and hold the spring so it could then be pushed into and under the hooks holding it to the headlight bucket. While Wade was swinging WFI into action again I spent time cleaning up more bolts, these for the bottom panel under the grill. By the time I'd finished that, plus a dozen screws to hold the headlight buckets to the fenders(6 a side), Wade had made the tool and attached both headlight holders to their respective buckets. Mounted the completed headlight bucket assemblies to the fenders using the Steele Rubber gaskets bought recently. Then mounted the headlight wiring harness to each bucket assembly, this time using recently made MBM gaskets.

The fender lights were next, and because the studs holding them were the worse for wear, the studs were replaced with bolts I cut to size with a hacksaw and finished on the bench grinder. All the new bolts screwed in easily on the workbench but putting them together on the fenders especially the left side was another matter altogether. Finally got there but then discovered the front bolts, although longer than the rear bolts, were too long. So after more hacksawing and grinding on my part finally got the fender lights mounted.

Turned then to mounting the lower fender stays. The outer mountings of these attach to the bottoms of the front fenders just behind the wheel arch where they level off and continue rearward. While the inner mount is under the chassis and held by a bolt which is cushioned by formed rubber gaskets, but we didn't have any of these! This time MBM Gaskets swung into action cutting out 4 large rubber gaskets about 1&1/2" in diameter with a hole to fit the small metal tube that runs through their middles. During this Wade scrounged up 2 'O' rings to fit and fill the middle between where the rubber gaskets fit each side of the metal stay. And I'm pleased to say mission accomplished, although no pic's were taken in the heat of the action. Now the fenders, especially the right side which had previously been pulled under at the bottom, are now firmly anchored in place.

What next, you ask? The overdrive cable came the reply. A little Elf(AKA Wade) after I'd left one day recently, had straightened the kink that had previously been in the metal sheath where the O/D cable exits its armoured coiled housing. Discovered he could screw the sheath off the coil cable housing, straightened the sheath in the vice and also straightened the kink in the cable itself. A good man to have around, especially when you're not around yourself! Now to remount it. Wade fed it through the cable access hole in the firewall, then while he was mounting the control knob end and the switch wiring in the cabin I was re-aligning the MBM cable access hole gasket. Both tasks should have been relatively straight forward. But both were not to be so. The MBM gasket had been cut and installed some while ago, but since then the dash had been re-installed, the speedo cable hooked up and various other cables and controls "played" with to say the least. What had been easy before now attained a significant degree of difficulty. However help was attained somewhat by re-routing the two cable which still had free ends, the choke and the O/D cables. Adjusting the position of the coil cable by easing off the coil mounting and rotating the coil about 45 degrees. And undoing one of the heater hoses so the speedo cable and oil pressure line passed inside it instead of outside it. Wade meanwhile had mounted the O/D control under the steering column only to find he had to take it out again to mount the O/D switch, it being too restrictive to reach while in situ.

That was one end of the O/D cable, now came the undercar part. First Wade was on the creeper under the car while I fed the O/D cable down to him. It took about three re-routings before a satisfactory route was found and then checked to ensure the control knob end was in the correct position in the cabin. The O/D cable was mounted to the chassis X-member when it was removed earlier this year, but looking at that Wade believed it could be the cause of the kink in the cable because it wasn't positioning the cable in the same plane as the lever it actuates. A few trial positionings found that if the cable mounting was moved to one of the bottom bellhousing cover bolts it would allow the O/D actuation to operate in the one plane without twisting stresses. So while Wade laid on the creeper I drilled out the mounting hole on the bracket to accept the larger diameter of the bellhousing cover plate bolt. And when all was mounted the O/D actuation cable worked well. Kudos to Wade again!

Is there more? Yes! By this time I thought we may have reached the end of our day but it wasn't to be. Wade suggested lowering the '41 back to earth from it's previously lofty perch on jack stands since early December 2007. So while Wade fetched the floor jack I rounded up the lug bolts and the rear tires. And pretty soon - TOUCHDOWN, Houston, we have touchdown! The '41 returned from whence it came - the concrete floor of Wade's Shed, as he calls it! Then to the front end, the process was repeated and all four tires were once again in contact with what was now considerably dirtier concrete than when they left it. Ensured all the wheel lug bolts were tight by borrowing John's long socket bar and tightening accordingly. Wade tightened up the front and rear axle bolts and split-pinned them and the front axle gease cup covers installed.

What a day! Little did I think when we started that the '41 would return to looking like a car rather than it's hovering presence up on the jack stands. In fact I was tempted to drive it home but, seeing there are still some things to attend to, that must wait for another day!

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Looking at that headlight bucket spring (which perhaps was made by opening a coil or two in a single long spring?) makes me thing about the art of making your own tension springs. I'd think this is nearly a lost skill among today's restorers. Just curious, has anyone here actually wound their own tension springs?

Places like Century Spring (good site to Google and bookmark) offer millions of springs, but if you're adventuresome or need one you can't find, it's kind of rewarding to make your own. You basically make a wooden mandrel from dowel stock, buy the correct size spring wire, wind on a lathe at low speed with considerable tension on the wire feed, an then remove and heat-treat.

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Dave,

You're right of course. That's how Wade made it. He also made a couple of little springs to replace the shot ones in the wiper arms by shortening up some springs till they were the right length.

Friday 19th December 2008

What a difference a day makes, might even be the title of a song!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_a_Diff%27rence_a_Day_Made
But in this instance it refers to yesterdays and todays events in the workshop, like chalk and cheese. Yesterday a number of tasks were completed over more than 8 hours and significant progress was made. Today after about 5 hours only one significant task, which would normally be knocked over in a fraction of that time, was almost completed.

Before we get to that, I had noticed on arrival that Kevin's '35 was not parked in or out of the workshop. Turns out Wade took it home last night, will drive it over the weekend, and deliver it to Kevin on Monday morning. It's currently parked in Wade's garage at home, and he got dropped off at the workshop this morning because of the Christmas party that's being held here in the afternoon. No spanners(wrenches) were turned by Rick or John this morning because they were preparing for the party. Rick spent a lot of the morning preparing food for the BBQ, nibblies, salads and such. Looks quite a deft hand at it too. John was preparing the party area, bringing in extra chairs and another BBQ. By the way, the whiteboard sign advertising the party since early December advises that entry is by CASES of beer only! When I left they were just getting started and by the looks of things it will be a resounding success, as it always is I believe. I would have stayed, but had other commitments, and anyway the guys wouldn't want pic's of the orgy, sorry I mean party, splashed over Packardinfo!

The significant task referred to earlier? Mounting the front bumper, over-riders, grill guard and the splash/stone shield between bumper and body. And it's still not finished! Need to find a longer bolt for the left side outer splash/stone mount. The bracket there is a home made one and to get the right fit the mounting bolt needs to be longer than normal. Seems from this and other indications that the '41 has had a significant bingle in it's past. I started the bumper assembly while Wade went round to see Sam and Ivan and had them weld a bolt to one of the grill guard over-riders because one of the originals had been sheared off and a nice job they did too! Because of the lapse in time since I dissembled the bumpers, about 8 months coupled with early onset "old-timers" disease, I couldn't remember how the splash/stone shields should be mounted and the one homemade one didn't help either. Took Wade, on his back under the Packard(as usual) together with some shuffling of the brackets from side to side and inner to outer to finally figure out what went where. Reference was also made to my Picasa albums of laid out sequences of parts and while this was thought to help initially in reality it just confused matters. In the end after much fitting, re-fitting, re-fitting and more re-fitting everything was in place, levels checked and nuts and bolts tightened. Except for the outer left side over-rider splash/stone shield mount. I'll get a longer bolt and that'll be finished Monday.

Oh, and there was one other matter of significance. But first I want to know, what did I do to offend the Packard Gods? First up at the workshop looked for the O/D Control Knob I'd bought off Yesterdays Radio many months ago. Looked at home before I left, couldn't find it. Looked around the workshop, not there either. Last place was the trunk of the '41 which had been loaded up with bits and pieces over the course of the past year. Cleaned it all out and still no knob. But that wasn't the end of that, because the '41's now on the floor it's much lower than before so the corners of the trunk lid are deadly weapons and I've now got the scar to show for it, should have ducked lower!

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Carefull Mal, or we are going to have to chip-in and get you a helmet!

Another question that comes to mind is the Packard hurt as the skin will heal with time we bald guys have hard heads.
Looking good soon we will not have your progress reports to watch for.
Maybe you can become the down under crier and keep us posted of goings on at the Wades Packard repair headquarters down under as I always enjoy your written and pictorial posts

That's why I always wear a hat when I'm working on cars, keeps my hair out of dirt and grease, and protects my head so I don't end up looking like Mr. Gorbachev there.

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Guys,

for your concerns, although Eric's I'm not so sure about.

Al,
The Packard suffered no visible damage. And concerning "Wade's Shed" I think that's a good idea . I intend to do something along those lines although they will probably more occasional pieces rather than day by day descriptions.

Monday 22nd December 2008

Last Friday Wade had asked me to put together a list of things still needing to be done to the '41. So I was in a mad panic this morning before leaving to compose one. As the basis for this new list, used the list I'd previously posted here in September before Wade left for Hershey. And surprise, surprise there were only 5 items remaining from that list. To those 5 I added about another 10 things that came to mind and during the course of the day a few more were inked in as they became apparent.

My first task this morning was fabricating brackets to hold and locate the front turn indicator lights. While I was doing that Wade was completing the headlight wiring hook-up. He also hooked up the Generator wiring and the turn signal wiring and fitted the new upper front rubber bump stops. After measuring, the turn indicator light brackets were cut from the same aircraft aluminium used for the rear brackets, holes drilled, smoothed on the bench grinder and wire wheel and bent in the bench vice. The bending was accomplished fairly easily and worked out first time for both brackets, not like the rears where there were 4 failures along the way! And when Wade tested the indicators, they worked straight up. A word about the indicators, they actually came with 12V double filament bulbs but are now fitted with 6V bulbs and Wade has rewired so that a single wire feeds both filaments. I'll never be accused of having dim turn indicators, they are bright!

Next was re-installing the bottom panel between the grill shell and the bottom of the radiator. Should be easy but because the '41 is now on the deck working room for a big guy was almost non existent. Ended by jacking up the front end to gain some clearance which made it somewhat easier. And during the course of this Wade left to deliver Kevin's '35 and because I was flat on my back couldn't take a farewell pic as Wade drove away. By the time Wade returned I had the the panel done, had taken the front seat squab out and cleaned out the mice crap still in there and vacuumed the interior again and put the squab back in. And I found my scraping knife while putting the squab back in. Hadn't mentioned this earlier but the knife went missing when we were re-installing the rubber underlay, underfelt and carpet in the '41. Just couldn't find it again, felt the carpet at the time, took the seat out again but nada! This time, while putting the squab back in, lent my right hand on the floor and there was a bump where no bump should be! Wade and Kevin arrived as I was undoing the sill plate screws to retrieve this valued and precious possession of mine. And where was it, besides being under all three layers of floor covering, about dead centre if the passengers feet were flat on the floor.

What next, the headlights of course, now that the wiring had been completed. I forgot to mention that earlier I'd also blasted the insides of the chrome headlight rims to remove the last traces of perished rubber gasket seal then POR-15 silver painted the internal surface only. By this time they were dry enough to work with but first while WFI swung into gear massaging the new stainless headlight retainers I'd bought off eBay over a year ago to find that they didn't fit. But Wade managed to get them to fit by turning the holes in the three mounting tabs with into slots. This permitted two holes to align well with a corresponding mounting hole while the third had enough purchase to do the job. Next Wade aligned the headlight beams, the right side required some adjustment while the left was left as is. Then the internally POR-15'd headlight rims were installed. A little problem here as the headlight adjustment interfered with the fit of the rim, but by backing off the adjustment a little and some brute force courtesy of Mal the rim fitted!

And as Wade says "Well there we are" meaning well that's done. But in this case it's just about all done now! There are still some minor matters to attend to, but tomorrow I expect the '41 will be driving at least out of the workshop. And how far? Probably just down the driveway but if a inspection with a suitably licensed mechanic can be arranged maybe further.

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Looking good Santa may be able to take his Christmas drive in your completed 41. We all can appreciate your results and the effort you with the expert guidance and help from Wade. If everyone had a Wade there would be a lot of lucky owners. Wade is a great asset for you and all Packard owners. Glad to have been introduced thru this site. Always look forward to your style and wit and pictures to make my day more enjoyable.