Thursday 22nd May 2008

After dropping in at the Motor Registry Office to reserve a selected number plate for the '41 arrived at the Workshop. Instead of finishing the cleaning of the Starter and Generator we revisited the rear axle issue. Removed the right side axle protruding from the housing and couldn't see anything apparent that would have caused this. Then removed the left side axle and measured/compared them, both same length and the new bearings are pressed on correctly, also measured sizes of new bearings and cones and compared with old bearings and all came within 0.002". Reading the various manuals didn't shed much light on the matter as they concentrated more on the set up inside the diff rather than axle removal and installation. Anyway then re-installed both axles at the same time which left both slightly proud from the housing. Then commenced to clean up the backing plates surfaces where these retain the bearings, I'd POR-15'd these areas, and also cleaned excess POR-15 from the shanks/threads of the backing plate bolts. Will commence assembly of backing plates, shims, etc on Saturday as we're off to see the grand daughters this afternoon.

Left Wade still working on his Super 8 dash and, if all goes well, he expects to have it done by the end of the day.

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Wednesday 21st May 2008

Started at the workshop, by taking and cleaning up the painted parts from yesterday in preparation for re-installation of the tailshaft. Where the POR-15 had "puddled", it seems very thin and runny leading to this phenomenom, in critical areas these were cleaned up. Also further cleaned the uni-joint caps by dis-assembling them to ensure they were properly clean, and it was surprising how much cleaner they were after this! In re-assembling and packing the uni-joint caps, as in most tasks where some repetition is involved, found that I got better at it as I went along. So by the time I finished the last one I considered going back and doing the first one again, but restrained myself and just packed a little more grease in. Wade advised and assisted me in installing the front yoke seal and retainer and in greasing the front sliding splines. Then it was up to me to re-install the completed tailshaft assembly. This was accomplished without any dramas by balancing the rear end of the shaft with my feet while using a bar through 2 holes in the frame to hold up the front while I aligned and secured the caps. With the rear caps, positioned the shaft, again with the bar through the frame while aligning and securing the caps. Next spent some time in an initial clean up of the Starter and Generator, should finish these up tomorrow, when Wade will check the brushes in them.

And speaking of Wade, he was beavering away under and behind his dash. Installed new hot air tubing, maybe not completely kosher, from the heater to the windscreen demister outlets. And also kept going in his sorting out of the wiring, time and many slipshod repairs and the installation of turn indicators and an electric fuel pump, with it's switch in the glove box, had taken their toll. Wade told me he is installing a new relay(I think that's what he called it - if not, look for a correction tomorrow) under the dash to cope with the additional demands now on the electrical system. Yesterday, as part of this, he was cannibalising the old wiring harness from his '34 for appropriate sections to use in the Super 8.

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Tuesday 20th May 2008

Arrived at the workshop relatively early, beat Wade in! Started by removing the bolts on the front universal joint as I'm removing the tailshaft to clean and paint it. Turns out for me this is an all day project, and did I mention previously I'm on the slow side? So after removing the tailshaft Wade advised there should be marks on the front of the shaft and on the front universal so that it lines up correctly. He also said that mine didn't look aligned because the front and rear universal joints weren't aligned. So after much cleaning of the tailshaft and fittings got all the Idaho dirt and muck off mostly on the wire brush wheel and found the alignment marks. Wade also rounded up a pair of O rings to use instead of the cactussed felt seal on the front universal joint. After all this, Marine Cleaned, Metal Readied then POR-15'd the tailshaft and other associated bits. Tomorrow I'll put it all back in the '41.

During all this Wade, besides making the coffee for the guys he does each morning, was working on his '37 Super 8. Yesterday he'd reinstalled the water pump, radiator, grill and hood. And today he worked installing a new cowl vent gasket, in which I helped him for a change, because after he'd glued the gasket in place, I held down the vent while he tightened the nuts and bolts to hold it in place as per the manual. Also, because most of the dash was presently accessible, he was sorting out the wiring there as it was more like a bowl of spaghetti than a wiring loom! When I left towards the end of the afternoon he was still at it.

And I got under Wade's '37 120 to do the measuring I promised Eric I'd do. Wade was most accommodating bringing the '37 down from where it was parked, getting a jack under the diff to provide me with clearance to get under on the creeper and finally having a good laugh as I attempted to get up off the creeper at the end of it all.

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Joel,

I second Robert on this, and the cars do look great. And did I see a certain 400 that looks familiar? Thanks again for the ride and tour last year. However as it is just be a bit too far for me to travel on a regular basis, I won't mark it down for future attendance.

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Dave,

When we removed the backing plates from the car there were shims there, but on both sides. Still have the shims and haven't thrown anything out unless it's been replaced or is beyond repair. Does this mean that instead of re-installing the axles and inner cones one at a time they should be done together so that it is approximately even for each side?

Saturday 17th May 2008

First anniversary today of owning the '38 Eight Sedan. After this post I'm going out to the garage to polish up "Abbey-Jean" in readiness for the Packard Club run tomorrow to celebrate National Motoring Heritage Day. Will post a report and pic's of the run tomorrow, in the General Forum.

Meanwhile, this morning took the chrome work and bearings down to the workshop. With Wade, started by pushing off the old bearing from the left axle, cleaning it up, pushing on the new bearing and packing the bearing with Penrite grease. Packing the bearing was a new experience for me, but it's pretty straightforward and just takes time, not to mention a little mess, and even with my limited abilities I think I mastered this one. Next, was inserting the axle into the housing, being careful not to disturb the new oil seal previously fitted, and manouvering it past the internal oil baffle plate and inserting the splines into the diff centre. Then, using a hammer and a brass drift, gently tapping the outer shell of the new bearing into place at the end of the diff housing. Wade performed the pressing on and off of the bearings and oversighted my work in the other areas. Turning to the right axle, Wade pressed the bearings on and off then I was left to my own devices for the rest of the work required. All went well except the end of the bearing shell for the right side axle extends past the end of the diff housing by about 1/16". The left side ended up flush, so because of this anomaly, Wade's going to look at that later.

Reason Wade didn't attend to it then was he was cleaning and preparing his '37 120 sedan for tomorrows run after the new gas tank was finally fitted. The guy had turned up with the gas tank about 1:30pm on Thursday and by that time Wade was really steaming. Anyway, what the guy did was to bring it over with the new filler neck only tacked into place and after a trial fitting, which it passed with flying colours this time, finishing the welding on the bench. So after washing off what was mostly dust from cleaning the underside of the '41, Wade was taking it for a run to fill it up with gas, and to pick up some meat for the Saturday lunch BBQ which is a ritual at the workshop together with the imbibing of amber fluids. Wade also asked if I'd like to come for the ride and to have a drive. Well, I'd never turn down the opportunity to drive a Packard! So after washing up, Wade drove the 120 out and after a couple of blocks stopped and I took over the driving. Eric - just remembered, forgot to measure Wade's 120 frame for you today, but will catch up next week, sorry. Driving the '37 is different from my '38 in the following ways. Rides a lot smoother, all the suspension has been rebuilt. Driving position is a lot closer, the front seat is welded in place and has been like that since Wade bought it. The brakes are outstanding, Wade has rebuilt them and uses silicon fluid in them. And tells me the brakes on the '41 will be like that when it's finished. Steering at low speeds is easy, instead of the struggle it is in the '38, Wade attributes this to the rebuilt suspension and running the WWW radials at 40lbs/psi.

After getting back to the workshop, spent what time I had left on cleaning up the rear universal joint cups in preparation for their re-installment next week. In the course of this clean up almost ring-barked my right little finger by running the tip of it around in the space where the trunnion fits. There's a real sharp edge there as I found out!

And a final note, you can probably stop foraging in the backs of your barns and garages for a 1940 Willys Hood Ornament. I think I've found one on the net but will know for certain on Tuesday.

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Friday 16th May 2008

Although no work on the '41 there were other things to do today, namely dropping off the dash panels to Harvey for wood-graining and picking up the rear axle bearings ordered on Wednesday. Until about 20 minutes before leaving I learnt that all the re-chroming was ready to be picked up. So a slight change of plan resulted with a the pick up of the chrome now included in my plans.

After dropping Kath my wife, off with her sister at Rouse Hill I then drove with my brother-in-law Steve to Harvey's at Toongabbie, a north- western suburb of Sydney, and dropped off the dash panels for woodgraining. When we arrived Harvey was under the Super 8 painting, with POR-15, the insides of the X-Member which he hadn't been able to reach previously. Reason he could now access the inside of the X-Member was because he'd removed the transmission with the intention of replacing it with an overdrive equipped one. But realising to fit the O/D equipped trans required extensive modifications to the X-Member those plans were shelved and the original trans has been rebuilt instead and will soon be back in the car. Harvey explained how he does the wood-graining and showed me the dash of his '37 Super 8 which he did about 20 years ago and it still looks good. He also said he'd do it for the cost of the materials only! But it would be some little time before he would be able to, as he has a lot on his plate at present. In return I said I'd see if I could find a hood ornament for the 1940 Willys Overland 440 sedan he's restoring. So if anyone has one of these out the back of the barn we can come to some mutually advantageous arrangement. See pic's below.

Next it was off to Ingleburn, which is on the south-western outskirts of Sydney, to pick up the chrome work. And this through busy workday traffic, so it was a slowish trip. Chrome looks good, the only blemishes apparent being on the tail-light bezels where there is still some slight pitting along the creases where they feared to grind further in case they cut through the metal! I'll have a better look tomorrow with Wade's canny vision assisting the appraisal process.

Finally we came back through Silverwater, an Industrial suburb in Sydney's middle west, to ABC Bearings and picked up and paid for the rear axle bearings at a cost of AU$89.83, about US$84.40. Also picked up an Oil Seal with a Stainless Steel Spring for one of Wade's projects.

All in all, quite a busy but productive day. I must confess though that I got lost during all this. Not once, but three times, "old-timers disease" is a curse! I'd been to each of these places in the last month or so and driving to the first two, took a turn one street too soon in each case. While for the last my street sense is obviously not good because I couldn't figure out the street numbers and initially ended up in the industrial unit complex next to the one I wanted. However each of these mishaps was easily overcome but it may take some time before Steve lets me forget it!

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Thursday 15th May 2008

Only a couple of hours at the workshop this morning. But, contrary to yesterdays effort, much more positive and visible outcomes achieved.

With Wade directing and helping, carried and manouvered the rear end assembly onto the rear springs and blocked up the pinion snout so it sat level on the springs. After Wade established the orientation of the u-bolts plates and a quick clean up on the wire brush wheel of the u-bolt threads I'd POR-15'd, it was a matter of tightening up the u-bolt nuts. And after further advice from Wade re-did the u-bolts so that the threads extending through the nuts were about equal in length.

Then to install the new rear shocks I'd bought on eBay. They fit and look the part however the proof will be in the driving which must be getting closer. But before installing them there was a search for the upper nuts and washers. Of course they were in a safe place, somewhere, but couldn't be found. So into Wade's accumulation of old nuts, bolts, washers, etc. Finally found a pair of castellated nuts that fitted and some appropriate sized washers. After jacking up the diff by what must have been a grand total of 3/16" to enable the shocks to locate on both the chassis and lower plate, then came the good part. Just about to reach under the fender to place the washer and nut on the shock mount when I sighted the "missing" hardware sitting on the running board where I'd placed them after clean up a month or two ago. It all came flooding back, and boy was I embarressed. Suffice to say the original nuts, bolts and washers are now back where they belong.

All in all, a satisfying couple of hours despite the minor hiccup as finally major discernable components have been returned to the '41.

However not everyone was happy. When I left, late morning, Wade was still waiting on the arrival of his '37 120 fuel tank. Promised for 9:00am, Wade rang at 10:15am to be told that the bloke had left earlier and still wasn't there at 11:30am. You could just about see the smoke coming out of Wade's ears! Hope he was wearing protective gear when he arrived because he'll probably need it.

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Another step forward by Packardinfo.com, congratulations Kev.

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Randy,

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I think you've nailed it when you use "descriptive narratives" as the term for my Project Blog entries. It's not so much a nuts and bolts account of the journey being taken, although there are elements of that, but more my experiences and the challenges met in the course of the process. And you're not the only one looking forward to getting behind the wheel of the '41 and driving it!


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And Dave,

Wade has converted the water pump seal to accept a late model, I think Mazda, seal so this would explain the location of the packing jam nut. And the cooling system is no longer pressurised as you'll see from my previous post.