I would appreciate ideas and input on how to handle fitting the top right and left hood panels. First let m me provide some history about the car.

I took over the restoration from an individual well versed in restoring cars. He was being assisted by a person who does his own restorations and has finished second at Pebble Beach behind the Nethercutt. When I bought the car he had some of the major pieces in final paint (the 4 fenders, 4 hood pieces, and splash aprons) in the color he was restoring to (Packard Blue & Black). The body in primer (while still in need of more attention like replacing several rusted out areas, primer and block sanding) was bolted to the frame with doors on and the radiator in place.

After getting the car home, I started on the rest of the body assuming that since the hood was in final paint it would fit correct (silly me) without checking the fit. Now I have had the entire car painted in the color of our choice (Carnival Red, a 1931 Desoto color and Black).

I've had problems fitting the two top panels of the hood where they meet the radiator cowl. When the gap in the hood's center between the panel and cowl touches the cowl there is 3/8" gap at the outside on both right and left sides. The rear of the top panels is consistent.

Right now my thought is the top two panels need to be cut along the front edge to provide a consistent gap. This would entail going from 3/8" starting inside edge of the hood and going down to 0" at the outside. At this point, the radiator and body can adjusted to provide a good fit. It would mean that the blades on the water pump will be between 3/8" and 1/2" from the radiator core. I've included a couple of pictures to show what I'm talking about.

The big question I have is there something that I'm missing on the entire problem in trying to align the panels????

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If the points are burning out, it would seem the only possible reason would be the drawing of current. They heat up and get fried. Possible reasons could be:

1) a frayed or bare wire going from the points to the coil
2) bad condenser (mentioned above) or a voltage leak to ground between the points and the condenser
3) Ignition switch not turning off completely which would cause the points to continue to have power to them leading to burned points & the a dead battery
4) Bad coil (mentioned above)
5) Points set to close with them making contact ost of the time


I would recommend checking the wiring going to the coil and examining everything involved in the non-energized (between the points 7 the coil) side of the circuit. maybe replacing any bad looking wire.

Another thought is with the car running, could your generator/regulator be supplying too much voltage? This might cause the capacitor to fail prematurely.

Good luck.

How sure are you of the amp meter? Ten amps may not be 10. If you have another good meter then I would suggest putting it in line with the existing meter.

O-D,

Thanks for the compliment. I was lucky the I had the two outside pieces of trim and that they were made of brass avoiding that dreaded enemy of rust.

I installed the running boards this weekend. The left side looks good, but I'm not happy with the right side. Sometimes it seems that a part gets installed and when it comes to installing the next it needs to come off and either be adjusted or something else needs ot occur. In this case, the right running board went back on and all the bolts on both right fenders needed to be loosen.

Oh well, having most of the "Honey Do's" under control, it's nice to be able to commit some time to the project.With the fenders, hood and running boards on the project is starting to look like a car. However. the top two hood pieces look like they are going to present a major challenge that I\'ll present to this forum to get some input who have travel the path before me.

Next weekend looks to be a good one to fire up the RV and head towards California's Central Coast area A.K.A. as one of the country's wine producing regions. And yes I do drink wine.

The fenders with welting were installed without any big issues occurring. The running boards (RBs) were a different matter. The trim piece that goes on the outside of the running board was in bad shape as rust from the steel piece underneath had caused the outer brass piece (both right & left sides of the RBs) to split almost its entire length into . The photo shows the rusted inner steel piece (top) and how the brass piece (bottom) was split.

The fenders with welting were installed without any big issues occurring. The running boards (RBs) were a different matter. The trim piece that goes on the outside of the running board was in bad shape as rust from the steel piece underneath had caused the outer brass piece (both right & left sides of the RBs) to split almost its entire length into . The photo shows the rusted inner steel piece (top) and how the brass piece (bottom) was split.

The brass portion was soaked in "Krud Kutter", a phosphoric acid solution, for about 4 hours to remove the rust deposits. Then the split sections were silver solder together. The 4 trim pieces that go between the front and rear of the RBs were in good shape needing only to be re-chromed. However, I did not have the trim pieces that goes between the splash shield below the doors and the running board.

I made these from 1/16" thick aluminum bar that was 1.5" wide. This was accomplished with an auto body hammer and rolling the aluminum over a piece of 1/8" thick steel form. It was then filed, sanded and buffed to give it a nice smooth surface. The eight pieces were chromed, installed on the running boards and then installed on the car.

In place of the rusted steel that held the outer trim piece on, 5 small 'Clips' per side were made from 16 gauge steel. These were used in the correct position so the outer trim could be bolted to the fender.

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As mentioned, I had problems trying to find the clamp that holds on the brake and clutch pedals. So I decided that it would be possible to make one using aluminum bar that was .75 thick and 1.00" wide. For a discussion on the issue see the blog posted on the site under prewar Packards (Seehttps://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=11211&forum=1&post_id=116948#forumpost116948 )

I cut two pieces 2.0" long. One piece was threaded for .1/4" NC studs and the other was drilled through with a 17/64" drill bit. Then the two pieces were bolted together and a 7/8" diameter hole drilled though them between the two studs. Afterwards, a 1.00" bit was used to drill in from both sides without going all the way through. This left a small shoulder (See photo labeled Bracket, Shoulder Highlighted in Red) inside that was filed and ground to fit it in such a manner that it would clamp onto the brake/clutch shaft. When the time comes, the completed bracket will be drilled and tapped in order to install the brake switch on the side.

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I'm thinking about doing the interior of my '51 200 Deluxe.

Sometime in its past a previous owner decided to replace the exiting seat covers and now they are quite worn. The car still has its original door covers and headliner which I can use for patterns.

Can someone out there please post some pictures of what the seat covers should look like? Also, what type of material should be used so they look correct.

Howard that's the part. Just ordered it and should get next week.

Thanks for answering both questions. And just think, you succinctly answered both with another question.

This will make the wife very happy as I have the door panel and arm rest off and she doesn't want to drive it while it is in such a disarray.

A few weeks back, the wind ripped the left front door out of my hands. There was a little sheet metal work which I've since fixed and repainted.

However, the little part that holds the door in the open position was damaged beyond repair.
So my question is twofold, 1) what is the part called and 2) does anyone know where one can be had or is there another that can be substituted for it?

Thanks for the information. I have a "Standard Cap" and a "Goddess". Don't want to leave the Goddess on unless I'm in the area and the Standard is so plain looking.