HOOD: Came home after work to find that Elke, my housekeeper, had wrapped the hood in a quilt. I would have preferred to see a rolled roast, but the hood is definitely protected until it can go on the Duchess.

REAR DOORS: The belt moulding has to be cut to fit around the hinge. I struggled with installing the latch until I figured it out. Quite easy to get everything in there and working. I will take pix when I do the right-hand rear door.

PAINT: The trunk lid and right front fender are done. The front doors, the last pieces before the body, I delivered this morning. Again, can't take my eyes of the color and the workmanship. Stunning, esp with the chrome and trim.

TOP: The Sonnendecke tan on tan top has been ordered from EZ-ON for a 1940 160 convertible sedan. Beaverton Auto Upholstery to install.

My relatively new neighbors, Kevin and Lisa, came over last night to help me remove the front doors to I could take them to Canyon Auto Repair. Her father sold Studebakers back in the day. I forgot to tell her I was in a musical at the SFO opera house sponsored by Studebaker and produced by the Music Corporation of America to introduce the 1953 Studebaker at a national dealers meeting. (I was a young Studebacker brother making conestoga wagons, a news boy announcing the 1929 stock market crash, and a couple of other scenes where we sang "When You Give More Than You Promise, You Can't Fail." So much for wishful thinking. The new Studebaker was beautiful, gorgeous. Poppy red. Hardly any chrome (In my opinion all the later year Studebakers were goobered up with too much junk. Someone stole that plain scoop on the side for the first Mustangs before they added the fake vent. Did Dutch Darrin style the 53 Stude? Beautiful lines and so advanced. America just didn't get it. Not saying I'd restore one, but thought about it.

CHROME: Rear window frame, wiper mounts, seat adjustment collar, and horn ring ought to be ready today.

MINUTIA: It's obsession, I know, but I replaced the black shifter boot with the brown one when I remembered that the original was brown and replaced with black vinyl by the upholsterer in 1962 or so. I received fresh bowdrill. The old order had dried out. I should have applied it to the weatherstripping when I first received it from Steele Rubber. The stainless steel weatherstrip channel I lost...it fell off the car when the wood in the center posts got so bad it wouldn't hold a screw and the duct tape got wet, so off it went... for 1940 convertibles I located at Bob Drake Reproductions, Grants Pass, Oregon. $20 for a 3-foot strip. They should advertise through Steele Rubber by enclosing a flyer when Steele sells some of the weatherstrip. So I'll cut a foot off, drill some holes and the other center post will be finished.

David Moe, Seattle Packard Co, is finding some odds and ends for me. Talked to him the other day.

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Agreed.

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Well, Jim, it was fairly obvious. I would have done exactly what you did with that water pump, if I knew what I was doing. I missed why you wanted to put a more modern pump on your car than the one it had. But that's ok. Looks great.

REAR DOORS: Home from Canyon Auto Repair and Collision. Masterful work on the doors and left front fender. This fender was damaged in 1964 and had been repaired then, and again in 1971, but never to this degree of perfection.

The doors are spectacular.

MINUTIA: Restoration Specialties makes 1940 trim/belt moulding clips # 1231 and small ones for the parking lights #1213. Those are ordered.

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Hello, Paul,
Your baby is a duchess, too? Fabulous. The most famous Packard of royal lineage was the Empress, a '38 convertible sedan, star of the novel The Last Convertible. She was emerald green, also.
Joe
The Duchess Project

WIPER MOTOR: new screws the proper length and reinstalled. Waiting 6 weeks for wiper mount chrome. I couldn't have done a trial installation until this weekend, but couldn't, so hope they are done this week together with the rear window frame and horn ring. Oregon Plating's show chrome is dazzling.

SIDE MOUNT COVER: There's a first time for everything, and when it's restoration, for me, everything is a first time experience. Fortunately there are two of most everything, so the second time around goes better. Side mount cover was no picnic. Now that things are painted, paying attention is critical. You might be affixing something at this end and the other end is scraping against something you can't see. The side mount takes 12 rivets. 2 each for 3 rubber pads that protect you from scratching your paint when you lift the cover out or replace it over the spare, 3 felt washers, 1 rivet each, to keep the cover from rattling (I used large felt furniture sliders) , and 3 rivets to hold the center strip.
I taped everything with painter's blue masking tape before I did anything. Rivets are basic, I know.

The new center trim moulding from Northfield Forming is almost twice as long as needed on a Packard. It had to be drilled and cut.

Then the mirror. The Duchess always envied cars with these straight-up side mount mirrors. Since they were new to her, holes had to be drilled. I put a spare tire in the wheel well and placed the cover to determine the highest point which coincides with the hole for the hook of the hold down.

I drilled the cover first. Placed the center moulding and drilled the 3 holes, then riveted it to the cover. Then I drilled a hole, gads, 3/8", from the inside of the cover through the center strip. Then I added the mirror. The second cover will go much faster.

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No, that's fine, Jim. West also mentioned "about 3/4 inch" and the old looking spacers I have are exactly 3/4 in. So I will get some new shorter screws today (the incorrect motor was set back 1-1/4 inches) and install it. No pic necessary. Thanks for looking.

My heater and defroster high positions work fine, but on low, they smoke. There's a little ceramic cylinder inside the resistors. One is broken and I tried to connect it, but it make things worse. I did take it apart and clean the innards. The plastic piece Jerry at Yesterday's Radio makes is $25. That and the chrome piece probably modified, could work and look right with a modern switch. There's a small electrical shop here I might take it too. The rebuild starters and generators. The owner is older the me(!) and might have a solution or know how to repair. At the moment, I'm pushing to get the car finished.

On my incorrect setup there were 2 spacers. An old looking one 3/4 in and a newer one 1/2 in, so the 3/4 one is probably original. After i received the NOS, rebuilt one for $200, it matched up to one old one I had, which was the original I had replaced with the chevy pickup version. I can have that rebuilt for $100, but the warranty is only for 5 years. So toward the end of the NOS warranty, I'll send this crusty one in for rebuild. Hopefully I will not have driven off a cliff by then.

VACUUM WIPER MOTOR: I had the wrong one int he car, a change made so I could continue to see to drive in Oregon. Now I have a NOS Trico SK-32 that mounts differently than the wrong one. I'm not sure if there are spacers in the screws to hold the wiper motor lower than the mounting plate (as the wrong one had, about 2 inches worth) or if it mounts directly to the plate. I think it has to be backed off at least a 1/2 inch or so. I've looked in all the books have and can't find an illustration or photo of the wiper mounting setup.Would appreciate any help with this.

Something I discovered in working under the dash which I'm sure you know already is opening the air vent and placing the work light on top of the screen. Lots of light under the dash that way. You still get nauseous, but you can see well without a bulb in your face.

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Looks beautiful to the knowing eye, Jim. Time, time, time. BTW I sent my manifold to FinishLine for a ceramic coating.
http://www.finishlinecoatings.com/
The manifolds won't change color. There's some 50s or 60s TBird with a blue manifold. This is the only way to keep it blue. I had mine done in cast iron. Now 7 years later, not a speck of rust. I think not running the engine makes it more vulnerable. I have of course run it as I'm running it again. Til it warms up. But you might check it out. They even coat the inside of pistons with one type, and the outside with something else. Nice people, too. When I was taking a community college survey course on auto restoration, we had a field trip there among other places.

Having trouble mounting my wiper motor. If you open your air vent and put a work light on the screen, it will light under the dash well. Could you stick the camera under the dash to see how it's mounted. I had a replacement in there from a 48 Chevy pickup (???...hey, had to keep it on the road), but now I have a NOS SK-32 and I can't figure out how large the spacers have to be if there are spacers on the mounting screws. If you have time. I have a lot of stuff to do in the meantime. Just keep staring at the Duchess' hood in the middle of the room on the trunk.
Tomorrow is another day.
Joe