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kevinpackard

Re: KPack

#371

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Quote:

HH56 wrote:
Be anxious to see what adhesive you wind up using and the pad coating or bonding process needed to keep it in place. The factory method or cement has not seemed to have made it into the common knowledge status yet. Some have said it was upholstery contact cement -- the super strong type which is bought in bulk and sprayed out of guns but I never found anything in writing or know how successful it actually might be.

The "super or extra strength" spray can contact adhesive recommended by some vendors seems to let go fairly often. Maybe it is the underhood heat or maybe the pad needs some kind of surface prep before adhesive is applied to such a porous surface I still have a mostly new black and yellow fiberglass pad that was put on a 54 Pacific. It was put on with the super strength "commercial upholstery" spray can stuff and stayed on the hood all of about a month before It wound up draped across the engine.. Dwight's 56 repro pad with the vinyl covering has a different surface he says will hold glue better so he recommends super strength spray can stuff. Never put the one I bought on so cannot say for sure he is correct.

I'm going to try the upholsterer's contact cement...the same stuff I used to do the door panels and headliner. I'll shoot it through a gun again. We'll see how it does. This stuff is MUCH better than anything that comes out of a spray can. Will it be enough? Maybe, maybe not. But I'm willing to try and see.

-Kevin

Posted on: 2023/5/17 16:33

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kevinpackard

Re: KPack's 1954 Panama

#372

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Quote:

BigKev wrote:
The original hood pad on a 54 is a yellowish fiberglass-looking pad. It isnt the nicer-looking black one that the 55/56 cars used.

I'm not using one on my '54.

Yeah, this is an area where I will fudge the originality just a bit. I picked up a hood pad that is a dark gray/black fiberglass material. Similar to the original material but the black will look much nicer than yellow.

I could run without one, but the inside of the hood is pockmarked from rust and the hood pad will make things look much cleaner. It should help with any vibrations going through the metal too.

Either way, the hood needs to come off to clean up the rust and repaint the underside. I'll probably pull the hood springs and levers while I'm at it and repaint those too.

-Kevin

Posted on: 2023/5/17 13:58

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kevinpackard

Re: KPack's 1954 Panama

#373

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Good to know that others have seen the same as I'm seeing. It doesn't appear to be a problem, so I'm going to leave it alone and focus on other things.

I need to pull the hood off and clean up the rust underneath. Then paint and install a hood pad. Not looking forward to getting it off.

-Kevin

Posted on: 2023/5/17 13:35

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kevinpackard

Re: KPack's 1954 Panama

#374

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Don - I don't know what's considered "normal" regarding the fuel bowl on these cars. Maybe it's normal to have it be half to mostly empty? My car seems to run fine....it never struggles for fuel, and there is always more than enough in the accelerator pump. I guess I think that the fuel pump should always be pushing fuel and that the needle and float will determine how much fuel is let into the carb. If the pump is working well then I would think it would force fuel into the fuel bowl until it's allowed into the carb. Right?

TxGoat - The vacuum side of my pump is hooked up to the manifold and the wiper motor, as it should be. The sound is more internal to the pump.

My dad's '38 has the woven covering on the fuel line. I've not seen the same on a 50's car, but then again I haven't seen a huge amount of them.

-Kevin

Posted on: 2023/5/17 0:54

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kevinpackard

Re: KPack's 1954 Panama

#375

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Quote:

TxGoat wrote:
Gasoline can "boil" at fairly low temperatures when it is subjected to vacuum. That can cause bubbles in fuel lines and half-full filter bowls. It looks like an air leak situation but it is more like what happens if you try to drink warm beer through a straw. Warm to hot weather usually aggravates the situation. Gasoline sold today is designed to be held under low pressure in the gas tank, and forced up to the engine under higher pressure. The positive pressure prevents bubbles from forming, and the higher pressure in the underhood fuel plumbing keeps the gasoline from boiling. Any restriction on the suction side of a conventional fuel system can cause bubbles, especially in warmer weather or where excess heat from any source is present.

I do seem to remember the fuel bowl being full in colder weather. Maybe the warm weather is having an effect after all.

I have the correct heat shield in place for the fuel pump. The pressurized fuel line to the carb is uncovered, and I think they were like that from the factory. I wonder if the fuel pump itself is having problems. It's a rebuilt unit from Kanter. Both fuel and vacuum pump work, but the whole unit has been noisy ever since I installed it....like a hollow pumping sound that is very annoying. Not sure if it's coming from vacuum or fuel pump side. I may need to pull it and investigate further.

-Kevin

Posted on: 2023/5/16 16:32

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kevinpackard

Re: KPack

#376

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Thanks Joe!

I haven't done much work to the Panama, but I have been driving it a lot. Our weather is up in the 80's right now. Perfect for cruising with the windows down.

I'm chasing a rich condition currently. Plugs and tailpipe are sooty. Timing should be correct (I tuned it a couple months ago). Choke is operating correctly and is wide open when the car is warm. Carb settings were as correct as I could make them when I rebuilt the carb.

Connected to manifold vacuum today and set the idle mixture screws using vacuum. Got a steady 19 inHg with very minor fluctuation.

I'm now having troubles with the fuel pump again. Fuel bowl is mostly empty all the time, though the car never seems starved for fuel. I tightened all the connections on the suction side with no difference.

-Kevin

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Posted on: 2023/5/15 21:00

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kevinpackard

Re: Stewart's 1955 Packard 400

#377

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I'm very happy with my Diamondback tires. The tread isn't correct for my model year, but the tires are very well made, ride fantastic, and the whitewalls look just as bright as the day I had them mounted. It's been two years with them on and I've been very pleased.

-Kevin

Posted on: 2023/5/15 20:52

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kevinpackard

Re: BigKev

#378

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That looks like a huge parts haul. Those fenders should clean up nicely!

-Kevin

Posted on: 2023/5/12 15:58

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kevinpackard

Re: 1938 Super 8 1605 - adventures with a newbie

#379

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Thanks for the tips TxGoat. Battery should be the right size, it's relatively new and tested fine. Battery cables are in good shape and correct size for 12v. Engine normally starts within a couple seconds at most.

Hopefully the rebuild does the trick. I'd like to not remove the starter again.

On another note, there is big car show here in town on June 17th, and my goal is to have the Super done and put back together for it. I have a lot to do before then and the rebuild has taken me much longer than I had expected. I have about a month to get the rest of this done, and I have very few evenings or weekends available.

Still to do:
1.) Rebuild starter and reinstall
2.) Find a solution for the fan. Either a spacer that will need to be modified, or an electric fan.
3.) Correct size fan belt
4.) Possibly replace alternator (making lots of noise)
5.) Replace thermostat (modern?)
6.) Lots of road tests to confirm reliability
7.) Reassemble the front end body work, trim, lights, etc.

-Kevin

Posted on: 2023/5/10 12:26

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kevinpackard

Re: 1938 Super 8 1605 - adventures with a newbie

#380

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The fan belt from Gates, that I thought would fit, turned out to be too short. I have a new one coming that is two inches longer. It should give me enough room to adjust as needed.

I pulled the starter to investigate why the car was getting increasingly harder to start. About 50% of the time the starter would click once and nothing would happen. Pulling the cover off and using a tool to slightly spin the armature would allow it to start the next try.

I found that the commutator had two areas with significant burns and pitting. I replaced the brushes I could access (two of them require soldering on the field coils....not likely to happen), and then polished the commutator the best I could.

Speaking to a friend who helped with the engine rebuild, he recommends rebuilding the started completely. Apparently the burns are indications of brush hop, and will likely get worse. Possibly the armature is out of round and/or the bushings need to be replaced. I'll be heading to his place next weekend to tackle it.

Where do I find bushings for this thing?

-Kevin

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