Re: Peterson's 1940 Packard
Posted by West Peterson On 2015/6/25 6:59:56
It has been quite some time since my last update. I had scheduled to show the Packard at 5 AACA events this year, including Virginia Beach; Auburn, Indiana; Kansas City, Missouri (the car's original home, by the way); Louisville, Kentucky; and Hershey.
As mentioned earlier, I chose to leave the car in Hershey all winter long with the wonderful offer by Chris Ritter to store it for me after my emergency escape in October.
This May, I picked it up and headed down I-81 toward Virginia Beach, with a scheduled maintenance stop at a friend's restoration shop in West Virginia to check and top-off transmission and rear-end oil. Apparently, because of the rough road in Pennsylvania, the rear door worked itself open to the safety catch (good thing for safety catches!!)
Apparently, the screws holding the striker plate in place were relatively loose. With the rear door partially open, that allowed the screws to eventually drop out: no screws... no striker plate... BLAM!!! At 65mph, the rear door flew open. At first, I thought I had blown a tire. After assessing that the car still handled normally (and thanking the good Lord that my pants were still dry), I turned my head from side to side to figure out what happened. With a lot of open space out my right peripheral, of course my first words were, "Oh Shit!"
Fortunately, bank-vault-like hinges prevented the door from slamming into the rear fender and quarter panel. In fact, the door post holding the hinges wasn't even compromised. The door was bent, and the hinges were bent.
I was able to force the door mostly back into place, and with an electrical extension cord I tied it shut. My friend's shop was 28 miles away, so I motored on. He told me he could have me back on the road with a make-shift door latch, but I chose to call the insurance company and leave it for him to fix properly.
It is hoped that the car will be ready to show at the Arthritis Foundation meet in Columbus in July, as well as the AACA Louisville show in July, and of course Hershey in the fall. Stay tuned.
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As mentioned earlier, I chose to leave the car in Hershey all winter long with the wonderful offer by Chris Ritter to store it for me after my emergency escape in October.
This May, I picked it up and headed down I-81 toward Virginia Beach, with a scheduled maintenance stop at a friend's restoration shop in West Virginia to check and top-off transmission and rear-end oil. Apparently, because of the rough road in Pennsylvania, the rear door worked itself open to the safety catch (good thing for safety catches!!)
Apparently, the screws holding the striker plate in place were relatively loose. With the rear door partially open, that allowed the screws to eventually drop out: no screws... no striker plate... BLAM!!! At 65mph, the rear door flew open. At first, I thought I had blown a tire. After assessing that the car still handled normally (and thanking the good Lord that my pants were still dry), I turned my head from side to side to figure out what happened. With a lot of open space out my right peripheral, of course my first words were, "Oh Shit!"
Fortunately, bank-vault-like hinges prevented the door from slamming into the rear fender and quarter panel. In fact, the door post holding the hinges wasn't even compromised. The door was bent, and the hinges were bent.
I was able to force the door mostly back into place, and with an electrical extension cord I tied it shut. My friend's shop was 28 miles away, so I motored on. He told me he could have me back on the road with a make-shift door latch, but I chose to call the insurance company and leave it for him to fix properly.
It is hoped that the car will be ready to show at the Arthritis Foundation meet in Columbus in July, as well as the AACA Louisville show in July, and of course Hershey in the fall. Stay tuned.
Attach file:
(104.50 KB)
(132.16 KB)
(67.24 KB)
(95.18 KB)
(65.24 KB)
(88.66 KB)
(77.54 KB)
(88.43 KB)
(78.88 KB)
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