Todd

Congratulations! You are a brave man,,,,,,,to wander into your overdrive (R-9?).
As a non-mechanic-tinkertype Packard owner, my 41 seems to go on 20% correct parts, 30% scratch the 'detective' side of my head, and 50% tinkering (trial and error till it works or I learn something).

Maybe your % are better, but keep having fun.

DanL

got tired of the wire brushes...so i bought this....next i will add the optional soda media converter and a blast cabinet. my compressor should be enough. 2hp 30 gallon.

they even sell the media at northern tool too, by the lb, bucket, or bag. this blaster doesn't use sand, only glass, black diamond, etc... and can be converted to use soda. ;0)

$159, the website says $139, so i talked to the manager and she matched their own online price! AWESOME!

later,

Hank

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Well for the past two months I have had very limited time to play with the overdrive. But, now mostly have it fixed. Let me give me some info. in case it helps someone else. I kept going round and round with this because, there were three problems that needed sorting out. And with just a few minutes every so often I couldn't get it sorted out till just a few days ago. Turns out that the solenoid had a bad contact to turn the light on. The blocking ring had gotten a bit out of alignment, and the solenoid adapter plate had gotten bent.
So what you need to know about the blocking ring is that it should be aligned according to your borg-warner service sheets. But it doesn't quite work the way they say, it takes one person with the rear wheels off the ground, while the other one has his finger (and or home made rounded end rod) in the hole. While one person is turning the wheel forwards and backwards, and you are under moving the lock out lever back and forth for about ten minutes you will all of a sudden feel that the pawl will go in about a 1/2 inch more than it had before. Now with your home made rounded end rod carefully pull the pawl out, making sure not to turn any wheel or the drive shaft, because it may get out of alignment again. Which it did, and then had to align all over again. Bent the plate as flat as I could. And fixed the contact. Now it is working about 90% of the time. Now, occasionally while driving at high speed the red light may come on, and once it came out of overdrive. So may still be the slightly bent adapter plate, governor, relay, or possible the solenoid is a bit weak. But, I don't think the overdrive needs rebuilding. So anybody that can give any guidance from here would be appreciated. And does anyone have an extra adapter plate for sale. Thanks

Pete, I don't know whether or not Eric has travelled outside the US much but I do think he comment was made in jest and I took it that way so no offense was taken. I like the USA and have been to over 40 states and love the country but would never consider living there.

Quote:

Eric,I don't want to get off topic here but I have done plenty of reading on the ethanol issue. In Canada we have enough fossil fuel oil to keep us going for several centuries but could easily produce ethanol in the this county to meet our domestic needs and hardly notice. Canada is still the USA's biggest energy supplier. I understand the US concern about foreign oil (the US has no problem buying ours) but I don't know of any Arab terrorists who sell it? I used ethanol in my motorhome on my trip through the western states including Nebraska and found that the mileage of the motorhome decreased by about 10% but maybe the newer vehicles don't have this problem. The people all along the way were very friendly and we had a wonderful trip. It is nice to have you as neighbours.

Turbo said that Canada is backward technologically.

Hmmm..wonder what planet that Canada was on, or when Turbo last visited it.

The Canada I just visited ( the one here on Planet Earth ) is pretty damn advanced with some pretty nice folk.

I sure hope our fellow Americans are as hospitible to visiting Canadians, as the Canadians I meet are to me when I am a guest in their country.

The problem is one of terminology. The term "VEHICLE IDENTIFICATON NUMBER" was the result of a federal law about 35 years ago. Cars built after that had to have a "VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER", which had to be visible from outside the car, on the dash-board.

Prior to that, there was no such thing as a "VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER". Cars had "serial numbers", with each manufacturer having its own idea on how to identify cars for licensing and law-enforcement issues.

Packard used the ENGINE number from day one. That is the number that should appear on the car's legal documents.

RE COLOR
The very pretty Young & Rubican advertisements of "senior" Packards during the classic era showed some pretty fantastic colors and color combinations.

Factory photographs of the production line tell a far different story. With VERY few exceptions, "senior" Packards went out the door solid colors, typically VERY dark blue, or green, when they werent solid black. And VERY few were delivered with white-wall tires.

It is hard to explain to people today just what "conservative" meant in those years. White-walls and flamboyant color combinations were rarely seen on the big "super cars" of the very rich, that we now call "classics". My recollection is wasn't till '41, (after Packard "down-sized" its big cars & no longer built car bodies), did they start offering two-tone colors.

Now, in answer to your comments & questions, I got bored with my car's original solid black ( it was getting shaggy anyway) so I took it apart (that's the way the cars were painted in production - apart) so there'd be no masking tape lines, and "shot" it with silver fenders, VERY light blue body, and got a WHITE top. (skilled hunters know how to track down the elusive Great California Naugha, kill em, skin em, dye their hides white...)

After about 15 years, got bored with that. Tired of being told that was MOST inappropriate for a Formal Sedan.

About that time, then new (late 70's) Cadillacs had what was called an "Elk Grain" option which was and remains the closest simulation to the REAL leather Packard "senior div." Formal Sedans and Town Cars had on their tops. So I had the top re-done in that material, color silver to match the fenders.

But I got tired of that after a while, and re-painted the silver top with black fabric coloring. The fenders are now DARK ("Packard Blue") blue, the body is a medium blue.

A couple of weeks into shooting the second "Salvage" show, I happened to have to leave the set for a major trial - Griffith gave me assurances he would not let anyone drive my car, so I took off for the day. It was supposed to be a "statinory" shot. But the production people decided they wanted my car turned around. Griffith "got into it" with some union reps about him driving my car. He wasnt about to give up my keys! Griffth is a pretty big guy, so he got to win the argument, ( with the help of a tire iron he had in his hands, which, fortunately, he didnt have to use!).

I should explain - most production company's union contracts & rules required ONLY Teamsters member to drive cars on screen. Griffith was a SAG (Screen Actor's Guild) member, not Teamsters. No love lost between them.

Anyway, as a result of the big argument, my car and I was gone. Part of that was because a guy in production had a buddy with a really beat up '39 Packard 12 sedan (not a formal). He painted his car to LOOK like mine, & he got the rest of the job. I recall in the rest of the series it was pretty obvious it wasnt my car. "Quickie" paint job. Dont know what happend to that 12 - never saw it again. Werent too many 5 passenger '39 Twelves around, then or now.

CLosing comments on colors on classic era big Packards. Fact is there were some TWO and even THREE tone orders accepted by Packard up thru the end of '34 production

But they were pretty conservative colors. From '35 on to the end of "senior" production in June '39 , to my knowledge, the factory never again accepted two-tone color orders. Best they would do is offer different colors on the stripes and wheels. With this qualification - obviously, if a guy wanted his new "big" Packard painted like a pink zebra, and the dealership knew that is what it would take to make the sale, you can BET that somewhere out there are some pretty wild '35 - '39 "senior" Packards that went out the doors of the dealerships in less-than-conservative paint schemes.

Found this post in the Chatroom

yazdi] 2:02 am: Good morning, I just purchased a 1924 Packard 143 -7 passenger . This is my first packard. Where do I find the VIN plate? Is the serial number stamped somewhere on the frame? i can clearly see the engine number on the lower front right side of engine. Thanks


Will send "yazdi" a PM.

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Mitch,

Thanks for the pic's of the turboed '48.

Looking forward to the Owner Registry entries of your Speedster and your Dad's '53 Clipper.