Re: Adventures with a 1955 Clipper
Posted by JWL On 2011/5/30 15:34:03
Hello All,
First, just to let you know, these blog entries are being made after the fact. I started an e-mail blog about this project and sent it to family and friends. Some have suggested I set-up a real blog here as they think many will be interested. These entries are based on those e-mails.
This will be the first installment of work on the '55 Clipper. The goal is to have this part of the project finished in time to take the car to the 34th Texas Packard Meet in Salado at the end of March. This will be my fourth attendance at this meet. We took the 1937 Packard Six Convertible Coupe in previous years. It was well received, and it will be interesting to see how the Fifty-five does.
As the photos from the first entry show, the car is attractive. The one color is unusual for these cars as they mostly came in two-tone color schemes. I think the Onyx Black (Paint Code V) works well with the lines of the car. The car is "a 20-footer", that is it looks good from 20 feet away. As you get closer more and more blemishes and defects can be noticed. My first chore was to thoroughly clean the car and deal with body and finish repairs later. I decided to start with the engine compartment.
I attacked this area first as there were some mechanical improvements I needed to do. I wanted to install a battery cut-off switch for safety and security, and install a correct Auto-Lite generator to replace the Declo Remy unit installed.
It quickly became apparent that the engine compartment was, well, filthy. To clean it there would be solvents, soap, and high pressure water and air needed. To protect the electrical equipment from being ruined by the cleaning process I started to remove these items (generator, starter, voltage regulator, etc.). Then I thought to do a better cleaning job, it would help if I could take off as much stuff from the engine and the compartment as could be easily removed. I think this is called mission creep. By the time I got through I had stripped the compartment of everything except the heater housing, and everything on the top of the engine except the cylinder heads, front cover and vibration damper, and exhaust manifolds.
Of course everything I took off needed to be cleaned and painted, repaired and/or replaced. I did not take any photos of the disassembling, but have documented the reassembly. The first photo shows the engine and its compartment after I finished the cleaning. If you think this is bad, you should have seen it before. In the midst of the cleaning I was thinking that I might be creating a Super Fund site.
The paint on the firewall and inner fender liners is badly stained and faded. Still, I decided not to try and paint the sheet metal parts. This, partly because it would be a horrendous job, and secondly to keep as much of the original character as possible. I would like to find some way to make these surfaces look better, maybe a cleaner-polish will help. The car is 56 years old and deserves to show its wear and tear. I believe the car was made in late March or April of 1955. Happy 56th Birthday!
The Next installment will start the reassembly process.
Take care.
(o{I}o)
Attach file:
(51.29 KB)
First, just to let you know, these blog entries are being made after the fact. I started an e-mail blog about this project and sent it to family and friends. Some have suggested I set-up a real blog here as they think many will be interested. These entries are based on those e-mails.
This will be the first installment of work on the '55 Clipper. The goal is to have this part of the project finished in time to take the car to the 34th Texas Packard Meet in Salado at the end of March. This will be my fourth attendance at this meet. We took the 1937 Packard Six Convertible Coupe in previous years. It was well received, and it will be interesting to see how the Fifty-five does.
As the photos from the first entry show, the car is attractive. The one color is unusual for these cars as they mostly came in two-tone color schemes. I think the Onyx Black (Paint Code V) works well with the lines of the car. The car is "a 20-footer", that is it looks good from 20 feet away. As you get closer more and more blemishes and defects can be noticed. My first chore was to thoroughly clean the car and deal with body and finish repairs later. I decided to start with the engine compartment.
I attacked this area first as there were some mechanical improvements I needed to do. I wanted to install a battery cut-off switch for safety and security, and install a correct Auto-Lite generator to replace the Declo Remy unit installed.
It quickly became apparent that the engine compartment was, well, filthy. To clean it there would be solvents, soap, and high pressure water and air needed. To protect the electrical equipment from being ruined by the cleaning process I started to remove these items (generator, starter, voltage regulator, etc.). Then I thought to do a better cleaning job, it would help if I could take off as much stuff from the engine and the compartment as could be easily removed. I think this is called mission creep. By the time I got through I had stripped the compartment of everything except the heater housing, and everything on the top of the engine except the cylinder heads, front cover and vibration damper, and exhaust manifolds.
Of course everything I took off needed to be cleaned and painted, repaired and/or replaced. I did not take any photos of the disassembling, but have documented the reassembly. The first photo shows the engine and its compartment after I finished the cleaning. If you think this is bad, you should have seen it before. In the midst of the cleaning I was thinking that I might be creating a Super Fund site.
The paint on the firewall and inner fender liners is badly stained and faded. Still, I decided not to try and paint the sheet metal parts. This, partly because it would be a horrendous job, and secondly to keep as much of the original character as possible. I would like to find some way to make these surfaces look better, maybe a cleaner-polish will help. The car is 56 years old and deserves to show its wear and tear. I believe the car was made in late March or April of 1955. Happy 56th Birthday!
The Next installment will start the reassembly process.
Take care.
(o{I}o)
Attach file:
(51.29 KB)
This Post was from: https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=78071