John,

to the site. There's a wealth of information and experience here you can tap into. It's also good to see a young guy getting into Packards. As the guys said, make sure you put your '40 into the Owner Registry. And could you please include a pic and it's history, if known?

Saturday 26th July 2008

Bit of this and a bit of that today. With Wade not coming in we discussed matters yesterday and I was to re-mount the front sway bar and paint the hand brake pivot and associated clevis yokes/pins and hardware so the handbrake cables installation can be completed next week. To this end, yesterday on the way home after dropping of the '39's hand brake cables at General Instruments, I called into Grippy Rubber at Silverwater. This was to buy replacement rubber bushes for the front sway bar but they don't stock these rubber bushes as they don't have the right rubber compounds for automotive applications. So then called into 2 auto repairers and managed to find 4 of the 8 required. Then this morning managed to pick up the other 4. However, later when putting them all on the bench, dropped one. And do you think I can find it? Of course not!

Actually started on cleaning up the O/D Governer which will be looked at and into more closely later on. Then checked the sample clevis yoke and pin from Ralph at General Instruments for fit and suitability. The "mouth" of the yoke is wider than the '41 one I compared it with but I'd think this aspect would only be a minor impediment as Ralph says he has many different types. So on Monday will check with Wade then take up the running with Ralph on the clevis yoke front. And discovered I couldn't fit my clevis yokes onto the new hand brake cables. After minor palpitations and then re-tapping the yokes to clear the rust and gunk they then screwed on easily, phew! In between cleaning, Marine Cleaning, Metal Readying and POR-15 the hand brake pivot and stuff was mounting the brackets for the sway bars on the front of the Torque Arms and the sway bar to the front of the chassis. However because I couldn't find that one new rubber bush that dropped have not connected the sway bar to the mounting brackets yet. Will set in motion a detailed search on Monday for the elusive rubber bush.

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[quote]
49packard wrote:
Today I started on the restoration of my 2279 Super Eight convertible........./quote]


Dave,

I'm looking forward to seeing your '49 as it progresses through the restoration. Keep us posted and with plenty of pic's along the way.

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Frank,

Interesting that a previous owner was shot at! Now that you've whetted our appetites, what's the story behind it? And, are you going to leave the bullet dent and restore the car around it?

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Todd,

Thanks for your advice, but we covered this back in May when the axles were re-installed.

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John & JD,

Fellers thanks for your concern. Will have a look at the primary/secondary shoe locations on Monday, when Wade is back in the workshop. If I have to swap shoes it'll just be more brake dis/re-assembly practice for me, should get quite good at it if I have to swap them around, not to mention a lesson learned.

John,

If your front engine mount rubber has deteriorated badly you could jack up the front of the engine and then support it so that there is sufficient clearance between the pan and the drag-link. The crank pulley could even be sitting on the nut of the steering crank pivot if the engine mount is sufficiently deteriorated thus preventing the engine from turning. The jacking could be done by undoing the bolts for the engine mount where it bolts to the chassis, jacking up the engine then inserting wooden blocks under the engine mount "feet" to hold it sufficiently high. You should then be able to drop and wiggle the pan out.

Friday 25th July 2008

Progess! And with a capital "P" at that. Mounted the rear flexible brake hose and new bleed nuts equipped with nipples at all wheel cylinders to be able to get a length of rubber hose on for brake bleeding, the originals on the '41 didn't come so equipped. Then it was onto assembly of each wheel's complete brake assembly. First time I've done this so Wade basically did the first one with me helping pushing springs, holding things and observing. Then onto the next one with more direct involvement on my part together with a couple of minor snafu's which Wade was all too ready to point out to me! Must have been waiting for this, but I have to say he's been more than patient with me explaining, demonstrating and re-explaining if necessary as we've gone through the dis-assembly and now re-assembly processes. Those were the rear brakes, a bit more complex because of the hand brake mechanism and it's impact on the re-assembly process. Then onto the fronts, where I carried out most of the hands on work but Wade wasn't without a role as I needed a third and fourth hand to hold and help. My hat goes off to all those mechanics who do this solo. Rear brake drums on next after clean up of the POR-15 overpaint and the mild surface rust since the drums were skimmed back in December! Then front drums but first knocked out old bearing shells and put in the new ones and packed the new bearing with grease, a lovely job. Wade couldn't believe he wasn't getting his hands dirty for a change! All axle nuts were nipped up but not tightened fully as this will be done a bit later after the brakes are bled and adjusted. All in all a good days work with very visible progress apparent.

Then as I was leaving early, going to Lidcombe to have new hand brake cables made for John's '39 110, Wade gave me instructions as to what was required. The short answer would ideally be: 2 cables exactly like the new cables for the '41. But this seemed difficult to achieve because at some stage in the '39's life one of the cables has been replaced with something else and "made to fit". From front to back it's different with a 3/8" clevis yoke in lieu of 5/16", much longer sheathing for which they remounted the clamp from the chassis side rail to the cross member, a metal cylinder at the brake end of the sheathing for which they modified the backing plate clamp by cutting out the shoulder where the cable should pass through the hole in it and also a much shorter spring where the cable attaches to the lever on the rear shoe. In the Pic the top cable is the "bastard" one! Anyway there appears to be good news because Ralph at General Instruments believes he can do the job. Thinks he's got two 2nd hand but serviceable springs as each needs replacement. Also gave me a 5/16" clevis yoke and pin which I'll compare to the one that's on the '39 tomorrow when I'm at the workshop, he doesn't believe the clevis yolk will be a major issue. And Wade, if you read this I'll now be in the workshop on Monday but before that I'll go over to General Instruments to see Ralph and take the old 5/16" clevis if required. BTW - Ralph was pleased to know the cables for the '41 worked out, it's always good to get positive feedback.

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G'day Frank,

Looking forward to seeing your '50's transformation. Make sure you post plenty of pic's as you go.

Now 200 Packards in the Owner Registry. And 671 members, up from the 600 plus when BigKev did the purge of inactive members.

To all those who haven't added their Packard/s to the Registry yet -

Get on board and add your Packard/s to the Owner Registry now!

And to all those who have added their Packard/s to the Registry -

Kev,

Thanks for that. I had seen the JATO style coolers before. It was just that 41 Touring's description conjured up in my mind some kind of "contraption".