This isn't very important, but I'm curious. Most wheels of this era were what I think they called "safety rims", built so that the tire bead stayed in place if it went flat. These seem to not have that ridge that holds the bead of the tire where it goes. They just press off with little effort. Makes removing tires by hand much easier, but seems to be of a much older method.

Did Packard not go to safety rims until much later than most, do I have older wheels or?

Making a little progress. I think I have located everything I need. Then And Now auto parts seems to know what they are doing. Got a fuel pump repair kit, carb kit, gasket set and those studs on their way from them. Another day or two and I'll see if they are correct. Kantor sent the correct brake shoes and master cylinder kit. Got a set of new 4" wide white walls, today I removed the 28 year old 3" wide whites and sandblasted the wheels. Tonight and tomorrow I'll paint them.

Going to take the shoes and drums to my local shop and get them arched to fit. Water pump is off to the rebuilder. Water distribution tube came out with little effort and was fine. I'll pull the freeze plugs and clean that out.

The only thing missing is time!

I was wondering about the water distribution tube. I'm familiar with them in the old MOPAR 6 motors, I assume it's about the same, use a slide hammer with a hook, snatch it out. Assuming it's not rusted to pieces?

Thanks. This was all information I needed.

Just occurred to me that I also need some new manifold studs. Used to be you could walk into any auto parts store, look in the Dorman drawers under the counter and find anything like that. Not so anymore. Where would I find new studs? I have one short and one long one broken.

Needing a source for some parts. I want to make this reliable, so I'll freshen up the things that likely could cause problems before I put it together. Some I know where to go, some not. I did a little searching of old posts and the part ref here and didn't learn much.

Here's my plan:

Clutch/pressure plate rebuilt, will go to Unique auto Rebuilderrs, Jonesburg, MO, a 75 minute drive away. Usually they can rebuild it while I wait. Usually under $100. These don't look bad, but it's such a pain to get them out I think I will start out fresh.

Throughout bearing should be an easy local part.

Water pump - send it to The Flying Dutchman. He's done one before for me, his work seemed good. About $100

Fuel pump - this one I need help on. Where can I get a kit? Mine is both fuel and vacuum, I'm guessing all are. Or, a good place to rebuild it if nobody sells the parts.

Debating on the starter and generator. There is a local guy who rebuilds the old ones, but they are easy to remove, and you aren't immediatly stranded if either of them quit, so I may wait.

Ignition parts seem to be available, at least they are listed at rock auto and others.

Carb rebuild. A kit would be nice, are they easily available?

Anything else I should be messing with while it's out? Nothing comes to mind.

Well. I just got the motor out. What fun that was. It came out nearly nose stright up. That loop over the radiator is quite a problem. I expect I'll go the route of drilling out the spot welds and putting in bolts.

There is no way I could have gotten it out with my regular roll around engine hoist. Wouldn't go high enough, and it I extended it out it wouldn't have handled the weight. The skid loader was pretty high by the time it cleared.

I can now see the problem with the crack in the block. It had about an 8" to 10" crack where it turns back into the cylinder, I expect it was welded at the same time as the one at the top. Looks like the weld leaked, then had a liberal coating JB weld or something similar that started leaking.

It's pretty sad, really, as he changed the motor back about 20 years ago when it was restored. I guess that was all he could find. In 1996 the internet wasn't quite as handy, today a good motor, not in need welding, could have easily been found. But then, if the motor had been good and it was running, it might have been out of my price range.

In the next day or two I'll strip that block. I'll get the clutch and pressure plate rebuilt, maybe resurface the flywheel, get a new throwout bearing, get the water pump and fuel pump replaced or rebuilt. Probably a bit of paint, make it look nice.

I think this is going to come together nicely.

I'd been asked several places what model my Coupe is and had no idea. Just talked to Kantor about brakes. According to them, my serial number says it's a "Super Deluxe Eight Club Coupe". Starting 4 of the sn is 2275.

I finally got it out. I removed all 4 of the bolts on each side of the outer, forward sides of the radiator support. These are the 3/8" head bolts with a pointed screw that goes inward. Took a 1/4" air ratchet stuck up there, not a lot of room. I also removed the bolts on the sides that hold the brace going forward to the bumper. Those were a real pain, and I'm not sure how I'll ever get them started again. Also the 2 bolts on each side that hold the radiator frame to the fender.

Doing this allows enough flex that the radiator can move forward enough (I needed about 1/2") for the inlet to clear the top of that frame.

There must be another way that the factory mechanics did this, but I don't see it. I cannot imagine everytime the radiator had to come out someone would have this much difficulty.

The good news is, the motor is ready to come out. I'll probably tackle that tomorrow. My Harbor Freight motor lift thing won't go high enough, I don't think, so I'll use a skid loader with forks. I'm pretty sure I can pluck it out with that. I still have to figure out where to bolt the chains, but surely I can figure that out.

Oh, I did manage to get the old motor unstuck, but now that I have a better view, it's clear that it is split open pretty bad at the bottom of the water jacket. This new, low milage motor will be just the ticket.

I've used Gateway Plating in St. Louis for a number of jobs. Good work, good prices. Example, 53 Plymouth bumpers, $300 each. Go rusty and bent, come back shiny and straight. Not quite concorse quality, you can see some slight sanding marks, barely, if you look close, but certainly good enough for anything but the top show cars. They'll do it concorse quality, but I have no idea the cost. Took my t-Bucket front axle, rusty and some pits, came back looking really nice, about $300. They've done several sets of headlight buckets in polished nickel, ready for special coating from Uvira, about $80 a pair. They were good enough to use as is, but the Uvira treatment keeps it that way permenantly. My 48 Coupe bumpers will go to Gateway soon.

There is also a shop in Cuba, Mo., Highline Plating, that does good work. I've not used them but have seen their results and it was quite good and reasonable prices.

The problem comes in on pot metal parts that are pitted. I've tried several places, some cheap, some not cheap and they all just buff away the pits, then plate. They don't resemble the part you started with. It takes a special place to do those and I haven't found it yet. Gateway knows they can't do a good job so won't try.

Thanks. I'll get on it tomorrow. Didn't seem to move enough to clear the top outlet, but I'll give it my best shot.

Gene