Snoozing for 30 Years
Posted by Packard Don On 2016/1/7 15:09:13
Recently I asked a couple questions here after getting excited by some things for Packard that I never knew existed but which were apparently commonly known to everyone else. I was asked if I had been snoozing and the answer is yes, I have been. Here's why:
After having up to 22 cars at home in a residential neighborhood when I lost my storage, they were so packed in that I couldn't actually work on them so they sat untouched for nearly thirty years. Seven were packed tightly into the garage including both of my Patricians that I still own and two other Packards that I no longer own (a 1948 Henney-Packard Laundaulet and a 1940 110 Club Sedan - yes, it was a 110) while most of the others were in the high-fenced backyard, with a few of the more presentable cars, such as my current 1956 Clipper Custom Sedan and former 1952 Henney-Packard Nu-3-Way, sat in the front yard, also fenced to 6'.
Finally when I moved to a larger house but with no yard about eight years ago, I built a new workshop on family property in a rural area and since then I've bought equipment, done some organizing of tons of parts and started work on my 1965 Cadillac just to get it running and back on the road again. It runs and drives finally but still needs some tweaking to get it running properly and to be fully road-able! I have driven it around the block on gravel roads but that's it.
Next in line is my 1965 Imperial LeBaron which shouldn't be too difficult (knock on wood!) as it was one of those in the garage, then on to the first Patrician, which is where some of the parts and tools I commented on come in. Presuming it cranks at all, it will need at least a full cleaning/rebuilding of the brake and fuel systems and, of course, coolant and oil changes. The workshop is in Central Oregon while I live in California so my visits are for a couple weeks at a time, every couple months, but slowly progress is being made!
The Patrician, just like the two 1965s, was an every-day driver and had been rebuilt mechanically but never actually restored before being parked. It was missing most of its trim when I bought it back before there was an Internet so parts were a bit harder to source, especially as I am hard of hearing and do not readily use a telephone. I managed to find a nearly complete parts car with all the trim along with power windows that mine did not have and would love to find a stock A/C unit that is at least good enough to use as a pattern to reproduce but so far I've not found one. I have an uninstalled after-market unit that supposedly came from a '53 Mayfair but I prefer stock appearance on things like this. I'll likely even use the parts car's body but the debate is whether to use its two-tone blue which I really like or the original car's two-tone gray. It would usually be a non-issue as I love the blue but the gray car's dash is beautiful and I have a set of excellent seats and doors with panels that are also gray (a Packard Club friend totaled his identical '54 Patrician when I used to be active in the club: the doors and seats came from it) that I don't want to have to re-do to change color.
Anyway, for what it's worth, there you have it and here are some photos of the move. The car carrier could handle eight or nine modern cars but only five of mine would fit, prompting the sixth to be delivered separately. My favorite shot is the first one where I caught the car carrier passing by the neighbor's (my parents) house after I got news that they were on their way. I had to run from one five acre property to the other and got there just in time! The last shot shows the very beginning of the sorting out of parts from many boxes and crates, using the hoods and trunk lids as sorting shelves. When the pieces went to a particular era, I put it onto the lid of the appropriate car.
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After having up to 22 cars at home in a residential neighborhood when I lost my storage, they were so packed in that I couldn't actually work on them so they sat untouched for nearly thirty years. Seven were packed tightly into the garage including both of my Patricians that I still own and two other Packards that I no longer own (a 1948 Henney-Packard Laundaulet and a 1940 110 Club Sedan - yes, it was a 110) while most of the others were in the high-fenced backyard, with a few of the more presentable cars, such as my current 1956 Clipper Custom Sedan and former 1952 Henney-Packard Nu-3-Way, sat in the front yard, also fenced to 6'.
Finally when I moved to a larger house but with no yard about eight years ago, I built a new workshop on family property in a rural area and since then I've bought equipment, done some organizing of tons of parts and started work on my 1965 Cadillac just to get it running and back on the road again. It runs and drives finally but still needs some tweaking to get it running properly and to be fully road-able! I have driven it around the block on gravel roads but that's it.
Next in line is my 1965 Imperial LeBaron which shouldn't be too difficult (knock on wood!) as it was one of those in the garage, then on to the first Patrician, which is where some of the parts and tools I commented on come in. Presuming it cranks at all, it will need at least a full cleaning/rebuilding of the brake and fuel systems and, of course, coolant and oil changes. The workshop is in Central Oregon while I live in California so my visits are for a couple weeks at a time, every couple months, but slowly progress is being made!
The Patrician, just like the two 1965s, was an every-day driver and had been rebuilt mechanically but never actually restored before being parked. It was missing most of its trim when I bought it back before there was an Internet so parts were a bit harder to source, especially as I am hard of hearing and do not readily use a telephone. I managed to find a nearly complete parts car with all the trim along with power windows that mine did not have and would love to find a stock A/C unit that is at least good enough to use as a pattern to reproduce but so far I've not found one. I have an uninstalled after-market unit that supposedly came from a '53 Mayfair but I prefer stock appearance on things like this. I'll likely even use the parts car's body but the debate is whether to use its two-tone blue which I really like or the original car's two-tone gray. It would usually be a non-issue as I love the blue but the gray car's dash is beautiful and I have a set of excellent seats and doors with panels that are also gray (a Packard Club friend totaled his identical '54 Patrician when I used to be active in the club: the doors and seats came from it) that I don't want to have to re-do to change color.
Anyway, for what it's worth, there you have it and here are some photos of the move. The car carrier could handle eight or nine modern cars but only five of mine would fit, prompting the sixth to be delivered separately. My favorite shot is the first one where I caught the car carrier passing by the neighbor's (my parents) house after I got news that they were on their way. I had to run from one five acre property to the other and got there just in time! The last shot shows the very beginning of the sorting out of parts from many boxes and crates, using the hoods and trunk lids as sorting shelves. When the pieces went to a particular era, I put it onto the lid of the appropriate car.
Attach file:
(59.71 KB)
(54.58 KB)
(52.07 KB)
(42.50 KB)
(43.42 KB)
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