Thanks guys - will check it out and see what I can find here in Oz.

Hi Kev - just love the Pack-Rat name. I think you should do this if only so you have something to pin that name to!!

As my father has often been heard to say, it's like grandpas axe... it's had 10 different handles and 4 different heads, but it is still the same bloody axe! Restoration is a tricky thing. I would suggest that (IMHO)a body, for example, that is so badly rusted that large areas have to be replaced with new metal is not being restored - it is being replaced or remade. To my mind restoration means to bring the original back to near new condition - not replacing or remaking everthing so that it looks new. Many cars, to my mind, (especially many racing cars I have seen with significant histories) have been over-restored and end up better than they ever were. Outside resonable saftey and reliability concerns I think this is a mistake. This is all part of why I was so happy to hear of the increasing popularity of 'survivor cars' in the US and I hope the trend catches on here. Otherwise, just jack up the radiator cap, push a new car in underneath and 'tadah!' - a fully restored original car! Contenscious issue I know, but just my opinion.

Hi Kev - just love the Pack-Rat name. I think you should do this if only so you have something to pin that name to!!

As my father has often been heard to say, it's like grandpas axe... it's had 10 different handles and 4 different heads, but it is still the same bloody axe! Restoration is a tricky thing. I would suggest that (IMHO)a body, for example, that is so badly rusted that large areas have to be replaced with new metal is not being restored - it is being replaced or remade. To my mind restoration means to bring the original back to near new condition - not replacing or remaking everthing so that it looks new. Many cars, to my mind, (especially many racing cars I have seen with significant histories) have been over-restored and end up better than they ever were. Outside resonable saftey and reliability concerns I think this is a mistake. This is all part of why I was so happy to hear of the increasing popularity of 'survivor cars' in the US and I hope the trend catches on here. Otherwise, just jack up the radiator cap, push a new car in underneath and 'tadah!' - a fully restored original car! Contenscious issue I know, but just my opinion.

I haven't been able to find much on this on the site, so perhaps someone just knows? My '34 chassis came with wire wheels and they seem to have been painted a very dark blue. It looks to be an original colour - if this is the case can someone tell me what the colour was called or point me towards a formula or colour chip? I would like to use this colour for the wheels and chassis of the new special.

Cheers

Snapey

Well, this week I was supposed to be heading to the UK for the Goodwood Revival Historic Races to pit crew for my brother who is driving the 1954 Kieft V8 GP car, but I am starting a new job and could not get away (bummer).

I did get to spend some time in the shed this weekend though and can also report that some of the incidental parts that I have bought from the US recently (gotta love eBay!) have arrived. These would include a couple of Stromberg 97 carbs which I will have to rebuild and a pair of new (but still quite proper looking) fog lights. Unfortunately one of the carbs arrived damaged - obviously dropped in transit and now has a cracked top lip on the inlet.

The twin 97s will sit nicely on an adaptor plate that I will make up for the inlet of the supercharger and should give ample juice for up to about 230hp.

So far as new work goes, I have now just about finished boxing in the front of the chassis to accept the now modified forged steel spring hangers. The forged ends of the original front cross tube have been grafted into these and will be joined with the original cross tube once the hangers are bolted in place and the tube cut to length.

No photos today unfortunately, but will post some with the next update in a couple of weeks. Next weekend is Father Day and the wife and I are going to drive to my parents place at Gundagai, about 4 hours toward Melbourne. There is a sprint meeting for historic and vintage cars to be held at the nearby Cootamundra Airfield on Saturday and then on Sunday it's the annual Cootamundra Swap Meet. Not quite as big as Hersheys (from what I hear) and I'll be lucky if there is anything there with Packard written on it, but a great way to spend Fathers Day with the old bloke, none the less.

Yours Hexagonally

Snapey

I wondered about the postcard that you got with your delivery Mal. Perhaps it is ment to inform us that they are 'rear end' specialists?

Gerd - how is it that you have not done something with this yet? Surely Mal and Wades faces could find a place in that lineup???

John, this sounds like a fasinating project - but if it were me I'd just buy a Honda... LOL

I am not sure how much you would win from a longer stroke engine. Yes, they produce more torque at lower revs but that doesn't mean they use less fuel - in fact given that you have increased the capacity of the cylinder they should use more fuel. I guess it would depend on how you drove it. I would have though that effort spent on valve sizes, cam profile, head and manifolds would produce better results. Or you could run it on propane...

Ah yes Guscha - those are the men I am talking about. I had the honour of meeting Fangio when he was in Australia some years ago. It was a big deal for a young boy brought up on the tales of the great racing heroes and I still have the autograph he gave me.

With pictures like that feel free to hijack this thread any time!

And just so it is not such a hijack - it is interesting to note that after the success of the Auto Unions and after they ran in the USA a man named Lee Oldfield designed and built something very similar using a Marmon V16 and Cord FWD components. It was no beauty and did not qualify for the 1937 Indy race it was entered for but it sported inboard brakes and full independent suspension all round. The below is the only photo I have ever seen of it - this is one car I would dearly like to find in a chook shed somewhere. It is the sort of concept that with some tinkering could be made very fast and very loud indeed!

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Tom/Fred,

I must say I have never heard of any such issues myself, but I wonder if it might have something to do with the salted roads for your Nth American winters? I have just pulled apart the drums brakes on a 34 1100. I doubt they have seen use in over 20 years and the car came out of a field somewhere but with a quick blow out with compressed air I would be happy to trial them as is.

My 95 Jeep Cherokee with cheap aftermarket front rotors on it sat outdoors in the weather for 2 years while I rebuilt the motor and there was absolutely nothing wrong with the rotors or brake components at all. That being said there are steels and there are steels and no easy way to tell if the quality of the materials that we pay for is as good as we might expect.

In the 60's and 70's a deal between a European steel manufacturer and the Italian government saw companies such as Alfa Romeo forced to source their body work steel from a particular source. The company use to quench its sheet metal in salt water (D'Oh!) and this is why Alfas of that era had such appaling rust problems - one that still affects the companies reputation today.

The thing that struck me during my brief research into the Packard motors was that despite the use of lighter materials, the earlier senior model engines were still significantly heavier than the later monoblocks. I understand that the weight of the internals and added complexity of the valve train was to blame for this, but ponder, for a moment, what might have been achieved if the company had used their considerable experience and expertise to create a lightweight, high performance engine using the simpler concepts of the monoblock...

The desire to decrease costs and stay in business is well understood and can not be critised, but it still makes me wonder if the American Auto industry would have suffered like it has in recent years if someone had been able to steer it towards 'high tech engineering and efficiency' instead of 'there is no substitute for cubic inches'.