It's been a couple of months since the last update. Since receiving the car back from the mediablaster, I have painted the entire frame and some suspension components in POR-15 paint and have began cutting out and refabricating the front floor pans, trunk pan, and the inner rocker panels. I've been using 18-gauge steel for the pans. Eventually I am going to replace the leaf springs and rear shocks for the Packard. The shocks, springs, and steering components were rebuilt several years ago and have virtually zero miles on them.

I put in around 4-5 hours per week on the car, and my main focus is the metal fabrication needed on the body. While that is going on, I have the engine and transmission at a rebuilder, so when those come back, I can install them onto the frame along with all of the fuel and brake lines and have an operable vehicle that needs the body added to it.

As always, advice and suggestions are always welcomed. I have already learned a great deal about the car through this site, and I'm sure that I'll have a lot more questions as we slowly put the car back together. Some recent pictures are below.

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Picked up the One-Twenty this morning from the media blaster, and I am really pleased with how much car is left. The frame is in perfect condition--no metal with thinning or holes in it. As I expected, I'll need to replace the front floor pans as well as the trunk pan, but as a whole, the car is in great shape. Other body work will include the exterior "kick" panels (between the firewall and front door jam) as well as the rear wheel wells and the passenger side front door.

I'm out of town from now until the first week of December, but the next plan is to remove the body and focus my attention on the frame. I am currently taking the transmission to a rebuilder and have a potential rebuilder looking at the engine. As a whole, all is well in the world. Pictures are attached for your viewing pleasure.

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Time for an update. The teardown of the engine is complete, and rebuild will begin soon. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the engine--no cracks in the blocks and nothing rusted or frozen inside. Honestly, it's scary clean inside. Granted, the engine only has 48,000 or so miles on it and was stored properly, but I'm still ecstatic with the condition of the engine. Pictures are below.

Meanwhile, the body and frame are still at the media blaster in Indy, and next up I'm looking for a rebuilder for the engine and transmission somewhere near Indy. I've found a place for the engine but not the tranny. The tranny is a 3-speed manual with overdrive. The body and frame should be ready in a couple weeks.

Finally, after doing some further research, I've decided to keep the 6-volt positive-ground electrical system in the car both for simplicity and historical purposes.

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Thanks for the links for specialists as well as the information on the floorpans from C2C. The thing that was throwing me off with the C2C pans is that they list them for a 122" wheelbase car, yet the One-Twenty is a 127" wheelbase car from what I can gather. Also, they didn't appear properly formed for the transmission tunnel.

In regards to the plans for the car, I appreciate you guys telling me to keep it as original/stock as possible, in particular for resale value. The car IS NOT leaving our family, therefore we have decided to built it to our preferences. Paint wise, we are definitely painting the Packard in a two-tone scheme. Right now, we are leaning with a dark blue and a silver, but paint is a long ways away. As an engineering student, the plan is to run stress/strain/fatigue tests on the wheels to determine if they can still be used, and if so, they will be painted to match the car and the original Packard hubcaps will be placed on them. Certain aspects of the car will be applied to my engineering courses, in particular the wheels, frame, and engine.

We plan on driving the car often (that's why we have it), including on the expressway, so we plan on putting radial tires on the car, and this is also the reasoning behind the 12-volt electrical system. We want to see and have the car be seen at night (headlight/taillight brightness), thus the 12-volt change. Also, since the car will be on the expressway and in modern traffic, we want to convert the car to disk brakes for better stopping power.

I really appreciate the input from each of you, and I cannot believe the amount of information provided by the members, as you guys helped me through the tear down of the car. The idea is to keep the car as stock appearing as possible, but we want it to fit our driving desires. We have two Chevy Impalas (1960 Convertible and a 1964 SS) that we take to shows--not to have judged or win trophies for, but to drive around and enjoy. The same is going for the One-Twenty. We aren't looking for a concourse-style restoration with every nut and bolt proper and in correct place, but a fun car to drive with some modern tweaks.

Today was the big day--the Packard has been delivered to Indianapolis for media-blasting. The body, which will be removed from the frame by an overhead crane, will be soda-blasted while the frame and wheels will be sandblasted. We are looking at about a 3-4 week turnaround time, so meanwhile I plan on stockpiling some pieces that I will need such as replacement floorpans.

Below are the last pictures of the car in Chicory green.

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After the debacle with the steering wheel puller on Sunday, I spent today retapping the two holes in the steering wheel to a 5/16" diameter. The two pressure bolts fit perfectly inside these new holes, and after attaching the rest of the puller mechanism, I was successful in removing the steering wheel.

Afterwards, I turned my attention to removing the pitman arm from the gearbox. I rented a pitman arm puller, and without any issues, the arm disconnected, and I now had a free steering column. I slid the column out of the hole in the firewall, and afterwards, I went ahead and was able to somewhat lift the body upwards an inch or so on each side of the car, proving to me that there are no connections between the body and the frame. My work thus far is complete, and I am reconfirming the dates with the mediablaster tomorrow.

Thank you guys for your interest in the project as well as your help and expertise. I'd be extremely lost without the forum and its members. Some pictures from today are below.

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Okay guys, with your help and advice, the steering column has officially been removed from the Packard. After my debacle Sunday with the steering wheel puller, I ended up retapping the two holes, and the 5/16" bolts fit nicely in the new holes. After completing the installation of the steering wheel puller, we tightened the bolt, and the wheel came off perfectly.

I also rented the pitman arm puller and was able to disconnect the pitman arm without a problem. With both the arm and the steering wheel disconnected, the column slid right out of the car. I've confirmed that there are no connection points left between the body and frame, and the car will be blasted in October. Thanks again for all of your help, and I know that I'll be posting more topics as I struggle through the restoration of the One-Twenty.

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Time for an update. The gear box is disconnected from the frame but I am still unable to disconnect the pitman arm from the box (Part 1 in Guscha's diagram). The box slides up and down the arm up to the threads on the arm (picture below). I've tried hammering downward on the arm but it will not dislodge. Any ideas on how to disconnect this would be greatly appreciated.

Also, I rented a steering wheel puller to remove the wheel, but the two holes for the pressure bolts to go into were stripped, so I'm going to re-tap them this week at a slightly larger diameter and try it again. All of the shifting mechanisms have been removed, so it's just the wheel, column, and gearbox left.

Photos:
1. Pitman arm connecting point
2. Steering wheel in current state
3. Steering components in current state

All commentary is greatly appreciated. This is my first restoration project, and some days are better than others. I really want to get the column out of the car so I can get the car blasted.

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Time for an update. The steering column is still not out of the car, but I have made some progress in other departments. I rented a steering wheel puller but stripped the threads out of the two smaller holes in the wheel, so I was unable to remove the wheel. This week I'm going to tap new threads into the holes that will match the diameter of the puller screws, and we will try it again.

However, all of the electrical is out of the car along with the majority of the brake lines. I have also removed all of the pedals as well as the under-the-seat heater mechanism. We are that much closer to our date with the media-blaster but are not quite there yet. Some pictures are included.

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Okay, time for an update. I removed the steering box from the frame and have the shifter and linkages removed from the steering column. However, I have been unable to remove the steering wheel. I have the three screws removed from the back of the wheel and the horn mechanism and chrome pieces have been removed as well along with the large nut in the center. I can see the threads in the center shaft but have been unable to spin the wheel off the threads or remove it from the column. So what I've been doing is disconnecting the steering box from the pitman arm and will slide everything into the car. If you guys can suggest what I'm doing wrong with the steering wheel, that'd be greatly appreciated. I've attached pictures to show where I'm at with the wheel, except the shifter and components are now removed.

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