Looking good! You're making progress much more quickly than I am :). One more quick question about the doors: did you get them out with a little heat from a torch, or did you have to resort to more destructive measures? I'm picking up a loaner torch tomorrow and trying to get the door hinge screws out with an application of heat, but if that doesn't work, I think I might have to weld a nut onto each screw and then use my impact wrench.

Updates- I got a lot of the interference removed from the body, but still a lot of work to go! A few questions:

In the game of, "What's original on my car?" I have a few pictures. Are the fan and parking brake cable original?

Also, what are the two indentations on the firewall insulation from- heater and radio?

Finally, two removal questions. Does the coil come apart? I didn't realize it had a shielded cable running to the ignition switch. It looks like the coil can could unscrew right there, but I don't want to damage a working coil. I can always unbolt it from the engine for now. 2nd question- any tips for removing the doors. I have penetrating oil on them, but as you can see from the two broken impact screwdriver bits, they're pretty well stuck.

I'll be re-attacking tomorrow.

Attach file:

---

  (112.09 KB)


  (127.01 KB)


  (80.27 KB)


  (94.13 KB)


  (93.81 KB)


  (133.55 KB)

West- thanks for the tip. I was actually aware of the center link issue from your blog- I'm planning on fully disassembling the frame for blasting and paint and will look at it then.

I'll ask BigKev about that video. Spent 10 minutes on the phone with Mark and learned several things that I didn't know before. That's the problem with a project like this. I know I don't know a lot, but I also don't know what I don't know. E.g. the body mounts are all different heights.

I'll post pictures this weekend if I get the body off as planned.

Hello again-

Looking for some pictures of the radiator core support and any brackets stiffening the front grill and fender area? I think my core support has some areas rusted out.

In the area on mine with the arrow, what is missing? There are four holes on each side of the core support, and when I pulled the radiator out, seven ground off carriage bolt heads were under the radiator. Help!

Also, looking in the '35-'39 Packard parts manual, I found a picture of what looks like a brace running from the grill perpendicular to the frame. Again, looking for a picture. Thanks!

Attach file:

---

  (95.24 KB)

Do you have any tips for finding flea markets in one's local area? I also like looking at parts in hand, but tend towards ebay and Kanter, etc. because it's the easy option.

Also, in case I hadn't verbalized this, I wanted to drive the car before I tore it down any further. I was grinning ear to ear today driving around, even though I had no fenders, grill, windshield, or roof fabric. Good thing I live in a small town!

I'm eating crow.

After fiddling with the carb for most of the weekend and then changing the spark plugs, I decided to try the old (incorrect) carb to determine if the driveability problems I saw yesterday were due to ignition or fuel delivery issues. I put the old carb back on, and plugged the vacuum advance hole because I didn't have the requisite adapter. It fired right up, and then I spent five minutes tuning the carb and adjusting the throttle. After that I drove it around the block for about 10 minutes. Did not have the road to hit third gear, but it took off, accelerated, and shifted smoothly. It even drove very smoothly considering the shocks are worn out.

The great new- I do have a running driving Packard. If I hadn't already taken most of the body off, I might just drive it around this summer, but that bridge has been crossed. Now that I've typed that, there may be a five percent chance I do just that.

Assuming I don't just put it back together and drive it (low probability), any tips from past experience on pulling the body off the chassis? My plan was to unbolt the body from the frame, jack up one side, slide a 2x4 along the frame, repeat on the other side. After that, lift up the front of the body, slide a 4x4 perpendicular to frame rails, repeat on the rear, and then use both ends of each 4x4 to lift the body vertically off the frame.

So do you recommend not lifting the body off the chassis with the doors on? My plan was to leave the doors in to stabilize the body. (Granted, I am not doing major body work at this time because I'm moving in 3 months).

But probably not rear engined! Either way, a really cool car, and I suspect it would be a riot on any dirt road on any continent.

I decided that new plugs were in order. They had looked fine when I was going through the ignition system, but after further inspection, I decided they were probably oil fouled. Put new plugs in today, and she fired right up! Lots of smoke, I'll probably put a little marvel mystery oil in the fuel after I get the carb tuned to try and clear out the carbon. Also, another oil change is probably due soon; the current oil is new but rather fouled with gas from all the time spent trying to start it without success.