Quote:
Well, another day working on the Patrician, and another unpleasant surprise. I have a new dual exhaust system I am going to install but first I have to remove the existing Rube Goldberg set up installed by a prior owner. I suspect the same owner who separated the rear brake drums from the rear hubs. This guy was a flippin' mechanical genius. [Please note the sarcasm].
Yes, it is quite amazing what "red neck engineering" efforts and "fixes" that some guys will go to rather than actually fix the problem correctly. One of the worst I remember recently was not on a Packard but a 1963 Tempest 326HO, another rare car. The previous, previous owner had installed a high torque mini-starter that bellhousing mounted. However, to get the "right" alignment, he had shoved a short 2x4 piece of wood between the block and starter and then tightened up the mount bolts! The previous owner did him one better by ignoring the fact that the brake single reservoir had leaked -- hence no brakes at all. He was driving it on the E-brake! The latter guy was convicted of 2nd degree murder (not with the car) and is in the NV "Big House" for 15-30, which is why I got a good deal on the Tempest -- he needed the $ for an attorney, which didn't seem to work out so well.
Sorry, for the slight thread hijack, but the Tempest story is too good to not relate in the context of "red neck engineering" fixes. IMO, "Rube Goldberg fixes" are a quantum level above "Red Neck." Getting the drum off by itself is rather clever, certainly in the realm of "Rube Goldberg-ish".
Craig
This Post was from: https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=86767