You should put in some sealer on the metal. We used a product call Hylomar to seal racing transmissions metal to metal on the case. It is similar to rubber cement. It is available from a hard core racing shop like Pegasus.

Before doing this make sure there is enough braking torque without using a power booster. Most disk brakes use boosters because they do not have self-servo action. A drum brake leading shoe or duo-servo design has servo action which increases the braking torque due to the "leverage" of the shoes. Take a look at a good brake theory book such as the "Brake Handbook" to dig into this more. Drum brakes do fade more than disk brake when hot. Part of this is due to the servo action, which magnifies change in shoe friction.

I checked the temperatures with a non-contact thermometer after a long drive in my Packard. The block is roughly the water temperature (160F). Obviously it could go higher (220F) if driving on a hot day in a parade.

When restoring a similar component on another car I was able to find felt sheets and strips both on line and in local industrial supply stores. It comes in many types and colors and various thicknesses. If you glue it onto the cover it will make the cover easy to remove.

This is very interesting. When I did my 1950 Series 23 Deluxe 8 interior a year ago I just sent an unfaded sample of material to everyone who advertised materials and got samples. Then I picked the closest one for each material. Nobody had every material. The results were close but not perfect. Prices varied from a bargain to expensive but I did not let that influence my choices. The hardest material to get right was the windlace. There were issues with both color and pattern.

I replaced everything except the seat fabric. That was covered up with a nice set of NOS vintage seat covers, which were an option in the old days. I paid an uphostery shop to put the seat covers on and improve the fit to perfect.

Make sure you get the flywheel rebalanced after all the machining. A very small runout in the machining can have a big impact on the overall balance. The hot rod machine shops can balance components for you.

I have a set on my Series 23 Touring sedan and I like them very much. The best thing about these tires is they look authentic and also handle like a radial. They are well worth it.

For some reason my Packard does not charge the battery enough for slow driving. At night with the lights on the ammeter shows a discharge. It only charges during the day at speed with the lights off.

Now I have that problem fixed. My Genernator and associated regulator has now been installed. I cranked her up today and the battery was near dead as usual. After charging for an hour with a 6-volt charger the car started right away. The new Genernator shows a good charge at idle! The supplier says it will charge 20 amps at idle and 40 amps as speed. No matter what speed the engine runs there is a good charge on the ammeter.

The genernator is a proper genterator case, fully restored, with a modern alternator hidden inside. The regulator is restored too and wired to run the genernator. The charging control is part of the alternator so there is only one hot wire to supply power and accept charge. The regulator wiring is just for looks. The car looks new and original under the hood.

I will drive the car again after letting it sit for a week and see what happens. Mounting the electric fuel pump is the next task assuming the charging system works well.

After some delay I finally got the Packard running well enough for a temperature test. I drove it for over 30 minutes at freeway speed (65 mph) around San Diego bay. The ambient air temperature was about 68 degrees. I stopped and immediately took the temperatures using a laser remote temperature sensor. Here are the locations and the temperatures recorded:

Radiator top tank 180
Core support rear surface on right side of radiator 130
Sheet metal cover in front of radiator top tank 92
Mechanical fuel pump 160
Cylinder block right hand side near front 180
Sheet metal on right side of engine compartment 108
Front of body 78
Exhaust manifold 240
Fuel line on side of frame on left side of car 70
Carburetor float bowl 140
Carburetor mounting flange above insulator 150
Manifold below carburetor flange insulator 210
Water pump near exit 150

This test confirms my intuition. If I mount an electric fuel pump on the fuel line under the car it will be at ambient air temperature. If I mount it on the radiator core support in front of the engine compartment it will be warmer but way cooler than the engine compartment. The vapor locking would happen somewhere between the mechanical fuel pump and the carburetor.

My next task will be to fix the charging system so it will handle additional electric load if I run the electric fuel pump at low speed.

3D printing exists now. The problem with it is cost. It isn't just the cost of the printing. Here is what you need to produce a part using an existing part:
1. Get an existing part to copy.
2. Use a metrology system to measure the part in 3 dimensions and produce an electronic file of the geometry.
3. With a CAD system fix any geometry problems needed to smooth everything out and make it correct.
4. Put the CAD file into the 3D printer and make the part. Hopefully the part is not structural.
5. Finish the part (chrome, paint, final machining if needed.

The cost of the high tech equipment and the labor cost of the trained operators is very high. I have already made some simple parts this way. I had a structural part (2 radiator brackets) so I printed in plastic to make patterns for aluminum castings. I got the help of an engineer who did the CAD work on his employer's system. I did the original design drawings and also did the final machining in my machine shop. I also did some pattern work to help the foundry. I had to pay for the 3D printing and the castings. The results were great for cast parts. My out of pocket cost was only around $200 but the labor cost would be several thousand if I had to pay for it.