Re: Wile Family's Second Packard
Posted by Tim Wile On 2012/7/8 16:18:35
An interesting weekend with the '55 400 coupe. I took the 400 for its weekly short drive and experienced one of those momentsI am sure that most of us have had - a complete engine shutdown while on the road. To make matter worse, I left my cell phone at home. So, there I was, sitting on a back road with a dead Packard and no phone.
Raising the hood and removing the air cleaner, the smell of fuel was readily apparent and I quickly noticed that a fuel line had come undone. Managing to get the line re-connected, it was time to fire up the engine and see if I could make it home for some more permanent repair. Naturally, it takes forever for the engine to crank long enough to get fuel back to the carburetor and start the engine. Not wanting to draw down the battery too much, I again dis-connected the fuel line, caught some fuel in the oil breather cap, re-connected the fuel line, and poured the fuel into the carburetor. Fortunately, it coughed a little and kicked over enough to draw sufficient fuel to keep the engine running.
The balance of the drive home was rather uneventful after that.
I finally managed to take a few photos of the 400 and work in progress. The re-built carburetor and new fuel filter looks pretty good and the engine runs great. If the car is not run for a week or so, a shot of starter fluid is needed to get the engine going. But if has only been two or three days, the engine starts on the first or second crank. Pretty cool.
I've also attached a few shots of the engine compartment showing the re-done heater core and enclosure. The heater works and there is no leakage from the core, which is a good thing. Now to re-connect the fresh air ducts and that is ready to roll.
I've stripped both of the doors on the 400 since I needed to have the window glass replaced and needed to work on the alignment of the window so as to allow the power windows to do their job. The passenger's door vent wing was so far out of alignment that the flipper on the roof couldn't close when the door was shut. I found after that assembly was removed that the mounting bulges out a bit farther than it should, which would cause the vent wing to stray farther outward than it should. I'm thinking I'll have to remove the door handle and stainless trim so I can move the mounting back into alignment before re-installing the vent frame.
The past week has been in the 90s in this area so getting time to work on either car has been difficult. Even a few minutes of working works up a sweat and one becomes rather uncomfortable rather quickly. Unfortunately, the next few days look like more of the same.
Attach file:
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(80.22 KB)
(115.89 KB)
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Raising the hood and removing the air cleaner, the smell of fuel was readily apparent and I quickly noticed that a fuel line had come undone. Managing to get the line re-connected, it was time to fire up the engine and see if I could make it home for some more permanent repair. Naturally, it takes forever for the engine to crank long enough to get fuel back to the carburetor and start the engine. Not wanting to draw down the battery too much, I again dis-connected the fuel line, caught some fuel in the oil breather cap, re-connected the fuel line, and poured the fuel into the carburetor. Fortunately, it coughed a little and kicked over enough to draw sufficient fuel to keep the engine running.
The balance of the drive home was rather uneventful after that.
I finally managed to take a few photos of the 400 and work in progress. The re-built carburetor and new fuel filter looks pretty good and the engine runs great. If the car is not run for a week or so, a shot of starter fluid is needed to get the engine going. But if has only been two or three days, the engine starts on the first or second crank. Pretty cool.
I've also attached a few shots of the engine compartment showing the re-done heater core and enclosure. The heater works and there is no leakage from the core, which is a good thing. Now to re-connect the fresh air ducts and that is ready to roll.
I've stripped both of the doors on the 400 since I needed to have the window glass replaced and needed to work on the alignment of the window so as to allow the power windows to do their job. The passenger's door vent wing was so far out of alignment that the flipper on the roof couldn't close when the door was shut. I found after that assembly was removed that the mounting bulges out a bit farther than it should, which would cause the vent wing to stray farther outward than it should. I'm thinking I'll have to remove the door handle and stainless trim so I can move the mounting back into alignment before re-installing the vent frame.
The past week has been in the 90s in this area so getting time to work on either car has been difficult. Even a few minutes of working works up a sweat and one becomes rather uncomfortable rather quickly. Unfortunately, the next few days look like more of the same.
Attach file:
(112.59 KB)
(97.31 KB)
(83.55 KB)
(80.22 KB)
(115.89 KB)
(64.40 KB)
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