Monday 18th February 2008

Scraping, scraping and more scraping. Getting monotonous, this time right side outside of main X member, underfloor and frame rails. See the results in the pic below

Last Friday gasket for diff re-assembly arrived from USA.

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One other thing, Randy. When the doc says "don't bend over" and "no lifting for X days", pay attention. My sister had a friend who did not pay attention, and regretted it.

That is a might clean looking engine!

Bernardi

Switching to an alternator wouldn't be something I'd be interested in... but there's one on e-bay right now; 6 volt/positive ground 5/8" pulley with a starting bid of 24.99 USD. Item 150216913509
Just in case anybody else might be looking for one.
Oops.. just realized this is on the V8 forum ... never mind.

Excellent advice Jack. Excellent. The 1/8 inch overbore limit is not just for Packard V8's but is a good general rule-of-thumb to be applied to any engine including air cooled.

Certainly there is nothing wrong with a GOOD 6v system. Even a fair 6v system is acceptable. I would not attempt to change either. In fact i have 3 six volt sytems currently in service.

However, tell me how to remove mud dobber nests from the CLOTH WRAPPED field coils (NOS BTW) without damaging them. What do i do about the laminated armature core that is showing signs of the individual layers shifting and most likely cutting into the windings???? What about commutators that are severly pitted and burned from use and abuse??? These same issues apply to just about any electrical part that is 50 years old and of unkown origin regardless of treatment, voltage etc.

Sure, i try to keep my original 6v equiped vehicles maintained and i've been lucky. The problem is that i'm running out of 6v parts. Brushes and bushing are not an issue. FIELD COILS and ARMATures ARE. Especialy on anything new i bring in.

Its not like i'm going to Pebblebrook or Meadowbeach to bid on high points cars for my collection that only need a set brushes and the air checked in the spare. The last Delco alternator i bought was about 6 years ago and it cost $34, with LLW. Anyone have armatures or field coils for $34 ????? How about regulators for $34 ????

So, if u have good parts setting on the shelf by all means rebuild the 6v systems. In my case i'm running out of 6v parts.

It's right under the steering column, and I used the '99 Ranger pedal setup. Don't you remember ANY of this????

Eric. Which way did u slide the brake pedal???? Toward the steering column or away from it???? U are using a 56 brake pedal???? NOT a 55.

There's a spot on the firewall of one of my Pats where the original black lacquer peeled away, revealing red primer. Also, I once looked under a rust-free original Packard and saw red primer under the peeling asphalt undercoating. No wonder the floor boards rusted out on cars of the '50s (and not just Packards) up here in the snow belt - they didn't paint the underside!

Yet, after spending many years out in a field, my dad's old Exec seemed to have a dark primer showing through on the outer body panels where the paint was getting thin.

I learned to squirt paint on cars of the '70s and later; sanding (feathering) for spot repairs revealed varying shades of gray primer, but most body shops were still shooting red primer. Most glazing (spot) putty, which was nothing more than a really thick primer, was red, too. On replacement sheet metal, GM used baked-on dark gray (almost black) primer, but I have a couple of NOS Packard fenders that have a dark green primer. Confusing, no?

Randy is right about the primer (technically, an undercoat) affecting the hue of the topcoat. Lacquer has a transparent base; even when tinted, lacquer is somewhat translucent. It takes several coats of lacquer to hide the primer, but the undercoat still affects the color of the topcoat. However, because enamels start off with a more "solid" base, they are less susceptible to this effect.

I was taught that the battery is there only to start the vehicle (though it also provides power for emergency situations), but the generator is there to operate the vehicle's electrcial systems once the vehicle is running. Then, any surplus ouput from the generator is used to replenish the battery, which shouldn't take much in a vehicle in proper operating condition. I think the whole CCA thing is highly over-rated EXCEPT for gagdet-laden late-model vehicles.

After I acquired my first '56 Patrician, back in 1987, I installed Group 60 Allstate battery, and did nothing to the generator. A couple of years later, I drove that car to a cruise-in about 20 minutes away one summer evening. Though it was still light out, I liked to run with the headlights on, but I must have forgotten to turn them off when I parked and went in to eat. When I came back, some guy in the parking lot sneered and said, "hey buddy, looks like ya left yer lights on - tough luck". He was probably waiting for me to ask for a jump-start, but I sneered right back at him and said "don't worry - it'll start" - and it did. Also, I used to leave the Pat parked in the driveway at home during summer months. On more than on occassion, I had to use the Packard to jump start one of my late-model daily drivers.

Alas, that Allstate battery bit the dust after 10 years and was NLA from Sears, but I never got more more than 2-3 years out of any other brand of Group 60. Mebbee the problem isn't so much generators, voltage, or ground as it is the quality of today's batteries.

Unless you just drug a car out of a piece of bottomland, why would you need a NEW 6V generator? There are very few cases where an generator is so badly damaged where it cannot be affordably rebuilt - provided parts are available.

Yet, I just checked rockauto.com and found STANDARD MOTOR PRODUCTS brush set EX-57 available for a whopping $3.32 - fits a lot of Autolite 6V generators. They also have RX-51 for only $2.80, which fits Delco-Remy 6V as used on Packards 1950-53. Any local parts store that's worth doing business with ought to be able to get 'em, too.

Now, try to get ANY internal parts for an alternator in any GM vehicle built in the last 10 years. You better know who made it and what the amperage output is as the choices are more than you might think. I'll be surprised if you can get anything other than a complete unit. GM wants at least a couple hundred for a reman - parts stores are slightly less.

Newer doesn't necessarily mean better, but - again - if ya gotta upgrade, the Delco SI is a good choice if only because of servicablity. However, don't forget that the original equipment on these old car was built to be renewed and parts are out there in most cases.