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START-UP: We added 5 gal of coolant and 7 quarts of break-in oil. Then started it up. An air bubble formed in the head spout which prevented the thermostat from opening, but it opened after we let the engine cool, and restarted it. Then I sat in the car and ran the engine up and down from 1200-1800 rpms for a half hour to break in the cam while John told me jokes.

Next:
Re-torquing, air cleaner, horn wiring
Change oil and filter to SAE 15-40 with zinc
Reassemble hood, add left front and rear fenders
Drive to metal fabricators for tacking the driver door
Paint shop

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Sounds like good times!
Wes

Telling jokes while drinking beer and breaking in a Packard engine. It doesn't get much better than that.

I'm well aware you can picture all this in your mind, but Molly takes great pix and John is doing such a fine job on this iteration on the Duchess, I can't resist sharing.

Added the repainted left rear fender. No more embarrassing scratches.
Positioned and attached repainted front fender. It had a pock mark from the tire picking up something very hard and tossing it to the inside of the fender.
Replaced the bonnet. So happy to see that back on. Missing rear center screw discovered in the process. John equalized and made other fitting adjustments using the radiator support rods.
The startup oil was drained and we replaced the oil filter cartridge.
A bit dusty from the barn, but ready to hit the road, we headed out on the country roads around John's for a test drive with Molly and Pam.
John backed her back to the barn for final tweaks before she returns to Portland to complete the work on the driver's door.

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We're getting close now. The new master cylinder arrives today, so that has to be installed and sidemounts replaced, so I have the advantage of the mirrors to drive to Portland.

Almost everything else is hooked up and ready to go.

The Stromberg AAV-26 arrived at Daytona Parts for refurbishing, but we have the Carter WDO to use until it's back.

Also sending the clock to Clock Works to get it to run correctly.

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Looking Good!

Thanks, Kev,

Yesterday, by the time we finished bleeding the brakes after John installed the new master cylinder, reinstalling the sidemounts, checking all the lights and instruments, and warming up the engine to check for leaks of any kind (absolutely none), made a couple of rivet repairs sediment rubbers, it was dark.

I didn't want to drive 60 miles at night, especially with no glass in the driver's door. All I need is a dry day to bring her home.

Suddenly, of course, we have a cold snap. It's actually snowing, light but cold. Tuesday is forecast to be another snow day.

We are sending the Sylphon thermostat from the old radiator off for rebuilding and the clock, too.

I'll be in Portland tomorrow too experiencing the cold with you, then to the high desert of Terrebonne in Central Oregon where it's even colder! My shop is unisulated steel so it will be quite chilly but not as bad as last year in January when I spent the first five hours there on a tractor digging out the shop's roll-up door.

Enjoy the cool weather, Don. It's been such a warm winter.

It was cold today, in the 30s, but partly sunny. Snow Tues and days of rain after, so decided at the last minute to take advantage of this window and bring the Duchess home. John and I wiped off the barn dust. Lashed the driver door closed, but installed the vent window to cut down on wind coming in the driver window. Got gas and got on I-5 N.

She ran beautifully of course in our range up and down the scale from 50 to 65, with Molly following. The cooling system is working too well. Stayed at 1/4 temp most all the way. We had opened the shutters to 3/4. I will close them to 1/4 until we can install the new syphon thermostat from Max Merritt. There were recommendations to have Automotive Restorations of NJ rebuild it, but they must cater to the Amelia and Pebble crowd because their price they quoted this morning was $795 to rebuild a 1940 sylphon. Why not make it an even $800, guys? Pretty outrageous considering you have to provide the core and a brand new one from Max is $400 with gasket, no core required. Looking at these step-by-step instructions, we'll probably rebuild our core ourselves, since we have 2, when we have nothing left to do.

http://www.secondchancegarage.com/how-to/thermostat-1.cfm

At the light after getting off the freeway, I thought she died. There was no sound or movement. I touched the accelerator before the starter button and she revved up.

All in all an amazing ride.

I'm going to take the air pressure down to 50 on the Diamondback radials.

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What a beautiful car. I was once pulled over in Bellevue, WA in my 1940 110 as the policeman just wanted to see it. The door was open and he was leaning on it with one foot on the running board when he asked how it ran. When I said, "it's running now!" his jaw dropped open in amazement! I had to show him before he believed me. If a 110 is that smooth, the 356 must be even better.