Happy Easter and welcome to Packard Motor Car Information! If you're new here, please register for a free account.  
Login
Username:

Password:

Remember me



Lost Password?

Register now!
FAQ's
Main Menu
Recent Forum Topics
Who is Online
159 user(s) are online (91 user(s) are browsing Forums)

Members: 3
Guests: 156

Packard Newbie, humanpotatohybrid, 64avanti, more...
Helping out...
PackardInfo is a free resource for Packard Owners that is completely supported by user donations. If you can help out, that would be great!

Donate via PayPal
Video Content
Visit PackardInfo.com YouTube Playlist

Donate via PayPal

Forum Index


Board index » All Posts (kevinpackard)




Re: KPack
Home away from home
Home away from home

kevinpackard
Bit of a change of topic here, but the discussion in this thread about door panels made me pull mine out of storage. Thanks to the knowledge shared in that thread, it appears that the door panels in my car were very difficult to make, and even more difficult to restore.

The original panels were made using large machines to emboss the vinyl. Perhaps that can be "replicated" now if someone is creative enough, or the lines can be sewn in. But I've been wondering if maybe I could salvage what I have with some work.

The door panels were all off and stored in the trunk on my car when I got it. They had been pulled off when the previous owner had done body work and paint, and they had suffered some definite water damage, just like the rest of the interior (and exterior) of the car.

First up is the passenger front panel. The front part of the board is completely rotted away. The embossed parts are all present and in decent condition, as are all the stainless pieces.

The passenger rear panel is not in great shape either. The embossed areas are probably okay. The backing panel itself is very floppy and ready to fall apart.

The driver's rear panel was redone at some point in the past. And it was done poorly. They used some sort of of triple ply cardboard for the panel, and put 1/4" spongy foam under the vinyl. This left the embossed areas pretty wavy.

The best of the bunch is the driver front panel....and that's not saying much. The leading edge is crumbling and the lower ivory vinyl is peeling. The panel itself is water damaged and not flat at all. Perhaps I can use the panel to make a template to replace the cardboard on both the passenger and the driver?

Looking through all these, what are your thoughts? I'd like to see what I can do with these panels rather than waiting an unknown amount of time to see if SMS can reproduce them (if they can even do the embossing necessary....which I assume they can).

-Kevin

Attach file:



jpg  Passenger door.jpg (85.15 KB)
1059_61359e7818219.jpg 1024X768 px

jpg  Passenger door panel rot.jpg (114.78 KB)
1059_61359e8d4d43a.jpg 768X1024 px

jpg  Passenger rear panel.jpg (76.78 KB)
1059_61359e9f7f116.jpg 1024X768 px

jpg  Passenger rear panel backing.jpg (97.60 KB)
1059_61359eb6a01ee.jpg 1024X768 px

jpg  Driver rear panel.jpg (84.21 KB)
1059_61359ed2705f5.jpg 1024X768 px

jpg  Driver rear panel poor rebuild.jpg (98.11 KB)
1059_61359ee097599.jpg 1024X768 px

jpg  Driver rear panel foam insert.jpg (92.51 KB)
1059_61359eeee5d21.jpg 1024X683 px

jpg  Driver rear panel wavy.jpg (110.73 KB)
1059_61359f0eb4dca.jpg 768X1024 px

jpg  Driver front panel.jpg (92.07 KB)
1059_61359f20bd71a.jpg 1024X768 px

jpg  Driver front panel original backing.jpg (104.27 KB)
1059_61359f303ad22.jpg 1024X768 px

Posted on: 2021/9/5 23:55
 Top 


Re: A Tale of Two Patricians
Home away from home
Home away from home

kevinpackard
Quote:

PackardDon wrote:
Speaking of antenna, is its plastic bezel being reproduced? I saw them for manual antennas but not for electric. I haven’t looked but I presume Steele has the grommet.


Yes, Lavine Restorations does make it, though it's not on the website. They had an unlabeled template that they weren't sure what it went to. After I provided some measurements they realized that the template was for the 51-54 powered antenna.

My car didn't come with that plastic piece, so I had one made. Then as luck would have it, I found the original one in a box of junk inside another box of junk that came with all the stuff in the trunk of the car. I won't be using it now, so if you want it I can send it to you.

-Kevin

Posted on: 2021/9/5 0:30
 Top 


Re: Those needing door panels.
Home away from home
Home away from home

kevinpackard
Quote:

Leeedy wrote:

The panel shown here appears to have been made by Mitchell-Bentley. They did a lot of Packard's interiors in the 1950s.

This panel was made using a combination of heat-embossing, steam, and attached metal components with a pressed, un-tempered masonite or similar fiberboard backing. Very complicated door panel. The difficult part here was not the fabrics... it was the embossing (and related dies), the attachments, and frankly, the labor and machinery involved. Very tough to replicate.


Thank you Leeedy, that is information that is new to me. I haven't found much on the internet about embossed door panels, but what I did find looked like it involved very specialized machinery and dies.

So if not SMS, what are the options for someone like me who needs this type of embossing? Any way to DIY it without it looking terrible?

-Kevin

Posted on: 2021/9/2 23:53
 Top 


Re: Those needing door panels.
Home away from home
Home away from home

kevinpackard
Darn. That's what I have unfortunately. Picture is of the panels that were stashed in my trunk when I got the car. They are now stored away in the attic so they would stop taking up space. They are not in good condition.

-Kevin

Attach file:



jpg  IMG_7820edit.jpg (108.88 KB)
1059_61310610e37fa.jpg 1024X683 px

Posted on: 2021/9/2 12:09
 Top 


Re: Those needing door panels.
Home away from home
Home away from home

kevinpackard
Great. I wasn't looking at doing door panels soon, but like you said, who knows how long "temporary" will last. That's unfortunate.

As long as I can get the material though, I would assume that I can get a local shop to make new panels for me that match the old ones. Maybe?

-Kevin

Posted on: 2021/9/2 10:12
 Top 


Re: Switching to DOT 5 (silicone) - order of events?
Home away from home
Home away from home

kevinpackard
It sounds like a lot of work for maybe not a lot of benefit. I don't know a lot about the DOT 3/4 vs DOT 5 debate, but DOT 3/4 seems to be working well for me right now. Is DOT 5 better for long-term storage?

If someone were to ask me if I wanted to do all that work to switch over to DOT 5, my answer would be a firm "no".

-Kevin

Posted on: 2021/9/1 10:59
 Top 


Re: KPack
Home away from home
Home away from home

kevinpackard
It's lower in the opening than original (original was right in the center), but still useable.

-Kevin

Attach file:



jpg  Fuel filler location.jpg (60.15 KB)
1059_612f01fe85c90.jpg 1024X576 px

Posted on: 2021/8/31 23:30
 Top 


Re: KPack's 1954 Panama
Home away from home
Home away from home

kevinpackard
Thanks for the info Howard and Don. I agree that the difference in neck probably doesn't make much of a difference in the end.

I'll stick with the fuel cap I have for now and just keep the soda can over the top. It's working well enough. I have other things to turn my attention to now.

-Kevin

Posted on: 2021/8/31 18:40
 Top 


Re: Vacation Car - 56 Patrician
Home away from home
Home away from home

kevinpackard
Carb looks nice. I wish I had an ultrasonic that I could drop parts in!

-Kevin

Posted on: 2021/8/31 17:05
 Top 


Re: KPack
Home away from home
Home away from home

kevinpackard
Here are pictures of the cap I have. These are the ones that Dwight sells. You can see the vent hole right in the center of the cap. My car had no cap when I got it....just a shop rag stuffed in the fuel filler.

The reproduction tank is slightly different than original. The fuel filler on the repro doesn't have the height or the angles that the original does. My tank came from Auto City Classics. Not sure if the Kanter ones are different.

I solved all my problems by cutting a soda can in half and putting it over the fuel filler and cap. No more gas down my fender.

My fuel gauge continues to act up, giving me confusing readings. On a completely full tank now it shows 3/4 full. It will slowly fluctuate between that and 1/2 depending on the mood of the sender. It's not a fast change....very slow. The gauge does work, and goes all the way to full when grounded (carefully). I still think my problem is the brand new sender or the wire that connects to it.

-Kevin

Posted on: 2021/8/31 14:03
 Top 



TopTop
« 1 ... 72 73 74 (75) 76 77 78 ... 136 »



Search
Recent Photos
Photo of the Day
Recent Registry
Website Comments or Questions?? Click Here Copyright 2006-2024, PackardInfo.com All Rights Reserved