Re: Wile Family's Second Packard
Posted by Tim Wile On 2012/5/6 12:38:53
This weekend was a productive weekend on the Four Hundred! With the help of my loving wife, I bled the brake system and bled quite a bit of air out of the rear brake lines. There was very little air in the front lines. Once the lines were bled and additional fluid added, I once again have reliable brakes on the Four Hundred!!
Next, I finally replaced the heater core and re-routed the heater hoses. When I took off the old heater core I was surprised (not really) to find that it was held on by only a sheet metal screw and a bolt and there was no gasket between the core assembly and the firewall. That was remedied with a gasket and new bolts.
It took some time installing the re-built core as lining up the bolt holes looks like it should have been a two-person job so with one person working on it, it took a while. I managed to finally get one bolt aligned by the time I lost light on Saturday evening. Sunday after breakfast with the wife I tackled it again and managed to get the bolts and screws lined up in their proper places. New heater hoses and clamps were then in order and after a few hours the job was done. With the new heater core in place, some new anti-freeze was added to the cooling system and a quick run around the block to see if there were any leaks in the system proved uneventful.
The next project with the Four Hundred will be having the re-built carburator installed once it is returned from the rebuilder. At the same time, the vacuum lines will all be replaced and hopefully the windshield wipers will work a little more sprightly. I've already oiled the wiper motor as recommended by the service bulletin and replaced some of the vacuum lines, but not all of them.
Since I brought the Four Hundred home, I've managed to put thirty (30) miles on it without any major issues other than the brakes the other week. That appears to have been resolved and I'm looking forward to getting the re-built carburator on it so that it runs a bit more smoothly.
I'm also looking forward to driving it to the gasoline station for its first fill up. Up to now, I've been using gas cans to fuel it. It will be nice to simply drive it up to a pump and fill it like a normal car! I'm really looking forward to that.
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