Just a thought 39 . . . Seems strange the coolant pooling around the plug, as a tight plug with a decent (spark plug) washer I would have thought would be an 'airtight' seal. If not I guess pressure is high enough to be pushing steam past and this is condensing there to form a puddle.

Others are most probably right about blown head gasket, however here is a thought . . . .

I wonder how close the water jacket comes to the spark plug hole. Is it possible the head has cracked or corroded through between the plug hole / plug recess and the water jacket (which is allowing the coolant through)? Of course there might be a 'mile' of iron between the jacket and the plug, but I'd suggest checking for cracks anyway. Not much fun getting it all back together to find that you have a cracked (or possibly warped) head.

Thanks for that Mal, I'll give Sam a call. It would be fantastic to find out the history of my car.

Now I am experiencing a more positive feeling about the project, because I am fairly advanced with the initial stages of a full bare-metal restoration.

Here are just a few shots of how the car looked several months ago, around September 2009. My biggest problem (as most 24th series owners would agree) is the considerable rust in rear floors, in sills and rear mudguards (fenders).

The car, before any bodywork was started . . .




Reasonably bad rust in the rear floors, adjacent to the Coupe rear windows. This is a known problem, there is a manufacturers kit which was retrofitted to Club Sedans to reduce the ingress of water. See Section XIX of the Service Manual (Fig. 65 relates).







Here is a mystery hole - This square opening has been cut into the LH side of the transmission tunnel, and I don't know why. (The other rounded hole was apparently cut by previous owner to mount body on a rotisserie). I have had it covered and welded so am hoping it was just a 'short cut' someone created to get to a linkage etc. If I need to 'reopen' it I can do so.

If anyone has an idea as to why it was put there then I'd appreciate your thoughts!




Here the car is loaded and ready to go off to be blasted. The drivers side quarter panel rust can be seen here, it is about as bad as on the passenger side (RHD car).





I had considered chemical stripping, that would have been nice to do, but the cost is high. The company I spoke with said they could not fit the entire shell into their tank, nor the chassis (frame).

Also, I would have needed to transport the car a considerable distance. After a lot of head-scratching and getting opinions from people, I chose blasting, but not of the turret, boot lid (trunk lid), guards and doors. All these I have manually stripped using paint stripper and stripper discs.

I had many bits and pieces blasted, including wheels, brake drums, petrol tank. The chassis (frame) was done separately.

Body and frame were media blasted and primed (excepting front fenders, hood and trunk lid, which were chemically stripped and cleaned to avoid any risk of distortion).

Here the chassis is loaded and ready to be blasted. Close-up of the finish achieved.




Special trolley made up to sit the body on while it is repaired. This has proven invaluable, as I can proceed with work on the chassis while the body is being repaired.




Here are some views of the body, mounted on the 'trolley' I made for it, and ready for repairs at the metalworker's shed.

Thanks Owen, I feel a little more positive about the (eventual) registration getting approved!

I remember reading your post regarding some cars sitting around for perhaps a year awaiting finalization of the build. That would skew the figures slightly for Packard model imports in a given year I guess.

Do figures exist that state the actual numbers of Packard imports into Australia, or have they been lost? Could I find out how many 2465's / 2495's came into Oz in 1951 (and 1952)?

Thanks for the offer Owen. Unfortunately the Briggs plate is also missing, I don't have anything apart from the TPN . . . I am reasonably sure that there are no tags amongst the bits and pieces that I have but must admit I have boxes of parts that I haven't checked thoroughly yet. Maybe a tag will turn up.
Is there a chance that you can provide some details just from the TPN?
Also, I am concerned that when I want to register the car I might get knocked back because there is no VN etc. Need to check this.
I have heard that at times people have needed to buy a similar model of car (typically a wreck)to get the identity plate from it, and then use it on their car. I suppose this differs depending on the country.
Do you know if I would need to do this?

This is my first project blog post, it might need a few edits so apologies in advance if I don't get it right straight up.

Just back from a week away, 4-wheel driving in the Victorian Alps. Here's a view of what it's like down that way. These photos are taken on 'Blue Rag', a spectacular range with altitude 1715metres. There is a reasonably challenging 4WD section towards the peak. A few mates and myself do a 4WD trip each January in the Alps.







_______________________________________________

As I've only recently joined packardinfo.com this project blog starts off in retrospect, as I've been working on my '51 Club Sedan for quite a few months now . . . So I won't go back too far into the past, just mainly focus on what happens from now on, apart from a few of the more interesting or different 'happenings' to date.

There are a few blogs on the website with people doing a great job of documenting their 1951 / 24th Series restoration projects, and I don't want to totally repeat the information that they have capably provided. So mine will be a minimal blog.

First a bit of history . . . Some years ago, while driving through Canberra I found myself following a 1948 Hudson . . .it was mean looking and matt black. A very sinister looking car, and one I wanted to have a good look at. The driver stopped for a chat and told him I had a 1948 'Motor Magazine' that featured his Hudson as the Cover Story, and that I'd fax him a copy. Told him that I had always wanted a straight eight, preferably a Buick or Hudson. He told me that his mate knew a fellow who had a straight eight Packard for sale, he'd send me the details. Well, a few weeks later after a quick look at the '51 I had decided it was the car I wanted to own and to restore.

Why a '51 Packard? Right era - I prefer a car that is 'early days', not too many around, and they have high interest (for me at least). The 40's and 50's spawned some beautiful cars, and they're ones I remember seeing (and driving in) when I was a kid. Good memories. Then there's the history of the Packard marqu? - a famous car, luxurious, but doomed to go out of production. That makes collecting them more interesting. Finally, give me a straight eight for something different and interesting. Love the lines of most Packards, the extreme long bonnets, the size of the cars.

Mine came in pieces, the body stripped almost totally. Sadly, there was a lot of rust in the rear quarters both sides and the floor was peppered in several areas. Still, it was a worthwhile vehicle, and being a Coupe gave it more appeal in my opinion.

So I spent a year part time and hollowed out a large area under the house, removed around 40 tons of earth, and built a workshop for the '51. Then it sat there for around six years while I was still working. I did a few minor things like getting the Parts and Service Manuals etc, and got organized. I didn't want to start on the resto full time until I retired, it would have been frustrating having a full-on job and having only a few hours a week to spend on the Packard, so I decided to wait.

In the meantime I

Bought the 48-54 Parts & Accessories List and 1951-54 Service Manual
Bought all wire (original cloth-covered) to fully rewire the car from Rhode Island Wire
Had the grille, parking and tail light surrounds chromed
Catalogued my parts, and restored a few of them as time permitted
Researched Packards.

Here is a pic or two involving moving the car to and from the blaster . . . .Note the rust in the rear quarters. I'll be posting a comment about this in this blog soon. (At the moment I have an ace metalwork chap removing the rust. Work is almost completed on this part of the restoration).




Pics of the way the chroming job turned out for the grille . . . . I'll discuss problems with chroming the grille later in the blog.







(Comment: The car came with the sharks teeth inserts, so I intend to use them, although I may not be adhering strictly to an accurate restoration. I will make some changes to the car, they will be fairly minimal and leaning mainly to presenting a more eye-worthy restoration. Of course, likes and dislikes are a very personal thing so what I choose to do may or may not win the approval of all).

Thanks Randy. I had checked out a source of PB Blaster (- which is a new name to me, had not heard of it in Oz apart from on packardinfo). Couldn't find a 'local' distributor so needs further investigation to find one. Had the WD40 on hand.
I'll be getting some PB . . .it seems to be what most Packarders are using!

Incidentally, while checking for the PB I came across info that is of interest, a supposedly 'tested and true (?)' comparison between several penetrants. Here is the link:

http://www.ozmazdaclub.com/forums/lounge-room/2635-do-we-have-pb-blaster.html

PB Blaster looks good. Of course practical experience might contradict these results. I have found the intense gaze of a Mother-in-Law usually causes things to come apart. lol
(Luckily I have a very nice M-in-Law).

I stopped all percussion (hitting the hub), visited a mate who gave me a piece of 1/2inch plate, and set about making a better puller (5-bolt- please see pics. Here in The Colonies everything is shut during the New Year so no chance to buy a proper puller).

It's a very basic design but happily it worked well. Turned castellated nut around, fitted puller and gave the 5 bolts just a few turns, and it popped easily without having to tap the snout. Yesterday I had applied a lot of pressure on the home-made 2-bolt puller and got nowhere . . .

Once I had the project car hub popped I used it on the badly rusted 'spare axle' that is amongst my spares. It popped easily too. A few turns on five hi tensile bolts must amount to many tons per square inch force . . .

I think the liberal dowsing with WD40 helped a lot, it had moved right through both the taper on the car axle and also the taper on the spare (rusty) axle over a day or two.

Fortunately the tapers / keys etc are AOK (no damage), so now, onwards!

I'll renew seals, bearings are OK, pinion seal will be the next thing to remove and renew.

Once again - thanks to all of you fellas for your very good advice.

Thanks to all of you fellas for the good information. Especially the good images of different pullers. The Manual photo of J-4153 is too small so I couldn't properly see it, but it looks remarkably like the one posted. A three bolt job.

I have been striking the tapered area with 3lb and drift as well as tightening puller but it's one of the very tight ones (like some of you have encountered).

I'll persevere and also try a few suggested techniques and if necessary I'll buy or build a better puller, when the shops reopen after New Year celebrations. At present everything closed.

. . .and I'd like to say . . . Happy New Year to you all.

Thanks Mal, it's nice to know that I'm on the right track, and that others have had the need to use that MASSIVE puller in your pic!

I feel much better now . . . will have another go at it tomorrow.

Seems my 'economy' 2-bolt puller is failing to give enough purchase so I'll get some 3/4 steel plate and make a 5-bolt version. I've got 5 x hi tensile bolts at the ready.

Interesting that amongst my bits and pieces is an example of a totally failed attempt at removing a hub. The axle is adorned with a destroyed brake drum (centre only) / backing plate / catcher etc and bearing. Whoever failed at separating the hub has destroyed the drum to get in and remove the axle.