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When I took apart the heater box and associated vent, it was apparent that someone before me had replaced the seal with sheet rubber (probably from a tire inner tube). It was in good condition, but not sure how well it sealed. I left it as is. I might need to look at it more closely. As well as the cables to the controls on the dash. For sure at least one of them is broken.

-Kevin

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When I took apart the heater box and associated vent, it was apparent that someone before me had replaced the seal with sheet rubber (probably from a tire inner tube). It was in good condition, but not sure how well it sealed. I left it as is. I might need to look at it more closely. As well as the cables to the controls on the dash. For sure at least one of them is broken.

-Kevin

Some from the Northwest

1948 Sedan, 88,164 miles, interior actually looks a bit decent, "ran when parked" in 1971. $8,200
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/247452603962811/

1956 Clipper Super hardtop, only two pictures, very scant information. Looks rough. $3800.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/368145088057948/

1951 200, ambitious project or parts. But the front and rear bumpers look to be in better shape than mine. Interesting patina on it. $2000
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1000060410754375/

1950 23rd series 2-door. Looks decent from the few pictures they provide. Price is reasonable, $12,000
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/903346620527437/


Not from the NW, but too good to ignore:

1955 Four Hundred, Topaz and White Jade. Looks to be mostly original with interior showing wear but not terrible. Slightly lowered in the front with torsion level modified to lower the back. I actually think the slight lowering looks good on it. Not a bad price for a mostly original car in decent shape. $17,500
https://www.ebay.com/itm/274945431132?hash=item400406565c:g:u~0AAOSw7H1hP6r3

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Good advice. I was surprised the other day when I opened the trunk after a drive and caught a lung full of exhaust fumes. Half of my trunk weatherstrip is missing. So it seems like the negative pressure from driving down the road is sucking the fumes back into the trunk, then into the passenger compartment. I'll get that rubber ordered and installed.

I still need to seal off the heater box and check for other leaks in the engine bay. Door weatherstripping is going to be a while before I get to it.

-Kevin

It seems like it would be a lot of work to pull the body off and gain access to that area.

Cutting and welding in a new patch can certainly be done. Three concerns about that would be: 1.) how would it look under the carpet afterwards, 2.) welding sheet metal is no fun, and 3.) would you want to do any sort of protection on the underside of that patch afterwards....it will be hard to access.

Either way it's going to be some work. But it sounds like you may have found the problem, and that's good.

-Kevin

How would the body have gotten too far back? There isn't that much slop in the body mount holes, is there?

-Kevin

Howard, Kanter has repro's of the Packard tip. I had my eye on them, but when the exhaust guy popped the round one on I decided to leave it as is for now. Maybe in the future I'll change it out.

The smell is significantly improved, but we are still getting far more in the cabin than what we should. It's not coming from the exhaust now, but I'm pretty sure it's coming from the road draft tube. I'm definitely getting some vapor out of the tube at idle....no idea if what I'm seeing is a normal amount of if I'm seeing significant blow-by. Back when I checked the compression numbers they were all high....something like 130+ on all cylinders.

How much of this is coming through the firewall? I haven't put new seals on the heater box (where the hoses enter). And my fresh air duct hoses are in pretty bad shape. The flappers are closed and seem to seal okay, but probably not well enough. I don't think I have any pedal gaskets either. Also missing most of the door weather stripping.

Would fixing all this solve the smell issue? Or should I just do a PCV valve conversion? It does get annoying smelling like a lawnmower every time I drive. Definitely improved after the exhaust, but not good enough.

-Kevin

Thanks Don. Here's the tailpipe with the chrome tip. I do like the look.

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Finally had some time to get the exhaust done today. I should have done this long ago...

The exhaust guy wanted me there to watch/help. He was worried that the parts I brought wouldn't fit and that we'd have all sorts of issues. Thankfully it all went pretty smoothly.

The kit I bought was from Kanter, made by Classic Exhaust. It included everything from front to back, and Kanter sent the exhaust flange gasket. That is needed because the flange design is different on the new kit compared to original. Most things fit without too much of an issue. We did have to trim a couple of pipes in the back to get the over-the-axle piece to sit correctly. In the end we got everything level and lined up perfectly. He even threw on a chrome tip to dress it up a bit. I might put on a 50's style tip, but I may just leave it as is.

All in all, took about an hour and a half, and cost me $150 for his time. Money well spent. The guy knew what he was doing and got it done right. Checked for exhaust leaks and none there.

It's like the Panama is a different car now. When I started it up I couldn't tell if it was running or not. The engine is so quiet now. The only thing I can hear are some of the valves and the fuel/vacuum pump. And so far it seems like the car smells better too. Every time I drove it before I came out smelling like I'd been running a weedwhacker or lawnmower for an hour. Fingers crossed that this solves that problem.

-Kevin

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  Welding up the new exhaust.jpg (138.65 KB)

Don't know if this will help or not, but my glass bowl used to drain somewhat between runs. It would be at 2/3 full when shut off, then over the course of a day or two it would drop to 1/4 or so. In fact, the bowl would never fully fill when running.

A few weeks ago I finally got around to repairing two leaks in my fuel line....one at the back of the main line at the tank, where it connects to the tank, and the second at the front of the main line where it connects to the flex line at the pump. Turns out both of the original flares had gone bad (split) and were slightly leaking fuel when the pump was not running, as well as sucking air when the pump was running.

No leaks now, and interestingly enough the fuel bowl now is completely full when I run the car, and stays completely full for many days afterwards.

My guess is that the leaks caused air to either enter the lines and force fuel out of the bowl. Or the leaks caused the fuel system to lose pressure and the fuel would drain back somewhere.

-Kevin